Jessica Alba Topless And Taped For New Voting Campaign
Filed under: campaigns, politics — Michael d'Estries @ 8:57 am
September 12th 2008
Controversy is swirling over a new ad campaign starring Jessica Alba topless, gagged, and taped up in a sort of bondage/domination style. It’s all part of a new initiative by the non-profit Declare Yourself to get people to register to vote. The ad reads, “Only You Can Silence Yourself.”
“If you don’t register and vote and make a difference, and hopefully change the bad things that are happening in our country, you are essentially just binding and muzzling yourself,” Jessica, 27, says of the campaign. “We sign up for MySpace pages and Facebook pages, and download music off the internet. The least people can do is register to vote online, actually making a difference in their world, not just making their lives a little bit cooler. I think it is important for young people to be aware of the need we have in this country to get them more active politically.”
Photographer Marc Liddel shot the campaign, and despite the racy nature of the pictures Alba says she was not embarrassed. “It didn’t freak me out at all,” she said. “What I like about Marc’s work is that he tells a story and brings real emotion to his pictures.”
What do you think of Jessica’s new pics? Does it communicate the “Get Out and Vote” message?
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Tagged: jessica alba
I don’t think it communicates much more than “I am kind of scared. I hope I remember my ’safety word’.”
I think it’s edgy and eye catching, esp the others as well.
I don’t even like her, but i just went to the site and looked at the other ads, and registered to vote at my new address while i was there.
So it worked for me!
Edgy and eye-catching doesn’t make it okay…comparing voting to being tied up (and presumably assulted)!? Sorry, I like that Jessica thinks politics is important, but voting is a very small part of politics; it doesn’t compare to the image. I’m so sick of messed-up imagery being *everywhere* in society, and even more sick of seeing it in progressive or activist ads. This is like PeTA for voting.
Seems like Jessica Alba just wanted to pose for another sexy picture to me. The way I see it she is making “undeclaring yourself” pretty sexy. I think, the exact opposite of the message that she wants to portray. Oh well, I guess she has another pretty picture to ad to her portfolio.
Offensive, distasteful, and totally the wrong message. Women should never be photographed this way.
Plus, bad marketing! 1. You can barely tell it’s her. 2. With their slogan being “only you can silence yourself” why do they have her depicted as a crying woman, presumably on her knees (since she’s looking up), who has been taped up and silenced by someone else?
If their target market is S&M freaks, the campaign just might work.
Summer, you really got this stuff down… On her knees no less, and you’re probably right. You’re also right about not being able to tell it’s her, so the whole visual falls flat, because it could be any other generic model. There are a slew of AMAZING green super models out there who by simple virtue of who they are and their lifestyle profess radical change in the world, to name a few, Angela Lindvall, Summer Rayne Oakes, Betcee May Lindstrom… Don’t get me wrong I love fetish photography, I think magazines like Skin Two, Marquis, Secret are beautiful and edgy. They’ve launched the careers of dozens of today’s top fashion shooters. But this ad is all screwy. I agree with you it sends the wrong message. It feels like some marketing PR guy just wanted to see Alba wrapped up in electric tape! Which, yeah, who wouldn’t? But the picture is awful… and bottom line, that’s the worse crime. That they let out a campaign spending huge bucks on a photograph that didn’t make the cut.
Wow. I am all for edgy campaigns that grab your attention…but this is just downright offensive.