I was going where Julie was. When looking at an ad from yester-year, it's pretty easy to point out the offensive image/text. When I did this assignment, though admittedly my freshman year in high school was many years ago, we pulled out something as simple as a shampoo/makeup ad, analyzing everything on the page, down to the background colors and what they implicated. The body language and look of the models in many cases were suggestive and horrible indicators of what is deemed as "attractive." What's your take on the Lane Bryant ad that was pulled last year? It's fascinating that it's OK for Victoria's Secret ads to be everywhere, but plus-size models are somehow deemed inappropriate? Though underwear ads are a whole different topic . . .

My favorite names are the ones like "Brayden." Being a New Englander, I have a met someone who named their child this b/c of Tom Brady. "Luckily" my mom was much like Allison's, and named me after her favorite childhood author/TV character--Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Great post. I definitely agree that ads have come "full circle" and are at times, equally demeaning toward both genders. One of the first classes we had as a freshman in high school for a theology course was to discuss and analyze modern magazine ads. Specifically, how the ads of today are still almost as equally as insulting towards women as those from yester-year (you can thank my all-girls HS education for that).

Very interesting post. I think the major obstacle for some of the CMOs you discuss may be tackling something new and unfamiliar. Maybe some of them don't truly grasp how to engage fellow users, which may potentially be embarrassing for them (i.e. lack of followers, etc). If MY mom just started a Twitter account(and yes, she is following me) then these CMOs DEFINITELY need to get in gear.

Very interesting topic and a great reminder to think before Tweeting/posting. One would assume that most PR professionals would be cautious when running any social media tool on behalf of a client, especially when it is that particular company's brand on the line. Clearly, that's not the case. I do find it interesting that Aflac thought giving Gottfried (though an insult comic, let's not forget his stint as the voice of a cartoon parrot) the reigns on their social media was going to end well.