The Poor IT Boys
Context
This is an advertisement for QSOL.com Server Appliances and was printed in Linux Journal, a magazine geared towards operating systems, technology, etc. The primary audience would likely be those interested in computers, software, and so on – which has typically been a male-dominated category.
Content
We have a typically beautiful woman who is meant to catch the eye of the tech-boy flipping through the pages of the magazine. He sees her, desires her, and wonders, “Hey, what’s this ad about?” He’s just getting excited when he reads, “Don’t feel bad. Our servers won’t go down on you either.” He sighs and thinks of Natasha, the hottie down the hall who won’t give him the time of day.
In this ad, the woman is being portrayed solely as a temptress, an object, a sex machine – a machine that you, the geek boy, can’t seem to make function because you prefer Dungeons and Dragons over the party life and football games.
In addition to demeaning women, it exploits the “nerdy boy” stereotype. That smart, geeky, tech-savvy guy who just can’t seem to get any chicks into his bed. The IT school at the U deals with a similar stereotype here on campus.
It plays off the concept that school-loving, genius boys are unattractive, awkward, non-muscular, and desperate for female attention. By immediately stating, “Don’t feel bad,” the ad creator is assuming that the reader is a socially-inept nerd-bomb. The ad is also saying that if you were a sexy beast, then the woman would definitely “go down on you” because apparently women will give oral sex to any man if he’s drop-dead gorgeous.
Form
A woman’s face emerges from the darkness. All light is focused on her – an extreme close-up shot of her expression. Her eyes are meant to convey a seductive gaze, but she looks almost melancholy, as if she wishes you were hotter so that she could pleasure you. The dramatic darkness portrays a mysterious air about her, and the viewer wonders what lies in the shadows, creating sexual excitement.
She has perfect porcelain skin and is completely pore-less. The edges of her face and hair fade into the darkness, attempting to push the viewer’s imagination.
Her large lips take center stage, painted a vibrant red – the color of seduction and passion. They are directly in line with the dominant text of the ad. Considering that the words “go down on you” are parallel to her pouting, plump lips, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the creator wishes to evoke an image of oral sex.
My Reading
Beautiful women (big lips, smooth skin, piercing blue eyes) will not give sexual satisfaction to tech nerds (awkward, geeky, unattractive). But beautiful women will give oral sex to handsome, non-nerdy men. To soothe the woes of tech boys, they should buy a QSOL server because it won’t disappoint them like all those female sex machines will. Also, since the server is so reliable, the reader can resort to virtual pleasure until one day he becomes that jock-y hunk that he’s supposed to be.