F'd Ad Fridays: JC Penny plays with Gen-X nostalgia, fails on more than sexism

Look, I'm a Generation X guy. I have worn out the play heads on more than one VCR pausing and doing a frame-by-frame on Phoebe Cates coming out of that swimming pool in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. So despite being a critic of gratuitous sex in advertising, this should appeal to my inner adolescent boy. So I won't even give it the sexist read this time. (Although it does go there.)



But it doesn't appeal. It totally misses on four counts:

The Adman in me says: "How stupid is that! Everyone knows you can only look one place at once. They actually made it even less likely that people will look at the shirts now!"

The Music Geek in me says: "That music is all wrong! An entire generation of men still get a chubby when they hear 'Moving in Stereo' by The Cars. You can't change the mood, man!"

The Writer in me says: "That whole sequence was a great story climax (excuse the pun) about Brad hitting bottom, going from big man on campus to a creep jerking off to his sister's friend on the toilet wearing an embarrassing uniform. Totally out of context."

And my Inner Adolescent adds, "Hey! What happened to the topless scene?!?"

This artistic censorship is an outrage!
Someone get Amy Heckerling on the phone.