(The screenshot is from an ad I was served on my personal Instagram on Saturday 26 February 2019).
Paris-based airline AirFrance is promoting flights to Rome on Instagram with a Garden of Eden-reminiscent asset featuring a Pre-Raphaelite model wearing nothing but a pale pink sheet. Quite what about this visual screams “Italy” is unclear.
From its history to its art, Rome is one of Europe’s culturally richest capitals. AirFrance could have gone with pretty much any other concept or imagery to advertise Italy-bound flights, including many more evocative than a naked young woman standing in front of an orchard.
Even worse, neither the visual, nor its problematic concept are new. It was part of a 2014 campaign criticised for its Orientalism by Asian American activist Jenn Fang on the Reappropriate blog, launching parodies under the hashtag #FixedIt4UAF. The original series featured a majority of white models in stereotypical and often fetishised outfits from 12 countries, including Japan, Brazil and Senegal. Although I haven’t seen the racist imagery surface in paid social media, the airline’s decision to keep using this particular asset, rather than question its sexism, is ill-advised and easy to fix.
Don’t be like AirFrance. Not being sexist or Orientalist in advertising is easy (really) but if you’re not sure where to start, you can hire me for advice.
