I was wondering why this ad suddenly made feel like shopping at Target.

care about this? get a freakin life.

I used to work for Target Distribution as a "Group Leader" I quit after three months, what a dopey place to work for. Their reply doesn't surprise me in the least.

Pretend you're Fox News.

Oh puh-leez! I don't blame Target for not responding. Sure it's centered right on there, but there is nothing else that's suggestive about it in the least bit. It's their corporate logo, and they're making fun use of it. You have to realllly be looking in order to get upset over this.

I do think that their reason for not responding was just an excuse and a shut-the-hell-up. Have they ever given y'all this reasoning? (If you tried to contact them about anything in the past)?

Stop hiring horny teenagers to make your ads, and this will all go away... hopefully...

her vagina isn't even in the middle- theyre actually emphasizing her left thigh. Feminists are so sensitive.

Also, it seems like blogs usually encourage people not to shop at target. Can't really blame them for not liking you. Plus, I'll bet they're scared you'll turn off their TV's :)

well, not QUITE EXACTLY centered.....

*sigh*
jeez... nothing better to bitch about today I guess?

I would say that not talking to bloggers is a policy because they could very well be contacted by all of the millions of bloggers, a majority of whom have very limited readership, yet feel they are now part of the media.

Perhaps it would be wize to consider the source asking for the interview before giving a blanket "No" to bloggers, but looking at it from a corporate structure point of view, who do you pay to research who is and isnt "media?" Its probably easier to just stick to traditional news outlets.

Also... and this is a BIG probability... traditional news sources are probably not going to waste their time wanting a comment on a stupid ad that is only seen as perverted by people with that mindset.

The last thing I thought when I saw the ad was that the woman vagina was in the center of the target. But then again, I have better things to do than be a morality nazi. Not many better things... but at least a few.

There's nothing suggestive about this advertisement! Talk about seeing something that isn't there...

As a woman, I want to get all riled up about this, but I'm too busy thinking about makeup and babies.

I could care less about the ad as I think someone is reading too much into this, but I definitely shop at Target with frequency. As a blogger and someone in the "non-traditional media outlet" arena, I don't really care about that policy. It's not going to defer me from shopping there.

@sled_dog: You know, I bet they were shooting with it perfectly centered, then someone at the shoot said, "You know what? Better move her off to the right a little bit - we don't want those feminist blogs to get in a huff about this."

@youbastid: I'm not entirely sure that everyone share's that opinion. I'm a guy, and I can laugh at it, but I'm not at all surprised that someone would find it offensive.

It's a woman laying spread eagle over a bullseye. At the center of the bullseye is her vagina.

If you can't say those two sentences to your daughter and your mother, then it's offensive. And WTF. It's the marketing platform of a department store that is trying to cater to young women.

Oh well.

about the "no comments to bloggers" thing. We'll see how well that goes after the next few shitstorms over something silly target does.

I agree with Target. This is not worth responding. Whoever considers this offensive has way too much time to waste.

we don't shop at target....it's a dull store,and the prices seem to be a little higher than some of the other stores........

I would hardly say that there's a target "on" her vagina, but I won't stop you from being offended. If you really want to be.

It does suck that weblogs are thought of as second class media, is it time for a a blog rights movement :P?

Also, anyone who thinks that ad is sexist/what ever... get a life.

OBVIOUS MAN ALERT: Media & marketing have an influence on children.

We now return you to the porno already in progress.

One issue with blogs is that it's sometimes hard to tell if it is a legitimate and established blog or just someone with access to the internet, basic typing skills, time and the believe that someone out there cares about what they have to say. Take a look at Digg. The vast majority of their blog submissions are from, because of lack of a better term, a bunch of nobodies.

You know, if this is what gets feminist's all riled up these days, we are doing all right after all.

@Hyland: Is that the case? Why is the placement of her crotch something I have to be comfortable talking to my parents and/or kids about? "I saw a girl walking down the street yesterday, and her vagina was in her pants." Is that necessary?

Maybe if their corporate logo wasn't a bullseye, I'd wonder why they chose to use a bullseye. And maybe if not for the eye's natural preference for symmetry, I would have questioned why they chose to position her in the middle of it.

Don't forget that this ad is winter themed. Her outspread arms imply that she's going through the motions of making a snow angel. To see her as spread eagled with her vagina in the middle of a bullseye suggests more of the viewer than it does of the ad.

I bet that this is more of an issue with their ad agency than with Target itself, so the bloggers are barking up the wrong tree.

Damnit Target you're better than that. If you go all up your own ass I've got no where left to go. /sniff

Maybe all of us bloggers should BOYCOTT Target for 1 week and see what happens....

Every single reader of Gawker not goto Target, and then show them whats up..

She should be wearing one of those skimpy skirts instead of those long pants. Then there'd be something to talk about.

@Dr.Ph0bius: exactly. The only thing i thought of when i saw this ad was snow angels...

Chick is centered on the entire target. Head, hands and feet on outer circle. Hang on, lemme find my center. Well, I'll be damned. It's my crotch. The only people beating down feminism are the feminists themselves. Get over it, ladies.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go re-center.

Bullseye!

You know, despite the ad, I've got to agree with Target. Anybody can claim to be a "blogger." Companies don't have unlimited resources to provide well researched answers to every Joe Blow that shows up and claims to be a blogger. Hell, if you showed up claiming to be Podunk Times, they'd probably verify who you are at first. This isn't an indictment against Consumerist, either. They have no idea who you are. If there were an accepted Nielson for blogs (or some other authoritative source), you'd be highly respected, reach-wise. But until then, anyone's a blogger.

Recognizing blogs as press for press events is another matter. Give you some space on the floor, and that's it.

I wonder if Consumerist is considered "non-traditional".

Let's try an experiment involving calling their corporate offices, and saying we shop Target* AND read Consumerist and see if their view changes.

*Commentors who have previously vowed to "never shop Target again!" need not apply.

I kind of agree with everyone re: who cares? But the fact that they won't talk to ANY bloggers - even, say, the Mighty Consumerist!? - is kind of lamesauce. +1 more to Wal-Mart.

Look, I am as much a horny dog as the next guy, but I just can't see it in this billboard. When I look at it, I find my eyes drawn up to her smile, not centered on her crotch.

It's not as if she were wearing a bikini or wrapped in a towel. Just looks like a pretty girl having fun to me. If this offends you, you might want to take a look at your obsession with sex and female body parts more than the mindset of the advertiser.

I would bet that there are quite a few billboards in close proximity to this one that are more sexual and offensive.

Circle of life joke

@dapuddle:
Y'know, I'm a feminist, and I don't get riled up by this ad. Now, if we want to discuss pay inequality, global lack of access to family planning options and ... Hey, where are y'alls going?

Should we then be upset about ads about Kotex and Massengill. I know for sure those ads "target" womens vagina's.

What I see when looking at this picture is a person laying on a red & white target, legs and arms extended, dressed in white with red, laughing and having fun. There is no subliminal message. If you want to imagine this person's vagina; fine; keep it to yourself. Lighten up!! Enjoy the fun Target ad picture without microscopic examination.. Life is too short...

@HOP: Well that certainly advances this discussion.

I honestly have trouble believing the gynecological centering [or near-centering] of the photo was accidental. But I really doubt that having this ad on public display will traumatize children or anything. I really don't find it more offensive than most of the previous 1,999,999,999,999+ advertisements that have been made around the female anatomy. It's amore subtle form of what the marketing industries been doing since they started.

Funny that Target basically insulted its "core market" by saying they didn't use the internet.

Complete the sentences:

"Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets..." that do not fall under the influence of our marketing dollars.

If someone's offended, should I feel dirty for trying to measure the distance from her vagina to the target's center?

It can have a sexual connotation without being offensive. Is there a possible sexual interpretation to this picture? Sure. Was it intentional on the part of the agency that created the ad? Almost certainly. Does it rise to the level of "offensive"? I don't think so, and I tend to skew conservative when it comes to issues like sex in advertising. But I do think this image - and images like it - are worth discussing, in terms of visual rhetoric if nothing else.

Next time Target issues a press release about something they are excited about Consumerist should ask them for more information and see if they respond to non-traditional media.

I don't care about the picture, but their response reeks of sneering "We're better than your crappy blog".

Earth to Target: the definition of what's traditional media is going to be changing really fast in the next few years. It's already changed a lot in the last few.

Get with the freakin' program.

that's silly (the response to the ad)

This ad is less sexual than an American Apparel ad. I do however find my eye drifting to her crotch because it's an upshot near centered on a it. Hitting anywhere in the center circle of a target is a bulls-eye. Her crotch is in the bulls-eye. Offensive? No. Suggestive? Absolutely. If one is the kind of feminist that wants to neuter everyone to prevent "objectifying the female form," then sure, this is super offensive. Women's vaginas shouldn't be a bulls-eyes.

Well, I didn't really think, "man, her vagina is on the bullseye." I thought, - oh wait, this ad doesn't even really register for me.

... notes nothing wrong with the add.

Please...I am a teenage male and if I saw the ad without the title on this article, I would have thought nothing of it (if the woman in the image was a little more attractve..that could have changed my view :P )

I am glad Target brushed them off, they obviously don't have anything better to do. If I wouldn't of read this story I would have never thought this ad was offensive in any way.

Bloggs like the one attacking the ad (and blowing it way out of proportion)are the reason it may be considered "second class media." The blog looses its fire when you need some cheese to read it.
Stop making a mountain out of a mound...I had to...

I would be the vast majority of people who are offended by this ad do not live in a cold climate. Anyone who does thinks immediately of snow angles, not that her legs are spread to target her vagina...

Besides, get rid of all of the feminine hygiene product advertisements that are always on TV, and then we can talk about not targeting vaginas.

*I would bet* it should have said. Dang lack of edits

Why the surprise? it's only Target. And actually, looking at the ad, it's really not a big deal, there have been ads through the years that were much worse, this is not sexual in nature, just bad positioning.

I think this was just Target's way of saying, "Fuck you, kthnxby." At least they were nice about it.

The ad, and Target's response have no affect on my long standing decision to avoid Target. A friend of mine drug me into one of their stores recently. It was everything I hate about Wal-Mart, with higher prices and less selection. I will give them one attaboy over Wal-Mart: the parking lot was not as dangerous. I would be willing to park a 10 year old vehicle in a Target parking lot, but am not willing to put anything that new at risk in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

The people who think this ad is somehow suggestive or offensive to women really need to go outside and get some fresh air.

What if this is a transvestite and the target is centered on his wang???

Or better still, what if it was a man and it was centred there? No-one would give a crap. Just as no-one should give a crap about this.

@Buran: And when the great media rebellion comes, they'll be nth against the wall.

Haxxor teh plan3t!

@Onouris: one of those blogs up there linked to pictures of teh same ad, but with a man. My only comment was they needed to shoot photo #1 with a better camera, and in photo #2 (crotch grab aside...) his legs were blocking the store name. Figures I can't find them now :(

I thought the overall image looked more like a clock. Time to go to Target and stock up on some vaginas.

I'd hate to see the "Split the arrow Trick" Robin Hood is famous for..