1.18.2006
BRA-vo!
Okay, that's sort of lame, but it was that or "Boobies!" so what are you going to do? Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, this entry will be all about ... women in bras. (Watch out, Victoria's Secret!). It's a strange topic I know, but strange is a fitting theme for this post. Why? Because the women in bras are all found on advertisements in the Shanghai subway which, you have to admit, is strange. (It is strange, right? Not the ads, but the half-naked women aspect of them? Being from Seattle, I don't have much subway experience.)
The even stranger thing is that it's not just one or two isolated ads: they're everywhere. Seriously. Walk down into any Shanghai subway station and you're likely to see at least three or four ads featuring foreign women (make of that what you will) in bras looking back at you. I just don't get it. Well, I guess in some ways I DO get it--they certainly catch the eye--but since people like myself (that is, male) do little-to-no actual bra buying, I'm not sure what the point is.
Anyway, lest you think I'm exaggerating, here are the pictures to prove it, all of which were taken during the course of a single trip from the Xujiahui Station to the Shaanxi Nan Lu Station and back. Here, for example, is what you see when you're going down to the subway at the Xujiahui Station:
From the station walls:
Maybe it's just me, but that last one always makes me think something like, "Hey, if you're chili, try putting on a shirt!" Good one, huh? Yeah, I thought so to ...
Moving on to the Shaanxi Nan Lu Station (the XiangYang Market stop, if you any of you are interested in picking up a fake handbag). Timeless romance, indeed:
The women in these next two ads are certainly an, um, eyeful. I particularly like how the first ad is apparently for jewelry, yet the woman is still just standing around in her underwear. Which I guess makes sense. After all, what goes better with a huge diamond necklace than a frilly blue bra?
Here's another "jewelry" one. Beyond that, my official stance is "no comment," although I think there's quite a few comments I could probably make about it, almost none of which would be considered tasteful even in impolite company:
Okay, I know this lady isn't actually wearing a bra, but since it was right next to the previous ad AND the imagery is pretty much the same, I figured I'd include it:
In the interest of equal exposure, I should point out that I have also seen ads, mostly for some company called BenchBody or something, that have men standing around in what basically amounts to their underwear. However, I've only seen those in some of the expat magazines, not posted (written) on the subway walls (tenement halls). However, if I do start seeing them in the subway, I'll let you know, although I probably won't take any pictures. You will, I hope, understand ...
The even stranger thing is that it's not just one or two isolated ads: they're everywhere. Seriously. Walk down into any Shanghai subway station and you're likely to see at least three or four ads featuring foreign women (make of that what you will) in bras looking back at you. I just don't get it. Well, I guess in some ways I DO get it--they certainly catch the eye--but since people like myself (that is, male) do little-to-no actual bra buying, I'm not sure what the point is.
Anyway, lest you think I'm exaggerating, here are the pictures to prove it, all of which were taken during the course of a single trip from the Xujiahui Station to the Shaanxi Nan Lu Station and back. Here, for example, is what you see when you're going down to the subway at the Xujiahui Station:
From the station walls:
Maybe it's just me, but that last one always makes me think something like, "Hey, if you're chili, try putting on a shirt!" Good one, huh? Yeah, I thought so to ...
Moving on to the Shaanxi Nan Lu Station (the XiangYang Market stop, if you any of you are interested in picking up a fake handbag). Timeless romance, indeed:
The women in these next two ads are certainly an, um, eyeful. I particularly like how the first ad is apparently for jewelry, yet the woman is still just standing around in her underwear. Which I guess makes sense. After all, what goes better with a huge diamond necklace than a frilly blue bra?
Here's another "jewelry" one. Beyond that, my official stance is "no comment," although I think there's quite a few comments I could probably make about it, almost none of which would be considered tasteful even in impolite company:
Okay, I know this lady isn't actually wearing a bra, but since it was right next to the previous ad AND the imagery is pretty much the same, I figured I'd include it:
In the interest of equal exposure, I should point out that I have also seen ads, mostly for some company called BenchBody or something, that have men standing around in what basically amounts to their underwear. However, I've only seen those in some of the expat magazines, not posted (written) on the subway walls (tenement halls). However, if I do start seeing them in the subway, I'll let you know, although I probably won't take any pictures. You will, I hope, understand ...
