Taking advertising too seriously

A few Days ago in class we were discussing ethical advertising. While I do believe it is wrong to advertise overly sexual clothing, such as under wear that says eye candy and things of that nature, to children I think sometimes people simply take advertising too seriously. There is an ad that old navy is currently running that many seem to be taking offense to. The ad is for the new old navy jeans called diva, sweetheart, and flirt. The supposed offensive material was the song playing in the background. The song was a rendition of “Blue Alert” by Madeline Peyroux. Some people apparently felt the lyrics “she said no and no again” promoted sexual assault. But personally I feel that is a stretch. The song never indicates directly what she is saying no to. Also the action being shown also does not indicate any type of sexual assault. None of the women in the ad are even being pursued by men. The first girl, the “Diva”, is the only woman even shown with a man during the ad, and she is receiving a foot message, which does not in any way represent assault. Also at the end of the ad the women all leave together, not with men. Even though the class was told prior to viewing the ad that it was offensive, no one even identified that the song was the offensive material. I think that the song choice had nothing to do with the lyrics “she said no and n0 again”, but had more to do with how the song fit the theme of the commercial. The ad showed the three women in an urban setting and I feel the music promoted the glamorous yet laid back feel the ad was trying to convey. Saying this ad is offensive is simply just taking it too far.