Do the "Still a Virgin?" billboards push a marketing campaign too far?

That was my first question when this was posted by staff as a discussion.
(That question wasn't answered, by the way.)
Now it may be entirely possible that the advertising campaign followed the prompt, but why would this be such a burning question?
Come, on staff, fess up or deny this.
Inquiring minds want to know.

Exactly.
If a virgin recovery hotline billboard doesn't make you laugh, what the hell will?
A pie in the face?

Good for you. Some witty guy in advertising should be rewarded for a strong pitch. +^d

Good Question. +^'d

Because they had government health ministers who were both smart and committed to the health of the people Thailand years ago immediately reduced STD's and has a lower of incidence of AIDS in the population per capita than the US.
The former health minster said he wanted "condoms as available as cabbages in the marketplace." Among other programs he started a few well placed non-profit restaurants called "Cabbages and Condoms" with that theme (great t-shirts!) that educate and benefit sexually active young people--well, actually everyone...
Could you imagine the outcry from the bone-headed right wing in this country if such a thing were proposed here?
Oh, no, let's just have a mind-numbing rain dance around the "Christian values" of "abstinence," and lots more STD's and pregnancy instead.

Do you ever feel like you’re in a foreign country? It is so strange here. I mean I have love for the US and would take a bullet for it, but what a nut house.
I wish Americans were more traveled, but not just traveled but immersed into other cultures and societies.
I would also like to see a Buddhist Temple more beautiful, more enduring, more meaningful, and inspired by the Buddhist temple of Borobudur. I mean why not in the United States? That would be a proud moment. Maybe that is what I should do with the rest of my life.
I believe these things would change Americans for the better.
Now tell me all desire leads to suffering. Giggles!

I drove from my home in Montana to the coast of North Carolina by way of Chicago, Saint Louis and Nashville. The American landscape has become so hideous that I found myself feeling kind of "hollowed out" by the sight. Every fifteen minutes another small community passed by my car windows with the ubiquitous McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Wendy's signs on tall poles luring the obese in for their next turn at the trough.

Going through Illinois was exactly the same as going through Missouri, which was exactly the same as Tennessee and North Carolina. Only the types of trees and grasses changed along the way. Tragic monuments to our own shallowness as a society. Sucks to be us.

You've reminded me of the defining tragedy of my life. I've traveled a lot in my life and moved early on from the heartland, to the west. I've seen every single place I've ever been (up until now) destroyed by the insane toxic greed of my fellow killer monkeys.
That includes every spot I've known in America, and all around this battered planet.
I visited the very southern end of Chile, the literal end of the Earth, when I was 18. I was greeted by a huge sign that said "Tomar Coca-Cola!"
I've seen formerly pristine beaches in Asia on my return trip a half a dozen years later covered with crappy hotels and sewage running in the streets.
Forests and orchards I'd played in California leveled for cardboard shoebox subdivisions.
If I had any real moral center I'd be working at being a far more effective Unabomber.

I don't think all desire leads to suffering, but unjust desire certainly does.
Having folks close to me who have built Buddhist temples and have since let me know that's not really the thing, has been very enlightening.
Absurd as it sounds, it IS about peace, and it IS about love.

I agree whole-heartedly with you up to the point where you are becoming the unabomber...He was from my state, and I just don't think he was the best example of someone who was morally centered

Well, you're right. It is hard to find an example of 'righteous rage' that isn't insane. I guess that's why those feeling exist only in our tortured imaginations.
Even John Brown, once "heroic" to abolitionists, comes off as a looney tune.
As ever, I myself leave any destructive actions in the real world to the power of a withering sense of irony.

Hahahahaha, men need to stop thinking with their dick more.

hahahaha yeah, because only people with dicks get laid right?

I need to get laid more... That's no laughing matter.

No deal. YOU start cooking for ME before we start groping and after you get tested, then we'll talk.

Wow what high standards you have... lol

You get into the most interesting conversations, Al.

Oh come on! The penis is analogues to the clitoris. If your clitoris was as big as a penis, could you ignore it??? LOL!

WHAT?!? That's a -D!

umm It's the only organ on the human body of either gender devoted entirely to sex. It has as many nerve endings packed into it as the ENTIRE penis. It's hard enough to ignore the way it is!

FYI my meals alone will get you off. I don't see the point of doing ALL the work. If you can't cook, then take me to The French Laundry.

LMAO! No kidding! LOL! BTW, Ron Geremy is the name of an old fat porn star. You don't think he would be haunting here do you? I mean, I guess anything is possible! Giggles!

Ahem. Well my dance card is full, but the next time you and Cztheday are in the neighborhood the French Laundry will be a key scheduled stop.
(Maybe we can get CZ to try some Tudor Pinot Noir on that slippery slope to decadence...)

I've heard about Ron before though I don't think I've seen any of (the real guy's) work... Maybe it IS him, but I doubt it. Porn stars tend to have more class then this dude.

The graphic is certainly a refreshing image, but, I must say Almibry, after seeing and reading the link, I am completely mystified.
(But then so much of universe mystifies me on a regular basis.....)

I just included the link because I didn't want the image on my computer. So, yeah, just ignore the link. (should have said that earlier, sorry)

Great. Happy to feel less dense than a minute ago...

Only what your mom taught me.

Ding^up lol! :)

I'll second that... about me I mean.

eww

Hey, amp, have I been invited to a party? Porn stars really aren't my thing. When it comes to sex I guess I am just more of a doer than a talker. Trash talk is for people who still have something to prove.

But I think I could manage a glass or two of pinot noir. I generally prefer mine with a desirable and intelligent woman, seated before a roaring fire in a mountain cabin on a snowy winter evening.

I realize that my scenario can't really compete with being ass-fucked by a drooling idiot who thinks coming in a woman's face is the height of sexual satisfaction and to whom every new woman is just another meatloaf to degrade.

I am one of those naive fools who actually believe that the context of the act is at least as important as the act itself and for whom intelligent conversation with a lovely woman is an indispensable stage of foreplay. Yeah, I know, I'm a dinosaur.

Now what the hell is the "French Laundry?"

Porn isn't my thing either. Frankly, I find it painfully repulsive even to share a public forum with the likes of "Ron Jeremy." However, Almibry seems to handle that pretty well on her own though, thankfully.
In regard to the French Laundry, it's a fine restaurant in Yountville in the Napa Valley wine country.
It's a bit exclusive. I was pleasantly surprised at Almibry's mention of it.
(And yes, I've been. It IS good and has a really excellent wine list.)
I was actually trying to divert and elevate the conversation a bit in this rondelay.
I hoped that inviting you along would help keep things on the higher moral plane.
(Otherwise, being a famous round-heels, I might be tempted....)

I didn't know that your heels were round OR famous, amp. But then again, somebody here on Current quoted their grandmother as saying about sex that if there was anything better, God kept it to himself. I thought that was worth a sympathetic "amen."

I think that dinner and drinks with you and Al would be a delightful way to spend an evening. Al might have other views, of course, but maybe if the two of us cover the tab, we can persuade her.

My treat, con permisso.

I guess you don't have children.

You're missing the point tommytripper - and yes, teens are in fact, sexually repressed.

+^'d I agree with all that except... I don't think it's all that possible to be good the first time.

Really? Not ever? Maybe you just aren't meeting the right people, Al.

The first time for guys is usually very different than the first time for girls. I didn't capture the big O until my third partner. I thought for the longest time there was something wrong with me. Turns out I just needed to be on top. ;)

My bad. I misread Tommy's post and thought he meant the first time with a new partner and not (as the article clearly says) losing one's virginity. Yeah, while I thought my first time was pretty good, it was pretty underwhelming compared to...crap, I was about to say "what came later." What a terrible pun. Thank God I didn't say THAT...

Is that self promotion??

Bravo. +^d.

Don't give us young folk that much credit. I can't explain to you how many boys in my class just wanted to hook up with girls just to "get it over with". you might not think that this is a serious issue, but billboards like this and movies like Superbad really resonate with young people, males in particular. Are parents wrong for trying to keep their children as pure as possible? In my experience, i'm 18, sex and teenagers almost never go together well.

I was a teenage boy once too. It's not like I forgot. I have 3 kids (1 teen). When I wanted to get laid it wasn't to "get it overwith". It was because I wanted to get laid. All teenage boys want to get laid. A billboard is not going to make a bit of difference. Parents are wrong for thinking that a billboard is going to be the thing that stops them from keeping their kids "pure". It's plain ignorance. Besides, If you are 18, you are not a child. The answer is obviously for parents to talk to their kids and not treat them like they are retarded enough for a billboard to make them have all kinds of underage sex. A billboard is not a threat to a parent who knows what he/she's doing.

That doesn't make them bad parents- it just makes them concerned parents.

Society has a hand raising children regardless of any parents' decision.
Sex is one of those things, like body image, that is heavily influenced by society. Kids may think everyone else is having sex, so they might feel pressured into it. A giant billboard saying 'still a virgin' just adds to the pressure. So that's where the parents are coming from.

Now, I'm not saying the sign should be taken down, because that wouldn't be addressing the actual problem the parents are worried about.

Parents worried about a billboard should then discuss it with their children. Parents who worry that a billboard is going to be the thing that pressure their kids into sex obviously do not have an open dialog with their kids. I didn't say that society doesn't play a role. I said that parents who delegate their parenting to society and then try to control society instead of talking to their kids instead are not practicing good parenting. They are clueless.

I wouldn't say parent's are wrong for trying to keep their kids as pure as possible, but I would go so far as to use the word naive.

I too am 18 and yeah a lot of times sex and teens goes wrong but in a lot of cases its a wonderful thing, kids need to know to wrap it up and just don't be a moron about it. Parents that don't teach children about sex are to blame, school systems with poor sex ed are to blame, and religions making people think they need to be married to have some fun are definitely to blame, they cause sexual repression, rushed marriage, and early pregnancies. And seriously who hooks up with someone "just to get it over with"?

Noxidereus: You must not remember your childhood, or learned the benefits of conforming, to an extent, to what society expects of you. The answer to your question about giving a shit, well mine would yes. Children think their parents are rediculous because they don't yet have the wisdom and experience to see different. Children tend to be naive and egotistical, despite what they tell themselves, and depsite what you think. Also, children don't have much commen sense, hence all the teen pregnancies, teen suicides, teen gangsters...need I go on? You have it the wrong way. Young people have a lot of fear and uncertainty, and have a long way to really find out who they are. Young people are still very much developing in all ways. Adults tend to have more commen sense than teens. Come on.

Conforming is over rated. I can't feel bad for people who have such a weak character that a little name calling would cause them to lie to themselves and lead them to doing things they're not proud of.

I'd like to add that conformity is a problem faced by people of all ages.

No I do remember my childhood. It might be worth mentioning that I was a straight-A nerd. I was raised by parents with common sense, who gave me a lot of freedom and credit, and I didn't think they were ridiculous. I obeyed my parents out of love and respect. My friends obeyed their parents out of fear -- that is, until they rebelled, which I never had the need to. My kids do not think I'm ridiculous. I don't have it wrong. My kids are not naive, nor egotistical. Maybe I'm just lucky. Despite what you think, I have a very rare relationship with my kids, one of mutual love and respect. No temper tantrums, no ridiculous punishments, no pressure, just showing them the world the way it is and guiding them on what is right and letting them be who they are. I don't have to be afraid of billboards, so if other parents do, I must be the one doing something right. Thanks.

I despise conformity. It is the death of individuality.

Conformity is the hobgoblin of small minds.

-- poetic license

I meant that they want to get loosing their virginity over with, that was basically what was on the mind of every boy in my high school.

way more than you would ever imagine especially girls.

oops, I lied. I can feel bad for conformers.. Rarely, but it happens.

Conforming is definitely over-rated, but I wouldn't call all kids who are afraid to be ostracized "weak in character." Social isolation is a powerful motivator, especially during adolescence.

eeehhhh..... I wouldn't call most kids who conform weak because it would only make them feel worse and how are you going to build their self image if you keep breaking it down?
I've always been stubborn as hell and I've been isolated often so I didn't understand how quick my "friends" in school were to agree with someone for no reason other than the fact that everyone else agreed without question (like so many people with their choice of religion). I've always needed real reasons to do things, being unpopular was nothing new or threatening, so unless some could give me a convincing reason, I tended to tell them to go fuck themselves (I still haven't grown out of my rebellious stage).
Great now I'm back to where I was before, those kids WERE weak. I've always gotten along best with fellow "freaks", "geeks" and "losers" or the rare person who was too "cool" to care. THOSE people had character, the rest were sheep.

Yeah, I and about 20 other kids were bussed from the poorest section of our city to the high school in the rich area. Most of us were druggies and/or borderline alcoholics by then anyway (hey, we WERE 15 by then), so there wasn't much question that we were going to get lumped in with the rest of the freaks. I just didn't care. I made friends easily, so I just picked the people I wanted to know, whether they were freaks, jocks, honor society kids, or fellow "undeclareds" and...knew them.

But, as you note, I always had the impression that fear drove most of the kids in the various packs. For whatever reason, they found their identity in a particular group and any thought of leaving came with the terror of losing that identity.

oops. I read right over that "too cool to care" person, Al. I didn't mean to imply that I was that person. I mean, I WAS...but I didn't mean to imply it. (kidding)

If they didn't no one would notice and that defeats the purpose of advertising. +^'d

yes