Don laments excessive use of nudity in advertments

A professor of public relations and advertising at the Lagos state university, (LASU) Rotimi William Olatunji has lamented the excessive use of nudity and indecency in media commercial and advertising in the country, while advocating that advertising should move beyond purely for product and service to instruments for advocacy and social change.

Olatunji stated this while delivering the 63rd inaugural lecture series of the Lagos State University, (LASU) titled: Advertising, Advertainment and the rest of us.
Olatunji charged advertisers to inculcate social responsibility message in their media commercials while the various advertising and public relation unions should mount campaign around specific issues.

The dean of the school of communication, stressed that inspite of it controversies the use of women as sex object in advertising remain prevalently in the country, adding that such advertisment often depict women as the receiving end of an equal society where it use as instrument for satisfying the cruel instints of men.

He said” The use of sex in advertising remain a controversial yet a persistent vexing phenomenon. Much of the sociology religion and ethical criticism against the institution of advertising revolve around the use or abuse of sex in advertising which may involve sign, symbols, image visual words or sound relating to sex that stimulates interest in or draw attention to a particular brand. Sex appeal is a popular albeit controversial strategy designed for the promotion of good and services”.

“Advertising often shows women at the receiving end of an inequitable system as they often depicted as tools for gratifying the crude biological instincts of their male S counterpart and constraints by certain negative cultural religion practices”.
He stressed that for advertising institution and agencies
to remain relevant in the 21 century in a diverse language,culture and multi-value’s societies, there was the need for inculcation and the use of Nigeria’s language in advertisings and copy-writing, especially pidgin English in copy writing and advertising.

He said” for advertising institutions, agencies and stalk-holders to remain relevant in a globalizing context there is the need for increasing sensitivity to Africa diverse language, values and cultures along with the changing media landscape highly segmented and increasingly sophisticated audiences”.

Iniobong Iwok