“How else do you want to sell the sexiest sport in the world in the sexiest country in the world?”
I have been aroused to write this response about the ad for the forthcoming Roxy Pro in Biarritz. I feel that much of the furor surrounding the video trailer is unjust and sensationalist. First, let me present you with three conclusive facts:
1. Surfing is sexy.
2. France is a sexy country.
3. Sex sells.
How else do you want to sell the sexiest sport in the world in the sexiest country in the world?
I do take the point about this trailer marginalizing the growing and impressive standard of professional women’s surfing, but let’s face it, would a trailer featuring women getting slotted (?) in perfect 6-8 foot surf be a fair reflection of what to expect in Biarritz? I think not. This is summertime in France, and it is not just waves people are chasing and riding. There is often far more quality on the beach than in the water. I should know, I’m there right now.
But despite this flippancy, there is a serious point to be made here. The sensationalist and deliberately inflammatory use of words such as “asshole,” “sphincter,” and “porn” in Mr. Endo’s article are completely ridiculous. I’m not sure what he watched or how sensitive he is, but after reading his article prior to viewing (he would probably say leching over) the clip, I was left distinctly underwhelmed. Dry your eyes and put on your big boy pants. If this clip was so offensive, then I suggest you avoid all current forms of visual media, perhaps retrospectively for the past 50 years as well, just to be safe.
The tone and purported views in Endo’s article are certainly more regressive and dated than the idea of sex as a marketing tool. How do you think any of the dedicated professional women surfers feel to read something like that? I’m sure that the majority of them are proud of both their skills on a surfboard and the physical attributes they have been rewarded with as a result. To make them feel that they are being exploited and that what they are doing is counter-productive in the development of their sport is just ludicrous.
Women’s surfing should be looked upon as aspirational not only because of their skills in the water but also the wholesome and fulfilling lifestyles that they subscribe to–often involving yoga and strict diet regimes. A toned and coveted body is one of the rewards they reap for this lifestyle so why should they be made to feel that they are being undermined by their own achievements? Let’s not make them think they need to ceremoniously burn their bikini tops in order to be taken seriously.
Surfing is both spiritually and physically rewarding. It is a healthy and positive way to live your life. Though perhaps not always healthy in French summer! If the top women in the world are happy to be portrayed as taking both their surfing and their physique seriously, then just let them. Endo can keep his “knobby knees and crooked smiles” if that’s what does it for him but I think that we should be proud that these girls are the faces of our sport. There are plenty of butch women to go ’round in other sports if that’s what you would prefer.
What’s next: “I’m sorry Mr. Slater, but would you mind keeping your t-shirt on for this ad? It’s just that your honed and sculpted torso is a little bit too sexy and we don’t want to offend anyone.” No one blinks at boardshort ads or complains when male surfers appear in any form of media sans clothing. Surely sex is being used as a marketing tool to some degree in men’s surfing as well?
Sex is one of our most primordial desires and there is no reason to hide from it. It is used to market every product on earth if at all possible simply because it is the most effective angle. Maybe the trailer for the Roxy Pro was just shot at the most favorable angle. Don’t look at it as a regression. Look on it as a platform. Sex is simply the most effective advertising tool available. Just ask any of the thousands of other (guilty as charged) Alana Blanchard Instagram followers.
When Endo refers to this as “lazy and exploitative marketing,” I’m afraid I have to disagree. In a climate where big-name sponsors are thin on the ground and the financial support of professional surfing is slipping away, I think we need to see it as playing to our strengths. Perhaps a step backward to 80s-style marketing is just what we need right now.
After all, as an aghast and bewildered Frenchman exclaimed yesterday when I was explaining what I was going to write about:
“What? Is zit wrong to be sexy?”
Read more opinions on the controversial Roxy Pro Biarritz trailer: one more pro, two cons, and a spoof.
