Who can forget the advertising campaign a number of years back that threw social watch dogs into fits over Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF). That particular advertising foray employed the lithe bodies of teen and preteen boys and girls in a way which, while certainly drawing attention, underscored today's excessive use of underage sexuality in advertising. Parent groups and child protective agencies were enraged, as well they might be. However, a recent ad campaign launched by Beyonce and her House of Dereon, clothes for girls, makes Abercrombie's misadventures look about as harmless as a day at the zoo.

A blog post presented by our sister blog Styledash, reveals the shocking truth about the clothing ad campaign, which is the brainchild of Beyonce and her mother, Tina Knowles. Blogger Kristen Seymour espouses the danger in this type of advertising by describing the presentation in the terms of "Go on, baby, and earn your lunch money the old-fashioned way."

The gallery provided by Styledash is self-explanatory and might serve to turn the stomachs of little girl's parents everywhere. Certainly, Beyonce and her advertising agency have accomplished what they wanted to. We can also believe that Abercrombie & Fitch shall benefit slightly with a parallel focus to its own questionable advertising strategy. However, we need only to remember the enigmatic fate of JonBenet Ramsey to realize down which road this type of advertising strategy may lead.

(Thanks to Styledash for the tip, Additional thanks to Gawker)

There's a hot topic getting a lot of attention over on Autoblog so I thought I would mention it here. It would seem that The Girls of Geneva have created quite a stir over there and the readers are eating it up. It comes as no surprise that auto manufacturers, when displaying their wares, continue to use the most basic of human instincts -- our sexual drive -- to draw attention to their merchandise. Still, a few folks with clouded reasoning find the practice distasteful. I, for one, have always deemed it to be intelligent marketing practice.

The association between transportation and sexual satisfaction is as old as the wheel itself. In fact, it's older, but that's beyond the scope of my current mention. The concept encompasses two specific human drives. One is the desire to get somewhere and the other is the desire to "get some." Would it be confusing then, to anyone, that the two concepts would be agelessly coupled in joint appeal? Get somewhere and get some -- its truth has sent hungering souls crisscrossing the planet. Who in their right mind would deny it as the most powerful of marketing ploys?

Of course, the exploitation of human beings for any purpose is dubious when accomplished without their consent, but if Lacey and Bambi and Tawny should choose to make their livings pointing at cars while wearing filmy dresses, who am I to say that they're doing anything wrong?