It is a truth universally acknowledged that anything condemned by grownups will be considered the bee's knees by their children. It's also common knowledge that television networks will stoop to any level to attract teen viewers, who have literally dozens of dollars to spend on whatever TV tells them to.
Well, reach into your box of crayons and colour us unsurprised, because the CW network is tapping into adolescents' disdain for their elders to promote the second season of Gossip Girl. The new ad campaign features a series of posters of the young, beautiful cast in risqué poses juxtaposed with quotes from the show's bad reviews. One poster portrays a scantily-clad Gossip couple lying in bed together, topped with a quote from the Parents Television Council: "Mind-blowingly inappropriate." (See the rest of the lurid posters here.)
In other words: "Only L-7 weenies hate Gossip Girl, and if you don't want to be a prude, you should start watching it! You want to be popular, don't you? Don't you?!"
Oh, you sneaky CW marketing monkeys. You know kids can't resist the allure of the taboo – they don't want to be the only loser who didn't see Serena and Dan get to first-and-a-half base!
Surprisingly, this series of ads is actually a little tamer than the Gossip Girl campaign the CW launched in April 2008. While those posters featured similarly racy photos, instead of negative reviews, they had the letters "OMFG" underneath. (If you don't know what that stands for – and seriously, how do you have access to the Internet and not know what it stands for? – let's just say it doesn't stand for "Oh My Farting Grandpa.")
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