Wonderbra, that tireless seeker of new ways to make breasts look larger, has unveiled its most logical advertising execution to date—a 3-D billboard in London which reportedly makes Brazilian model Sabraine Banando's boobs really pop when viewed through the proper glasses. Agency Iris came up with the ad. It's part of a new campaign for the client's "Full Effect" brassiere. Wonderbra has actually done 3-D ads before, as seen in a 2008 print campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore. But this one is getting lots more buzz. Road-safety experts in England are already tacitly endorsing its effectiveness by worrying that it could cause traffic accidents—much as Wonderbra's famous 1994 "Hello Boys" billboard with Czech model Eva Herzigová supposedly did. "In many ways this latest one could be more dangerous, as it's 3-D," says one. "For those motorists who don't happen to have 3-D glasses in their car—and most don't—then, as the image is slightly blurred, it will cause you to want to focus on it even more. I think it will be a distraction for men and women on the road. And you just need to lose concentration briefly while on the road and an accident could happen."

Lingerie maker La Senza presents a novel Christmas choir—women in their underwear lying on a puffy piano each singing the musical note represented by their bra size, from A to G—in this holiday video from London ad agency Karmarama. And lucky you, you also get to "Use your keyboard to play the girls" over on the Web site. Until the next Michael Bay-directed Christmas commercial from Victoria's Secret, this will have to do. Via Work That Matters.

Hollywood director Michael Bay teamed with Victoria's Secret for a lavish, fiery, helicopter-y 2009 Christmas commercial. Now, as predicted, he's back with another holiday effort for the lingerie brand. It's actually a more low-key affair—just the models writhing around in the breeze, with none of the spectacular explosions that made last year's spot so ludicrous. Bay also seems to have learned some things about advertising this year. Check out the model at the 1:00 mark. She's on a horse!

If there really is a piece of lingerie that will take fat pockets from our bums and place them directly onto our cleavage, then ladies, the line starts behind me. But my Chinese is fairly nonexistent, so the finer points of the infomercial below are lost on me. What I can tell, though, is that this is a jaw-dropping five minutes devoted to a product that could be the most magical corset ever created. Is the name really "Chinese cleavage clamp," or is that just a bad (porn-tinged) translation? I'm not sure how much it costs, but I think I can scrape together a few ducats to see if I can get the kind of results that formerly flatty-Patty models are touting here. See how happy they look with their new racks? Their boobs are practically airborne! There are a few inevitabilities here—a Victoria's Secret knock-off, followed by an explosion-heavy Michael Bay commercial—but miraculously jumping from an A to a D cup probably isn't one of them. Via BuzzFeed.

German lingerie maker Blush nakedly (or almost nakedly) piggybacks on the Murdoch and News International phone hacking scandal in new ads mocked up in News of the World style, complete with scandalous headlines aimed at Rupert and James, as well as Rebekah Brooks. See more ads after the jump—at least one of which is NSFW. The work stoops pretty low, but in this case, that somehow seems appropriate for the subject matter. Via Ads of the World.

Gisele Bündchen offends me. She's preternaturally beautiful, she used to date Leonardo DiCaprio, and she's a multimillionaire entrepreneur. What's not to hate? While that list of reasons is long, it does not include these controversial lingerie ads from Giovanni+Draftfcb. I don't see any hideous subtext, but Brazil's Ministry for Women disagrees. The group, which has been successful at having ads banned in the past, said Gisele's TV campaign for Hope lingerie reinforces the stereotype of women as sex objects and "ignores the progress made in ending sexist practices . . . It also represents discrimination against women." The commercials show Gisele softening the blow of bad news by delivering it to her husband wearing only stilettos and frilly underthings. Honestly, I didn't hear a word she said. I was too busy wondering where the baby weight went. Bitch! UPDATE: CONAR, an independent institution that helps regulate advertising in Brazil, unanimously voted in favor of Giovanni+Draftfcb and allowed the spots to continue airing.

GENESIS: Agent Provocateur wanted a short film for its high-end Soiree lingerie that would be sexy, stylish, and show lots of product. A pink garment from the collection reminded director Justin Anderson of nightgowns worn in old horror movies. "I always watched horror movies as a way to get close to someone I fancied. It was an excuse to jump on them!" says AP creative director Sarah Shotton. "That kind of innocence has disappeared, and we wanted to bring that back." Anderson set about creating an homage to old horror—from the Hammer films of the 1950s and '60s to the erotic classic Vampyros Lesbos from 1971. In the two-minute spot, a woman alone in a house at night is set upon by half-naked vampire sexbots, who crawl around, strike seductive poses, and eventually feast on their host, turning her into one of them—blank stare, hair pulled back, a vision of aggressive, stylish sexuality.

COPYWRITING: The spot, titled "Fleurs du Mal" ("Flowers of Evil"), is a campy, erotic fashion show. "In fashion, the narrative is often driven by the need to show product," says Anderson—hence all the posing and writhing. And while horror may be a novel genre for fashion, at its core, the spot has "a classic fantasy makeover plot," says Shotton. "Like Grease," adds Anderson, "the girl in the pink nightie turns into the leather-clad vixen." There's no dialogue, except when the woman answers the phone at the beginning of the ad.



ART DIRECTION: The house environment is modern and cool—a departure from the more Gothic settings the client has used in the past. The spot is letterboxed at the start to make it feel like a real horror film. (When the vampires appear, it shifts to 16:9.) For the set, "a lot of the references I looked at were quite pop, like Allen Jones," Anderson says. "I wanted a kind of classical modernism."

FILMING: Anderson filmed in a house in north London over one long day and night, shooting entirely off a Steadicam rig on an Alexa camera, which allowed fluidity of movement but let him frame things precisely. The lighting is fairly bright and low contrast—the opposite of classic horror. For inspiration, Anderson looked at films like Night of the Living Dead, Michael Haneke's Funny Games, and teen horror like the Scream movies. "I am also a big [Luis] Buñuel fan," he says. "The dragging scene is a direct reference to Catherine Deneuve being dragged through the mud in Belle de Jour."



TALENT: Kirsten Varley plays the lead. Billie Brown, Georgie Hobday, Juli Molnar, and Luma Grothe are the sexbots. They needed to be able to act and have the right physique. "Often the girls who have the interesting looks can be too thin for lingerie," Anderson says. There is lots of nudity, but that's just the product. "The collection is what it is," he says. "If you are going to show a cupless bra or playsuit, then you will see a lot of flesh . . . My only decision was not to put nipple tassels on everyone, as I thought they might look like showgirls."

SOUND: Shotton wanted a death-metal soundtrack to amplify the horror and humor. She loved Epoch Films' suggestion of Omaha Bitch (whose lead guitarist, Faustin Claverie, is a creative at Mother in London). Shotton says it's "the kind of noise you want to hear when wearing your underwear." Adds Anderson: "If they floated around to Maria Callas, the film would be quite different."

MEDIA: The spot premiered on Purple Television and was also seeded on Vimeo.

THE SPOT (WARNING: VIDEO IS NSFW):


CREDITS:
Client: Agent Provocateur
Creative Director: Sarah Shotton
Production Company: Epoch Films
Director: Justin Anderson
Producer: Robert Godbold
DP: Stephen Blackman
Art Director: Tess Bartlett
Editor: Sam Gunn
Editing House: The Whitehouse
Post Production: Glassworks
Sound Designer: Sam Ashwell
Sound House: 750mph
Music by: Omaha Bitch
Track: Gay Ninja

Wonderbra has developed a new bra called the Ultimate Plunge, which the marketer says gives women "the confidence to embrace the plunging neckline trend." And speaking of bravery and plunging, the marketer introduced the product with a grand stunt at the Battersea Power Station in London (the same building featured on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals)—putting up a giant billboard of Wonderbra girl Adriana Cernanova wearing an Ultimate Plunge and having three random women bungee jump from the top of a crane into Cernanova's mondo-cleavage. The women—Victoria Joint, Heidi Speed, and Kate Hassen—won some sort of online competition to be the first to jump. You'd think it would make more sense if dudes were invited, but perhaps that was considered too crass. Couple more jumping images after the jump.

The holidays are upon us, and you know what that means: a new Michael Bay commercial for Victoria's Secret, the greatest gift of all! The completely reasonable pairing of the plot-averse, action-movie director and the purveyor of shiny push-up bras is now entering its third year, but instead of going more all out than ever for 2011, it seems Bay is getting a bit soft.

The absurdity factor of Bay's visions for the brand has steadily declined since their 2009 holiday debut, which memorably featured helicopters, explosions, and a lot of models writhing in the desert. Last year's spot ditched the pyrotechnics in favor of a horse, but still included an adrenaline-laced soundtrack and more than enough writhing. By comparison, Bay's newest effort seems practically romantic.

In place of a thumping beat, this year's crew of superhuman lingerie mannequins gallivant to Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," signaling that this year's spot is going to be downright classy. To boot, the ad was filmed on location at a sprawling manor house in Prague, filled with lush gardens and rose petal-strewn floors. The percentage of horizontal models has dropped considerably, there's a lot more walking (or, more aptly, stomping) than writhing, and the sexy glares have been replaced with flirtatious smiles. Perhaps most shockingly, one model seems to be wearing actual clothing—although that jacket and bustier probably won't keep her very warm on a rainy tour of the Czech Republic capital.

If this trend continues, by next Christmas, Bay's beloved angels could be modeling Victoria's Secret's line of full-coverage cotton bras.

2011 spot:







2010 spot:



2009 spot:


CREDITS:
Client: Victoria's Secret
Director: Michael Bay

Munich ad agency Interone has revolutionized the sleep mask with its Face Bra, a miniature brassiere you wrap around your eyes to guarantee erotic dreams all night long. The product was commissioned by Interone's adult-retailer client Beate Uhse AG and was sent to people traveling to Paris to attend this year's "salon international de la lingerie." I feel like they could have given it a sexier name than the Face Bra, and maybe picked a sexier model to show it off than the Royal Farms night manager on display here. But apparently the thing was a hit, so sometimes a clever idea is all you need. Via Ads of the World.

Agent Provocateur got Penélope Cruz's sister Mónica to shoot this saucy video, from Black Label Productions and director Tim Pope, promoting its 2012 fall/winter collection. The spot is being compared to The Portrait of Dorian Gray by just about everyone who's seen it. But I dunno, I thought it was more like that 30 Rock episode about the HD camera. And while I liked their choice of the Iggy Pop song for the striptease ("Dirt" is one of my favorites), that part of the ad fell kinda flat for me. Nothing against Mónica Cruz—she's a beautiful woman. But the lingerie sequence was trying so hard to be sexy that it just…wasn't.

Wonderbra has come out with a new "Decoder" app, perhaps inspired by the X-ray specs advertised in old comic books—or more probably by something very similar that outdoor-clothing retailer Moosejaw did about a year ago. Using the app, you point your smartphone at Wonderbra ads—print, outdoor and video—and it lets you see beneath spokesmodel Adriana Cernanova's clothing to her underwear. Spoiler alert: Since she's a professional sexy underwear model, you're going to see sexy underwear. The app also allows you to expand the ads for product details and such, but I don't see those getting much use. I feel like I should be happy about this, but modern technology takes all the fun out of being a pervert. After the jump, check out the campaign's YouTube video—which, after you switch it to HD, can interact with the app. Via PSFK.

It's not generally assumed that breasts enjoy being squashed together in a push-up bra. But apparently they do, at least according to these bizarre Valege lingerie ads from France, which depict joyful reunions between left and right breasts around the world. The best part of each spot is probably the breast-on-breast chest bump. Or wait, no, that's the most disturbing part. Fittingly, not one but two ad agencies—Marcel Paris and Publicis Espana—had to squish themselves together to generate these CGI spots. J.A.C.K. of Wanda Productions directed them.

Adrants draws our attention to this odd campaign by True&Co, an online bra outfitter. True&Co is trying to reclaim the pejorative acronym MILF. Specifically, they'd like to turn "Mom I'd like to f--k" into "Mom I'd love to fit'—as in, fit for a bra. You see, they have the same setup as Warby Parker. They send you five bras to try on at home, you send back what you don't want. Presumably, this means you get the perfect fit. And, during this promotion, you also get a free MILF temporary tattoo!

"Mommy, what does MILF mean?" "Um. That's how you spell milk." "Cool! Can I have a tattoo, too?" At this point, it's best for True&Co to just apologize, act contrite and enjoy the attention. The company did offer this explanation on its website:"The term brings to mind pervy frat boys but who says they should own an acronym? … We think there's nothing objectifying about a woman owning her sexuality. We'd be proud to be considered a MILF (Mom I'd Love to Fit)."

Now, I'll admit, there are moms out there who would like to be considered MILFs, but the weirdest part about this whole thing is the art direction. It's all adorable pictures of moms with their kids, and True&Co even wants you to send in your cute pics for its Mother's Day contest and online gallery. The truth? Even if you are sex positive and proud of your smoking-hot MILF status, you probably don't want to involve the kids.

A bunch more images below.

Triumph, a marvelously named Swiss-owned women’s clothier in Japan, has unveiled its annual concept bra, which might just be the first economics-themed lingerie. The Abenomics Bra, named after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's “three arrow” economic plan to achieve 2 percent inflation, aims to grow bust sizes with 2 percent extra padding. The golden bra features ceremonial Shinto arrows and is paired with a skirt adorned with a target. According to Triumph’s lovely model in the video below, “If a woman thinks she looks beautiful, she will work harder. And that will surely increase inflation and boost the economy. Right?” I’m sure there’s some evidence that attractive bras stimulate growth, but it's probably not the kind Prime Minister Abe is aiming for.

Forget about casting calls. Booty calls may have been the order of the day for this five-minute film written and directed by Oscar-winning actress Penélope Cruz for L'Agent—the lingerie line she and her sister Mónica designed for Agent Provocateur.

Actor Miguel Angel Silvestre sports a scraggly beard and perpetual pout as he dons L'Agent shades that allow him to see all the sexy women at a fancy house party clad only in L'Agent underwear. (The chiseled dudes remain fully clothed, pouting for all they're worth.)

The sheer volume of thonged and bikini-bound lady butts that Silvestre ogles is staggering. Oh, midriffs, thighs and cleavage get ample exposure—but toned tushes are everywhere, and the camera caresses each curve. There are so many beauteous buns on display, this could have been an ad for a bakery.

Ladies hang from gymnastics rings, lounge on the carpet and dance in a kiddie pool. One gal's down on all fours, reading. (I was shocked. A lingerie model reading!?) A very pregnant Mónica Cruz makes a cameo, clad in a negligee, leaning against a wall. When Sports Illustrated cover-babe Irina Shayk goes into lap-dance mode, Silvestre's pout intensifies and he passes out.

The slow-burn/bouncy club beats on the soundtrack are kind of annoying. They diminished my enjoyment of the glutes. But just a little.

Penélope's husband Javier Bardem appears near the end, and we learn that the whole party scenario was just Silvestre's dream, which is, of course, a completely original, never-before-attempted twist so clever and unexpected that it will surprise and delight viewers, even though I just gave it away.

Snark aside, Cruz, in her directorial debut, manages to create a soft-core mini-masterpiece of derivatively trashy not-quite-art. Its many clichés—the decadent party, nonstop nonsex, X-ray specs, a tired "trick ending"—actually work in its favor. It feels familiar yet fresh at the same time. I was thoroughly seduced by its cheeky charms. It's certainly never boring.

Perhaps Cruz intends this absurdly ass-driven vision as a subversive or even ironically feminist commentary on … I dunno … beauty? Fashion? Sexuality? Society's objectification of women in the service of commerce? Men's objectification of women in the service of themselves? More likely, it's just an overheated slice of stylized sleaze designed to sell bras and panties.

It might not herald the arrival of a brilliant auteur, but this is still the kind of work I can really get behind.

We'd say spoiler alert, but it's pretty clear from the get-go where this ad from bra brand Wacoal is going. The drawn-out close-ups of ambiguous cleavage and blurry surveys of bare legs are sure signs that there's a twist in the works. By the time the eyelashes come off, there's little doubt left that the woman in the ad is probably not a woman after all. It doesn't help that it's been done before—and much more tastefully—in print ads from Dutch brand Hema.

Hello,

I'm Lauren Reeves and I'm here to break down what advertisements really mean, because if I know anything, I know hidden persuaders. It's like that little devil who lives on my shoulder, telling me what to do. Sometimes I listen to him, but mostly because I'm just glad to have a friend to talk to.

I hope you enjoy this first video of the Mad Woman series. Warning: lots of 10s wearing lingerie in this episode, gotta love PSAs.

Yours,

@LaurenReeves

P.S. Here are the ads in full …

Agent by Agent Provocateur

Agent Behind the Scenes

Agent Provocateur: The Chase

Victoria's Secret: Summer 2013 

If tits could tweet, they'd probably have a lot to say; but since they can't, they'll have to settle for the next best thing: a tweeting bra. OgilvyOne Athens has created a bra that tweets every time it's unclasped, sending a titillating notification to a special Twitter feed. Greek actress Maria Bakodimou will wear the bra for two weeks, letting the world know each time the twins are unleashed. The tweets then direct people to the Nestlé Fitness website, where they can get tips on how to do a monthly self-exam. As you can imagine, the bra currently tweets a lot in Greek, but it contends that self-exams are still Greek to many women. Maybe next time they can team up with Durex's Fundawear team and add some electric tingles to the bra that can be remotely controlled by response tweets. C'mon, anything goes in the name of awareness! Via Mashable.

If I could stand up and Top Gun high-five a brand right now, it would definitely be Aerie and its new Aerie Real campaign.

The sister brand of American Eagle markets bras, panties and sleepwear to girls 15-21—girls in high school and college who are notoriously bombarded with the message "You need to be hot." Lest you think I exaggerate, surf Tumblr or the hashtag #thinspiration on Instagram, and you'll see what I mean.

Aerie's new ads are unretouched. The girls you see in the ads are what they look like in real life, which is, sadly, groundbreaking. The models are wearing makeup, they look healthy, the poses are flattering, and the lighting is perfect. But theres's been no Photoshop-surgery removal of skin folds or digital slimming of thighs and stomachs. The copy on the print ads declares, "The girl in this photo has not been retouched. The real you is sexy."

"But these particular girls don't need retouching," you say. And I would agree that the girls are probably pretty close to flawless in real life. But in a world where Photoshop morphs already super hot models into super hot models with thigh gap and flawless skin and inhuman proportions (Google Victoria's Secret Photoshop Fails for glorious examples), this is a step in the right direction.

The changes to the Aerie website might be my favorite part. When shopping for a bra, most websites let you shop by size, but whether or not you click 32AA or 40DD, you're still looking at the same model sporting the "ideal" 36C breast size. When you surf on the Aerie site, clicking on a 32AA bra size will show you a model wearing a 32AA sized bra on her 32AA sized breasts. Same for 40DD. And the models are all smiling.

I love that this is what 15-year-old girls will see when they go bra shopping. It's such a stark contrast to Victoria's Secret's Pink line (marketed to the same crowd), which features models that are so Photoshopped they kind of look like really glowy superhumans.

Nice work, Aerie. I hope other brands follow suit. I love seeing this for the high school/college crowd, but I'd be ecstatic if this trend worked its way up to brands that serve older demographics as well.

More images below. Via The Huffington Post.