French Connection uses Chatroulette as platform for contest for men to seduce women

Advertising is no stranger to seduction. In fact, if one were coy and prone to bad puns and metaphors, one might say they are kissing cousins. 

Beautiful women and gorgeous men often loll about on billboards and televisions, using their physical beauty to seduce us, the consumer, into buying a product. Alcoholic beverage companies promise fun and romance anywhere their drink is, jean companies promise a great rear view that's appreciated deeply, and lingerie companies just flat promise sex.

The notorious brand French Connection, however, has taken their marketing to a new level. Using the new and controversial social networking site Chatroulette, they've begun a contest that awards a prize to a man who can, to put it bluntly, prove he bagged the babe.

Chatroulette is a chat room site that works by connecting people randomly via audio and video feed. Visitors to the site say while there is some PG-esque conversation, it's frequently graphic images, porn at best. BuzzFeed said, "Chatroulette is quickly becoming the go to site if you want to chat with the most socially depraved people..." (Warning: That link takes you to a site that includes screen shots. They are not porn, but some are graphic, and many are sexual.)

According to the New York Times, as many as 50,000 people were on the site at one time in February 2010. In that same article, Nick Bilton wrote

"Chatroulette is a social Web site that allows you to navigate somewhat incognito. “There’s no log in, there’s no registration, and that’s fundamentally different from Facebook and Twitter, where your real persona is tied back to you,” said Sarita Yardi, a doctoral candidate at the Georgia Institute of Technology who studies the role of technology in teenagers’ lives."

With such an outreach and impact, French Connection can anticipate recruiting a large number of risk-taking "socially depraved" people to their contest, which Ad Age describes as

"The tease, and the rules, are posted on the brand's website, with this Chatroulette challenge: "Can you prove yourself by venturing into the most terrifying terrain on the internet to seduce a woman." The contest opened Feb. 26, and entries are being accepted on the French Connection site until March 12, with proof of the scheduled hook-up required in the form of pasting comments or a screen grab from the Chatroulette site. French Connection worked with digital agency Poke, London, and didn't get or seek permission from Chatroulette for the contest."

Ad Age added

In fact, the Chatroulette campaign has already attracted complaints, initially from people who objected to the fact that it was about men picking up women. French Connection reacted by opening up the competition, originally limited to men scoring a date with a woman, to women too.

Mr. Woodham said, "There is flexibility in our brand. The appeal of Chatroulette is that it's new and a bit dangerous. We're a fashion brand trying to talk to men, and there's not a lot of cool stuff on the internet in a fashion sense. I didn't want to just set up a computer game."

With even the French Connection brand flagging Chatroulette as "weird, sad and strange" as well as dangerous, what are they thinking encouraging sexual aggression, especially in such a place?

Let's look at some important statistics about violence against women in the US alone:

• In 2005, 1,181 women were murdered by an intimate partner
• According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year
• According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 women in the U.S. were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006
• 600 women are raped per day

Because Chatroulette is an international site, originally developed by a teen in Russia, international statistics about violence against women are relevant too (in fact, the site is popular in countries not known for protecting women from violence). According to a comprehensive study conducted by WHO about violence against women worldwide 

• between 13% and 61% of women worldwide report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence from a partner
• between 10% and 50% of women worldwide were forced into sexual intercourse (raped)
• women are more likely to be forced to have sex against their will in countries that suffer high rates of diseases such as AIDS
• half of sexual violence was physical force rather than fear

(To read a summary report, you can download this WHO PDF about violence against women worldwide.)

Now men who would commit an act of sexual violence against women have a contest prize incentive thanks to French Connection. Although the prize amount is relatively small, according to the brand, it carries notoriety and obvious bragging rights (which, in fact, the contest requires to win).

Sexual violence against women is about power, not sex, and this contest appeals directly to that.

The brand can cry that it's all in fun. They can say it's individual liberty, up to each person to join in or not, open it up to women (which they have done), and employ all the rest of the excuses we are so used to hearing when a company acts in an ethically and morally reprehensible way.

But at the end of the day, they are encouraging risky behavior and potentially unsafe sex -- sex that is potentially physically and emotionally unsafe.

All for the sake of a "real life date-worthy outfit."