Sexual Innuendo of Shake Weight

While doing some guilty indulgence and catching up on re-runs of Jersey Shore on MTV, my wife and I saw another interesting commercial for yet another unnecessary product; The Shake Weight. I don't know if you have seen this commercial but it's basically a small hand weight with springs. The commercial makes all manner of claims for the user of the Shake Weight; that users exercise "240 muscle contractions per minute," Shake Weight users can exercise their chest, biceps, and triceps, and that if they use this mystic shake weight that they will utilize the forces of "dynamic inertia."

While I won't empirically deny the claims made by Shake Weight and while I can't really speak to its overall utility, having never used the product before; I will speak to the method that this product was being sold when I saw the commercial. The overly suggestive pan shots of the sides of these beautiful women in bathing suits/exercise suits was one thing. However the manner in which they were manipulating the Shake Weight was rather...suggestive, to say the least.

I'm trying to keep this product preview PG-13 at worst but imagine, if you will, a small five pound dumb bell. Now imagine a beautiful, fit, bikini-clad woman holding this hand weight vertically; that is; straight up and down. Now imagine this woman gripping the hand weight on its bar, hand over hand, and thrusting this spring clad hand weight up and down. Now look as she extends her arms out and around, as though hugging someone; and the Shake Weight has been directed with one end towards her.

The Shake Weight has a real PR/marketing problem on their hands. While nothing which is being done is overtly incorrect, the writing is definitely on the wall. The Shake Weight seems to be designed strictly for the yuk-yuk factor of watching the commercials over and over. Like soft core porn. Like Jersey Shore. Or Dawson's Creek. Or any of the shows which use sex in an overtly suggestive manner without actually showing the act taking place. My wife was certainly offended by this; at best she found the portrayal ridiculously suggestive and as something she would never buy. At worst...well, word of mouth is a powerful thing.

I'm reminded of the film The Truman Show whenever episodes such as this come to pass. The two security officers are watching Truman embroiled in emotional conflict with his shuttered place in the world. This is right around when Laura Linney has lured Jim Carey into a carnal embrace.

"You never see anything anyway, though" quips one of the officers.

"They turn the camera and play music and you know the curtains move, you don't see anything," repeats the other.

I've got an idea, instead of objectifying everyone, why don't we just all get over it and grow up!? Sex is a part of life and yet we're all so afraid to show it. Until a product like the Shake Weight is introduced; adding yet another layer of subliminally suggestive subtext to the pantheon of television infomercial soft core porn sexiness. Why can't we all just embrace sex, embrace the bodies we were given, and reject the subliminally suggestive sexual marketing in a product like the Shake Weight.

Source:

https://www.shakeweight.com/default.aspx?id=&refcode=1002

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S3C4AC908w