The heading at reunion.com reads "Find old friends, family, and classmates today!" However their ads on Whyville give a different impression. Reunion.com is not an inappropriate website. It is a helpful site that allows you to connect with people from your past. But I found their advertising posters on Whyville were shocking for several reasons. The ads in question are:
Firstly, notice how every ad only uses women? I'm sure that reunion.com has many male users as well.
Secondly these aren't just any kind of women. They're young, pretty and scantily clad. After creating an account on the website, I saw that most people's profile pictures don't show themselves in a skimpy bikini. People are searching for YOU and NOT YOUR BODY.
The problem is that the ads are giving off the message that reunion.com is a dating website. I would expect sites these ads would be used by are sites such as eHarmony.com and Chemistry.com. The second poster showed a young, blonde lady sitting down. Her face and body language are directed towards you. She doesn't look like she's happy about finding an old friend--it just looks like her eyes are winking at you to become a member of reunion.com. Also, the last poster reads "Over 41 million people are searching for someone. Right Now." so I assumed that over 41 million people are searching for a relationship.
Most of Whyville's ads are user-friendly. Whyville sponsors include kajeet, monster.ca and animated screensavers and cursors. Also, most of these advertisements use cartoons and they're graphically attractive. So maybe Whyville allowed the reunion.com ads to attract an older generation of users. Seeing a woman in a bikini is more appealing to 16+ year olds than it is to pre-teens. The problem is that not every age group agrees with the same type of advertising. Cartoons are fun but they make Whyville seem kiddish and young to teenagers. But by looking at reunion.com's advertisements, the younger generations will think Whyville is promoting online dating.
However it's not impossible to find a balance. There is 1 reunion.com advertisement that I deemed appropriate for all ages. It shows two women happily hugging, giving the message that they're happily reunited and not that they're lesbian lovers.
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