A More Beautiful Web

Whether you realize it or not, you have a preferred web browser. Whether it is Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, or something else, you have the little icon on your desktop, just waiting to open up the World Wide Web for you. So, just like anything else, these web browsers are brands looking to advertise themselves in the most appealing way possible. And because of the society that we live in, this usually turns to one of the most popular forms of advertising: sex. Whether it is sex appeal, emotional responses linked to romance or sex, or sexual satisfactions, most advertisers turn to sex to sell their products at one point or another.

            Unfortunately, this mentality has taken over nearly every aspect of society. We are unable to get away from this sexualized world, whether it is conspicuous images of half naked men and women across billboards and magazines, or language and word choice used to evoke the idea of love, sex, and physical attraction. We have forgotten that there are many ways to be an important human being besides just being physically attractive in societies narrow perception of the world. Whether it be intelligence, a sense of humor, compassion, or something else, there are so many other things that define who we are.

            And yet we are constantly defined by how we look. We instantly judge people by how they appear, making preconceived notions about who they are, how they act, what they do with their free time, and most importantly their significance in our culture before they have even said a word to us.

            Let’s go back to Internet browsers. These are something that seem like they should really have no sex appeal. We are simply using them to access different web sites, carrying out seemingly common, everyday things. These are not things that we need to be sexually attracted to.

            And yet here we have Internet Explorer’s new commercial, advertising for the new IE9:

            Although it may not seem like the most overtly sexy add out there (believe me there are some bad ones: check out Paris Hilton’s Hardee’s add), even a commercial for an Internet browser is filled with references to sex. To start, the music choice: a dub step remix of Alex Clare’s “Too Close”. The song itself references love several times, or rather the ending of love. Clare is (assumedly) singing to a girl that he wants to break up with. The lyrics imply that she is a bit clingy, saying “You gave me more than I can return”. We can all imagine a girl like this: one that holds on to her boyfriend with an iron fist. Although she may be pretty, her actions are too much to handle. So Clare, being the independent, sexy man that he is, feels like he needs to break free from this not so sexy relationship. Then we have the dub steb itself: this style of music easily evokes the image of a dark dance club, filled with beautiful, young men and women having the time of our lives. So, therefore: use IE9, be independent and sexy, surrounded by other independent and sexy people.

            Than we have the words used in the add. Throughout the commercial, shiny words describing IE9 flash across the screen, including words like “beautiful”, “stunning”, “fast”, “fluid”, and “love”. The font itself, with lights glinting off of it, makes reference to celebrities under the spotlight and caught by the flash of the paparazzi’s camera. The add ends by saying “welcome to a more beautiful web”. This implies that by using IE9, you will somehow be more beautiful than say Chrome or Firefox users.

            But God tells us to not idolize anything or anyone above Him. When we are focused on achieving this “more beautiful” image for ourselves, we succumb to the idolization of society. We should focus not on being physically attractive in society, but on being spiritually and faithfully pleasing to God, giving Him glory through everything we say, think, and do.