Hypersexualised Women in Ads in Cyberpunk 2077

[Dmax3901]

So today I watched the two most recent CP2077 trailers Postcards from Night City and Gangs of Night City and was struck by the sheer number of hypersexualised in-game ads there were. Not only were there so many, but they all appeared to feature women.

Curious, I decided to go back through each trailer frame by frame to collect every 'sexy' ad, just in case I missed something.

Combined the two trailers add up to almost eight minutes of footage and I managed to spot no less than TWENTY-ONE unique ads featuring sexualised women, only one of which featured a male body prominently (but was still about a straight male fantasy), and only one featuring a same sex interaction (two women of course).

These ads/images range from generic to actually pretty fucked up (the dog one and the 'king size' one are particularly gross) but I still think the sheer variety and uniformity of them is what shocks me the most. Worth nothing that all of the pole dancers and other sexualised characters in the footage of the game itself were also women.

Anyway here they are for your perusal (apologies for the quality, I just used the windows snipping tool):

Spoiler: NSFW

What, if anything, are CD Projekt Red trying to do here? If it's to reflect our own world they've failed because even 2020 advertising manages to be more diverse than this. Is it to depict a future where women are still sexualised to a far higher degree than men? If so, why? We know our current world is homophobic, transphobic and sexist, do they really think ads like this are cutting satire, or nuanced critique?

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EDIT - My follow up post after the thread was locked and reopened (twice):

So... I guess what I would ask from people in this thread is to go beyond "this is Cyberpunk not sure what you expected". I am not American, I am not puritanical. I'm also not 'offended' like so many people have suggested. The content of the ads on their own doesn't disgust me.

This game does not exist in a vacuum. Its developed by a studio with a history of sexualising/objectifying women and of catering to the worst kind of gamers. There's a reason this game is being held up as the second coming of Christ by certain folk and there's a reason that ANY kind of criticism of this game is met with such ferocious, blind resistance on this forum and elsewhere.

I also don't think criticising a game's marketing prior to actually playing it should be dismissed automatically. I'm not crying for the game to be censored or banned and there's plenty of posts in this thread that suggest that a worthwhile, respectful discussion can be had. Don't take it personally when people criticise something you're looking forward to.

I'm also not saying everyone who disagrees with the premise of this thread is wrong, people rightfully brought up that there is one ad featuring two nude men in the trailers in question as well as other ads found in other marketing materials. I didn't omit mentioning these in the OP by choice (I included the screencap after all) I simply thought it was one example among many that don't feature men. It's there, sure, but it's anything but equivalent.

I'm not going to waste any energy responding to people who say "but what about the ultraviolence".

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EDIT 2 - Some users have posted higher res versions of ads I included, or others featuring men, here they are:

Nothing because they have ads with male bodies

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I can't find more at the moment.

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Click to shrink...

 

[Deleted member 45765]

Thank you for hunting all of these down.

 

[Hey Please]

Depiction of 80's vision "Sex sells" in 2077. So societal progression and regression all mixed in the hyper-capitalistic dystopia.

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

Looks like on brand Cyberpunk world building to me.

 

[playXray]

Presumably it's a dystopian future, so it kinda makes sense that humanity had taken backward steps like this. Not sure it needs to be a big part of the design though.

 

[purseowner]

Fuck this game. Great work compiling all this, OP.

There's nothing clever about the imagery they're using here - yes, overt sexualisation in advertising and worldbuilding has long been a thing in cyberpunk fiction, but usually it serves some sort of purpose or feeds in to the political intent or themes of the work. Here it's just 'edgy' for edgy's sake.

 

[Chirotera]

Hypersexualization is a big part of cyberpunk as a genre. That may not make it right, but it is a dystopian world. It's not meant to be our world. Almost everyone in these stories is scummy.

 

[Spiderhead]

Fuck this game. Great work compiling all this, OP.

There's nothing clever about the imagery they're using here - yes, overt sexualisation in advertising and worldbuilding has long been a thing in cyberpunk fiction, but usually it serves some sort of purpose or feeds in to the political intent or themes of the work. Here it's just 'edgy' for edgy's sake.

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How do you know that? Do you know how the entire story plays out?

Look I'm not saying it's right to oversexualize anything, but to say it's "edgy for edgys sake", without even playing the game or knowing how the story plays out is premature.

Even then almost every post here has said it's how the cyberpunk setting is, so your statement makes even less sense

 

[Magic Mushroom]

The recent Blade Runner had this as well. It's common in cyberpunk, which is a dystopian genre.

 

[Dmax3901]

Depiction of 80's vision "Sex sells" in 2077. So societal progression and regression all mixed in the hyper-capitalistic dystopia.

Click to shrink...

Looks like on brand Cyberpunk world building to me.

Click to shrink...

Presumably it's a dystopian future, so it kinda makes sense that humanity had taken backward steps like this. Not sure it needs to be a big part of the design though.

Click to shrink...

Hypersexualization is a big part of cyberpunk as a genre. That may not make it right, but it is a dystopian world. It's not meant to be our world. Almost everyone in these stories is scummy.

Click to shrink...

You're all either just identifying that it's a trope of the genre (doesn't give it a free pass) or ignoring the fact that the ads all feature women. If it's hypersexualisation that's a cyberpunk trope, what's stopping them from featuring male bodies or gay interactions?

 

[xKirbz]

I think they're showcasing the normalization of hyper sexuality that is a staple in the cyberpunk genre. If that makes sense. Reminds me of the JOI ad in Bladerunner.

 

[Tecnniqe]

Fuck this game.

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No, thats the game world it's set in. Thats how the universe is.

 

[FunMouse]

I mean, whether you like this or not or whether is right or wrong, this falls in line with how it would be portrayed in a cyberpunk/dystopian world/genre. I'm waiting to play the game to see what else they leaned on. I'm expecting all sorts of dystopian stuff aside from this. I'll hold judgement until I get the game.

 

[Ænima]

Hypersexualization is a big part of cyberpunk as a genre. That may not make it right, but it is a dystopian world. It's not meant to be our world. Almost everyone in these stories is scummy.

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This.

 

[Buff DrinkLots]

You're supposed to be offended. They're supposed to be offensive to you. The point is society has been so fucked up that they're not offensive in the future. The world of cyberpunk is not good.

 

[Firefly]

what's stopping them from featuring male bodies or gay interactions?

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There are those as well.

 

[Dmax3901]

How do you know that? Do you know how the entire story plays out?

Look I'm not saying it's right to oversexualize anything, but to say it's "edgy for edgys sake", without even playing the game or knowing how the story plays out is premature.

Even then almost every post here has said it's how the cyberpunk setting is, so your statement makes even less sense

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They're saying the ads are edgy for edgys sake, it's not like playing the story will somehow change how we'll perceive the ads featured throughout the world.

Again, just saying its a trope of the Cyberpunk genre doesn't add anything to this conversation. Genre's need to adapt too.

You're supposed to be grossed out. That is the correct reaction. The world of cyberpunk is not good. These ads are offensive. They're supposed to be.

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Why? What's the point? What's the message?

There are those as well.

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Got any examples?

 

[xKirbz]

You found so many billboards of women and men(you forgot the one dude) because the game wants you to know how depraved America has gotten.

 

[Raigor]

what's stopping them from featuring male bodies or gay interactions?

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Nothing because they have ads with male bodies

 

[Stinkinmushroom]

How do people still not understand that this game is targeted to please 15y old dudes. Its GTA 2.0 with lots of 'cool' swearing and robot tits. So edgy! Much wow

 

[Firefly]

Got any examples?

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Someone just posted them but I saw more. I dont have the link but someone on reddit posted them. I will update this post when I find them.

 

[Dries]

I think the game is attempting to portray a dark future where society is pretty fucked up. On all levels.

 

[Buff DrinkLots]

Why? What's the point? What's the message?

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See my edit

 

[xoxoclvbs]

Cyberpunk 2077 is based off the Cyberpunk TTRPG, which has a wealth of sourcebooks and information about the world. Night City has its own whole sourcebook, which this is ripped straight from.

As others said, in both the original sourcebook and this game - Night City is NOT the future we aspire to have in real life.

 

[Dmax3901]

Nothing because they have ads with male bodies

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I'll give you that last one, but I don't think any of the others are equivalent to the ones I posted. Curious to see more though.

 

[Roytheone]

I see cyberpunk as a genre as a warning. A mirror into our potential future if we keep on the road we are currently traveling. A world that is disgusting. These ads fit in that view of cyberpunk imo.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Hypersexualization is a big part of cyberpunk as a genre. That may not make it right, but it is a dystopian world. It's not meant to be our world. Almost everyone in these stories is scummy.

Click to shrink...

This

Can we stop pointing out what is wrong within the Cyberpunk world? It'd be faster to point out what is right.. (anything??)

It's all Black Mirror episodes rolled into one.

 

[Rats]

Dystopian fiction is a distorted reflection of the modern world, not an idealized vision of the future.

 

[Leveean]

Why? What's the point? What's the message?

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The message is that in this dystopia corporations are shamelessly using sex to make money.

That's it. It's just worldbuilding, and ties into how these corporations are morally bankrupt in several other ways.

 

[Spork4000]

I'll give you that last one, but I don't think any of the others are equivalent to the ones I posted. Curious to see more though.

Click to shrink...

One of the images you posted is literally two men having sex.....

 

[Jayhawk86]

So today I watched the two most recent CP2077 trailers Postcards from Night City and Gangs of Night City and was struck by the sheer number of hypersexualised in-game ads there were. Not only were there so many, but they all appeared to feature women.

Curious, I decided to go back through each trailer frame by frame to collect every 'sexy' ad, just in case I missed something.

Combined the two trailers add up to almost eight minutes of footage and I managed to spot no less than TWENTY-ONE unique ads featuring sexualised women, only one of which featured a male body prominently (but was still about a straight male fantasy), and only one featuring a same sex interaction (two women of course).

These ads/images range from generic to actually pretty fucked up (the dog one and the 'king size' one are particularly gross) but I still think the sheer variety and uniformity of them is what shocks me the most. Worth nothing that all of the pole dancers and other sexualised characters in the footage of the game itself were also women.

Anyway here they are for your perusal (apologies for the quality, I just used the windows snipping tool):

Spoiler: NSFW

What, if anything, are CD Projekt Red trying to do here? If it's to reflect our own world they've failed because even 2020 advertising manages to be more diverse than this. Is it to depict a future where women are still sexualised to a far higher degree than men? If so, why? We know our current world is homophobic, transphobic and sexist, do they really think ads like this are cutting satire, or nuanced critique?

Click to shrink...

How do you know the people in those photos identify as women?

 

[HMD]

Why? What's the point? What's the message?

Click to shrink...

I'm not saying I'm advocating for whatever it is they're trying to say with the game (I haven't yet played it) But it's one of those morbid what if? scenarios we sometimes think about.

It could be poignant in its critic... or it could be full CD Projekt Red.

 

[astro]

This fits the theme pretry well. Look at 2049, it had a similar thing.

You can't show these kinds of worlds without showing some of the shirty aspects.

What matters here is how the game contextualised it with its commentary. Will it actually delve into how problematic and shit this stuff is, or will it use it as window dressing and pure aesthetic?

 

[Spork4000]

I'm not saying I'm advocating for whatever it is they're trying to say with the game (I haven't yet played it) But it's one of those morbid what if? scenarios we sometimes think about.

It could be poignant in its critic... or it could be full CD Projekt Red.

Click to shrink...

Just wanted to say this is a good post.

 

[Hey Please]

You're all either just identifying that it's a trope of the genre (doesn't give it a free pass) or ignoring the fact that the ads all feature women. If it's hypersexualisation that's a cyberpunk trope, what's stopping them from featuring male bodies or gay interactions?

Click to shrink...

I am not denying that. I mentioned 80s specifically to point out of the gender imbalance when it comes to "sex sells" aspect of advertisements. From what I gather, 2077 is essentially taking that societal zeitgeist and shoving through the filter of a hyper-capitalistic dystopian future. Ergo, problematic depictions remain part of 2077's aesthetics. The issue becomes in being able to discern the difference between 'depiction' and 'endorsement'. Given CDPR's history, it is difficult to ascertain that atm.

Personally, if it were up to me, I would, equalize the advert field by including more men in equally sexually suggestive attire, posture and interactions as part of 2077's "sex sells" platform.

 

[Greywaren]

I have no problem with ads being hypersexualized in a cyberpunk world if they properly address how wrong that is. If they don't and it's just for the sake of aesthetics or "because we can do it", then maybe we should start to question it.

 

[Firefly]

Got any examples?

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I can't find more at the moment.

 

[Ruisu]

It's CDPR, they have a history of being extremely more liberal with their depiction of female sexuality while playing coy with some male sexuality that still seems custom made for insecure heterosexual men.

 

[Dries]

How do you know the people in those photos identify as women?

Click to shrink...

Come on man, this is just straight up trolling...

 

[KrillinLikeAVillan]

Hypersexualized everything is very cyberpunk.

 

[xKirbz]

This fits the theme pretry well. Look at 2049, it had a similar thing.

You can't show these kinds of worlds without showing some of the shirty aspects.

What matters here is how the game contextualised it with its commentary. Will it actually delve into how problematic and shit this stuff is, or will it use it as window dressing and pure aesthetic?

Click to shrink...

That is the whole point of the trailer. Homelessness is a crisis, while crime and depravity on the rise. OP just blindly ignored the commentary.

 

[Deleted member 76797]

Fuck this game. Great work compiling all this, OP.

There's nothing clever about the imagery they're using here - yes, overt sexualisation in advertising and worldbuilding has long been a thing in cyberpunk fiction, but usually it serves some sort of purpose or feeds in to the political intent or themes of the work. Here it's just 'edgy' for edgy's sake.

Click to shrink...

i like how confident you are saying that without ever playing the game

 

[Dmax3901]

I am not denying that. I mentioned 80s specifically to point out of the gender imbalance when it comes to "sex sells" aspect of advertisements. From what I gather, 2077 is essentially taking that societal zeitgeist and shoving through the filter of a hyper-capitalistic dystopian future. Ergo, problematic depictions remain part of 2077's aesthetics. The issue becomes in being able to discern the difference between 'depiction' and 'endorsement'. Given CDPR's history, it is difficult to ascertain that atm.

Personally, if it were up to me, I would, equalize the advert field by including more men in equally sexually suggestive attire, posture and interactions as part of 2077's "sex sells" platform.

Click to shrink...

And that's basically where I'm coming from, if there was just as many sexualised male bodies as female (and I'm talking here about the trailers for the game too not just the in-world ads) it would make me feel a whole lot less uncomfortable about the whole thing.

That said, "SEXUALISE EVERYONE!" doesn't necessarily seem like a great thing either.

That is the whole point of the trailer. Homelessness is a crisis, while crime and depravity on the rise. OP just blindly ignored the commentary.

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Hi, I'm not an idiot. I understand 'the commentary', I just don't think it's saying anything as nuanced or original as you seem to think it is. What does homelessness and crime have to do with commentating on the sexualisation in this world?

 

[CasualsareFilth]

Lol I love it. It's supposed to be a dystopian future, let them execute their vision.

 

[Hadok]

Well it's Cyberpunk.

 

[Budi]

I can't find more at the moment.

Click to shrink...

thats already in the OP =)

 

[Firefly]

thats already in the OP =)

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looked closely and youre right but then the OP said ads should feature male bodies and gay interactions so maybe mistakenly thought they are women?

point taken though.

 

[Lee Morris]

This is like someone's vision of the tech future but from the 1960s, where only men were in advertising roles.

It's says nothing about the potential tech future from the starting point of 2020 and the strides made in equality (obviously still miles off where it needs to be and not just in gendwr diversity) in the advertising space in the last 50 years.

Or it's the fact this game is made by majoritley male devs and they are creating there little fantasy world with the facade of cyberpunk to cover up their chauvinistic attitudes.

 

[Bufbaf]

Is "Milfguard" a play on Nilfgaard? lol.

 

[TheMoon]

Everyone going "but BR 2049!!!" is completely missing the point. In that film, it was one example deepyl intertwined with plot and character development, not just random window dressing sold as edgy world building "because dystopia, so we can just do the things we're not allowed to in our edgy games anymore". If it turns out there's some twist woven into the game that addresses all of this, cool, let's see it, but I have basically no faith that's actually there.