The framing of Calvin Klein: A frame analysis of media discourse about the August 1995 Calvin Klein Jeans advertising campaign

Abstract

This study analyzes the media discourse about the August 1995 Calvin Klein jeans campaign which media critics characterized as “kiddie porn.” Though media placement of the campaign was limited, mainstream media reports of the nascent controversy surrounding the campaign brought it into the national spotlight. A frame analysis is used to deconstruct the kiddie‐porn media frame which the industry and mainstream media employed to characterize the campaign and Klein's promotional activities. The analysis examines how the kiddie‐porn frame produces and reproduces common‐sense beliefs about the nature of youth, youthful sexuality and youthful cultural and economic power. The findings suggest that the “kiddie‐porn” frame articulates a metadiscourse encompassing the politicized discourses of Generational Equity, middle‐class morality and patriarchy. Ultimately, this metadiscourse trivializes the issue of child pornography and obscures the cultural and economic influence of youth in the United States.

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