ABSTRACT
In late February 2018, 5,000 print posters distributed throughout the Netherlands featured a series of staged, intimately homoerotic images for the Dutch fashion brand Suitsupply. In reaction, billboards were vandalised, public demonstrations ensued, and counter-protests were organised both online and offline across the country. Suitsupply’s campaign images were distributed by JC Decaux Group—the largest outdoor advertising group in the world. Its private operations in public space rely on geomarketing technologies to distribute targeted advertising through specifically designed urban architectures and interfaces that seamlessly integrate into the urban fabric. Taking this as a case study, and drawing upon queer and feminist frameworks, we critically analyse the mechanisms and systems at play in the production and reproduction of gender and sexual identities within the urban sphere in the Netherlands. We argue that it is not sufficient to problematise current cultural or political debates. Instead, it is crucial to deconstruct the role of design across the infrastructures by which the campaign was displayed and distributed.
