Avril Lavigne Videos: Avril Lavigne defiant Britney Spears Music Video: Avril Lavigne, who once billed herself as the “anti-Britney Spears,” has gone Britney and become what she once railed against. Avril finally realized that sex sells and threw the whole anti-Britney philosophy out the window in her latest “What the Hell” music video.
As Bob Dylan famously said, “The times they are a-changin’.” While it has been 47 years since he penned those lyrics they still ring true. Avril Lavigne’s music videos used to be about the song. Whether sad, happy, mad or excited, the videos showed her being herself and focusing on her song and its new meaning, but this new video takes a turn in a new direction that she had only hinted of in the past.
Avril has always said that she saw herself as something different from the Britney Spears’s and those types of singers, but with this video she seems to have embraced that style of promotion. It seems that Avril has realized that sex sells and she is using it to sell a lot. First off we have the selling of Avril herself. The video starts with 45 seconds of Avril in her bra and panties. When she does get dressed it is in a crop-top shirt that shows off her tight belly and a very short pair of shorts. She eventually ends the video in a shirt and pair of skin tight leather pants. Avril Lavigne has always been sexy, but with the exception of a few photo shoots she has always played it down. Here, she seems to want to get our attention and remind us that she is hot so that we will watch her.
While she is clearly using sex to sell this song, she is also using this video to sell products. We start with her in her room. She gets out of bed and sprays herself with one of her two different perfumes. We do get a nice close-up of said perfume. A little later she is in a clothing store where she finds a new outfit that happens to come from her personal clothing line. She plucks it right off the display while the camera lingers on the name so we can all take note. As the video comes to an end Avril is performing live in front of a crowd. Someone holds up a digital camera to snap a picture and we get about a 3 second close-up of it. So close, in fact, we can see the name of the camera then we get the rear view to show us how easy it is to use. It is all pretty shameless.
As for the song itself, it’s decent. It’s Avril Lavigne having one of her lighter moments. She sings about being with a guy for a while and having been good her whole life so now she just wants to have fun, date other guys, have some random hook-ups and have a good time. Nothing earth shattering, but nothing terrible either. In the end the video is shameless in its self-promotion and is soaked in skin and sexual overtones it is clear that the “anti-Britney” has not only become Britney, but she has also become a savvy marketer. At least she made sure that, like Britney Spears, she looks damn good doing it.