Ads

Videos

Magazines

Comic

Internet

Merchandise

Body Double

Movie

Ads

Lara has appeared in numerous ads - in print, on billboards, TV and the internet - in several countries both for the game itself and for several other products. Among these are the car company Seat, the German women's magazine 'Brigitte', the soft drink Lucozade, the German newspaper 'Die Welt' and Sony Playstation. All of the advertisments emphasise Lara's main traits: her sexy body and her indepence and strength. It also becomes clear when looking at these images that they are all (except the Brigitte ad) aimed at male consumers.

Video

Lara also starrs in a music video of the song 'Männer sind Schweine' (Men are Pigs) by the German punk rock band 'Die Ärzte'. In an old warehouse the three male members of the group and Lara are engaged in a vicous fight involving lots of shooting and fighting with Lara leaving the scenen as the winner in the end.  TOP

Magazines

Lara has not only appeared in many magazines and newspapers, Eidos Interactive Germany even created the 'Lara Croft Magazine' in coproduction with Playboy magazine. The images in this magazine are highly eroticised using traditional modes of representing women.TOP

Comic

There are also some comic books in which Lara starrs together with a woman detective 'Witchblade' who works in New York. The imagery holds again no surprises, except that some images might be read as homoerotic. TOP

Internet

The internet is full of webpages dedicated to Lara and putting her name into a search engine supposedly produces more entries than the names of supermodels. Her fans' dedication to her is immense but the images they create of her just tell the same story we have seen everywhere so far: sexy and/or in action. It is interesting to note that though there are very many erotic images there are hardly any where Lara is shown naked (except maybe if you're willing to pay).TOP

Merchandise

The amount of merchandise sold in relation to Lara and Tomb Raider is huge and covers mouse-pads, T-shirts, watches, cardgames, posters, statues, calenders, etc. As with other things, the merchandise seems to be mainly addressed to a male audience (eg T-shirts only in size XL).  TOP

                                                                                                                   
Statue                      Watch                              Mousemat       

Body Double

Lara has a body double who 'stands in' for her at computer fairs, promotional events or photo shoots. There have been several women up to now who have acted as Lara. TOP

Movie

For several years now there has been talk about a Lara Croft major motion picture and it seems they finally started shooting. After much guessing as to who would get to play famous Lara Croft it is now official that Angelina Jolie got the part - which immediately led the magazines to compare her body to Lara's (arguing that of course she didn't even come close but that the missing parts could probably be added on). TOP