Do Ashton and Demi "Dumb Down" Campaign Against Child Sex Slavery With Humorous PSAs?

Couple make a series of commercials for their DNA Foundation, which works towards eliminating sex slavery

By Marianne Garvey Apr 13, 2011 6:16 PMTags

Real men apparently iron their grilled cheese, smell their own dirty socks, shave with chainsaws and eat cereal straight from the box.

Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake and Ashton Kutcher can currently be seen doing the above in humorous ads released by Kutcher and wife Demi Moore's DNA Foundation, which works toward eliminating sex slavery worldwide.

In Kutcher's spot, the actor is seen sniffing his smelly socks before opening a fresh bag of tube socks and putting them on in the ad called "Real Men Do Their Own Laundry."

What this all has to do with child sex trafficking we're not sure. Nor do some naysayers see how the commercials are helping the cause...

All of Kutcher and Moore's commercials (like Cooper's messy breakfast) conclude with the message "Real Men Don't Buy Girls," but not everyone thinks the duo's effort is aimed in the right direction.  The Kabbalah-loving couple has come under fire this week for the campaign, which some consider to be inappropriately cute in light of the heavy subject matter.

"This is what happens when celebrities do an issue divorced from the movement," Nora Ramos, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women told FOX411.com. "Once you choose an issue and don't do it in collaboration with people who have been doing this for a long time, this is what you end up with. There is a general dumbing down that is going on and this is an example of dumbing down a social justice movement with the narrowest message possible."

In Timberlake's PSA, the flirty singer is slathered in shaving cream and revs up a chainsaw in a bathroom mirror, preparing to shave with it, in a spot titled "Real Men Prefer a Close Shave."

 Kutcher has defended the lightness of the ads, telling Hope140.org that he and Moore chose to use comedy to "engage and educate" people and get them thinking and talking about the issue.

"We came up with the concept of the 'Real Men Don't Buy Girls' campaign, which aims to engage poeple, specifically men, in the issue. To do so, we filmed short, funny videos about things 'Real Men' do, starring high-profile influential men and women. The concept of the campaign is that real men do a lot of silly, even foolish things. But one thing they don't do is buy children for sex. That's not funny, and real men don't do it," Kutcher explained.