Seen the newest series of Nike ads? It's your standard sports scene: two basketball players in a tight action shot, but with a catch—there's usually one player either reaching for, elbowing away, or simply being face-masked by airborne player's package. This is supposed to represent act of being "dunkd," the painful moment in which the player finds himself the victim of a "dunking," meaning he has been "dunked upon."

The ads, for the company's new Hyperdunk shoes, include a "crisis phone line" which you can call if you've been a victim of said offense. My first thought was that the campaign was rather clever and funny, especially when I called the hotline and spoke with a "crisis counselor." I made small talk by commenting on the cleverness of the ads and threw in a query about public relations. The counselor informed me that she was sorry but she could only address "issues regarding dunking trauma." Cute stuff.

Then the tide began to turn.

As I walked up the corridor in Manhattan's West 4th Street/6th Ave station this morning, which was lined with the ads on both sides, the underlying tone of the campaign became much more, if you will, in your face. Among the posters was one featuring a face-in-crotch shot with word "EWWWW" transposed over the image. Others insinuated that your mother would kick you out of the house in shame if you were the victim of such crotch-facement.

I spoke briefly with blogger Matt of The Gay Recluse, who today voiced his concerns about the negative tone of the ads, and the fact that they're posted in areas of New York City commonly identified with aggressive and impressionable young adult males (Harlem, Washington Heights). He was quick to note how the ads were "playing off of ghetto stereotypes and language" with phrases such as "No Bueno," "Your mama," and, "That ain't good."

This isn't a unanimous perspective, however. At other mainstream gay blogs like Towleroad, commenters seem to find the majority of the ads inoffensive. Interesting. Perhaps not everyone has had the opportunity to view the campaign in a consistent format where it can be judged in the full context. And an unscientific poll here at Radar resulted in responses such as slight bemusement from our interns to red-faced laughter from guys who identify as heterosexual. It's also notable that none of the denunciations of the ads are coming from straight folks. Nonetheless, I placed a call to the agency responsible the campaign, Weiden + Kennedy, and requested a comment from the ad's creator, Seth Coffrin. I have yet to hear back from him.

Offensive or not, one thing is for sure: the ads are certainly effective. You see a guy's face jammed into another guy's junk, you're gonna pay attention.