Is ad for Dell computer sexist?

An attractive young woman in a short black dress kneels lovingly in front of a Dell 's all-in-one computer, the XPS One, in an ad in the Dec. 1 issue of U.S. News & World Report. The caption reads "Dell. Now available in beautiful."

I've just heard from a Future Tense listener who finds the ad offensive. She writes:

"As a woman and as a mother, I am so TIRED of seeing ads like this. I won’t put up it with it anymore. I have called Dell and shared my response. I will not purchase Dell. When I help my less-than-tech-savvy friend purchase a PC later this month, it won’t be Dell, and I’ll tell her why. My mother is set to retire and is also looking at PCs – it won’t be Dell. When I go to my next professional association meeting, I will bring up this ad, my decision not to buy Dell, and why. I will email my friends about this. I will talk to family members about this.

Would the mother have been offended had the model been male instead, I wonder?

I too find the use of blatantly sexual imagery to sell computers disturbing. I have also contacted Dell and informed them I will spend my computer dollars elsewhere. My current PC is a Dell, and I will not be returning as a customer.
In response to the comment posted by Paul, I would have the same response to this if it was a male model positioned and used in such a suggestive way. My issue is with the sexualization of products as a means to sell them

I'm also a woman and a mother, but old enough for that ad to remind me of the Mercury Cougar. That blonde is pleasant to look at. Why shouldn't pretty women sell computers? They've been draped over cars for years.

I'm offended as a consumer! It's sad that this is what they have to resort to, to try to convince us to buy their product. It just doesn't make much sense to have a woman straddling a computer. I rather like the Apple commercials by the way, with the two men who are supposed to be a PC and a mac. Very clever.

In addition to being offensive in its promotion of a narrow and shallow representation of beauty, it is insulting in its inference that presenting a blatantly sexual image will influence me/us to buy this machine. It reads like a spoof on sophmoric advertising.

I think she is beautiful so it seems an appropriate ad for those of us who are instantly attracted and look closer. What is her name?