Play on

Does "plays on" in the following context mean "plays with", "uses and exploits", or both?

Context:

While Koons’s appropriation of advertising formats in Made in Heaven plays on the connection between advertising and seduction in the interest of Koons’s ironic self-aggrandisement, it also signals an awareness of the often seductive nature of advertising in general, the consumption of which has become an uncritical activity for many consumers.