the use of sex appeal in advertising

flutterfly · Post by **flutterfly** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:55 am

Hello everyone,

recently i have been doing research on sex appeal used in advertising to promote products.

is there anyone out there who has an opinion.

are there people offended by this sort of thing, or do people like it.

should it continue, is it ethical, what are your personal views on the subject?

waiting for your replies so i can get more insight into what people think about the subject.

thanks

pink princess · Post by **pink princess** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:06 am

i have no problem staring at some gorgeous guy for 30 seconds on a telly advert!

anyone remember those coca-cola adverts and the diet coke break..... possibly the best advert of all time!

does this mean were requesting a forum so we can all drool at gorgeous people promoting things?!

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:47 am

I have no problem with sex being used in marketing products as long as it's done with class and style. I dislike a couple of the current hamburger commercials that are classless (IMO).

Jives · Post by **Jives** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 10:51 am

I agree mostly with Lon, as usual. There is tasteful and classy, and then there is slutty and nasty.

I wil say this too, I'm tired of averaging 3 teen pregnancies a year in my classes. One half of ALL preganacies in New Mexico last year were minor teenagers. One half of those children will be born into extreme poverty.

Maybe it's time to teach a little old fashioned chastity.:-2

LottomagicZ4941 · Post by **LottomagicZ4941** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:21 pm

Jives wrote: I agree mostly with Lon, as usual. There is tasteful and classy, and then there is slutty and nasty.

I wil say this too, I'm tired of averaging 3 teen pregnancies a year in my classes. One half of ALL preganacies in New Mexico last year were minor teenagers. One half of those children will be born into extreme poverty.

Maybe it's time to teach a little old fashioned chastity.:-2

Also in agreement except I would say we are overdue in teaching some old fashioned chastity.

My understanding is that there are negative health implications for gals having sex to young. Increase risk of cancer and stuff like that. So there are issues beyond just pregnancy. I just had a kid and I can't imagine doing that as a teen!!!

Lotto

http://www.flalottomagic.net/?sponsor=Z4941

MagicZ4941A

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:37 pm

pink princess wrote: i have no problem staring at some gorgeous guy for 30 seconds on a telly advert!

[...]

does this mean were requesting a forum so we can all drool at gorgeous people promoting things?!

Okay fine. What do you want me to promote?

I have no kids so it's hard for me to relate to the minor teen thing. I guess I'd feel differently if I ever went to the mall.

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:02 pm

I have no problem with using sex to sell, what I DO have a problem with is how it seems to be so one-sided. How often do you see a commercial with a hunky guy selling a car? Or selling anything for that matter? You can't drive down your own street without getting slammed with images of half-dressed women selling anything from beer to magazines, to appliances. I would like to see advertisers make this a more "two-way" street. It's rare to see a foxy dude anywhere other than a few select magazine ads.

BEEFCAKE!! BEEFCAKE!!! WE WANT BEEFCAKE!!!

flutterfly · Post by **flutterfly** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:07 am

Thanks everyone for your responses, here is a couple of more questions for you.

its interesting that this discussion has been paired with a discussion of teenage pregnancies, of course teens will have sex but i agree that growing up with explicit sexual images surrounding you does affect kids in an important way.

the ethics side of the argument does include such implications. though what i am trying to prove is that, the use of sex appeal in advertising does not work as well as it used to about a decade ago.

i'm looking for reasons behind this.

are people immuned to it like me, or does the shock factor still work?

would the shock factor make you go out and buy the product?

do you think that other methods of advertising are more effective in communicating their messages? for example humour in advertising?

if you found an advert hilarious would you remeber it for longer?

or if you really liked the background music to the ad would you grow to like the product?

or would you say any of the above actually work? or is it just a waste of money?

just wondering what you guys think?

its good to get other points of view in order to understand bette:yh_think r.

waiting for your responses.

pink princess · Post by **pink princess** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:39 am

oh gosh thats a whole heap of questions...

ok.... ummm....

shock factor, doesnt really do it for me.... it would probably make me steer clear of a product actually because id see it as such a shameless marketing ploy that i would refuse to give the company my money!

background music.... might possibly make me grow to like a product but the ad would have to run for such a long time that thered probably be somethign new on the market by then....

humour.... i think one of the only humourous ads to have lasted any length of time was those budweiser ads and thats more because of the catchphrase that got adopted into humour....

the basic thing is sex sells, put a pretty lady or gorgeous guy in front of someone and some chemistry thing sparks off in the brain... its a natural human thing we cant help and cant stop.... it may be sad that we are all so simple but its true....

i dont think sexy adverts have an impact on our kids these days... the diet coke break ad never made me want to go and jump into someones pants (!) i think its more about what our children are exposed to in general life.... music bands wearing next to nothing, the concept of wating until you find someone you love before you have sex has gone its all about who can lose their virginity first.... i saw a girl out shopping with her mum the other month, she couldnt have been more than about 12.... she was carrying a La Senza bag (lingerie shop for those who are old enough to understand the REAL purpose of one and the implications etc etc).... what the F was her mum letting her do shop there? sh*t the girl didnt even have any breasts, she couldnt have anything to put in a bra and as for the thongs she no doubtless had brought who the F is gonna see her in them? why does she want someone to see her in them? whats her mum doing letting her buy them? at 12 you can have no concept whatsoever of what sex is really all about....

the problem today is that kids have lost their innocence... its gonna take a couple of generations before sense kicks in and people start to not let their kids behave like adults...

the kids today think they are so cool because they can hang on street corners and have sex and kids like all the adults in the world do, i remember growing up at school we all used to play games like we were in sixth form and laid our text books out in a certain way to achieve it etc there is a fascination when you are young about being older and wanting to impress people with how you can behave older. thing is its been taken to an extreme these days and its been allowed to happen before people really realised it was happening. parents dont seem to do - strict - anymore, they dont know the meaning of the word... (apart from the wonderful examples of good parents we have here at the garden of course

)

apologies for the long post - im bored!!

oh and by the way - still no problem looking at a gorgeous guy advertising something!

pink princess · Post by **pink princess** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:45 am

Accountable wrote: Okay fine. What do you want me to promote?

anything and everything

/sigh

/mmm

:-4

buttercup · Post by **buttercup** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:47 am

oh woa thats too many questions this early in the day, i'll sum it up with i dont mind it being used, male or female, it would not make me buy the product & even if it was a funny ad i'd likely remember but not the brand name, like recently there was a funny ad here about sausages, so funny but couldent tell you which kind of sausage, hope that helps

Majenta · Post by **Majenta** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:38 am

flutterfly wrote:

are people immuned to it like me, or does the shock factor still work?

would the shock factor make you go out and buy the product?

Not in of itself no... in fact it might even put me off in a kind of 'oh give it a rest, is this really necessary?' way... like I'm getting really bored with the shock factor in modern art, it's like they can't think of anything really original so they resort to sex, death and violence. Booorrrrriiinnnnnggggg.... :yh_sleep (but that's a whole new thread...

)

flutterfly wrote:

do you think that other methods of advertising are more effective in communicating their messages? for example humour in advertising?

again, hard to give an overall answer, I think the crucial ingredient is not the 'genre' of the ad (ie humourous, sexy etc) but whether it is original, and doesn't treat its viewers like they're stupid. I get so insulted by in-your-face adverts like the tango ads

flutterfly wrote: if you found an advert hilarious would you remeber it for longer?

probably

flutterfly wrote: or if you really liked the background music to the ad would you grow to like the product?

doubt it, I usually just focus on the music if it's that good and ignore the product. Like the dancing car in the citroen advert... sod the car, I bought the darkdancer album! (even though most of the other tracks are rubbish *sigh*)

flutterfly wrote:

or would you say any of the above actually work? or is it just a waste of money?

they can, but I thinl there is a more subtle art to advertising than most advertisers realise!!

hope to have been of help

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:06 am

(moved to general chitchat forum)

Lon · Post by **Lon** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:44 am

I will remember the product name and purpose where little kids & puppies are used. Like, the Pepsi commerical of a few years back with the laughing youngster being smothered in puppies.

Also, humour. I remember them vividly where humour is used. One of my favorites is a New Zealand "Red Bull" commercial and another one for a bank.

They should have a "Academy Award" for the best commercials, voted on by the general public. I'll bet the results would shock advertisers.

Jives · Post by **Jives** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:13 am

flutterfly wrote:

are people immuned to it like me, or does the shock factor still work?

would the shock factor make you go out and buy the product?

What shock factor? I saw that Jessica Simpson commercial the other day and yawned. Girls have gotten to the point where they are hardly wearing any clothing at all, thongs and tiny bikini tops are the norm. Where's the mystery? Where's the imagination? Where's the modesty? Honestly, it was more exciting in the old days when you had to imagine everything. Now you can see it, and strangely...it's not as exciting.

do you think that other methods of advertising are more effective in communicating their messages? for example humour in advertising?

Yes. Repetition, Testimonials, especially the average joe kind, humor, nostalgia..and especially statistics and graphs are much more effective adn always will be. And honestly the graphs thing makes me laugh. As a mathematician, I can take any poll, and any chart and twist it to make it fit either side of any argument. And yet I still see people say, "Wow, he has a graph, he must be telling the truth!" ROFL!

if you found an advert hilarious would you remeber it for longer?

Yes.

or if you really liked the background music to the ad would you grow to like the product?

Anyone know where I can download that "the wheel goes round and round" song? I love it.

or would you say any of the above actually work? or is it just a waste of money?

Oh it's definitely NOT a waste of money. You should see the kids and their logos at school. It's like a religion with them. And would anyone here dispute that Tide is the best laundry detergent?

Hey, even I buy Captain Crunch when I get cereal. Like I have since it came out in 1964.

cars · Post by **cars** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:26 pm

EYE CANDY !

It's a good thing, for both M & F!!

Accountable · Post by **Accountable** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:11 pm

flopstock wrote: It's not the eye candy, it's the anticipation of the eye candy...because once you've had it, you'd love the opportunity for something different..Seems to me it has to have the 'tease' of possibilities to be attractive and keep your interest.

But I think laughter has to be the best selling tool. laughter makes you comfortable , and with comfort, comes a sense of familiarity. A connection to the product.

Yeah. .... I love oatmeal for just that reason.

persephone · Post by **persephone** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 3:27 pm

Answer to original question:

I see nothing wrong with them. I like the newer Dove adverts "Real Women have Real Curves".

You see muslims pulling the posters down off bill boards though, as women shouldn't show so much flesh :-5

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 4:01 pm

SEX sells on TV, Radio or what ever, it won't be changing anytime soon.

I do respond to funny Adverts much more than the SEX one. I also find the clever one like the HP camera pinter one excellent and clever. I would rather watch them then Paris Hilton attempting to wash a car in a BIKINI... other than the cool car I'm find it boring.

cars · Post by **cars** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:33 pm

flopstock wrote: It's not the eye candy, it's the anticipation of the eye candy...because once you've had it, you'd love the opportunity for something different..Seems to me it has to have the 'tease' of possibilities to be attractive and keep your interest.

But I think laughter has to be the best selling tool. laughter makes you comfortable , and with comfort, comes a sense of familiarity. A connection to the product.

Ah, but you have to admit it's the EYE CANDY that catches your attention in the first place! How long it keeps your attention depends on how risque it is.

Just saw a commercial "Wanta Fanta", very catchy, moderately dressed beauties doing a wriggly dance, singing Wnata Fanta, Wanta Fanta caught my eye!

(Selling some kind of drink?)

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:45 pm

Lon, they DO have an "Academy Award" for the best commercials...

they're called the Clio's!!

LottomagicZ4941 · Post by **LottomagicZ4941** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:19 am

Saw an editoral bashing Coors beer for using attractive gals in their adverts.

They are still doing the sexy adverts. Budwiser has toned it down becasue it got to the point aparently that some gals wouldn't let their guys drink the stuff.

Surprized no one has mentioned Paris Hilton in the Carl Js adverts. Those got some mainstreem critizm. Personally I find her scankey and wouldn't want her associated with my busisness. But I guess many find her attractive.

LOL on the Fanta comericals. They manage not to offend the gals some how. At least my wife sings along with the jingle. TAB cola quit their sexy adverts because people didn't remember what the product that was being promoted. Guess Coke/Fanta solved that with the jingle.

Perhpas I should sex up my own adverts. My wife noticed that I had visited porn city which has a promotional section. I think the ticket is to not get the gals miffed. Then again Carl Jr got some free publicity by crossing the line. They seemed perpaired for it.

Lotto

http://www.flalottomagic.net/?sponsor=Z4941

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PS Thought of the day Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground!

PPS "don't you want to fanta" LOL total inuendo----

jasmund · Post by **jasmund** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 1:58 am

-About 4 years ago I had a women come into our pharmacy and complain to the manager that she demanded she take down those Revlon adds from the ceiling, that they were inappropriate and offending to her and her children.

-I had never even noticed them, since they are sent from corporte a million miles away and told where we must hang them, the manager did what the women wanted, and you know what , they were offensive, just covering her breast nipple,she appeared to be naked with a strip of red sating covering just the tips of her breasts. The sign stayed down.

-I am glad that women did that, it promotes the wrong image to young girls

-Jasmund

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 10:36 am

It will never go away and I don't have a problem unless it's too sexy...you should see some Swedish stuff ....

I loved the Jeans advert where the guy took off his jeans in the laundrette and sat there in his boxers....fwhoooo.

Was it Levi Jeans...can't remember .