This paper aims to look at the effects of sex in the advertising industry. It will look at the various different ways in which sex is used to sell products to viewers of adverts, whether they are print ads (in magazines, newspapers or billboards etc) or televised ads.  As well as using examples to support the points made in this paper, I will also be drawing on the knowledge of others who have looked into the uses (and misuses) of sex in advertising

An advertiser’s aim is to gain the attention of viewers of their advert and make them want to own what they see being advertised. In order to do this, advertisers must appeal to the viewer’s wants and desires. This is done by finding a way of linking their product with the desires of the viewer’s sub-conscious. Along with security and nutrition, another basic human desire is sex. A great number of advertisers use sex to sell their products, and this is done in a number of different ways, in order to target the specific audience that the advertisers want buying their product. However, before looking at the different ways sex is used in advertising, it is important to look at what the viewers themselves will be looking for. For example, men and women look for different things in the act of sex and relationships and this is therefore explored in the different adverts aimed at the opposite sexes.

 “…a man's biological criteria can be simple: 1) she must be healthy; 2) she must be young; 3) she must be receptive; 4) and she must be impregnable. The sex act is of paramount importance to the man; it is how he impregnates the woman. After that, his concern is having more women to impregnate.” (Taflinger: web page)

Here, Richard Taflinger, talks of how men see sex. The instinct of man is to impregnate healthy, young, receptive women. Therefore adverts aimed at men, that contain a sexual element must appeal to this ravenous side of the male instinct. A clear display of this is shown on the television adverts for “Lynx” (a deodorant for men). Here we see very attractive females, dressed in provocative and alluring ways, doing various different jobs (such as a post woman and pizza deliverer). The slogan for the advert is “The girls are ready … are you?” The advert brings all these different women to the man wearing Lynx, therefore suggesting that by wearing Lynx deodorant you can get all the young, attractive females you want to do whatever you want them to.

Lynx are well known for their ways of advertising their products to their target audience. One particular advert created by Lynx, featured a man (not particularly attractive or unattractive) walking into a bar. He is wearing Lynx deodorant and dances to a song playing in the bar. His dance moves aren’t exactly outstanding but he attracts two young, attractive females who dance with him. On looking men are amazed and envious. This advert became so popular that the featured song (“Make Luv” by Oliver Cheatham) was at number one in the UK music chart for four weeks. These two examples show how, when adverts are aimed at men, they need to appeal to the male instinct, and therefore, they often feature the male protagonist surrounded by more than one female.

For years, females have been the main sex symbols in advertising. Even though females are still used in the majority of adverts conveying a sexual message they no longer hold an exclusive franchise on sex symbol portrayals. Attractive male models are now explicitly displayed as sex objects in thinly clad clothing. (Lin: 1998, p3) However, adverts aimed at females need to appeal more to their instincts in order to have a positive effect on the viewer of the advert.

“The sex act, and his participation, being so brief, doesn't have to be of any particular interest to her. What is important is the quality of genes he brings and the help, if any, she will have while carrying, bearing and rearing the children.” (Taflinger, web page)

Taflinger points out that females, are not looking for males in order to have sex with them (like males are with females), rather, they are looking for good genes in order to pass on to any children that may be conceived. Therefore, ads aimed at female buyers, tend to focus more on the romantic side of a relationship between males and females, rather than the sexual side of things. An example of an advert aimed at females today is for “Radox” (a make of bath foam). The advert features a woman lying in the bath, covered with bubbles. Her toe is stuck in the faucet. Standing around are a group of firemen. The dialogue insinuates the firemen needing to take their uniforms off in order to rescue the female. It turns out it is all a figment of her imagination, an example of her desires. The slogan for the advert is “Radox – where will your bath time take you?” Even though this advert features more than one male as the object of the female’s desire, it still appeals to the ideals of female desire. The men being imagined by the female in the bath are there to help her. Her fantasy features men needing to be strong in order to save her. It is a romantic scenario, that unlike ads aimed at men, focuses on the abilities of the males being imagined (e.g. their genes)

Another example of a television ad aimed at females today, is for the alcoholic drink “Archers”. This ad shows a handsome, strong man in various different situations, for example – rescuing animals and stopping a burst water hydrant from gushing with water by tying his jeans around it! So by the end of the advert, the man is half naked (showing off his muscular, strong physic) and he has accomplished a number of daring task. Accompanying the images is the strap line to the advert “Archers – Something for the ladies”. These examples show the object of desire in a situation where they need to show their strength and good breeding; things that are important to female instinct when it comes to choosing a sexual partner.

In his web document, Sex in advertising: Does it sell?, Mark Levit points out that:

Studies show that the attractiveness of the endorsing model provokes positive responses. Nudity and graphic erotic content, while still increasing consumer's attention, doesn't really generate positive feelings among viewers.

(Levit: web page)   

Therefore, advertisers must know their boundaries when it comes to using sex as an aid to selling their products. While the attractiveness of the model(s) used in an ad campaign may make people curious about the product being promoted, “nudity and graphic erotic content” (ibid) may give such viewers a negative opinion of the product, hence they are less likely to buy into it if they are unhappy about the way in which it is promoted. In other words, advertisers must be careful to avoid the "cheap shot," which may negatively affect a brand's image. (ibid)  

Take figure 1 (attached) as an example. This is an advert for “Remington Bikini Trim & Shape” that I found in the magazine “Cosmopolitan” in December 2003. The advert is set on a black background, and features the silhouette of a naked woman holding mistletoe to her pubic region. Written in a small font on the silhouette, in the region where the pubic hair would be if the model were real (rather than just an outline) are the words “Have a very Merry Christmas”. A viewer of the advert may assume that by owning a Remington bikini shape and trim, one may experience some form of sexual activity this Christmas (the advert hints toward the possibility of oral sex by the use of the model holding the mistletoe where it is!) So, this advert is clearly aimed at women, but is not deemed to be offensive because even though it hints at the message it is trying to get across, by using a silhouette of a female which gives the viewer very little detail as to her nakedness other than the outline of a nipple, it does not give the viewer anything more to see, it merely makes the viewer imagine the meaning of the advert and the detail of the model.

In his book “Visual Persuasion – the Role of Images in Advertising”, Paul Messaris identifies three different ways in which advertising uses sex to sell products. These are: Sex as Metaphor, Questionable Sex – Product Links and Controversial Sexuality. (Messaris; 1997, p.246–262). An example of a printed advert that uses sex as a metaphor is attached (Figure 2 – Polaoid cameras). This advert is set out as a Polaroid photo and shows, on a wooden ledge, a Polaroid photo of a pile of clothes (suggestively belonging to a female) the photo is signed in lipstick. In the advert, just visible, is a pair of shoes that the viewer would assume, belong to a man who is looking at the photo. At the very bottom of the ad is a small picture of the product that is being sold. This advert merely suggests the sexual content, without showing so much as naked flesh or even a human body. However, it draws in the attention of the viewing audience and makes them think about the message that the advert is trying to convey. Even though it is obvious that merely owning a Polaroid camera is unlikely to bring sex one’s way, the advert makes the viewer think about the product being sold in a positive light because the advert sets the viewer a challenge to figure out its meaning. This ad seems to be mainly aimed at males more than females. The use of the pile of female clothes and the lipstick in the ad would be more prominent to a male’s gaze than a female’s.

The second of the categories looked at by Messaris is that of questionable links between sex and the product being sold. Messaris describes adverts in this category are those in which:

visual syntax is used to convey an unspoken sexual message. In this kind of ad, the link between the product and sex is disparaged or condemned by public opinion. (Messaris; 1997. p 249)

Messairs then goes on to point out these ads are usually found promoting such products as alcohol, tobacco and cars. The attached advert for “Dooley’s” – a vodka and toffee alcoholic drink (see figure 3), could be considered an example of one of these such adverts. The image is an extreme close up of a male’s tongue touching a female’s chin. At the top left, three short sentences read: “ON ICE CREAM. ON THE ROCKS. ON SKIN.” Underneath the couple is a bottle of the advertised product, lying on it’s side and spilling out. It stands out from the black and white of the rest of the advert. Under this image is the strap line for the advert: “VODKA TOFFEE. NOT FOR THE SWEET & INNOCENT.” Under this, at the very bottom of the page is information of where it is possible to buy the advertised product.

The image is clear and quite self explanatory without the three short sentences at the top of the page. The female’s expression is one of pleasure and enjoyment, and the male is smiling as he licks the female’s chin. So, why is the link between the product being sold and the sexual message it may be seen to be expressing, considered to be questionable? I believe that the reasons behind people questioning such adverts as this one, lies behind the fact that the product being advertised is alcoholic. Therefore, it would have the usual effects alcohol has on people when they consume it of altering their sense of awareness. Therefore, the advert may be seen as giving across the message that, when you are intoxicated on Dooley’s you may end up having a sexual encounter; this is obviously not a responsible message to be giving out and therefore, may have the consequences of people being adverse to the advert itself.

The third category Messaris mentions is that of controversial sexuality. He refers to the adverts made by the designer clothes company Calvin Klein. These ads were controversial because they reportedly used underage models to pose in their campaign, in sexually provocative positions. So, ads that come under this category of “controversial sexuality”, are those which promote sexual acts that aren’t deemed to be acceptable in society. Adverts that seem to promote or condone sex between minors, sex between homosexuals, and fetishes all come under the category of controversial sexuality. Figure 4 (attached), shows an advert for the breakfast cereal “Alpen”. The advert shows two stuffed bears, dressed up in, what might be considered, bondage or fetish clothing. The (supposedly) male bear is holding a whip, and standing, while the female bear seems to be being dominated. The strap line to the advert is “Sweet. But not too sweet.” If this advert was modeled using humans instead of stuffed bears, it would more than likely be seen as controversial, especially as the male is seemingly holding a whip to the female. However, the use of the bears by the advertisers makes the advert acceptable. Even though it makes the viewer of the advert think about the sexual message that the advert is trying to convey, it also make them consider the link between the given image of the bears, the strap line to the advert and the product being sold. Instead of being disgusted by what they are seeing, the viewer would probably laugh at the way in which the product is being advertised, after all, it’s not every day you would compare a breakfast cereal to a sexual fetish! 

This paper shows that there are many different ways in which advertising uses sexual innuendo to sell products to viewers. Advertisers have to carefully consider their target audience in order to make decisions about how they are to put forward their message about their product in an effective way. It is clear that females and males look for different things when it comes to the sexual appeal of an advert, therefore the advertisers must adjust their approach to advertising accordingly. So, sex sells when it is used in good taste (Levit: web page) and when the advertisers use it to appeal to the innate instincts of males and females in order to sell their products.

References

Levit, Mark; “Sex in advertising: Does it sell?” [WWW document] URL: http://www.partnerslevit.com/one/onea/oneb/onec/onec.html  viewed on: 21/12/03

Lin, Carolyn A (1998); “Uses of sex appeals in prime-time television commercials.” [WWW document] URL: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m2294/n5-                     6_v38/20749200/p1/article.jhtml?term=sex+in+advertising  viewed on: 21/12/03

Messaris, Paul (1997): Visual Persuasion – the Role of Images in Advertising. Sage, London

Taflinger, Richard, F, “Taking Advantage: You and Me, Babe: Sex and Advertising” [WWW document] URL: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/sex.html  viewed on 20/12/03