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Sex Sells

Sex appeal in advertising has become an increasingly popular form of advertising in America over the years. This kind of advertising “is based around the appearance of nudity and the use of sexual attractiveness or suggestiveness”. Sex appeal advertising has been widely used ever since the 1960’s to promote brand awareness of certain products. There are a few important advantages to using sex appeal in advertising. First off, using sexiness attracts attention. Advertisements that do not use this do not get as much initial attention. Additionally, sex appeal can help viewers remember the ad better. This is due to the concept that “sex content is often easy to relate to and memorable”. Third, using sexiness in ads creates “emotional responses, such as arousal, excitement or even lust, which in turn can create stimulation and desire for the product” The final benefit for using sex appeal in advertisements, Slater notes, is that some researchers think sex appeal ads are more persuasive that ads that don’t use sex appeal. Due to these reasons, it is not surprising that numerous companies use this form of advertising.

Although it is popular, sex appeal used in advertising is very stereotypical. In "Sex Role Portrayals in Advertising", William J. Lundstrom points out that there are a few major stereotypes for this kind of advertising. To begin with, when women are depicted in advertisements, they are usually seen in traditional house-hold roles and are dependent on men. Usually it is only men that are seen with occupational roles outside the house. Additionally, women are generally seen as sex objects in the eyes of men (74). Lundstrom passionately argues that this is unjust. It is now the 21st century where many women go to college for very similar careers to that of men. Classifying them as inferior to women is unfair (74).

The role portrayal of gender is a big problem in these advertisements. Women tend to view this type of advertising the most negatively. Particularly, the "influential, younger, better educated, upper status women" tend to be the most critical of this advertising (Lundstrom 78). As the number of working women increases and as the actual role of women in society changes, so must the ways of advertising. This is due to the fact that products which would have traditionally been purchased by men are now being purchased by women (Lundstrom 78).

Women are being used over and over in sex advertisements. However, it is important to realize that women are targeted in these ads as well. Victoria's Secret is a good example of this. This company uses gorgeous models who wear this brand of underwear. They want the women viewers to think that they will look that good if they were to wear the product (Blair 1).

It's important to understand men and women's attitudes regarding sex to properly advertise to each sex. There is an important reason why women and men react differently to sexual images in advertising. Women tend to be less interested in sex alone as men. They are actually more interested in "relationship commitment" (Dahl 1). Men have a different standpoint. Generally, men are more interested in a recreational attitude on sex without commitment than women. This is because females "must invest far greater resources to produce offspring than men" (Dahl 2).

This is beneficial to know when companies are using sex appeal to target women. They will be much more successful when they target more than the sex act itself. If the advertisement can be understood in promoting a committed relationship rather than appealing to a one-night stand it will most likely be more successful (Dahl 2).