Sex in Advertising

The continually rising usage of sexual content in advertising as a technique to stimulate interest in the minds of the consumer for a product has attracted debates in ad infinitum around the globe. The sexual appeal in both print and commercial advertising has drawn researchers all over to study the impact of sexual imagery on consumer minds.

Few conclusions say that sex has evolved as the most important marketing tool of the decade. Though being considered a societal taboo, sex related ads and products have been prominently advertised in India as well. Right from the initial stage of attracting interest to holding interest and then introducing a product that correlates with that product have proven a verity that “sex sells” in the market.

The visual images of sexual content varies from being highly overt to extremely subtle; from relatively explicit displays of sexual acts to use of basic cosmetic features enhancing attractiveness. A number of recent ads have featured provocative images that were designed to elicit sexual responses from as large a cross section of the population as possible, or to appeal to repressed sexual desires, which are thought to carry a stronger emotional load. Calvin Klein has been on the forefront of this movement having declared, “Jeans are about sex. The abundance of bare flesh is the last gasp of advertisers trying to give redundant products a new identity”.

The conservatives will obviously criticize this phenomenon, but at the end marketing is all about being successful in selling your products and services. The conservatives forget that by talking about the ad they are helping the marketer attract the required dosage of attention that a product needs.

The bottom line is that the marketer wins, so what if sex is an important element in it.

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