Stuff About Sex in Advertising

Probably one of the oldest forms of catching attention in advertising is sex appeal. There is no doubt that sex in advertising gets the viewers attention, but does it actually sell? First lets look at retention. In "Advertising and Promotion, 9th ED" a marketing analysis shows the effects of having sex in advertisements. To no real surprise, when asked if the viewer liked ads with sexual themes, 48% of men said yes and 8% of women said yes. When asked if ads with sexual themes made the viewer remember the brand, 33% of men said yes and so did 11% of women. But when asked if ads with sexual themes made the viewer purchase a product, only 8% on men and 3% 0f women replied yes. This shows that even though recognition and retention are increased by sexual content in ads, it has a very low impact on getting consumers to actually purchase the product.

 
 Some ads that use sex to sell their product have very little to do with it contextually. In two examples that I have provided, the sexual content is very obvious, and in at least one of the cases completely over the top. The spokespeople are very unlikely candidates for a Carl Jr's ad and really have nothing to do with the product. At least the commercial staring Kim Kardashian is a low calorie option at Carl Jr's and uses a popular reality personality to appeal to women as well as the sexual appeal for men. The commercial staring Paris Hilton, on the other hand, has very little to do with the product. In fact, it isn't until about 30 seconds in that you even see the product. When I first saw this commercial I thought it was a car advertisement. If the ad has done one thing, that would be to create controversy. Consumers are not stupid, they know exactly what the commercial is trying to do. Most viewers don't necessarily care, they like the commercial no matter what it is about, and those that do care just create conversation about it and increase its effectiveness.




One thing that companies need to keep in mind is who they are reaching with these ads and if that is who they want to be providing this image to. Many people are concerned about the amount of sexual content there is in advertising thee days. Many people even even believe that sexual themes promote a general deterioration of moral and social values. This is a serious issue and companies would do well not to become too associated with this idea.