Does Sex sell?

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]I've been pondering this question since Wednesday when I was watching TV and saw a comercial for a local radio station.

There were two female security guards standing at a metal detector when this guy (I guess he's supposed to be considered handsome/ good looking ect) shows up. One security guard looks at the other and give an eye signal. The man walks thru the metal detector and the one controling the metal detector makes it go off and tells the guy to take off his shoes. The man takes off his shoes walks thru again and the security guard has the metal detector go off again. She says Pants and shirt. The guy gives her a strange look she waves him on, so he does as he's told. When he's in his boxers the guards let him walk thru. Then another man walks up and the screen cuts to the radio station's logo.

What I'm wondering is how well does sex really sell. Meaning, inuendo and situations. Or maybe just asthetically pleasing people in general. DOes it make you want to buy a product or listen to a certain radio station?

I could really care less how the commercial is done. If it's stupid I won't want to use the product. Look at the one Kohler commercial (NA people I guess since that's where I'm at) where the man and the woman are racing for their house and stripping down to their underwear. I think that's a dumb commercial in general, but It's another example of sex in advertizing.

Maybe I'm not putting this out right. Hell, maybe I don't even have it in the right section, but still, what do you think?[/color]

[Panda]

My opinion on sex in advertising is that it makes people remember the product. When you are little it makes you snicker and giggle since it is naughty. When you are older it makes you think of...well, you know. Either way, the image will stick with the viewer.

I remember when I was younger seeing a poster for Rigid Tools. Had a woman wearing very short cut off jeans and a flannel top that was tied up under her very large chest. She was holding a very large wrench. The caption under it said: "I like all my tools Rigid." I still remember that after years and years!

The commercial with the couple running into the house to take a shower....stupid commercial but we remember it. I bet someone somewhere has the stats as to how well a product sells when the commerical has some sex appeal to it.

Do you remember that Diet Coke commerical where all the office women are taking a break to watch the construction guy drinking his soda on his break? That is another example. Sex sells so it will continued to be used in ads and more. Think about food chains like Hooters. I am sure the guys going in there aren't going just to have some chicken wings! :rolleyes:

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Of course sex sells. Just as an example, did anyone watch The Apprentice? The team of women was frequently critiqued for using sex appeal as an advantage (which they did, and a bit audaciously I might add). It didn't help them win over Donald Trump, but it certainly did help them win the challenges.

[James]

[color=#707875]Yep, sex does sell...and it's primarily directed at straight males. I'd have thought this would be a truly obvious point, whether you're talking about movies, commercial advertising, event promotions or anything else.

But in some ways I think that there will always be that element in the media. Sex is something that is pretty biologically hardwired when it comes to men in particular, so of course, it's always going to be the easiest way for a marketer to push a particular product or piece of content.[/color]

[sublime2004]

[b][size=1][color=darkgreen]
To me, it doesn't matter whats in the commercial. I'm not gonna buy something I don't need or want just becuase I like the commercial. I have not to this day bought a Quizno's sub or Geiko insurance.(but I guess those weren't sexy commercials)

I really only think that sex in commercials is only good for a little "between program pick-me-up", if ya know what I mean. ;) That's not to say it doesn't work on other people. I'm just saying sex doesn't sell to me.[/b][/size][/color]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1][color=darkred]Sex does sell. In so many things, there is a hot girl, or a handsome bloke. You don't want to see John Q Public on adds, or Mary W Lou. Advertising is all about capturing attention and interest. If your add isn't unusual, stupid or sexually appealing, there aren't many other ways to capture people's attention these days, especially with all this market competition. For example, some ex-playboy model flew over here to Australia to model for some ads for a [i]men's shoe company[/i]. Yep. She is standing there, and in front of her, sitting on a bench is a guy with his foot resting on the bench. Personally, she is pretty ugly- good body, bad face. However, the whole point is that it'll make people stop and look, and maybe if they see the store, they'll think, "Oh, they had that ad" and they'll wander inside. Sex does sell, especially if it is trained on a target audience, and it will continue to be a fairly major part of the industry.[/size][/color]

[wrist cutter]

[quote name='James']Yep, sex does sell...and it's primarily directed at straight males.[/quote]

Or lesbians... or wait, they aren't as vile and disgusting as straight males, so easily controlled by sex.

In which case all I should have to say is this: "Lumber, we need lumber." Anybody who's anybody understands.

At any rate, I hate nearly all commercials with a seething passion. What counts for me is not sex, but humor. If a commercial can make me laugh, I will support the company just for that. Have you seen the Washington Mutual commercial with the guy who trusts everything? He walks into his house, and there's a guy with a black mask over his face (clearly a thief) walking around the guy's VCR. The guy asks, "What are you doing?", and the thief hesitates, then says, "Uh, factory recall." He responds, "Oh! Don't let me stand in your way." I couldn't believe it was an actually funny commercial. I'm heading to Washington Mutual right now.

[James]

[QUOTE=wrist cutter]Or lesbians... or wait, they aren't as vile and disgusting as straight males, so easily controlled by sex.
[/QUOTE]
[color=#707875]Of course. The very fact that they're women and not men makes this so. ^_^

But it's also a reflection of the people who are producing the commercials in the first place and the audience they are appealing to. A lot of products limit themselves because they do not appeal to heterosexual women, for example. The products that [i]do [/i]successfully appeal to both men and women are usually the ones that are in a class of their own, in so far as marketing goes.

You might also say that if more women were running corporations around the world, we'd see more products and services being advertised with men [i]and [/i]women in mind.[/color]

[Xander Harris]

[QUOTE=sublime2004][b][size=1][color=darkgreen]
To me, it doesn't matter whats in the commercial. I'm not gonna buy something I don't need or want just becuase I like the commercial. I have not to this day bought a Quizno's sub or Geiko insurance.(but I guess those weren't sexy commercials)
.[/b][/size][/color][/QUOTE]

But those singing hamsters are so cute! I don't buy Quizno's either, but I love their mascots :love:

But seriously, let me say that the example ChibiHorsewomen gave shows the odd kind of sexism we are developing in this nation. If it had been a female being forced to strip by guards, the populace would have been outraged. It would have been called exploitive, demeaning and chauvanistic. Your local women's rights groups would be scandalized. But since it's a man it's o.k.? Just something to think about.

Does sex sell? Of course it does (and I'm not just talking about porn). Like James said, sexual drive is hardwired into our beings. I won't go see a movie just because it has a hot actress in it, but it certainly is a plus. Girls are the same way. Orlando Bloom sold far more LOTR tickets than any special effect or epic story.

As far as sex selling products... I don't think that is quite as effective. Personally, I find comercials for McDonalds featuring slim supermodels saying they eat at Mcdonalds all the time to be hilarious. And those Budwiser commercials where these guys drink beer (apparently by the boxful) and all of a sudden these babes like them? How getting drunk out of your mind and puking on your date's shoes could be attractive is beyond me :rolleyes:

There may be some truth in those breath mint commercials.... girls tend to prefer guys who smell like mint instead of garlic. But I still don't get how the mints give that one dude telepathy :D

Seriously, most commercials are funny because they advertise such ludicrus benefits that have nothing to do with the actual product.

[AzureWolf]

[font=Georgia][color=blue]I wouldn't say that sex sells for any special reason. It's preference, really. Some people are bought on sex, others on action, and still others on sincerity. It's just a form of propaganda that works towards some audiences and dwindles against other ones.[/color][/font]

[font=Georgia][color=#0000ff]Haha, I find it interesting how little sex-related material there is in the viagra commercials... :)[/color][/font]

[Guest cloricus]

What a silly question. The answer is blatant.

I personally disregard advertisers that cannot do better than trying to sell sex for their product.

Other than that, I never really released it but there is also about the same amount of sexually oriented advertising aimed at women as men. I had never looked out for it before but I was talking to a few of the girls in my class about this sort of thing and they said just to look out for it, they were right, nearly every ad or commercial aimed at females has something related to sex it in, though normally a lot more subtle. Just something I found interesting.

[PiroMunkie]

[size=1]Since the obvious answer to this question has already been stated, I shall just give my own personal view.

If it has nothing to do with the product one is trying to seel, then I really do not believe it should be used to advertise in the commercials. That applies mostly to the sex content within commercials, but also applies to such things as those previously stated Quizno's hamsters. Any such thing completely turns me off of the product. I may pass by a Quiznos restaurant and look at it with disgust, regardless of how hungry I am.

One of the commercials containing sex-related topics I do like however are those ones for Enzyme, or whatever it is called. In this case the innuendos actually relate to the product (male enhancement pills ... >.>). I just find them incredibly humorous with the retro "Leave it to Beaver" look, however, I am not going to go out and buy any, lol.[/size]