Against Sex in Advertising Term Paper

Against Sex in Advertising

Many advertisers know the power of using sex in advertising. Sex sells. Pretty female models in bathing suits are used in car ads. Years ago, a pretty blonde woman was in a shaving cream commercial on television urging men to take it all off. Women are used as sex objects more frequently than men.

There is basis in psychological theory to validate the use of sex in ads. One is the theory of classical conditioning. (Weiten, Wayne. 195-196). In advertising, this would pair the product, such as a car, with a stimulus designed to elicit a pleasant emotional response, an attractive woman in order to sell the vehicle.

This is overt advertising.

There is also covert sex in advertising. This uses subliminal techniques, which are supposed to reach the subconscious to sell the product.

The first experiment in the use of these techniques was done at the movie theater. The designer of this experiment inserted frames into the film that carried the messages to drinkCoke and eat popcorn. According to his results, sales of both products increased dramatically.People went to the refreshment counter in droves to buy the products.

The results have never been duplicated.

Advertisers will embed the word, "sex," in a magazine picture that is not perceivedby the human eye or will superimpose pictures of sexual objects on objects like ice cubes and it is not noticed until this is pointed out to people, they will not perceive this either. (Key 9-12)

Whether or not subliminal advertising works is still a matter of debate.

Should sex be used in advertising? No!

CNBC had run an ad that showed scantily dressed women, an ad for a topless club.(Tunick, Brit 53-53). This ad outraged bankers and other people. Ads like this degrade women

There is a cigarette ad that shows an attractive woman putting on make-up.TheImplied promise is that if a woman smokes that brand of cigarette, she will be beautiful too.(Cane, William 1)

One person complained that it is impossible to turn on the television or radio or read a magazine without being inundated with sex. (Show Some Discretion 1)

There is an ad that shows a good-looking couple strolling outside. She grins andpats him on his backside. This is a perfume ad. The implication is that is a woman uses thatperfume, she will get a handsome man. (Taflinger, Richard F. 1)

Sex should not be used in advertising for a variety of reasons. According to mostsources, it does sell. But that is not a good reason to use sex in ads.

Sex, as was pointed out, degrades people, for the most part women. It turns them into nothing more than Sexual objects, something to be desired not for themselves, but for their bodies.

This sends a message to young females that they should be sexy and desirable, It is not personality and brains that count, it is their attractiveness and sexuality that counts. It is not out of the realm of reality that some young women will engage in sex to prove they are desirable. This is the message some of these ads are sending

These ads can also have negative effects on young males. They are taught to View women as sexual objects. One of the underlying messages is that females are put on earth to satisfy their sexual cravings and nothing more. Woman are reduced to being like a Stepford wives, who in the book and movies by the same name, lived only to pleasemen.

In the movie, all of the women are beautiful and glide about serenely while doing household chores and other home-related tasks. They live only to please the men.

This is not a healthy attitude….....