Kevin Wang's Blog

Consumers today live in a world where a typical person would embrace hundreds of advertisements on a daily basis. Whether we like it or not, marketers always seem to surprise us in places and ways like never before. After reading Michelle Holmes’s blog, I completely agree with her that consumers’ attention are becoming increasingly hard to attain. A company would have to go so far just to tattoo their brand inside the brains of consumers. I admit that Guerrilla Marketing  is the best train to hop aboard  but red flags have been raised against certain advertisements. However, I still respect all marketers because it is extremely difficult to constantly dish out new ideas.

While I was looking through some brilliant examples online, I came across Victoria’s Secret, A&F, and Axe (pictures down below). I believe we can all agree that “sex sells” but to what extent is considered as appropriate? While they are quite appealing and pleasant to look at, we have to consider its impact on the generations to come. Both Victoria’s Secret and A&F have introduced sub-brands targeting 14 to18 yearolds. However, both Pink and abercrombie kids are seeing an exceptional growth in preteen shoppers. Girls as young as 11 are picking out lingerie while 12 year old boys purchase the AXE collection hoping to experience the “Axe Effect.”  This is all done whether with or without parent consent.

While the goal is to simply push sales, marketing strategies relying on using overdose of sex expose preteens to a concept that they are not mature enough to fully grasp yet. While their young minds are being taken over by the hype of achieving a certain look, they may forget that there are much more serious issues in the world to care for.