Does Sex Really Sell?

Whoops! Forgot his pants!

Have you ever opened a fashion magazine? You don’t even have to have read any articles or stories from it. Simply from flipping through a few pages, I can bet that you have seen it. A lot. You’ve also seen it walking through Metrotown or along Robson Street. Perhaps you don’t even think twice about it anymore since it is everywhere. If you haven’t clued in from the photo above, I’m talking about sexually provocative advertisements.

It makes me wonder: Who is their target market with these ads? More reasonably priced stores such as Forever 21, H&M, Aritzia, and The Gap do not advertise with provocative images; hence, the sexual images are not catering towards high school students. I shiver from the idea that such ads are geared towards the Adult/Parent generation. So let’s leave that out of the question (Yikes!) Moreover, they must be trying to target men and women my age – post high school students, people who are starting to go clubbing, experiencing new walks of life, meeting new people, and so on. The marketers of brands such as Armani Exchange, Tom Ford, American Apparel, and Gucci (to say a few) have released photos a few years ago wouldn’t even be allowed out.

Perhaps it is working for them, but is it working better than non-provocative ads? I mean, if you are trying to advertise denim, and your models are barely wearing them… HOW does that make sense?

Here’s what I have to say about companies trying to use provocative images to sell: Stop. I mean, seriously, are they all out of creativeness to the point where they have come to the conclusion of using half (or completely) naked models to grab the attention of a consumer? Test yourself: If you were to cover up the logos or name brands of the advertisements, would you be able to know what brand it is or what they are trying to advertise? Sometimes yes, but a surprising amount of times no. So, does sex really sell? I know that many girls and boys find it important to look “attractive” for the opposite gender; however, no one walks around campus or the streets without a shirt on. So what are these marketers achieving from these ads?

Attraction is so much more than sexual appeal. At least I think so. Also, the sexual objectification of women in advertisement is appalling! Last year, I did a research paper on The Effects of Advertising Media and Fashion on women’s self-perceptions and perceptions of others. Dove’s campaign for REAL beauty was extremely interesting (and helpful for research!) Check out one of their research articles: “The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report“. It’s a bit lengthy but if you have the time to check it out, DO IT! Basically, what I found out from doing all this research was that Advertisement Media and Fashion strongly effect the way we view ourselves and others. By constantly being bombarded with images of modern day, North American “perfection”, us women believe that we too should look like the Photoshopped models. I won’t go on too long about this.. Heck, I’ll probably come back to this at a later date. But for now… Just check out this video. (It was written about in my Marketing textbook. I had heard about it, but had never seen it.)

I just had to put this one out there first because it always bothers me seeing such scandalous ads.

Thanks for reading!

T