Sex and Marketing
“Sex sells” is a hotly debated topic. This term generally refers to any form of advertising involving sex to promote products not traditionally associated with it. It affects both men and women. It is used to advertise anything really: clothes, beauty products, alcohol, cars, fragrance… We all have, one day, seen a fragrance ad on TV: an acted out scene as dramatic as it can get, very often accompanied with sexual tension. It raises the idea of “buy this, get this”. In those ads, a man puts perfume on and, all of a sudden, the most beautiful woman ever is magically attracted to him (or several women, while we’re at it). It usually works like that, whether it is the other way around or not. This can make any individual go crazy: what if you put this perfume on and you end up with the woman/man you want? That would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? But of course, it does not work like that, which can cause customer deception, kind of like a fight between fantasy and the real world. And this is why businesses must know how to use it, as using sex to sell goods can sometimes backfire by turning off customers. Indeed, there is a line not to cross: at a certain level, people can realise they are being manipulated, and become conscious of the trick being played on them.
However, in most cases, sex does not backfire and does sell. In the past, sex has been used to sell, calling for Human primal urges (food, danger and… sex). Although a naked ankle used to shock people because it implied sex, things have changed from one period of time to another. Now that there are less taboos, the society and companies have gone to a whole new level using sex. You only have to focus on the music industry. For instance, if not for the lyrics, watch the video clip of the music. If it’s not a naked woman, she’s stripping down to her underwear and making suggestive poses. Miley Cyrus sitting on her balancing ball is still in people’s mind. Why would a woman need to do that to be seen? Well, the sad truth is, sex is effective: sexual content gets noticed. It is difficult to ignore sexual messages. Nowadays, Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga use it as a provocation and for people to talk about them (trends on Twitter): they use it to advertise themselves. However, it is not a new phenomenon, as Madonna used to do that as well before them, imposing herself as the pioneer. I think most of us remember the 2003 on-stage kiss between her and Britney Spears. It shocked people as they did not expect it, and so people talked about it. Articles were written, the clip was shared all over the world. This is what they wanted. These women know how advertising works today and use it as their advantage. They are true Hollywood businesswomen.
One can focus on magazines too. Ads that can be found in those are often over-sexualised, and photos retouched. Dolce&Gabbana and Diesel are the perfect brands to illustrate this argument. It is all about the perfect face and body, which can damage customers’ self-confidence. What about the advertisement of personality? With all this so-called perfection trying to cover everything up, one can even forget what is being advertised! This phenomenon did not get better with the rise of social media, and people’s comments on the appearance of others. People get more and more critical towards themselves, and towards others too.
These days, although the use of sex sells is still on the rise, numbers of activists are taking a stand to try and reverse the tendency. Aerie, American Eagle’s young women’s lingerie line tried to counter this phenomenon by actually revealing (nowadays most brands conceal every “flaw”, so this term is accurate…) how the girls are in real life, without being photoshopped: showing their true selves, with “flaws”.
CVS, an American retail brand has advertised natural beauty, as women especially get tired of the pressure of perfection at any time.
Of course, we can not talk about the “sex sells” topic without mentioning porn. Indeed, this is one of the major industries that made the internet work at its debuts, and is still popular today. One can access it just by pushing a button. There again, the human body becomes an object you can access on demand. It has become marketing. Literally.
Although nowadays some activists are working to tackle the issue, sex it still commonly used to sell. Whether it is in magazines, on TV, on stage, on social media… Even football or any sports matches. No matter the platform it is used on, it still continues to work. But what about authenticity, instead of the commercialisation of sexuality? It could work better, but it hasn’t been developed enough; maybe it’s not provocative enough? Because provocation works. The combination of sex and marketing is a winning one: it actually outperforms any other kinds of advertising… Isn’t that alarming?
With thanks to Tracy Enright and Inger Nesbakk
