Sexuality in Advertising

1674 Words7 Pages
Sex Sells: The Portrayal of Sexuality in Advertising For as long as advertising and mass media have been around, so has their incorporation of sexuality displayed in their advertisements. In modern day advertising terms, it is not a secret that “sex sells.” Whether it is Jennifer Lopez encouraging you to buy hip-hugging jeans, or a scantily-dressed male model discussing the benefits of a particular cologne, the use of sexual imagery in advertising is to draw interest to the product to make the ad more memorable, thus helping sell the item. The extent of sexuality used in a certain advertisements can range from being highly overt (nudity or displays of sexual acts) to extremely subtle (the use of basic cosmetics to enhance attractive features). Day after day, society is bombarded by advertisements, whether it is articles, images, or audible forms. They use the societal stereotypes of gender sexuality and manipulate them in order to succeed with their goal of attracting consumers. Explicit use of sexuality in advertising builds on the premise that people are curious about sexuality, as marketing experience has concluded that it does indeed benefit the sales of particular products. When open sexuality is used in advertising, certain values and outlooks towards sex are subconsciously ‘sold’ along with the product. Depending on the message that is being portrayed in the ad, the underlying theme meant to be displayed will be different thus causing diverse audience reactions. An example of this would be how fashion designer Calvin Klein built an empire on sex, managing to communicate different meanings through each individual ad. In 2008, Calvin Klein’s primary ads for his tight-fitting jeans were young people in provocative poses, emphasizing the notion that “innocence is sexy.” Since the ‘shock factor’ of sexuality in modern day advertisements has progressively
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