Sex Sells

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"SEX SELLS” claims the old and undeniably true adage! But only when employed correctly in your advertising, says Rebecca Cooper. Be warned! Today’s changing social climate and more sophisticated consumer can sometimes mean that “SEX REFUSES TO SELL.”

The exact definition of ‘sex in advertising’ is “the use of sexual or erotic imagery (sex appeal) in advertising to draw interest to a particular product, for purpose of sale.” We are all sexual beings and advertisers use this attribute by trying to associate their products and services with sexy imagery hoping that some of the ‘hotness’ gets attached to their brand in the consumer’s subconscious mind. It has worked for decades but with marketers relying on this formula all too often the result is an ‘over sexed’ advertising industry and a consumer fed up with nearly every product being sexualised. Sex in advertising can patronise, offend and ultimately alienate the consumer, having devastating effects on your brand image and sales.

An old relationship

Sex and advertising go hand in hand; neither came first. Sex has been in advertising since the start of advertising itself. Wood carvings and illustrations of half nude attractive women adorned posters, signs and adverts for saloons, tonics and tobacco. In line with this, the success of using sex in advertising was instant. One of the first examples is from 1885, when W. Duke and Sons inserted trading cards into cigarette packs that featured sexually provocative starlets. The result? Duke grew to become the leading cigarette brand by 1890. The same effect can be seen with Woodbury’s Facial Soap, a woman’s beauty bar that was nearly discontinued in 1910 due to poor sales. The soap’s sales decline was reversed with ads containing images of romantic couples and promises of love and intimacy for those using the brand.

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So why is sex used in advertising?

When sexuality is used in advertising, certain values and attitudes towards sex are ‘sold’ with a product. Sex in advertising builds on the premise that people are curious about sexuality and that experience in marketing has been that sexuality sells products. From a marketing point of view, sexuality can have biological, emotional/physical or spiritual aspects. The biological aspect refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive that exists in all species, which is hormonally controlled. The emotional or physical aspect of sexuality refers to the bond that exists between individuals and is expressed through profound feelings or physical manifestations of emotions of love, trust and caring. Advertisers use these various aspects of sexuality in adverts.

In most cases, sex is used in advertising to initially capture and then hold the consumer’s attention for as long as possible. Working on the premise that we are all interested in sex, it is a given that a half nude women in an advert will catch and hold a man’s attention far more than a cute puppy. Research has shown that even women are drawn to such ads as they desire the near perfect body of the model in the advert. Researcher Dr. Tom Reichert looked at sex in advertising and concluded that it was used for more than just attracting attention. In fact, almost three-quarters of sexually-orientated adverts in magazines also contained some kind of sex-related benefit. For example, you will be more sexually attractive if you buy this product or you’ll have better or more sex or just feel sexier if you buy this product.

How often is sex used in current advertising?

Gallup & Robinson, an advertising and marketing research firm, reported that in more than 50 years of testing advertising effectiveness, the use of the eroticism was a significantly above-average technique in communicating with the market place. In contemporary mainstream consumer advertising such as magazines and TV, sex is used to sell a large amount of branded goods – even those not associated in any way with sex. Clothing, alcohol, cosmetics, cars even electricity are all examples of products sold through the message of sex. In any one TV advert break for example, a large proportion if not all the adverts shown will be linked in some way to sex.

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Sex sells then?

There is much research to back the theory that sex sells. The fact that sex was used in the very first forms of advertising and is used more so today is confirmation that is must indeed work. Individual examples of mass success can be found. Proctor and Gamble’s Herbal Essences shampoo – a product not seemingly linked in any way to sex – it is just a shampoo – is an example of the product being overtly linked to sex. They devised a campaign of a woman faking an orgasm while washing her hair and included the tag line, “a totally organic experience.” The result was product sales of zero to $700 million is just seven years – an undeniably phenomenal success. Whole companies have been built on sex too. Just look at the Virgin media group which is well known for its sexy ad campaigns. CEO Richard Branson showed up nearly naked in Times Square in 2002 for their Virgin U.S mobile launch. It is clear to see that mobile phones have no obvious link to sex but Richard Branson used sex as the basis of his campaign and gained considerable media coverage because of it. Other success stories include many types of jeans advertising – Calvin Klein in particular and Budweiser beer. Calvin Klein himself declared, “Jeans are about sex. The abundance of bare flesh is the last gasp of advertisers trying to give redundant products a new identity.” Research by marketing firm Gallup-Robinson, which analysed sex in advertising since the 1920s, found that companies that used sex to sell averaged recall scores 77% above their respective product norms and that it had an effect just as powerful in men as in women.

However, there are instances when sex refuses to sell

A closer look at the research by Gallup-Robinson shows that such an extreme response to a sexualised product can also overwhelm the product and advertiser. Reader/viewer reactions were in many cases highly negative. A recent survey by MediaAnalyzer showed that in many cases with men, sex failed to sell. With naked women being used in advertising for example, men were found to be initially interested – the purchase intent was there, but this was soon lost and brand recall suffered as the men were too busy ogling the women to pay any attention to the brand or logo! It needs to be remembered that including sexuality in advertising can alienate some of the audience and that using sex to draw attention to a product that has no relevance to sex can have a negative effect. In many ways, it is abusing your audience and can make them feel cheated and talked down to. Resorting to sex just to sell when there is no direct correlation to the product being sold is often seen as a “cheap shot,” which can negatively affect a brand’s image. Many commentators believe that consumers are bored with a strategy that is employed too often – reverting to sex to sell is old hat and has been exhausted.

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Using sex in advertising can offend and be costly

There has been much criticism of the use of sexual imagery in advertising. Religious conservatives often consider it obscene and feminists and masculists claim it reinforces sexism by objectifying the individual. In addition, there is the on-going debate that children should not be subjected to media with such high connections to sex and nudity. One key consideration is where to draw the line. How much nudity is sufficient to grab attention and how much causes offence. It should be remembered that nudity and graphic erotic content will increase the consumer’s attention but it does not generate positive feelings.

In many cases, campaigns have been deemed offensive and have started brand boycotts, which have had a devastating effect on both brand image and sales. This was the case with Abercrombie and Fitch, the clothing brand in America. Their “XX Wet, Hot Summer Fun” catalogue featured naked boys and girls. This caused major upset and backlash as it was aimed predominantly at teenagers. The Senate passed a resolution condemning the company’s advertising tactics and this was backed by many other non profit organisations, prompting consumers to boycott Abercrombie’s products and make a clear stand against the company’s marketing strategies. Ford Motor Company also came under extensive criticism and a boycott from conservative groups for its ad campaigns and event sponsorship targeted at the homosexual market.

Consider the product category and underlying message

One thing is a certainty: including sexuality in your advertising will almost certainly alienate some of your audience, but if done well, may be more memorable and effective. Some believe in polarising the audience and live by the belief that it is better to be loved by some and hated by others than to be forgotten by everyone. The main lesson to learn is that sexual content in advertising must be appropriate to the product category and have a proper underlying message. Sex sells but only when used in good taste and for a relevant product. Advertisers should think beyond capturing the customer’s attention in the short term and think more about building a brand reputation that will yield long term results.

Using sex in advertising is often considered the ‘safe’ strategy and one that is sure to yield results. It is however a strategy that needs careful consideration as epitomised with the famous phrase: “sex is a code red advertising technique... handle with care... seller beware!”.

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TO WHAT EXTENT DOES SEX SELL IN SPAIN?

The Italian designers Dolce and Gabbana withdrew all of their advertising campaigns from Spain after their latest one was described as “too macho”. The designers told the press, that “currently Spain, with it’s climate of censorship, sees fit to see negative undertones in everything, even if there are none.”