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Beining 2
Nick Beining
Professor Lindsey
English 102
1 May 2005
Why does sex sell? For years businesses and organizations have been using all
kinds of advertising. They are all searching for that one style that sells like no other. In
today’s society this style would be sex. Sex has been selling for years no doubt, but in
recent years women are becoming more and more revealing. Brittany Spears is now
selling the pitch for Pepsi by wearing nothing but a half of a shirt and bibs. This is not
saying why Pepsi is a better pop than Mt. Dew. The only thing Brittany is doing is
grabbing the guys’ attention. Brittany also affects young teen girls who will try to be just
like her. Pepsi is not alone in doing this however. There are a lot of companies out there
that use sex to sell. “For many products it is possible to find (or invent) a sexual
connection.” (Taflinger) Why does advertising use sex as and appeal to the customer?
The answer is simple: because it works. (Taflinger) The sexual desire in both men and
Advertising Affects
Advertising affects everyone. Most sexually based ads are targeted towards men,
but men are not the only ones whom are affected by them. Young teens, both girls and
boys, are affected by the sexually based ads. As Focus Adolescent Services reports, they
say that “Sexual content is regularly marketed to younger children, pre-teens, and teens
and this affects young people's sexual activity and beliefs about sex.”
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• In 2003, 83% of the episodes of the top 20 shows among teen viewers contained
• 42% of the songs on the top CDs in 1999 contained sexual content -- 19%
• On average, music videos contain 93 sexual situations per hour, including eleven
"hard core" scenes depicting behaviors such as intercourse and oral sex
• Girls who watched more than 14 hours of rap music videos per week were more
transmitted disease
• Before parents raised an outcry, Abercrombie and Fitch marketed a line of thong
underpants decorated with sexually provocative phrases such as "Wink Wink" and
• Neilson estimates that 6.6 million children ages 2-11 and 7.3 million teens ages
12-17 watched Justin Timberlake rip open Janet Jackson's bodice during the 2004
The effectiveness of and advertisement or commercial can increased because of the sex
appeal in that ad. “It’s human nature to be curious about sex.”(Levit) A commercial with
a beautiful woman and her long sexy legs is going to grab a man’s attention better than a
picture of a cute little puppy. Even the woman may be grabbed by the long sexy legs
Sex is the second strongest of the psychological appeals, right behind self-
reproduction. However, its effectiveness and application are gender linked. The
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The first and main reason that sex sells is because of the sexual desire in men.
Men are commonly known to have a larger desire for sex. A lot of companies know this
and they use it. Men judge women a lot just based on her looks. The woman’s looks
and associate getting the woman if he buys the product. It is playing on his
instinctive rather than intellectual view of the world. The ad spends no time
discussing her qualifications for sexual desire – her mere existence is enough.
(Taflinger)
The ad below is definitely targeted towards men. A man sees this ad and
immediately notices the two beautiful blondes. They see the women’s breasts touching
being close and somewhat intimate with another girl, they will get guys’ attention. So
you see, this picture is about 85% sexual content and only about 15% is actually
advertising the product. We may think that it is wrong but the company does not think
The second reason, but less effective is the sexual desire in women. Women also
man’s image alone. Women don’t see a good looking man in a commercial and think: if
I buy the product I get the man. “Women are looking for more.” Thus, advertising can
show the woman and sell the product on the basis of ‘”women want this [product] in a
man. Get the product, get the woman.’” “For example [, as seen in the picture below,]
diamond advertisements use a romantic approach. Although men buy them for women;
Beining 6
in general, she makes the purchase decision. Thus is makes sense to aim the ads at the
woman. The images are of soft lighting, elegant surroundings and an obviously well-to-
do man (who is also sometimes a supportive and nurturing parent) offering the gift of
diamonds. These images satisfy a woman's societal criteria for a desirable man: money,
status, taste, and sensitivity to her wants and needs. If there are any sexual undertones,
Ask yourself know, does sex sell? Indeed it does. Selling products by way of sex
will only increase over the years. The sexual desire in both men and women are targeted
in order to pitch products. Women will get more and more revealing, and men will keep
buying. Visual sex advertisements are not the only way to sell using sex. Music is
becoming more sexual. The music is not necessarily trying to sell something, but they
are influencing young teens. This may become a problem in the near future. A greater
amount of teens will be having sex at a younger age, because it is all around them.
Beining 7
Works Cited
Levit, Mark “Sex in Advertising: Does it Sell?” Simply Search 4 it! 2002. 14 May 2005
<http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/00000/1379.html>
Taflinger, Richard F. “You and Me, Babe: Sex and Advertising.” 1996. Media and
sex.html>
<http://www.focusas.com/SexualBehaviors.html>