Sex Sells

The concept of sex sells, and using sex in marketing is nothing new. As early as 1871 a near to naked woman was used on pearl tobacco packaging. In the 1970's hair care brand Clairol used a more subtle sexual undertone in their advertising, and the list goes on.

                  

However arguably the most bold and controversial use of this technique, and what inspired me to research this more, was and still is by Calvin klein, particularly in the 80's. The infamous 16 year old Brooke shields shoot, with just an open shirt and jeans defiantly caused some controversy. However in the shoot wasnt enough the famous strap line "want to know what comes between me and my Calvins..." from such a young girl, was maybe the most obvious use of sex sells ever.

I have always been aware of the use of sex in advertising, however never 100% sure why it was so successful, and how subtle the sex sells technique can be.

We all have a more primal part to our brains, it is the part of the brain that has remained the same through evolution. This part of the brain only focuses on survival, and has just three main thoughts and goals; food, danger and sex. This part of the brain operates subconsciously which is the main reason that when used in marketing it is so successful.

As humans subconsciously by seeing any sexual imagery or messages, this automatically activates that part of the brain which then for survival reasons becomes dominant and for a moment will take over any other part. For this reason its obvious why advertising with sexual messages is successful, as it is a garenteed way of drawing attention.

Because this part of the brain, and the process following it being activated is so strong, messages merely need to imply sex to draw attention. It can be as subtle as an ankle, but it will still register as sex, sometimes without us even realising. The use of sex in advertising is completely to manipulate the human brain into drawing attention.

Although sex sells is garenteed to draw attention to the advertising it can be to much, and when to use sex and to what capacity is very much dependent on the product. The reaction after the initial attention in voluntary, and if sex isn't appropriate or is too risky,for that advertisement, it could back fire.

 

Also due to a new rise of standing up to sexism and sexual harassment (#metoo), and increasingly more marketing savvy generations, brands need to be more subtle with sex sells. People don't appreciate being manipulated or offended, and have proven that if they don't like something they can successfully boycott. There has definitely been a decrease in the very obvious sex sells technique, however it will defiantly never disappear for good.