Imagine. You're sitting down in front of the television with your family. You have two younger siblings, around 6 and 8 years, respectively. You flip on the tube to find some commercials on the air. Cool. You don't really think much about it, until a commercial with "Blurred Lines" selling the Dre Beat Pills comes on screen.
Though I've used this example before in a previous posting, this video conveys the message of something that I've heard multiple times: Sex sells.
The video portrays three attractive women who
use the product in sexually compromising ways. The subliminal message radiates through the television. Your siblings are watching and wondering if they can get the product because it looks cool and because they think that if they own this product people will like them more.
Viewers may want to own a Beat Pill because of the message that owning the product would equal sexual advances from the opposite gender. However, it infuriates me that the degragation of the sexes and the idea that a product will create certain personas floods the commercial air stream, which makes you wonder if things are really as bad as they appear.
However, when will this idea that sex sells stop?
Human nature makes us all curious about the world of sex. We wonder, we're curious (not to build on the name of the perfume), but at the same time, is it possible to grab someone's attention by not giving into the message that sex is the only way to get someone's attention, building on someone's insecurities?
To me the very concept of "sex sells" allows different advertisers to imply that there's something different about the individual that does not own the product. The individual isn't complete without it. Their sex life is not great unless they have this product. They'll appear cooler with this product.
Commercials centralize the entire advertisement of their product, however the marketing toward the general public gives off the general concept that sex is the leading forefront of what the messages imply.
(This advertisement appeared in the yellow pages. When flipped it gives the impression that the person is digitally penetrating themselves. The slogan is sexually implicit and claims that the flooring is done by the best, however sexual innuendo suggests otherwise. Courtesy of CBS News.)
I wonder if sex is needed to prove that a service or product is worthy of the consumer? These different advertisements are not what they appear to be.
Why does it seem relevant that our media today is sexually saturated? When will advertisements stop preying on the insecurities of those who may be more impressionable with the subliminal messages of "sex sells?" Get this perfume and you'll receive a sexual encounter with a stranger if you have the guts. This perfume will make you more confident around the person you are attracted to. Have this product that plays awesome music. People will love you because you're cool and sexy by dancing around this product.
Advertisements that play up sex have that ulterior motive of trying to get the audience to fix something about themselves or to question themselves in order to get something that might not necessarily be something they really needed. They just want to sell the product by latching onto the deepest insecurities of the human psyche. Sex is an intimate act, and these advertisements imply that their sexual nature is not complete with these products.
I think that advertisements and marketing strategies to get the consumer to buy their services or products have gone on way too often. I think it's fair to make sure that people understand the implications of these sexual advertisements.
Sex sells, indeed. However, how much is too much?
Sexually explicit media/advertisement, and explicit media/advertisement aren't exactly the same thing tho. The anti sexually explicit advertisement views are simply fuelled by too much left political influence. IQ2 has a very good debate on the subject.
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