Sex Appeals in Advertising: When Do They Work

Sexual appeals come in two forms: (a) Sexual suggestiveness and nudity; and (b) sexual themes or romance. They induce emotions by arousal, excitement, even lust. This type of appeal is implemented in one of the following forms:

Ø Skin is shown.

Ø Female or male body is shown in suggestive poses.

Ø Couples are shown in an intimate embrace, especially in states of partial undress;

Ø A sexual innuendo is presented in the text. Two examples from past ads: “Does she or doesn’t she?” And “Nooner” (for a restaurant offering quick lunch service.

Sexual appeals work by

At the very least, attracting and holding attention.

Ø Raising brand-name salience.

This type of appeal can backfire when:

Ø Sexual standards of a culture are violated; and

Ø Sexual appeal is unrelated to the message.

Even if it doesn’t backfire, a sex ad may just not accomplish anything when it doesn’t relate to the product’s message. Remember the Paris Hilton car wash ad. The ad received a lot of publicity, but it did very little for Carl's Jr./ Hardee’s sales.

Sex appeals work best when:

Ø They are integral to some product benefit; e.g., for colognes, yes, but for hamburgers, not.

Ø The use of sex is tongue-in-cheek. A European ad (in the1990s) showed a female eating a brand of ice cream and making orgasmic sounds. Everyone knows that it is a hyperbole; ice cream doesn’t actually cause an orgasm-like-experience, so everyone chuckles.

Note that sex appeals work differently according to the gender of the viewer. Generally, males have been found to like sex appeals more (or object less) than females do, no matter what or who is shown in the sex-centered ad. Also, when a female body is shown in ads, males tend to like it, whereas females tend to dislike it. In some research studies, these same females liked or didn’t object to sex appeals when a male body was shown.

Note also that simply showing flesh—even a lot of it—does not naturally make an ad sexual—or at least it does not make the ad sexual in a bad sense. The human body is, after all, a beautiful thing, and it can be shown with class and celebrated, so to speak. Notice the current Dove campaign for a realistic humanistic approach. And for an artistic take see the 2005 print ads by Pirelli showing a totally naked statuesque male body ready to sprint off a tire. (See www.Pirelli.com.)

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Source: MyCBBook (Chapter 8) www.mycbbook.com Google keyword: MyCBBook