Ad Sexualization to Increase Sales - Essay Example

Everywhere one turns there is an advertisement for something, be it clothing, shoes, or cars. Many of these advertisements have women assisting to sell the product. These women are attractive, usually thin, and generally in one form or another sexualized in attempts to sell more of a specific product. This sexualization to increase sales is not a recent ploy but has been occurring since the 1940s when women started to become aware of how their bodies influenced others. The extent of sexualized advertisements is however unprecedented. The ramifications of using women’s’ bodies could very easily have a large impact on how women see their bodies, and how men perceive women. The United States and many fellow industrial nations are fueled by consumerism, the act of individuals shopping for needed or wanted items. This has increased with a free market system that allows numerous companies to create similar products for the same socioeconomic consumer. When there are numerous products available, the consumer turns towards reviews and advertisements to increase their decision making process. This is what many mid century women magazines called “educated shopping”, a term to mean that by reading advertisements, women and men were more educated and therefore would spend money wisely.(Breazael, 232) These companies do not look at what the long term implications of using sexualized terms and images as long as their product sold. For the creative element I have chosen to use a video representation of how the sexualization of women and their bodies are shown through advertising. By showing images of how our society has formed its perception of what perfection is, the video will show that the old adage about beauty being in the eye of the beholder is no longer true. Instead our society is being told and shown what beauty is, and how to be less than perfect is a negative thing. Due to the current issues concerning obesity in this country, the images create a society of bi-polar feelings. There is a desire to achieve perfection while at the same time hating ourselves for the inability to achieve perfection. This creative element will show that there is a propensity of advertising that shows an overt sexualization of women. Advertising companies pray on these thoughts to increase sales. The history of advertising goes back prior to the sexualization of women and men. In the 1920s and 1930s most advertisements had the product and may a person. During World War II to the present, the individual has become the focal point and the product just a prop. The years following the sexual revolution of the 1970s really showed how far men and women were willing to go to achieve sexual freedom. This freedom transferred to the advertising world quite nicely. In 1979 a man by the name of Erving Goffman wrote a paper on how the method of advertisers to show skinny women was actually a biological circumstance and that advertising professionals should not be demeaned for this. His paper goes on to critique how set social norms are transferred to the printed page. Body dimorphism, control, gender differences are all highlighted in his work. Two aspects that directly support a claim of sexualization of women more than men are how women are portrayed caressing an object. (Goffman, 29). The other man thing that advertisers do to sexualize women is to put them on a bed, couch, or lying on a carpet. This immediately brings to mind sexuality, even more so when the women are in a bathing suit or lingerie. (Goffman, 41) While this paper was written over 40 years ago, it shows similarities to how advertisements are being used now. The United States as a whole is a sexually repressed country. In that this country is still embroiled in a Victorian Era though that sex and openly sexuality is bad and should be repressed and kept behind doors. However with the internet and wide spread magazines such as Esquire, GQ, and Rolling Stone these pretenses are beginning to break down. According to a recent study on the sexualization of men and women on the cover of Rolling Stone, it has shown that in the last 40 years, there has been an increase of sexualization. However, the author continues by stating that while men are being sexualized, it is the women who are now being hyper-sexualized. The explanation is that partially nude individuals are sexualized, but with a combination of clothing, body positioning, and other elements, it takes the sexualization to another level.(Hatton, 257) These images being on the cover increase the visibility and therefore sell more copies than if there was not a person on the cover. Some magazines have gone above this and have been recently censored in stores. Magazines such as MAXIM, COSMO, and even some tattoo magazines are considered to risqué for the common shopper to look at. The statement is that it is for the children; however it is not just for the children. That brings up the question as to why many magazines geared towards women show barely clad women on the cover. Advertising sexuality goes beyond just putting photos of men and women wearing next to nothing. It is about how the person is appearing, and also depends on the eventual advertisement. If one is selling a car, then the advertisement is vastly different than if jeans are being sold. Also important to consider is what market the product is geared towards. Magazines that are predominately for individuals with tattoos will most likely have near naked women who have tattoos. The same goes for advertisements geared towards different ethnic groups. (Baker, 13) Sometimes it is not what the model is wearing but how the model is acting that is the sexualization. The use of sexual innuendoes allows the lines to be blurred even more when it comes to what is allowed and what is not. What does sexualization of commercials and print advertising do for women and men in this county? Hatton believes that this over sexualization of women can lead to individuals feeling that violence towards women is legitimized, an increased level of body dissatisfaction and/or eating disorders and an overall increase in sexual activity.(Hatton, 258) Hatton cites over 30 publications that look at how sexualization produces an unwanted effect. This study is backed up by Stankiewicz’s study of over 1,988 advertisements in which they examined how women and men are perceived. The research looked at five different types of magazines to compare the type of advertisements. Three genres were considered a major offender at showing women being submissive or as sex objects. These showed women as sexual objects and/or victims.(Stankiewicz, 579) However, while there is an unwanted effect, there is also a positive effect by those attempting to sell things. Due to the pervasive nature of media along with how prevalent it is in our culture, many social messages are overlooked or not thought of after the initial outrage. Many may see a commercial they do not approve of and forget about it with the next commercial. This is the same way with a printed advertisement, with an estimated combined 37,000 advertisements being seen by an individual in a year.(Stankiewicz, 279) If a commercial catches the eye of an individual, they may while at a store remember that this product had the sexy lady on it, and buy it. Or a woman may go to a store and see a shirt that looked very good on a model in a magazine and might buy it. Even those commercials that garner negative attention still produce the intended effect. That is the consumer will remember the product because of the commercial or printed advertisement, regardless of personal feelings toward the actual advertisement. As long as they do not get sued for being over the top, then their job is complete. Any ramifications of women or men being abused or sexualized outside of their commercial is not of their concern. The invisible line that exists between appropriate and inappropriate depictions of women and men has been moving exceedingly towards a place where anything goes. One main issue that many believe is the fault of the advertisers is the depiction of unrealistic women, and body types. While media sources have contributed to what many believe is the ideal body type, it is not just advertisements that are to blame. This while true, is not considered by many authors when writing about the negativity of advertising, and how the affects are warping the mind of young adults and children. While partially true, advertisers can not be blamed for portraying what is perceived as a man’s sexual desire. This perception is usually tall, thin, with a large chest, and a skinny waist. As humans come in all body types and sizes, it is unrealistic to believe that men only want that body type, but this is what society as told men they want, and women what they should strive to be. Individuals understand that advertising is just to sell something, that it is a fantasy.(Baker, 13) The subconscious is looking at these images with a different view. According to many of the sources, this representation of a fantasy turns into a desire, if not a necessity for those viewing the advertisement. For a woman or a girl, it becomes what they want to look like, to get the car, man, clothing, or whatever the advertisement is regarding.(Ruggerone, 355) For a man it makes him want that as a partner, a woman that fits all of the fantasy qualities. What this does is create an element of disillusionment that causes body issues as well as relationship issues. As long as individuals continue to buy the products, there will be a need for advertisers to figure out how to catch their attention. This has become almost an art form during the super bowl, were the price to advertise are millions of dollars. With a short amount of space and time, these must grab the attention of the audience and push them to buy something after the game. This is true for all advertising; the ultimate goal regardless of how it is presented is to sell a product before the competitor does. Short of breaking any laws regarding decency, there is no real filter on what can and can not be shown on TV or in printer materials. Calvin Klein is a perfect example of how pushing the boundaries on what is culturally acceptable can do to your business. His clothing sales flourished when he started to show partially nude males in underwear. If it is true that sexualization does lead to an increase in violence, than there needs to be something done about it, but until that point where it is conclusively the fault of the advertisements, then there is no real documented harm in displaying the sexualized women and men. The trouble is not with what is seen, it is with what is taught, and that is not the advertisements job. It is not the communication firms’ job to educate young adults in what is socially acceptable and how models are just that, individuals who get paid to look a certain way to display an item. They are not a representation of what life is like, nor should they been seen as such. The answer is not more realistic models, or advertisements that show over weight or average people. That will not sell a product. If given a chance the person will buy a product that has an attractive spokesperson rather than one with a mediocre and unattractive spokesperson. It is in our brain to be attracted to certain things, so why not make money off that of fact. As long as the United States is under the Victorian era ideals, there will always be some individuals that have issues with sex, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Advertisers are going to continue to produce highly sexualized advertisements as long as they are able to because it is a reality, sex sells. Works Cited Baker, Christina. “Images of Women’s Sexuality in Advertisements: A Content Analysis of Black- and White- Oriented Women’s and Men’s Magazines.” Sex Roles (2005) (v521) 1/2:13-27. Breazeale, Kenon. “In spite of Women”. Gender, Race, and Class in Media. 2nd. London: Sage Publications, 2003. Goffman, Erving. “Relative Size” Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper, 1979. Hatton, Erin and Mary Nell Trautner. “Equal Opportunity Objectifivation? The Sexualization of Men and Women on the Cover of Rolling Stone.” Sexuality and Culture (2011) 15:256-278 Stanskiewicz, Julie and Francine Rosselli. “Women as Sex Objects and Victims of Print Advertisements”. Sex Roles (2008) 528:579-589. Ruggerone, Lucia. “The Simulated (Fictitious) body: The Production of women’s images in fashion photography.” Poetics (2006) 354-369. Read More