Sex Appeal in Advertising - Essay Example

Research Paper I: Be A Consumer Advocate! Sex Appeal in Advertising 2007 Advertising has become an inseparable part of modern life and culture. The grotesque picture of what advertising is in our life was presented in “Truman’s Show” when all the products the character used, everything he and the people around him did was used to advertise. Even the most intimate moments of his life were used to serve the same purpose – to promote: ideas, services, products… Truman left that artificial world, and we continue living in it without comprehending what happens in reality. Without understanding how advertising works we are armless targets. Meanwhile, knowledge of advertising techniques and tricks and ability to analyze ads properly has become vitally important for surviving in the modern world. You may say I am exaggerating. But just think it over. Ads are not going to disappear – the amount of ads is constantly increasing. TV and global web net give much space for maneuvers. Persuasion techniques become more sophisticated, advertisers develop as professionals. And they are able to persuade you even to take part in revolution as it was in Georgia and Ukraine several years ago. Good propaganda inspires Muslim people to perform the acts of terrorism. Ads make you buy things you don’t need or that cost more than you should pay. How do they achieve it? There are several secrets. As Hugh Rank explains, ads are designed to be remembered, liked, replayed, to offer us benefits we want (often using our snob nature) and at last they don’t scold. This way ads have become “the most commonly-shared stories in our society” - our memory preserves more ads than poems, books, movies or songs (Rank 2007). The techniques used by advertising are numerous: avante garde, facts and figures, patriotism, weasel words, magic ingredients, transfer, plain folks and snob appeal, bribery and testimonial, wit and humor, glittering generalities, bandwagon, card-stacking, easy-to-remember jingles and slogans, and many others (Propaganda Institute 2002). But one which can be used in combination with all the rest and makes the largest part of ads is Beauty or Sex Appeal. Richard F. Taflinger (1996) states that sex holds the second position among the major psychological appeals being used by ads (it goes just after Self-preservation, and while the latter is not applicable to promotion of many products, surpasses it in the percentage of being used). It happens because the reproductive function follows the function of self-preservation: people, like animals, tend to reproduce themselves and it is one of the basic functions of both sexes that rules our behavior and cognition beginning with a certain age. At that men are more sex preoccupied, while their biological function is to impregnate as many female as possible, and any healthy and nice female is able to cause arouse, while a woman should provide not only birth of a healthy child but also his further development, that is why when choosing a sexual partner women consider not only physical appearance of males but also social and economic position, personal traits, such as responsibility, thoughtfulness and so on – that is ability to be a caring husband and father for offspring. It conditioned different advertising content when targeting male and female. Men want to obtain women – thus ads aimed at this target group say: buy the product and you will get this attractive woman. Such ads should not be intellectual or sophisticated (intellect has nothing to do with reproductive function, these are mutually exclusive notions), they should simply show beautiful and sexy girls. However, if advertising is targeted at women, it usually resorts to the help of romantic approach, showing that if a woman buys the product she will become popular and more attractive and thus will have more chances to win the best man at the conjugal market. Further advertisers often target women supposing that they will make their men to buy (it usually works when it goes about jewelry, high tech, perfumes and other costly products) (Taflinger, 1996). However, some ads exploit female images that are simply insulting for the sex. That is why many debates have been caused by whether to allow advertising using sex appeal. For instance in China it is forbidden to broadcast such ads on TV (Ben Marcom Weekly 2004). Of course, it is not right to claim that sex doesn’t matter for women: with the spread of feminism and times changing women want to get from life more and not all of them are willing to be mothers. It influenced the advertising: more ads have appeared showing how women get sensitive pleasure from using the product; male images have become used as well. A group of scholars made research on the effectiveness of sex appeal in advertising and found out that this technique might have not only positive but detrimental effect on brand information as well. Most of ads using sex appeal hit the target because it serves the crucial roles in advertising better than any other technique. These are being: 1) to attract attention, 2) to enhance message recall, 3) to evoke emotional excitement (Is Sex Appeal Effective? 2004). And emotional appeal is the dominant tactic of ads (Rank 2007). On the other hand sexual appeals, being eye-catching and entertaining but not communicative, often attract attention to an ad but not to the brand information. A short survey was conducted on 20 subjects (11 females and 9 males). They were to browse through different ads for 20 seconds and then were asked questions on the attractiveness of the ads and brand names. The scholars came to a conclusion that sex appeal in advertising is effective but only in case “it is appropriate with the product context and within an appropriate level of explicitness” (Is Sex Appeal Effective? 2004). Anyway, beginning from the early 1900s the image of a sexual female was widely exploited by advertising. For instance, Lablache face powder used sex appeal in their advertising in 1904. On the picture (Appendix A) we can see a beautiful woman using their powder. The ad suggests: buy it and you will be as graceful and attractive as this beauty. Another example is represented by Schrader Universal Valve Caps (1921): the box with Valve Caps is held by a slender and sexy young woman: though it seems not clear what relation this charming girl has with the Valve Caps, but her portrait does attract attention, and not only of males. At last, ad of Barbazol (1920s), obviously an after-shave cream, uses sex appeal targeted exclusively at men. An alluring and hot-tempered woman, looking right at you with eyes full of desire says “Kiss me again with your Barbazol face” (it sounds funny, but if you look at the picture you’ll see it works!) (Appendix A). Modern advertisers are more sophisticated and less modest. A young and very attractive woman is sitting on the bed. Silk blankets and sheets are rumpled, her short and very open evening dress is pulled up revealing her slim legs and hips. Her right hand is around her waist as if she is ready to tear the dress off and to stay entirely nude … but in shoes she advertises. Gucci’s ad says: be attractive, be seductive, be free and you will be worth such a life. Or another one. A couple of lovers are lying in bed. We see the splendid interior of the expensive flat and through the large windows without drapes – the lights of the night city. The lovers are naked but they don’t care – their intimate environment cannot be violated, no one can see them – the flat is situated on the upper floor of their Astor Place skyrise. Yes, even real estate advertising uses sex appeal. This ad seems to be targeted at females who should persuade their men to buy the flat that will be a wonderful and safe nest for their family. At last, the Yves Saint Laurent’s ad uses a very impudent and revealing image: a naked woman dressed in a black male shirt is looking into a mirror; she is free and emancipated; the mirror also reflects a man’s arm (he wears an expensive suit and shirt) and a young fellow wearing only a towel around his hips and lustily staring at the woman. This ad is very modern. It implies bisexual images, and though the woman is in the center of the photo, the ad is rather targeted at men, mostly at young ones. It says: do you want her? – Then present her with the perfume, the mature men know what to do – follow their example (Appendix A). The process of advertising analysis is very captivative and instructive. Moreover, it is accessible. Phil Sudo offers an easy scheme for the analysis. Even if you don’t know numerous techniques and tricks of advertisers you may answer several simple questions that will help you to grasp how the ad should function. These questions are: What does the ad promote (product, service, person, philosophy); what is the target group? (Consider sex, age, race, ethnic, income level, social position, political and geographical background, etc.); where is the ad found? (It also points out the target group meant); what is the sales pitch? (Which of our psychological appeals or desires are targeted?); what is the subtext? (A meaning beneath the surface is the major message of advertising influencing our subconsciousness). Advertisers are sophisticated but the consumers aren’t that stupid. Common sense often helps us to stop, but it is better not to deceive ourselves: they get us oftener than we would like to be. So let’s protect ourselves from them. At to sex appeal in advertising, it can be treated by spirituality and sexual education. If you think (at least sometimes) of anything higher then sex or the topic is not perceived through prism of complexes and psychological barriers but calmly, then you are able to treat such ads with humor. You will get much pleasure from evaluating well-designed ads while you will be able to penetrate beyond the surface message and comprehend the very essence. References: Ben Marcom Weekly: Sex appeal in Chinese advertising. July 7, 2004. March 26, 2007. Is Sex Appeal Effective? 2004. March 26, 2007 Propaganda Institute. 2002. March 26, 2007 Rank, Hugh. Suggestions: Why Analyze Ads? Classroom teaching aid, pro bono publico, from Persuasion Analysis. 2007. March 26, 2007< webserve.govst.edu/pa/Advertising/Pitch/why_analyze_ads.htm - 7k > Sudo, Phil. "How to analyze an ad. (includes related information)." Scholastic Update 125.n14 (May 7, 1993): 6(3). InfoTrac Educators. Thomson Gale. Los Angeles Valley College. 24 Mar. 2007 Taflinger, Richard F. You and Me, Babe: Sex and Advertising. In Taking Advantage. 1996. March 26,2007 < www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/sex.html - 31k > References to the Pictures: Picture 1. Antiques. Advertising in 1904. 2007. March 26, 2007. Picture 2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sex in advertising. 26 March 2007 Picture 3. History Teaching Institute at the Ohio State University. 1920s Consumer Culture. 2007. March 26, 2007. Picture 4. www.ideas.wisconsin.edu/.../CLAIMS/img004.jpg Picture 5. The Stalwart: Real Estate Advertising in New York (NSFW?). Real Estate. September 29, 2005. March 26, 2007. Picture 6. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sex in advertising. 26 March 2007 Appendix A Picture 1. Picture 2. 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