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Sex In Advertising

Sex in Advertising: Beneficial or Controversial?
Watch any amount of television throughout the day and at some point a sexually charged commercial advertisement will be aired. The commercial could show to barely dressed, large breasted, beautiful women fighting in a public location about whether or not the beer is "great tasting or less filling". Another commercial will hint that using their body spray will lead to attracting not only one women but an entire room full of women. Not to worry, the advertising agencies have not forgotten about giving the ladies some commercial eye candy as well. Remember the commercial about the office full of women employees drinking there diet soda while staring out the window at the shirtless, muscular, and perfectly tanned body of the guy working construction across the street? More often than not, the use of sex appeal in advertising is a beneficial way to sell a product. Regardless of the fact that none of the products in these commercials are sexual in nature, they were attention-getting and will likely be remembered because of the sexually appealing approach used to market them.
The use of sex in advertising is nothing new, it has only evolved into what society viewing or reading today. "What was once regarded as a kind of sexual expression we now view as sexuality" (Bigge, 2006, p.56). In the mid-1850s tobacco companies pasted images of nude women on the sides of crates to distinguish between different brands. In the 1930s and 1940s pinup girls where used for printed advertisements, back then considered risqué or seductive, now they are widely considered an art form. Bigge refers back to the nineteenth century when a flash of an ankle was considered suggestive. A 1950s ad from Clairol stated "Does she…or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure." In the 1960s Noxzema shaving cream ads asked men to "Take it off. Take it all off." The late 1970s and early 1980s made way for the clothing...

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