Sexuality and Advertising

1
Sexuality and Advertising

• Chapter 5

2
Key Points

• Human sexuality is seen as one of the most potent
  tools of advertising
• In his book Ways of Seeing English critic and
  novelist John Berger says the implicit message of
  sexuality in ads is The good life in which you
  can buy whatever you want. To be able to buy is
  the same things as being sexually desirable.
• If you buy a given product, Berger adds, youll
  be lovable and if you cant, youll be less
  lovable
• He says this means that buying products and
  services is always charged with fantasies and
  dreams of sexual desirability and power, even
  though we may not be conscious that such is the
  case

3
Tapping into our Desires

• Bergers theory explains, for example, why we
  often see beautiful young women in ads for autos,
  beer, fashions, etc
• Often in our unconscious, we make a connection
  between buying a product and becoming desirable
  to (or emulating) these women
• For other products, handsome men are used in the
  same way
• The subtext of many advertisements, then,
  involves the matter of sexuality and desirability
• Which may explain why the act of buying things is
  so important to people and yields such great
  anticipated pleasures

4
Sex, Sexy, Sexual- and more Sex!

• It is generally assumed in the advertising
  industry that there is some kind of a transfer of
  desire from male lust for sexually attractive
  women to the products that are being sold
• Sexuality, sexual desire, lust, even intimations
  of sexual intercourse are ubiquitous in
  contemporary advertising
• In theory, seeing a beautiful woman in a print or
  TV ad with a certain amount of cleavage showing
  and other body parts excites both men and women
  exposed to the image

5
Sexploitation and Anxiety

• This exploitation of the female body can cause a
  sense of inadequacy on the part of many women
  who arent six feet tall, dont have lean or
  curvy figures, who arent 20 year
  old.models/super models
• As they age, women are put in a no-win situation
• Beauty is associated with youth, and women are
  made to feel that when they lose their youth,
  they will lose their beauty
• But while creating this problem, advertising also
  offers solutions products/services that will
  help women become more youthful looking

6
Joe Camel Sexy???

• Problems for men too who see these gorgeous women
  in advertising and become dissatisfied with their
  spouses/mates/sexual partners
• The government cracked down
• on the Joe Camel campaign
• calling it to influential among
• young people

7
Joe Camel X-Rated Smoke?

• An AMA study about the cartoon figure Joe Camel
  became twice as familiar to 3-to-6 years olds
  as a box of Cheerios and became as well known
  as Mickey Mouse
• The ads played an important role in making Camels
  the brand of choice among male children,
  12-to-17 years old
• In her article Joe Camel, an X-Rated Smoke from
  1992 Marjorie Garber broke down the power of the
  Joe Camel image/drawing

8
Phallic Symbols- say it aint so Joe!

• His long straight snout bulges
• from above two pouchy folds
• a lighted cigarette hanging from
• his lips
• Theres the Freudian idea that noses and
• cigars are some of the most commonly used phallic
  symbols
• It is the unconscious appeal to sexual potency
  that is behind the acceptance of puerile
  (juvenile, childish) young males of Joe Camels
  inducements to choose Camel cigarettes Arthur
  Asa Berger

9
Conclusions

• Berger We must never underestimate the power
  of sexual images to affect us in mysterious and
  profound ways
• But the incessant clutter of sexual images may
  weaken the power of any one ad/cx to sell us some
  product/service andhaving an impact on our
  sexual lives
• There is so much vicarious sex in our lives that
  the real thing may be losing its appeal for a
  goodly number of people
• The law of diminishing returns may be in play!