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Nick Beining

Professor Lindsey

English 102

1 May 2005

Sex Gets Us Every Time

Why does sex sell? For years businesses and organizations have been using all

kinds of advertising. They are all searching for that one style that sells like no other. In

today’s society this style would be sex. Sex has been selling for years no doubt, but in

recent years women are becoming more and more revealing. Brittany Spears is now

selling the pitch for Pepsi by wearing nothing but a half of a shirt and bibs. This is not

saying why Pepsi is a better pop than Mt. Dew. The only thing Brittany is doing is

grabbing the guys’ attention. Brittany also affects young teen girls who will try to be just

like her. Pepsi is not alone in doing this however. There are a lot of companies out there

that use sex to sell. “For many products it is possible to find (or invent) a sexual

connection.” (Taflinger) Why does advertising use sex as and appeal to the customer?

The answer is simple: because it works. (Taflinger) The sexual desire in both men and

women are targeted in order to pitch products.

Advertising Affects

Advertising affects everyone. Most sexually based ads are targeted towards men,

but men are not the only ones whom are affected by them. Young teens, both girls and

boys, are affected by the sexually based ads. As Focus Adolescent Services reports, they

say that “Sexual content is regularly marketed to younger children, pre-teens, and teens

and this affects young people's sexual activity and beliefs about sex.”
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• In 2003, 83% of the episodes of the top 20 shows among teen viewers contained

some sexual content, including 20% with sexual intercourse

• 42% of the songs on the top CDs in 1999 contained sexual content -- 19%

included direct descriptions of sexual intercourse

• On average, music videos contain 93 sexual situations per hour, including eleven

"hard core" scenes depicting behaviors such as intercourse and oral sex

• Girls who watched more than 14 hours of rap music videos per week were more

likely to have multiple sex partners and to be diagnosed with a sexually

transmitted disease

• Before parents raised an outcry, Abercrombie and Fitch marketed a line of thong

underpants decorated with sexually provocative phrases such as "Wink Wink" and

"Eye Candy" to 10-year-olds

• Neilson estimates that 6.6 million children ages 2-11 and 7.3 million teens ages

12-17 watched Justin Timberlake rip open Janet Jackson's bodice during the 2004

Super Bowl halftime show. (Teen Sexual Behavior)

The effectiveness of and advertisement or commercial can increased because of the sex

appeal in that ad. “It’s human nature to be curious about sex.”(Levit) A commercial with

a beautiful woman and her long sexy legs is going to grab a man’s attention better than a

picture of a cute little puppy. Even the woman may be grabbed by the long sexy legs

because of the desire of having those goddess-like legs. (Levit)

Sex is the second strongest of the psychological appeals, right behind self-

preservation. Its strength is biological and instinctive, the genetic imperative of

reproduction. However, its effectiveness and application are gender linked. The
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differences in male and female psychobiology cause different approaches to and

perceptions of sex, both the act and its outcome. (Taflinger)

The Sexual Desire in a Man

The first and main reason that sex sells is because of the sexual desire in men.

Men are commonly known to have a larger desire for sex. A lot of companies know this

and they use it. Men judge women a lot just based on her looks. The woman’s looks

alone may give him the desire for sex.

Thus in advertising it is easy to get a man’s attention by using women’s bodies

and associate getting the woman if he buys the product. It is playing on his

instinctive rather than intellectual view of the world. The ad spends no time

discussing her qualifications for sexual desire – her mere existence is enough.

(Taflinger)

The ad below is definitely targeted towards men. A man sees this ad and

immediately notices the two beautiful blondes. They see the women’s breasts touching

each other and are immediately turned on.

The advertisement company also grabs a mans

attention by placing the long slender bottle

between the women’s legs. As we all can

notice, the man in the background is looking

on as though he is very pleased, and he is

thinking the same thing that the male viewers

are thinking. Young women, however may

also be effected because they notice that by

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being close and somewhat intimate with another girl, they will get guys’ attention. So

you see, this picture is about 85% sexual content and only about 15% is actually

advertising the product. We may think that it is wrong but the company does not think

so, and this is because the product sells.

The Sexual Desire in a Woman

The second reason, but less effective is the sexual desire in women. Women also

have a sexual desire, but they it does not

affect them the same way it does men.

Women do that the “…instinctive sexual

reaction, [but] their intelligence strongly

affects it at the same time.”(Taflinger)

Women look into an advertisement a lot

closer than men do. Men look at and ad and

just she the woman and the product.

Women look deep into the ad, and they look

more for the romance in the picture rather

than the sexual thoughts that men get.

Women are not directly affecting by the

man’s image alone. Women don’t see a good looking man in a commercial and think: if

I buy the product I get the man. “Women are looking for more.” Thus, advertising can

show the woman and sell the product on the basis of ‘”women want this [product] in a

man. Get the product, get the woman.’” “For example [, as seen in the picture below,]

diamond advertisements use a romantic approach. Although men buy them for women;
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in general, she makes the purchase decision. Thus is makes sense to aim the ads at the

woman. The images are of soft lighting, elegant surroundings and an obviously well-to-

do man (who is also sometimes a supportive and nurturing parent) offering the gift of

diamonds. These images satisfy a woman's societal criteria for a desirable man: money,

status, taste, and sensitivity to her wants and needs. If there are any sexual undertones,

they are extremely subdued and non-threatening.” (Taflinger)

Ask yourself know, does sex sell? Indeed it does. Selling products by way of sex

will only increase over the years. The sexual desire in both men and women are targeted

in order to pitch products. Women will get more and more revealing, and men will keep

buying. Visual sex advertisements are not the only way to sell using sex. Music is

becoming more sexual. The music is not necessarily trying to sell something, but they

are influencing young teens. This may become a problem in the near future. A greater

amount of teens will be having sex at a younger age, because it is all around them.
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Works Cited

Levit, Mark “Sex in Advertising: Does it Sell?” Simply Search 4 it! 2002. 14 May 2005

<http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/00000/1379.html>

Taflinger, Richard F. “You and Me, Babe: Sex and Advertising.” 1996. Media and

Communications Studies. 14 May 2005 <http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/

sex.html>

“Teen Sexual Behaviors.” Focus Adolescent Services. 1999. 14 May 2005

<http://www.focusas.com/SexualBehaviors.html>