The use of sex in advertising has become a major selling
method in the society we live in today. It began sixty years ago
when a beautiful young woman introduced the first windproof lighter
and a new wave of advertising emerged - The Pinup Girl. She
advertised everything from lighters to laundry soap. She even
recruited for the U.S. armed forces (Parade Magazine; pg 6).
Sexuality in advertising is now a major area of ethical concern,
though surprisingly little is known about its effects or the norms for
it's use (Baltimore Sun; pg. 1G). Advertisers use of sex appeals
has grown and become widely present throughout the U.S. and
really most of the world, but it has never really been clear the line
between offensive and effective advertising. Over the last couple
of years, commercial content, like programming, has gone through
a significant maturing process. Sex has become a driving force.
NBC's vice president for advertising standards, Rick Gitter,
acknowledged that the 1990's reality can't be denied (Baltimore
Sun; pg. 1G).
Ann Klein's company's ads are some of the most striking ads
that are carried in the main stream media. They have received
only a few negative letters, but they've drawn a huge amount of
attention (Baltimore Sun; pg. 2G). "We wanted the women to say,
'Hey,' and we have gotten a fantastic response," there's a fine line
between doing something new, different and interesting, and
angering your customer with offensive commercials that spoil their
commercial intent. An Ann Klein spot that showed a man kissing a
woman and beginning to unbutton her shirt, was not allowed to air
by wary network censors, recalled company vice president Nancy
Lueck (Baltimore Sun; pg 2G). Calvin Klein, an American clothing
manufacturer that courts the glamorous young, drew great disgrace
and shame earlier this year for some particutlarly gamine youth who
lolled about wearing their underpants in a recent campaign, which
the network censors also withdrew (The Economist pg. 53).
"Sexiness, as a component of the good life, is a staple for
advertisers ; Coca Cola decorated its drug store posters at the turn
of the century with beautiful young women whom male drinkers
might hope to date and female drinkers might emulate (The
Economist pg. 54)." One has only to pick up any issue of a fashion
magazine and page after page is filled with advertisements
attempting to correlate sex and beauty with the purchase of their
products.
The current flood of sex in advertising is often promoted in
terms of fulfilling erotic fantasies and appetites (D'Emilio and
Freeman, 1989). Consumers want to see more, however the use of
such appeals is constantly contested in terms of ethics and
morality, much as sexual norms and morals in general have been
contested throughout both American and world history (The
Journal of Advertising, pg 73). Commercials have become a
risque as standards loosen. Networks, in an effort to compete with
cable television, have relaxed thier censorship standards.
Advertising standards have always been defined by the public's
tolerance and the shifting moods of courts and government
agencies. Even though there are concerns about sex and
advertising on the air, on billboards, and in print, it is more
accepted now than ever before. However, ads dealing with the
environment or nutrition are coming under much stricter contraints.
The public has become less sensitive to sexy ads, but increasingly
irate about claims involving food and Mother Earth. "While we will
tolerate an expansion in areas that may offend our prurient interest,
we are not prepared to do that with products that effect our quality
of life" said Stuart Lee Friedel, an attorney with the New York
based law firm of Davis & Gilbert, who specializes in advertising
(Baltimore Sun, pg 2G).
Advertisers are helping to fuel an unhealthy obsession.
"Women's dissatisfaction with their bodies is considerably more
prevalent now than a generation ago. "Ours is now a society that is
increasingly preoccupied with appearance and weight," says Judith
Robin,Ph.D., former chairman of the psychology department at
Yale University, currently president of the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a recognized authority on body
image. Magazine covers, TV shows, music videos and movies
tend to feature very thin women over those with more realistically
filled-out figures. Advertisers want people to feel dissatisfied with
our current appearances, so they will be more inclined to purchase
their products that offer improvements. " The media now exposes
us to this single 'right look', and the beauty industry promises that
anyone can attain it," writes Dr.Robin, who is also the author of
Body Traps: Breaking the Binds That Keep You from Feeling Good
about Your Body (Food And You; pg. 33). Shame often hinders
would be gym goers for fear of embarrassment. Health club
advertisers often showcase scantily clad, sculptured bodies working
out. Over weight people find it difficult to picture themselves beside
those people - the invariably young and trim (Atlanta
journal/Constitution; pg. G3). Advertisers for car makers appeal to
the male population by insinuating that a man is judged by the
power behind his wheels therefore, big strong men drive big strong
trucks, and how he handles the road, with his powerful new wheels,
will have a positive influence on his masculinity (Essence, pg 93).
The back pages of magazines are flooded with ads for sex toys
designed to enhance your sex life. Vitamins claiming to give you
more stamina and lingerie worn by beautiful voluptuous models
whose assets do not come with the product. Still, the advertisers
hope to convey the subtle message that if you buy their product
you'll achieve those results. Purfume manufactuers advertise their
products will attract the opposite sex, mask body odor and invite
more itimate touch ( ADCULT USA, pg144). Once even routine
ads for some practical, everday items were shunned. "Hygiene
products, deodorants, laxatives... and simular products are
generally not accepted, " the NBC code of 1943 noted. Today
women can model lingerie or even breast feed a child (as seen in a
Gerber ad) on television. Consider a much noted A Calvin Klein
ad insert in New York and Los Angeles editions of Vanity Fair, was
described by Advertising Age as "boy meets girl, boy meets boy,
boy meet self". That's merely the most striking example of a vast
range of jeans, lingerie and cosmetics ads that once would have
been relegated to Playboy or Penthouse, but now are appearing in
upscale mainstream publications ( Baltimore Sun, pg 3g).
Toy manufacturers are also capitalizing on the use of sex to
sell products. Video games, which have a largley teenage male
following, use graphic and sexually stimulating graphics to portray
their female characters. Lude advertisements such as "Engage in
thousands of exciting relationships with total strangers without
wearing anything made of latex" (NEXT Generation, pg 72), and
"Sometimes having a killer body just isn't enough, you'll need tough
studs and big bolts" (NEXT Generation, pg 91) appeal to their
adolescent fantasies. There are people who consider this form of
advertisment to be in poor taste because of the advertising
techniques. They oppose advertisements with sexual overtones
and advertisements with adult content that appear in media
available to and directed toward children (Advertising, pg 67).
Even the foreign market of developing countries such as war
torn Cambodia are being flooded with the promise of the good life.
Beer commercials in Cambodia show fit young men leaping and
sprinting while promises of physical and intellectual prowess flash
on the television screen. In one popular spot, a man cracks an
egg into his beer, and the yoke transforms into a woman, he drinks
down the attractive brew with a slurp ( Yahoo! News,
yahoo.com/headlines/961129).
The Spanish government introduced legislation in April, 1986
to ban misleading, unfair, or irrational advertising. The bill would
also regulate the use of testimonials, comparative advertising, and
the material that is offensive to the dignity of women or fails to
respect the rights of children. ( Edward Mark Mazze, Britannica
Annual 1989, pg 265). The United States has no such legislation,
except for strict laws against child pornography. An attempt to
introduce such legislation would be met with stern opposition from
the corporate world, whose industries profit from such advertising.
Advertising agencies have taken advantage of the freedoms of
speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. Product
advertising continues to push the acceptance of sexually explicit
materials to the limit in it's race for higher profits.
Sexuality has become a national trade mark, the symbol of
American commerce. Naked, semi-naked, dressing and
undressing women fill not only films but the pages of magazines
advertising food, clothing, automobiles, hotels, refrigerators,
chewing gum and everything which in the opinion of the business
man would represent the vital interest of people. Advertisements
have never been granted the unqualified rights of free speech held
by books, articles or news programs. The indecency of American
and world wide advertising has become indescribable. Sex in
advertising will always be an issue of ethical concern as long as
peoples view remain diverse and companies profit from those
diversities.
method in the society we live in today. It began sixty years ago
when a beautiful young woman introduced the first windproof lighter
and a new wave of advertising emerged - The Pinup Girl. She
advertised everything from lighters to laundry soap. She even
recruited for the U.S. armed forces (Parade Magazine; pg 6).
Sexuality in advertising is now a major area of ethical concern,
though surprisingly little is known about its effects or the norms for
it's use (Baltimore Sun; pg. 1G). Advertisers use of sex appeals
has grown and become widely present throughout the U.S. and
really most of the world, but it has never really been clear the line
between offensive and effective advertising. Over the last couple
of years, commercial content, like programming, has gone through
a significant maturing process. Sex has become a driving force.
NBC's vice president for advertising standards, Rick Gitter,
acknowledged that the 1990's reality can't be denied (Baltimore
Sun; pg. 1G).
Ann Klein's company's ads are some of the most striking ads
that are carried in the main stream media. They have received
only a few negative letters, but they've drawn a huge amount of
attention (Baltimore Sun; pg. 2G). "We wanted the women to say,
'Hey,' and we have gotten a fantastic response," there's a fine line
between doing something new, different and interesting, and
angering your customer with offensive commercials that spoil their
commercial intent. An Ann Klein spot that showed a man kissing a
woman and beginning to unbutton her shirt, was not allowed to air
by wary network censors, recalled company vice president Nancy
Lueck (Baltimore Sun; pg 2G). Calvin Klein, an American clothing
manufacturer that courts the glamorous young, drew great disgrace
and shame earlier this year for some particutlarly gamine youth who
lolled about wearing their underpants in a recent campaign, which
the network censors also withdrew (The Economist pg. 53).
"Sexiness, as a component of the good life, is a staple for
advertisers ; Coca Cola decorated its drug store posters at the turn
of the century with beautiful young women whom male drinkers
might hope to date and female drinkers might emulate (The
Economist pg. 54)." One has only to pick up any issue of a fashion
magazine and page after page is filled with advertisements
attempting to correlate sex and beauty with the purchase of their
products.
The current flood of sex in advertising is often promoted in
terms of fulfilling erotic fantasies and appetites (D'Emilio and
Freeman, 1989). Consumers want to see more, however the use of
such appeals is constantly contested in terms of ethics and
morality, much as sexual norms and morals in general have been
contested throughout both American and world history (The
Journal of Advertising, pg 73). Commercials have become a
risque as standards loosen. Networks, in an effort to compete with
cable television, have relaxed thier censorship standards.
Advertising standards have always been defined by the public's
tolerance and the shifting moods of courts and government
agencies. Even though there are concerns about sex and
advertising on the air, on billboards, and in print, it is more
accepted now than ever before. However, ads dealing with the
environment or nutrition are coming under much stricter contraints.
The public has become less sensitive to sexy ads, but increasingly
irate about claims involving food and Mother Earth. "While we will
tolerate an expansion in areas that may offend our prurient interest,
we are not prepared to do that with products that effect our quality
of life" said Stuart Lee Friedel, an attorney with the New York
based law firm of Davis & Gilbert, who specializes in advertising
(Baltimore Sun, pg 2G).
Advertisers are helping to fuel an unhealthy obsession.
"Women's dissatisfaction with their bodies is considerably more
prevalent now than a generation ago. "Ours is now a society that is
increasingly preoccupied with appearance and weight," says Judith
Robin,Ph.D., former chairman of the psychology department at
Yale University, currently president of the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a recognized authority on body
image. Magazine covers, TV shows, music videos and movies
tend to feature very thin women over those with more realistically
filled-out figures. Advertisers want people to feel dissatisfied with
our current appearances, so they will be more inclined to purchase
their products that offer improvements. " The media now exposes
us to this single 'right look', and the beauty industry promises that
anyone can attain it," writes Dr.Robin, who is also the author of
Body Traps: Breaking the Binds That Keep You from Feeling Good
about Your Body (Food And You; pg. 33). Shame often hinders
would be gym goers for fear of embarrassment. Health club
advertisers often showcase scantily clad, sculptured bodies working
out. Over weight people find it difficult to picture themselves beside
those people - the invariably young and trim (Atlanta
journal/Constitution; pg. G3). Advertisers for car makers appeal to
the male population by insinuating that a man is judged by the
power behind his wheels therefore, big strong men drive big strong
trucks, and how he handles the road, with his powerful new wheels,
will have a positive influence on his masculinity (Essence, pg 93).
The back pages of magazines are flooded with ads for sex toys
designed to enhance your sex life. Vitamins claiming to give you
more stamina and lingerie worn by beautiful voluptuous models
whose assets do not come with the product. Still, the advertisers
hope to convey the subtle message that if you buy their product
you'll achieve those results. Purfume manufactuers advertise their
products will attract the opposite sex, mask body odor and invite
more itimate touch ( ADCULT USA, pg144). Once even routine
ads for some practical, everday items were shunned. "Hygiene
products, deodorants, laxatives... and simular products are
generally not accepted, " the NBC code of 1943 noted. Today
women can model lingerie or even breast feed a child (as seen in a
Gerber ad) on television. Consider a much noted A Calvin Klein
ad insert in New York and Los Angeles editions of Vanity Fair, was
described by Advertising Age as "boy meets girl, boy meets boy,
boy meet self". That's merely the most striking example of a vast
range of jeans, lingerie and cosmetics ads that once would have
been relegated to Playboy or Penthouse, but now are appearing in
upscale mainstream publications ( Baltimore Sun, pg 3g).
Toy manufacturers are also capitalizing on the use of sex to
sell products. Video games, which have a largley teenage male
following, use graphic and sexually stimulating graphics to portray
their female characters. Lude advertisements such as "Engage in
thousands of exciting relationships with total strangers without
wearing anything made of latex" (NEXT Generation, pg 72), and
"Sometimes having a killer body just isn't enough, you'll need tough
studs and big bolts" (NEXT Generation, pg 91) appeal to their
adolescent fantasies. There are people who consider this form of
advertisment to be in poor taste because of the advertising
techniques. They oppose advertisements with sexual overtones
and advertisements with adult content that appear in media
available to and directed toward children (Advertising, pg 67).
Even the foreign market of developing countries such as war
torn Cambodia are being flooded with the promise of the good life.
Beer commercials in Cambodia show fit young men leaping and
sprinting while promises of physical and intellectual prowess flash
on the television screen. In one popular spot, a man cracks an
egg into his beer, and the yoke transforms into a woman, he drinks
down the attractive brew with a slurp ( Yahoo! News,
yahoo.com/headlines/961129).
The Spanish government introduced legislation in April, 1986
to ban misleading, unfair, or irrational advertising. The bill would
also regulate the use of testimonials, comparative advertising, and
the material that is offensive to the dignity of women or fails to
respect the rights of children. ( Edward Mark Mazze, Britannica
Annual 1989, pg 265). The United States has no such legislation,
except for strict laws against child pornography. An attempt to
introduce such legislation would be met with stern opposition from
the corporate world, whose industries profit from such advertising.
Advertising agencies have taken advantage of the freedoms of
speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. Product
advertising continues to push the acceptance of sexually explicit
materials to the limit in it's race for higher profits.
Sexuality has become a national trade mark, the symbol of
American commerce. Naked, semi-naked, dressing and
undressing women fill not only films but the pages of magazines
advertising food, clothing, automobiles, hotels, refrigerators,
chewing gum and everything which in the opinion of the business
man would represent the vital interest of people. Advertisements
have never been granted the unqualified rights of free speech held
by books, articles or news programs. The indecency of American
and world wide advertising has become indescribable. Sex in
advertising will always be an issue of ethical concern as long as
peoples view remain diverse and companies profit from those
diversities.