Does Sex Sell?

[salermo]

In the press, radio and television, and now the internet, advertisements are all over with massive infusion of sexy innuendos in ads that would make somebody "hot" or cringe in embarassment. Does that make you buy their product or not? :beam: :beg: :D

[salermo]

Sorry, it should be .. Does Sex Sell..a typo on first post.

[saiyz81]

Sex cant help it. It sells and when it does, it does so big time. I'm guilty beyond reasonable doubt of resorting to easy ways in selling a product. I am involved in making ads, the ones you see on TV. My involvement is deep and right at the core of how ads turn out they way they do. I write advertising strategies, it's my job.

Sex connects to human emotions in a big way.The images of sex you see in ads are almost too good to be true. They are dreams, fantasies of men. And of women too - see the beer ads recently? They may be talking to the male gender, exposing his fantasy to be desired by sexy women. But look at the women in these ads - they are not only hot, they are IN CONTROL. Long after the commercial is over, you might not remember what the product was, but you sure as hell remember that sexy girl, or, for that matter, that cute hunk. It's all about the human nature of wanting to aspire to something so unlike what is real around him. Did it sell the product, you might ask? Not directly - the brand of the beer may not have stuck, but certainly the entire beer category benefits.

The best pair for a hot, sports car is a babe in a bikini. Does'nt get better than that.

[coffeemug]

personally, i don't buy somthing simply because a scantily clad model promotes something... i'm a very logical person and i normally go for technical specifications when buying something... besides, being directly involved in the media has made me immune to such marketing gimiks... but yes, generally speaking sex sells...

[saiyz81]

Good for you. You are the ideal consumer products should be targeting. Unfortunately, a good majority of us have shortcomings and are thus lured by emotions than by rational thought. But there are ways of telling a rational, logical idea in an emotional storytelling manner. Let's forget about sex for a minute and get out of this thread's topic. Ads have the responsibility to sell a product, and TV ads sell most effectively and efficiently - that's why a a 30 seconder TV commercial on ABS-CBN costs upwards from P130,000 per run. And on TV, you need to tell a story - the more emotional (where consumers relate and find relevant to their current needs and wants), the better it sells the product. The antithesis to ads with stories are the bareta ads with side-by-side demos. But even these products, Tide in particular, have over the last 5 years shifted to storytelling. The Tide commercial "Baboy" - fat kid with the vandalized t-shirt - was last year's Ad of the Year winner of the Phils. Creative Guild Awards.

Now jumping back to the topic of sex as a selling tool, if you have seen this Budweisser commercial where the guy plops spoonfulls of ice cream on a girl's bod and then laps them off - you are in it for the thrill of what's gonna happen next. Are they gonna have sex right there? But as the girl darts off to get a fresh pint of ice cream from the fridge, our guy had by then clicked on the TV and popped open a Bud and become engrossed with the NFL finals. Poor girl then proceeds to eat the ice cream herself. The voice-over then leaps into the rational benefits of a Bud as the camera pans lovingly around a bottle. The tag line reads "Nothing Can Separate a Guy from his Bud and Football" - or words to that effect. Compare this ad with the James Coburn Carlsberg ads from the 80s where he talks about how the beer is made, etc., and which ad you think will drive you to purchase? Both ads deliver the rational promise of their products, yet executionally went off in two different directions.

Just wanna clarify that I'm not saying that sex is the ultimate tool in selling a product. Far from the truth - the ultimate is the story. Is it relevant? Is it differentiating? If sex becomes an executional option along the way, then it's just that - an option, not a mandatory.