Sexuality and Advertising Chapter 5

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, you’ll be lovable and if you can’t, you’ll 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

Tapping into our Desires  Berger’s 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

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

Sexploitation and Anxiety  This exploitation of the female body can cause a sense of inadequacy on the part of many women– who aren’t six feet tall, don’t have lean or curvy figures, who aren’t 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

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

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

Phallic Symbols- say it ain’t so Joe!  “His long straight snout bulges from above two pouchy folds… a lighted cigarette hanging from his lips” There’s 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 Camel’s inducements to choose Camel cigarettes” –Arthur Asa Berger

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 and…having 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!