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Sex in advertising is the use of sexual interest as a tool of persuasion to draw interest to a particular product, for purpose of sale.
 Images of pretty women often appear in ads even when they have no connection to the product being sold. Here a provacatively clad woman lends "sex appeal" to a 1921 ad for tire valve caps. Sexuality is considered one of the most powerful tools of marketing and particularly advertising. Post-advertising sales response studies have shown it can be very effective for attracting immediate interest, holding that interest, and, in the context of that interest, introducing a product that somehow correlates with that interest.
The use of sex in advertising can be highly overt or extremely subtle: from relatively explicit displays of sexual acts, down to the use of basic cosmetics to enhance attractive features. The more subtle end of this spectrum has penetrated all types of media including news casts, documentaries, and even tele-evangelists. The use is not limited to visual media either: one of the criteria in selecting DJs and announcers is the "sexiness" of their voice.
Use of sexual imagery in advertising has been criticised on different grounds. Conservatives, especially religious ones, consider it obscene. Many feminists feel it objectifies women (as women are more often portrayed in a sexual manner than men). Some claim it reinforces sexism.
Magazine page with Yves St. Laurent perfume ad. The advertiser seems to think he will have the most success by aiming at the straight man with a secret yen for young males. The scene is heavily redolent of bisexuality, especially the classical Greek type. Increasingly, this argument has been complicated by the appearance of androgynous and homoerotic themes. Calvin Klein has been at the forefront of this movement, having himself declared that 'Jeans are about sex. The abundance of bare flesh is the last gasp of advertisers trying to give redundant products a new identity.' In recent years ads for jeans, perfumes, and many other products have featured provocative images that were designed to elicit sexual responses from as large a cross section of the population as possible, to shock by their ambivalence, and often to appeal to repressed sexual desires, which are thought to carry a stronger emotional load.
Perfume ads, promoting a product that in its essence has a primal appeal, are especially prone to use such techniques. The adjacent YSL ad utilizes several powerful techniques aimed at a sexual response.
- The name of the advertiser appears poised to penetrate the woman's vagina.
- The presence of the smooth-chested boy, discordant with social norms, appeals to both
- subliminal desires
- overt desires of a homosexual, bisexual or pederastic nature
"Obsession" is another perfume advertiser skilled at employing ambivalent sexuality.
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