Advertising, Sexuality in

The Nature and Types of Sexualized Advertising

Sexualized representation of the opposite gender is intended to motivate heterosexual target groups to become consumers of the product advertised, thereby becoming conquerors of the opposite sex (e.g., scantily clad women may be portrayed in a car advertisement aimed at heterosexual men). In addition, each gender in a heterosexual audience is meant to be motivated to consume products advertised by sexualized representations of its own gender, effectively identifying with and imitating the attractive image (e.g., a “sexy” woman advertising perfume for women). At times, attractive models of both sexes are displayed in heterosexual interactivity to enable both of these motivation mechanisms to function within the heterosexual target groups.

Sexual representations consciously inserted into advertising are called sexual appeals, which means that they attempt to persuade using appeals containing sexual information. Sexual information is any representation that portrays or implies sexual interest, behavior, or motivation. Tom Reichert distinguishes among five types of sexual information in advertising:

• 1.
  Nudity/dress, ranging from revelation of individual parts of the body to complete nudity
• 2.
  Sexual behavior, individual or interpersonal, portrayed either openly or suggestively
• 3.
  Physical attractiveness of the model
• 4.
  Sexual referents, subtly referring to objects and events of symbolic sexual significance
• 5.
  Sexual embeds, subliminal sexual representations, either recognisable representations of objects without primary sexual significance but endowed with it by the advertising (i.e. objects in the shape of genitalia) or subliminally presented associations not recognisable but yet explicit in their sexuality.

Sexual appeals (a) may represent children and young people, (b) may target children and young people, and (c) may be perceived by children and young people whether they are looking for it or not and even though they are not part of the actual target group.

The Prevalence of Sexual Advertisements

Many studies show an increase in both the number and the explicitness of sexual depictions in the advertising of the Western world, which is reflected in how frequently sexual appeals appear and in how much freedom they are accorded.

[Page 52]The classic products advertised with sexual representation and provocative images (predominantly of the female body) are alcoholic beverages, cosmetic products, fashionable clothing, and automobiles. In 1936, the manufacturer of Woodbury Soap advertised the product with a photograph revealing for the first time the full naked body of a woman. Today, advertising for almost every type of product and consumer goods has a sexualized form, although the advertising message frequently lacks any direct association between the sexual appeal and the product itself. A number of enterprises (among them fashion and perfume houses such as Calvin Klein or Sisley) have been caught in the crossfire of the censors because of their explicit and provocative sexual advertising campaigns, particularly when the models were or appeared to be under age.

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