Use Of Sexual Images For Advertising

For this assignment, we were given the chance to discover how it is that our society has come to integrate  large aspects of pornography into mainstream media and to witness the effects that it is having on today's youth.
We were asked to find and do an analysis of three advertisements we found on the Internet where sexual content has a presence.

The Axe Effect: Billions of Women

This commercial was part of the "The Axe Effect" advertising campaign in which mostly all of the commercials portrayed the aspect of pornography known as "male dominance over women."

It seems as though all of Unilever's advertisements for Axe work in this way, not just the ones from this particular campaign.  Watching any of their commercials or viewing any of their posters or magazine inserts almost always reminds me of an image of flies swarming a peeled banana that has been sitting in the sun for a couple of hours.  I mean, it is crazy to think that anyone would actually be able to take these kinds of commercials seriously—but then again, I do suppose that I do currently own and make use of at least one of their products at home... but that's not the point!

I guess that it just bothers me how mindless these women are portrayed in these types of advertisements and I think that it distorts the male perception of women quite significantly, especially for the inexperienced youth.  Women do have brains of their own and they should have the right to decide whether or not they want to approach a male or not.   They are not obligated to obey or preform for him in any way that they do not feel comfortable with.

Hmm, maybe I'm just breathing too much into this, but even if I am, thinking back, I can understand why I dislike this particular method of advertising so much.  Being asthmatic while in a middle school changing room was a difficult task.  Well, it was hard enough as it was, but having to hold your breath the whole time in avoiding being suffocated by clouds of Axe made the whole experience four times as bad.

SKYY Vodka:

Looking around on the internet, I found various images from a company based out of Milan, Italy which sells the alcoholic beverage SKYY Vodka.

Images like the one to the left are definitely intended to make the viewer receive some kind of sexual arousal and then associate it with the drink.

The women in this image is more objectified than is the man (her head is not in the shot) and the exposure of her upper thigh region accompanied by the posture of her body is suggestive.

The fact that the man in the image is engaging in socially inappropriate behaviour (gazing into an area of the woman's body that would normally only be exposed in private and under her approval) is also sexual in nature.

The only ting that I like more about this advertisement than the previous one from Axe is the target group for the product.  Axe products are used for managing body-odor and the target group can range anywhere from 12 year-old boys to grown men, so sexual content is a bit iffy and questionable at times with their advertising.  SKYY Vodka is alcoholic and part of an area of the market highly restricted to adults, so there is not really as much of an issue if they wish to make their advertisements sexual or not.  However, what about the females who are looking to purchase an alcoholic drink?  They would still be within the target group for SKYY Vodka, would they not?  Why not appeal to them with images of men?  Hmm?

Metropolitan Home Magazine:

This next image comes from an insert to Metropolitan Home, an interior design magazine with their headquarters in New York City, and the fact that they have chosen a male model to appear in this issue is rather interesting.  You know, it's not the kind of place you would think to find even a mildly sexual image, as most of the magazines I have seen for people interested interior design or home renovation do not make use of this.  It even has a play on words with the "Our Model. Exposed." caption written in the top right-hand corner, which can have a dual meaning depending on what catches your interest the most in this image—the attractive male model or the various items of furniture surrounding him.  (I fail to interpret the appropriate message first.)

For this image, I would say that it is human sexual objectification that appears in the picture as an aspect of pornography.  The only difference here is that it is a man who is being objectified and not a woman.  That really says a lot, doesn't it?  See, men can become the focal point of a sexual image for an advertisement too!

My Opinion
After having completed this assignment, I am torn between the idea that mild elements of pornography do have a rightful place in advertising or that they do not.  It is a tough call for me at times and I find myself being more uncomfortable with certain images than I am with others.  That being said, I do not really have a clear understanding of where we should be drawing the line as a society, but certainly any sexual images being placed in a marketing area for children is a no-no.  I mean, children are going to have these images shown to them through advertisements throughout their day due to the hyper-sexual of today's media and the marketing world, but we can at least try to limit how it is we are advertising to children, specifically when a product is to be used by them.

Before the age of twelve, children are typically not going to be able to achieve full-on arousal from a sexual image anyway, and until the age of sixteen, their organs and brains are not going to be fully developed enough to handle any kind of sexual intimacy with a partner responsibly, so I do not even see a reason why it is needed when advertising products to them.

In all seriousness, sex sells.  You and I both know that, and the people in charge of advertising for major companies and corporations know it too.  It is no big secret—porn has a flair and appeal to it, and if a person says that it does not appeal to them on at least a sub-conscious level, they are either lying or of another species that does not desire human sex.  Humans are meant to be creatures of sex; that's just how it works.  No matter how chaste and pure a person tries to make themselves, it is nearly impossible to remove all sexual desire, as it is necessary to human reproduction and thus the survival of our species as a whole.

I am happy that society has loosened up a little and is more open to having appropriate and intelligent conversations about sex, instead of trying to pretend that it just does not exist.  That "hush-hush!" era of our grandparents is long gone, and society has taken a plunge into the pool of "freedom of sexual expression" which has its roots in the sixties.  Even though it can be a little too much to handle at times, I truly hope that it can level itself out over time to a point where people feel open and accepting towards a sexual desire which is different from their own, and where our children can still live the lives of happy and playful kids without having to worry about what a potential sexual partner thinks about their appearance.

Good? Good.
I'm glad I made myself clear.