How much SEX sells????

                At first glance what do these ads seem to be advertising? When I first came across these ads I thought perfume or some new grocery store was being advertised. There was an article that went along with these ads, which helped me determine that these ads were actually for an Italian clothing line, Sisley. The Sisley campaign is set in Laundromats and grocery store, described in the article, Sisley Fall/ Winter 2010/2011 Ad Campaigns, as the normal hangout spots for “urban junkies and normal people”. After I discovered that the ad was actually an advertisement for a clothing, I then asked myself why have a grocery store setting and why were the models in overly sexual positions.

While looking at these ads the famous line “sex sells” popped into my head and I began to wonder why. Why is it that advertising uses sex or the idea of sex as a tool to sell a variety of products? I then asked myself is advertising really trying to sell a product or a lifestyle. I would argue that advertising is actually trying to sell a product by promoting a certain lifestyle. For example, in the first photograph the model’s clothes are barely visible, but this is supposed to be an ad for the clothing line. Instead of focusing on the clothes, the photograph uses the model’s sex appeal to draw audiences in and keep them interested. This ad implies that the Sisley line makes women feel more sexy and will make them desirable to others.

The ad that has the girl lying on the floor in the grocery store surrounded by cucumbers disturbs me the most. When someone first looks at this ad, their attention will first be focused on the setting and the fact that the model is holding the cucumber in a sexual manner; only after funneling through all of the sex appeal in the ad will audiences focus their attention on the actual product being advertised.

I think the sexual presence in ads actually takes away from the product. There will be some people who actually embrace the sexuality expressed throughout ads, but there will also be others who agree with me, that using sex to sell a product actually make one develop ill feelings about that product. It’s time for advertisers to find a new strategy for selling products rather than repeating the ever popular “sex sells” concept because it’s over done and we need outgrow that kind of thinking.