Contemporary Advertising 14th Edition by William Arens ,Michael Weigold ,Christian Arens

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It's one of the more blatant uses of sex in advertising in recent memory: abillboard features a young woman, holding a grease gun cartridge in each hand, and leaning over to exhibit an ample amount of cleavage. The headline reads "This is Debbie. She wants you to have this pair in your car." The ad is for auto parts, but the implication seems to be that if you buy this manufacturer's auto parts, you'll get Debbie or someone like Debbie in the bargain. Nothing in the ad says so explicitly, but the innuendo is all that's required to capture the viewer's attention.
Advertisers frequently use the power of suggestion to imply sex, encouraging viewers to come to their own conclusions. However, advertisers who run such risqué ads must contend with the critics and with the often-tricky legal distinction between obscenity and indecency. Obscenity is illegal and carries criminal charges, whereas indecency does not. To be considered obscene, an ad must meet three conditions: it appeals to prurient interests, it is patently offensive, and it lacks any redeeming social value.
In general, most ads with sexual appeals don't meet the criteria for obscenity, but they may still be considered indecent, since indecency is in the eyes of the beholder. If enough people believe sexually oriented material is indecent, then "community standards" reflect this belief. In such cases, citizen pressure groups, along with media organizations and local courts, enforce community standards by disallowing advertising that offends those standards.
Consider Abercrombie Fitch. The clothing retailer recently sparked controversy at a mall in Omaha when its window posters featured a topless model covering her breasts with her hands. A Christian group, Family First, quickly objected, claiming that Aber-crombie's posters created a "sexualized walkway" Commenting on
the objections, a spokesperson for A F said the displays might have been "sexy" but were not the "sexually charged monstrosities" that Family First asserted. Nevertheless, the community standards had been revealed. Family First began pressuring shoppers and other retailers in the mall to object to the photographs, and within nine days the window displays were changed.
Were the posters obscene or indecent Advertisers like A F, who continue to strive for the "sexy" appeal, are beginning to find it increasingly difficulty to draw the line between simple sex appeal and unethical exploitation.
There is no easy solution to this dilemma, especially since research shows that sexual appeals can be effective when sexuality relates to the product. However, when it doesn't, it can distract audiences from the main message and severely demean the advertiser in the consumer's eyes. This brings up an important and rather common paradox about sexually oriented advertising. How is a naked model in a window poster an advertisement for clothing Many argue that it is not, making such ads not only a distraction, but also a source of negative externalities- the social costs to consumers outside the target market, such as children who might be indirectly affected.
Advertisers must examine, on a case-by-case basis, at what point sexual appeals become counterproductive. In one case, an executive on the Valvoline advertising account justified using "girlie calendars" for mechanics by noting that "the calendar may offend some groups-but they aren't our customers."
Miller Lite's "Catfight" campaign raised a few eyebrows. The campaign appeared to signal the company's return to "beer and babes" ads, depicting women as sexual objects. In the commercial, two women in a restaurant begin the classic "tastes great/less-filling" debate over Miller Lite. The debate quickly turns into a full-fledged catfight, with the two women stripped down to their bras and panties, splashing around in an adjacent fountain. Moments later, we see the two buxom brawlers going at it in a soggy cement pit. The ad cuts to a bar. It turns out the fight was only the fantasy of two guys in a bar who were dreaming of the perfect beer commercial, much to the shock and disgust of their girlfriends, who were with them at the time. The cable TV version then takes things a little further as it cuts back to the near-naked women with one saying to the other, "Do you want to make out?"
So what does any of this have to do with selling beer Hillary Chura, who covers the beer industry for Advertising Age, explains that ads such as the "Catfight" commercial are "aspirational." After watching these two beautiful women wrestle around for 30 seconds, Miller wants guys to say, "Hey, if I drink Miller Genuine Draft, I'll get those hot women." And Miller wants women to think "If I drink this beer, I'll look like those women."
But what is the social cost of these unrealistic "aspirations" In asociety rife with confidence-related disorders, should advertisers exploit consumer insecurities in an effort to sell more of their product At what point do advertisers need to accept some ethical responsibility for the interests of the society to which they owe their existence?
Unfortunately, this debate over sex in advertising may actually be fueling advertisers' desire to continue using blatant sex appeals. The "Catfight" campaign sparked nationwide attention on talk radio, CNN's Crossfire , in USA Today, and in other media outlets. Similarly, Abercrombie Fitch continues to spark controversy with its provocative ads featuring scantily clad models. Controversy equals publicity. Publicity stimulates interest. And interest spawns sales.
In short, sex, and the controversy surrounding it, sells. Until this changes, industry or government policymakers will certainly continue to encounter difficulties in treating advertising sex in a way satisfactory to everyone-or perhaps anyone.
If sexual appeals are considered OK by the audiences that are directly targeted, what responsibility does the advertiser have for any effect on indirect targets, such as children How can advertisers protect themselves from this problem?