Is it responsible for marketeers and their organisations to use sex to sell? Discuss giving suitable examples.
Please also don't forget to share comments on the other groups' presentations.
Please also don't forget to share comments on the other groups' presentations.
Of course it is not responsible to use sex to sell. Most of the time, women are used more often than men are for this 'tactic'. Even automobile companies use sex to sell nowadays. It is violation of the female image! Granted, the women who give themselves to the advertisements are obviously not bothered about this, and neither are the people who respond to the ads, but still, being professional, the organisation/marketeer should sell their product/service by adverstising about what they are truly about, in order to appeal (in the right and reasonable way) to the customers. There is no looking at using sex to sell in a ethical or non-ethical way. (Think about it, how are you supposed to look at using sex to sell in an ETHICAL way?)
ReplyDeleteAutomobile ads are a great example of this. Car purchases by men have often have sexual statements to appeal to the male hormones. Ultimately, advertising cars would involve women and sex. But really, does the performance of the car depend on how racy the advertisement was? No. Of course, an advertisement will create product perception in the consumer's mind, and advertisements use all sorts of methods to gain the consumer's attention, but using sex to sell products (which have nothing to do with sex whatsoever), is nonsensical as well as unethical.
However, we can argue that there is no issue if the company just wants to generally portray the beauty of women/men in advertisements without having them to strip and all that.
In terms of ethics it is not responsible
ReplyDeleteHowever sex does give an advantage do the marketeer if it is used for the right product and in the right manner..
For example alchohol uses sex as a tool and if it isnt working for them they would have stopped already
For using sex in the wrong manner if you are marketing to conservative people sex might backfire on you
I am impressed. It's Andrea and Yong who have written first *Clap Clap*.
ReplyDeleteProstitution, and in turn, sex, is the oldest occupation in the world. Profiteering from sex has been the way of the world since Bread to David Beckham (Hot buns, oven fresh. There's a joke there).
Thus it is the way of the world. You got it you flaunt it. But is it ethical?
Sexual connotations are everywhere, from unicorns (horse with horns; figure it out) to deodorant. It is definitely not ethical to use sex to sell things, but here's a question that everybody has to ponder.
Do we really have a choice?
very funny, Bob.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "do we really have a choice", who are you referring to? Us as the consumer, or us as the producer/advertiser?
Us as the prodcuer & advertiser. think of a product and I'll tell you the social connotations behind it.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that it is a question of whether it is responsible or not. Because then nothing in this world would be responsible. Don’t drive cars! They pollute the air! Don’t use plastic, its non-biodegradable! You get my drift.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a question of whether it is morally right or wrong. It’s not morally right for sure but you can’t deny that sex DOES sell. Think about it, you have to have pretty/handsome people in advertisements. No advertisers really use the not so good looking ones. Everything in this world has to be easy on the eyes. Harsh, but true. No one wants to buy an ugly shirt. And consumers have really short attention spans so marketers have to take drastic actions to capture attention. What easier than sex?
Examples include: beer and women, cars and women, men fragrances and women, men being wealthy and women
Basically, ethical or not, sex sells.. In order to compete in a competitive market one (advertiser and producer) must deploy ideas, schemes and so forth sometimes regardless to the ethical aspect to continue being in the game. In short sometimes we must do whatever it takes to survive that includes throwing away your moral compass.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts and angles. Perhaps the issue isn't, "Can we use sex to sell?" - it's, "How FAR can we use sex to sell?"
ReplyDeleteIf we turn it on ourselves, we could also ask, "How far should we use sex to sell OURSELVES?" Two extremes: dress like a total geek OR show anything/everything to 'impress' the boss.
Bob
ReplyDeleteCars.
Basically, every company in the market nowadays uses sex to lure in more clients. no matter how controversial it is, like it or not, sex sells.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Al, it's how far we use sex to sell. there's a limit to using it to lure people and when it comes to getting as many customers, ethics don't really play a huge role because everyone sees things differently.
For example, fashion ads usually implement provocative images to capture peoples attention. the more provocative it is, the more attention it gets even though some may find it offensive e.g. Emanuel Ungaro's ads where women were symbolized as sex symbols. it was outrages but it got the attention it needed to sell off his couture line of clothes.
Sex is very alluring temptation in the world. What else in the marketing world. We are so exposed to sex from our surroundings that we do not seem to mind it anymore. Marketeers and organizations is not responsible for this but it is smart to take advantage of this opportunity. Is it ethical? That is actually a grey line. Why I say this because if people are willing to accept it as a normal everyday thing, then why is it unethical? It is only unethical if it is unacceptable in country that implied that it is wrong to do that kind of ad within that country.
ReplyDeleteDeodorants ads shows a buffed half-naked men attracting beautiful women by wearing their deodorant. Men are almost always interested in getting the attention of the opposite sex. This ad tells them that if they take care of their personal hygiene, they can get girls. This us the same for sport cars advertisements. Male buy cars to impress the girls.
Females are also influence by this. Clothing ads that shows beautiful women wearing clothes that are sexy and exposing, always get the attention of men. So they buy these clothes with that intention in mind.
With these examples, there is no reason to hold the marketeers and organizations responsible for selling sex since we are so exposed to it with the movies, the music, photographs, and lifestyle of celebrities that we are exposed to nowadays.
looking at the ethics and culture,it is morally wrong to use sex to sell,but we must accept the fact that sex sells as almost marketing companies always include sex in their marketing promotions
ReplyDeletehowever like my mates just said,care must be taken that there is no abuse,they must be levels when using sex to sell because we cant completely cancell it as it going to be there in today s marketing world.
I think it is okay to use sex to sell. If that is what consumers want, that is what you should give. Just as long as you are not doing the illegal or stuff like cheating, its alright. I mean, what is bad about using sex to sell? Will this land us up with more rape cases? More sex perverts? I really dont think so. We have so much rules on advertising here in Malaysia but you can bet your ass that our rape cases is higher than that of Thailand's. So, really, what is the problem with using sex to sell?
ReplyDeleteBesides, I think that this print ad is really interesting and very attention grabbing. It's a good ad because firstly, it manage to get my attention and its also something different from the usual boring ads. Way to go. Like it or not, SEX DOES SELL.
Bob,
ReplyDeleteOf course they have a choice. I dont believe whenever people say "i do not have a choice". I mean OBVIOUSLY you have a choice - to choose sex to sell or not. No producers/advertisers will have a gun pointed to their heads if they dont use sex to sell. Get what I mean? they are not forced to use sex to sell. I believe everybody has a choice for almost everything. It's whether they choose to see it or not.
Student Name: Benette Lee
ReplyDeleteStudent Number: 47031/ 30886823
In an all-marketing world, nothing is truly right or wrong. If using sex to sell is unethical, then what about other tools like ridiculing a competitor or exagerration of one's own product? Are they not unethical as well?
At the end of the day, sex has proven to stimulate sales with advertisements that blur the line between provocation and pornography. It is a constant war in the Western countries where we see how one competes with another to grasp the attention of audiences and potential customers. And if one company has already used "sex" in their previous ad campaign (in very subtle or sex pun ways), they would have to outdo the former... and so at times their advertisements pushes to the limits and are derived directly from pornography.
An example is how a fast food chain like Carls Jr uses sex to market their products. Competition does these kind of things where the message does not relate to the initial product. In a recent ad from Carls Jr, we see Audrina Patridge downing a huge burger in a bikini by the beach, claiming that she would sacrifice all foods except for her Carls Jr burger. So perhaps it all revolves around the factor of demographics. Who consumes fast food? How would using a hot celebrity in less-than-enough pieces of garments entice consumers to go out and consume their products?
I think sex does not have to derive from only women, as the newest advertisement of Yves Saint Laurent showcased actor Michael Pitt in what is dubbed "New Erotic Fashion Film". The film/ advertisement did not portray any elements of sexual actions or oral sex jokes, but only revealed Pitt in very seductive and beguiling manners throughout the film. I believe it is not fair to say what is ethical or not about sex used to market goods and services. We are affected by it, but we do accept it as a norm in life.
now that's the first i've heard of Audrina Patridge...(somehow i don't think her poster will appear in 1 Utama - or has it already?!).
ReplyDeleteI wonder, though, if we can meaningfully draw a distinction between using 'attractive' people in ads and using people's 'sexuality' to sell. One may be acceptable and even necessary; the other unnecessarily raunchy (and erodes moral values, etc.).
Honestly I believe there is a choice to pick; there is no force, so again it's on the consumer's perception.
ReplyDeleteEven though I say its wrong to use sex to sell but the bitter truth is sex does sell but again there are some leading companies are doing tremendously well without using sex to sell.
It is clear that sex is a strong appeal to sell certain products, such as fragrance. The use of sexual advertising is important in the advertisements for fragrances such as Escape and Obsession. This advertising is directed to women.
Products such as shampoo, cosmetics, and toiletries are advertised by using seductive women. Pantene faced the dilemma of whether or not the ad implied that the product will make the person using it beautiful "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful".
Another example of sexual advertising using provocative women is panty hose. Other businesses contain controversial issues about their advertising as well, for instance, Calvin Klein.
Calvin Klein dealt with the issue of using youth in provoking print ads. However, the issue of sexual advertising was under scrutiny as a whole. Sexual advertising is questioned even if it does not use under age models. It is questioned because it is considered humiliating, depraved, or simply nasty.
The use of sexual advertising applies to all forms of print media, does this type of media really need to use sex appeal to sell the product. Many products do not use sexual advertising to sell.
Products sold by Guess have currently switched their advertising campaign to include photographs of innocence and purity.
Nike has been one of the top selling shoe companies in the shoe industry for years without using sexual advertising. Even body shop does not use sex to sell.
Can companies earn just as much profit with out the use of sexual advertising in magazines?
I asked my friend Aaron this question, and this is what he answered:
Yes, I think it is o.k. to use sex in advertisement. Sex does sell like in a beer commercials.
However, when it comes to underwear I need to see if the underwear looks sexy on me and not on some model! so again there is a wave of choice here.
So again it really depends on how the consumer wants to accept it and view it.
On an ethical basis it obviously isn't responsible to use sex to sell products however it's heavily utilized by almost everyone such as automobiles, clothes, movies and even games because it's an undeniable fact that sex really does sell. Here in malaysia though because it's against the societal norm it isn't in practice although sometimes the kind of ads that either end up being stupid or really so abstract that noone but the creator themselves understand what it actually means can make it a good thing for us to see something different and possibly radical such as sexual ads in malaysia.
ReplyDeleteSyaz
Personally, even though sex does sell, I don't necessarily think an ad needs sex to actually sell. For example the Heineken ads in cinemas. They never really used any sex, especially the most recent one (at least as recent as I've been to the movies). This ad shows how even beer commercials these days don't actually need sex to sell. In fact, since both men and women are now somewhat equally involved in the purchase of products that were once presumed as male dominant, these 'sex sell' ads are out of date and is somewhat irresponsible since there is no actual need for it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also do agree that responsibly there are levels and how much sex one should use. As mentioned above, perhaps attractive people (although as bad) is acceptable as they do attract attention. Whereas raunchiness is very questionable, especially when there are minors involved and the ad is being broadcasted throughout.
Unfortunately, it is true that as much as sex sells or does not sell, is advertised or not advertised, the moral and sexual values of people around the world still will get corrupted either from the overuse or even under-use of sexual connotations. Mainly because they either get too deprived, or too overly exposed.
What is the difference between the sex-free series of “To Arthur!” advertisements by Guinness, espousing camaraderie among drinkers and worship for Arthur, and the garden variety beer ad with scantily-clad (plus well-endowed) women and men who inexplicably draw them by taking a sip of beer? Both are exploiting our psychological make-up to make a sale. Advertisements by nature is a tool to dupe the audience into buying a product through appealing to their often time unrelated sensibilities – sexual, emotional, political etc. – ergo, I would argue advertisements are innately irresponsible, so the real issue here is why is it only ‘irresponsible’ to use sex as a marketing tool in the first place?
ReplyDeleteNow by positing this question I’m opening discussion for a very subjective topic; depending on your moral bias, you are going to slant to one or the other. So I’m gonna put forward another rhetorical question;
Who made this the advertisers’ responsibility in the first place?
Humans are sentient beings capable of their own thoughts, use your own discretion and stop blaming third party influences.
- Alif Omar Mahfix
As the picture speaks a million words...whether a not I guess sex sells its been the oldest trick in the book, whether u like it or not, it is irresponsibly. However so; it’s alright, it still depends highly on ones culture, moral backgrounds, and politics of the country and the rate of influences that appeal to consumers.
ReplyDeleteEvery human being has a great sense of imagination and seeks for more desire on a demanding rate for what’s best in the market, thus advertisers’ uses sex to persuade consumers which is un- imaginably wrong. Even though, sex sells it is irresponsible for advertiser to use sex to sell, it would bring immoral gestures to various groups in publics'. There are always different ways to persuade consumers in buying their product, such as using different themes like for instances comedy, or a dramatic scene. Advertisers can be blamed for the many crimes and sexual offence that had occurred in these recent times. Therefore in my opinion it is obvious that sex is irresponsible act of marketing a products to consumers.
BY -aaron roy isaac-