I was driving in my non-sexual car, listening to a non-sexual radio station.
An advert between songs began.
The woman in the ad said excitedly, “I bought a Jeep”. Her excitement at her own statement grew. “I bought a JEEP”. Once again, her excitement grew, and began to take on a sexual tone. “Oh… Oh… I bought… a JEEP!”. You get the picture. She was orgasmically excited. Something about the purchase of a 4 wheel drive just reallllly pressed her button. Revved her engine. Pumped her petrol tank.
And I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
Sex sells…. but give me a break. Does this actually work on anyone?
Jeeps are a good-looking car, I guess. In a Rich Soccer Mum type way (PS, I know nothing about cars – to me, they are either shiny, or not shiny). But I don’t think there was any need for this lady to be climaxing over my radio. Or is there? Maybe I didn’t grasp the selling point. Does the Jeep have vibrating seats, perhaps? Does it come with a sexual partner with all the right moves? A blow-up doll that bursts out with the airbag, maybe? Probs not.
I think it is highly unlikely that she was actually turned on by something physically sensual. Perhaps the idea of spending a lot of money turns her on. I just paid my insurance bill. I think a need a post-coital cigarette.*
The thing is, unlike the funny or clever ads, the sexy ads just don’t make me any more interested in the product. Possibly even less so. They just make me giggle and scratch my head. For example, the Budget insurance ads with the French chick singing in the shower while her older husband shaves in the sink and corrects her pronunciation of the word “budget”…. I don’t know why she is naked, or what brought the two of them together (I like to invent a ‘rich’ back story in which he is a widowed millionaire and she was found on a Mail Order Bride website), but I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with insurance.
And then, during an ad break one cosy night in, I noticed the mismatched couple had been replaced with aliens. I thought someone had spiked my brownie. Evidently not. At least Budget was trying a new tactic to sell insurance other than a sexy dumb French chick…but I can’t say Martians were a better choice.
Speaking of insurance ads (and it’s bloody rare to see a good one…), what is with the one where the dude is talking about retirement, whilst changing into various uniforms to turn on his wife? He tries on a tradie costume and a chef costume, while she lays on the bed suggestively. Right-o. Can’t remember the number for the insurance company, but if I ever need it, I’ll just try 1800-HORNYRETIREES.
There’s an ad for cat food with Eva Longoria purring along the carpet in a short dress. She’s hot, yeah. But it’s cat food. Cat. Food. Not. Sexy. And gentlemen, if you believe what you see, use Lynx. You’ll be banging supermodels in no time.
I asked around on Facebook if anyone found other ads unnecessarily sexy. The brands that my buddies associated with having random sexy ads, either occasionally or consistently, goes on and on**. AAMI, Absolut, Bonds, Calvin Klein, Carls Jr (an American burger joint), Equinox, Lynx, Soda Stream, Sprite. But did anyone actually buy the products based on the sexed-up ads?
Clever ads, happy ads and funny ads have made me jump to buy the products. Ads that move me or excite me (hellllooooo Cadbury Marvellous Creations). But I’m talking about exciting my tastebuds or my intellect… because try as they might, the 30 second slots rarely rev my engine.
If the whole point of ‘sex sells’ is to get people talking about the product, then I guess some advertising execs are nailing it. The ads certainly stick in my mind. And some of the time, I even remember what the product is they are selling. But even so, I prefer my ad breaks to have a little more brain, and a little less bang.
Now excuse me, I have to go and have an orgasm in my Jeep.
*Come to think of it, Jeep ads in general are pissing me off a bit lately. I guess it’s working, because the ‘I bought a Jeep’ line is coming up in conversation every now and then, so it is seeping its’ way into our brains no matter how infuriatingly it got there. The one that I hate the most is the earliest one – a lady is cleaning up the living room and tells her husband that she bought a Jeep. “You bought a Jeep?” says Michael, incredulously. “Yes Michael… I bought a Jeep” says wifey. This goes on for some time, until Michael smirks proudly. What is this implying? That it is surprising a woman bought a good car without supervision? Is Michael shocked that wifey didn’t just buy shoes and tampons like she normally does? Maybe I’m reading into it too much, and maybe I’m just a bit of a grump… but every time I hear “I bought a Jeep”, I want to scream “SO FUCKING WHAT??”. The ads certainly don’t want to make me jump on the bandwagon.
**See links below to the most overt ones. Granted, some of these are tongue-in-cheek (mind the pun) sexuality, poking fun at the fact that they are selling an unsexy product with sex. Existentialism has never looked hotter.
Nina Agdal starring in Carl’s jr Sexy Commercial TV Ad.
Scarlett Johansson SodaStream ad.
Miranda Kerr’s Bizarre Japanese Advert for Lipton Lemon Iced Tea.
And for some not so subtle sexist advertising, we have put together some photos.
Follow Lucy Gransbury on Twitter @LucyGransbury. Or follow her in real life. She is probably buying Cadbury Marvellous Creations, because she likes that ad.
Are you over the ‘sex sells’ method used in advertising?
Top Comments
We use a lot of forklifts in my workplace and a lot of the drivers are Kiwi lads. My employer purchased a jib, an extension for the tynes on the forklifts and the guys think it's just hilarious to run into my office and declare "you bought a jib" but due to their Kiwi accents it sounds like "you bought a jeeb". Everyday I tell them if i hear it one more time I will wring some necks but they still do it and they still love it. I can't wait for them to come up with something else just so I don't have to hear that one anymore.
My 12 year old daughter and I have been watching a lot of older music videos on Foxtel lately - from the 80s and 90s. What strikes me is how much more diverse the physical appearance of singers was back then.
It was not uncommon to have middle aged singers/bands and many singers weren't particularly attractive. And women actually wore clothes in the video clips. There was an old Janet Jackson video where she was wearing a really baggy man-style shirt and baggy trousers. Not an ounce of skin flashing anywhere. And there were so many like that. So different to modern videos.
I am very much over the sex/no clothing sells crap.
It is amazing how much it's changed in the last 15-20 years isn't it? Point in case, the attached photos of Jennifer Lopez from the earlier part of her career (1990-1994 ish) mostly from her time on In Living Color.
I try to get to the gym as often as I can but I have to take my own music and headphones and also walk on the treadmill with my eyes shut. The screens above the treadmills play music clips (aka soft porn) and although I am not a prude and am not offended by boobs (i have some of my own) I am just so sick of every filmclip having to use sex and it's always the woman in the clip that is depicted as the "sexy object". The male artists use pretty sexy trinkets to make their clips entertaining for the men and although I dont' agree with the method I do understand that men will be boys but the female artists using their own sexuality to sell music is beyond me. Why degrade yourself when there are so many other options? Beyonce, Rihanna, Shakira come to mind.
If you have to use sex to sell your music it speaks volumes about the artist's musical talent or lack thereof.