Puma can not be serious with this..!!

How could this be possibly a good commercial? The authors of this ad must really be joking!

 Those might be the frist thoughts that will come up to our mind after seeing this Puma Advertisement. This advert has two versions in different shaded in colors (blue and red), however both of them are very similar. Both Commercials feature a female (who is on her knees and touching man’s legs) and male (leaning back to a wall) dressed in rather sporty clothes with Puma accessoires and shoes practicing Oral Sex.

 But, that is not all! – Girl’s leg is covered with some liquid which in this context is clearly supposed to be man’s semen!! 

Yes, this is pretty strong coffee. 

Puma, claims that this Advertisement is not an original production of the company and that someone must have made this to shine bad light on the company. However, even bad advertisement is still an advertisement.

Would you like to know more…?

  

Visit folloving pages to learn more about the issue of sex in advertising…

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3778/is_200201/ai_n9032366 - Most useful Webpage. “Sex in advertising research: A review of content, effects, and functions of sexual information in consumer advertising” as a part of “Annual Review of Sex Research,” done by Tom Reichert, year 2002. Page analyzes every aspect of Sex in Advertising. Describes the historical point of view, types of advertisement featuring explicit images, finding them in popular media, their effects (emotional, physiological, attitudinal etc.), analyzes the historical and also recent research… If you want to more about this issue, this would be the “Number 1″ Source to be recommended.

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/sex.html - Webpage about Sex and Advertising created by Richard F. Taflinger, PhD and professor from the State University of Washington in 1996 describing examples of older commercials featuring sexual images and analyzes the whole issue from more points of view. Page aslo offers the reader more links connected with this problemacy and has picturial additions. R. F. Taflinger is one of the best experts about this issue.

http://www.fanny-hill.net/html/r1_erotic_advertising.htm - A big database of Erotic Advertising. Actually contains pictures starting from the 1950′s. With every advert offers also a small paragraph about the background of it. Some commercials are really interesting, considering the year when they were created.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6900665.stm - A BBC NEWS Article describing the material world of humanity, contains very interesting commentaries of people from the whole world.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/ads_prove_sex_sells_5576?page=0%2C2 - “15 Ads That Prove Sex Sells… Best?” – Very interesting page with pictures that might really surprise you. According to the name, this page really proves that Sex Sells.

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/sp2003/gp1/Article1.html - Webpage mainly focusing on the topic of women in advertisements.

http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/?article=activity&refid=026 - Webpage discussing the sexuality in Mass Media in more or less critical view.

QUIZ – Get Ready. Prepare your Imagination. Guess what are these Advertisements trying to sell.

Might sound easy.

But is it really?

 

 

 

Answers:

1 – Toilet Paper,

2 – Vacuum Cleaner,

3 – Real Estate Advert,

4 – Men’s Magazine,

5 – Coffee

Calvin Klein, Abercrombie & Fitch, Armani, Lacoste.. But where does it really stop?!

Underwear, perfumes, cosmetics.. but that is not all!

Anywhere we look, it is there.

  

During the last couple of decades sex and advertising have become bonded like they have never been before. Sometimes, it might be hard to imagine a commercial that does not show us mile long woman’s legs in milimiter long skirt or a man whose biceps are so strong that they could pick up a tractor. The society has become so drawned to these pictures, which the advertising companies are coming up with more and more shocking picutres and ideas. But is it really worth it? Do almost naked actors, sexual symbols or multiple meaning words really make us buy a product or at least remember it?

  

Richard F. Taflinger, PhD, who studies this issue also from the bilogical point of view claims: “Sex is the second strongest of the psychological appeals, right behind self-preservation. It’s strenght is biological and instictive, the genetic imperative of reproduction” (Taflinger, 1996). So naturally most of people are attracted to sex. Moreover, the number of adverts with sexual content is clearly growing and this supports the idea of our society being sex-oriented.

  

However, if we look at the content of the advertisiment, we should not look only for almost naked people, while the marketing companies are coming up with strategies that feature more sophisticated transmission of sexual messages. Many times, these can be hidden in symbols which look like sexual organs or rembrace the sexual act (e.g. shift stick in the car, bananas, perfume bottles, etc); hidden it multiple meaning words or phrases (e.g. “Do it to me”, “Give it to me” etc) or also in contextual fastors like the setting of the ad (e.g bedroom, empty dark bar etc) and music or provocative dress code or voice of the actors.

  

We should ask our selves – are the sexy ads intented to be sexy? Do we like them? Do we remember them? – Many times, all the answers depend just on the demographic and psychographic factors of people whom these commercials have hit. It is very clear, that sexual images can get our attention, are more engaging and involving and mostly interesting (Reichert, 2002) And that is why they have become so popular by the marketing companies. But the strategy must be worked out well for it to really work. Some prodcuts can be connected with sexually more easier than others (e.g lingerie,  comsetics versus milk, coffee, vacuum cleaners, hamburgers etc) and if this connection in the ad is not worked out well, it might cause for the whole campaign to look unprofessional and give the product bad reputation (Reichert, 2002) – worth mentioning would be a campaign for fast food chain in the US – Carl’s JR which featured Paris Hilton dressed in swimming suit wasching a limousine and eating the famous 6 dollar spicy hamburger). So the line between success and failure in this spehere is very thin. Advertisers must be careful about the shocking effect and the actual amount of sexual images. Also the usage of sexually explicit images and multiple meaning words can sometimes cause the brand also problems and bad reputation. (However, in this case we should not forget that even bad Advertisment is an Advertisment.) To support this idea, I would like to use the example of the fiasco or Abercrombie&Fitch’s catalogue realeased in 2002. This cataloque named “XXX Wet, Hot, Summer Fun” received many complaints while it contained pictures of nude teenage boys and girls. Just after a week of it’s release, the Illinois State Senate banned it and with other nono profit oranizations suggested boycott of this brand standing against the company’s marketing strategies (Lewit). Furthermore, if a normal person is overdosed by sexual images of an advertisement, this person might tend not to remember the product which was ment to be sold (Reichert, 2002)

  In the conclusion, all the asdvertisment featuring sex and sexual images are playing hard upon our most basic instincts. According to an annual reaserch done by Tom Reichert in 2002, if person’s attitude towrds sex is possitive, their attitude towards the advertisement and product will be possitive as well (Reichert, 2002).

WORKS CITED: 

Levit, Mark. “Sex in Advertising: Does it sell?.” Enzine Articles. 03 Jan 2008 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Sex-in-Advertising:-Does-it-Sell?&id=14551>. 

Reichert, Tom. “Sex in Advertising.” A review of content, effects, and functions of sexual information in consumer advertising. 2002. 01 Jan 2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3778/is_200201/ai_n9032366/pg_10.

Taflinger PhD, Richard F.. “You and Me: Babe: Sex and Advertising.” 28 May 1996. Taking ADvantage. 10 Jan 2008 <http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/sex.html>.

Do you need Gear and Equipment for Construction?

Shop at our place and we can make sure that you will also get laid?!

Underneath this article can be found two videos – both found on Youtube.com, advertising basically almost the same product – working clothes and gear. But the styles of their promotion and the style of the commercials is very diverse.

Which one do you think will be more successful?

 

“Same Sex Sells”

A new interesting trend has evolved during last couple of years.

Diversification of advertisments has successfully hit the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transexual Community as well..

“Commercial Closet Association, a New York City-based group that counsels firms on smarter representation of gays in advertising, logged 436 gay-themed ads in global gay and mainstream media last year — around a fifth of which appeared in Europe — versus around 350 in 2003.” (A New Ad Adage: Same Sex Sells)

Possibly, the most famous ice-breaker of Gay themed Commercials would be the duo of two very talented fashion designers, Who dress celebrities like Madonna, Kylie Minoque etc – Dolce and Gabbana. Both Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are gay. And so proud of it that they are not ashamed to be one of the first people to use homesexuals in the ads. But behind the reason of using the gay couples is something more than just the fact of homosexual orientation of both famous and desired designers.

According to the Time’s Article “A New Ad Adage: Same Sex Sells“, there are more reasons why the number of gay themed commercials is growing.

Firstly, regarding the same source: “ Openly gay men in full-time jobs earn $18,000 a year more than the male national average; among lesbians, the premium is $12,000.“ So the main reason why companies started focusing on the minority group of gays and lesbians might be that in some cases gays and lesbians tend to be earning more money (and usually have just the partner or very close friends to spend it on). The next fact might be that gays and lesbians create long-time relationship with brands.  Gays make more money and spend more  money. So the brands want to attract them.

But Dolce and Gabbana are not the only ones using this strategy. Moreover, products as Tylenol PM, L’Oreal and Guiness have featured their ads with gay theme. Lastly I will mention just the Tylenol PM’s ad, which  features a sleepless and topless men couple in bed with the slogans: “His backache is keeping him up“ and “His boyfriend’s backache is keeping him up.”

The whole Times article can be found here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1220477-1,00.html

  

  

DOLCE & GABBANA VIDEOS FEATURING GAY COUPLES

Tom Ford shocks with Campaign for his Men’s Perfume

TOM FORD (1962)

An American Fashion Designer who gained internation fame after designing for Yves Saint - Laurent, being the Head Designer of the luxury Italian Fashion House Gucci and founding his own fashion brand.

 Shock with Commercial for his new Perfume.

Obscene? Sick? Provocative?

The first shot for the new commercial of the Firts Ford’s Men’s Perfume was shot in collaboration of Marilyn Minter. This one featured only Ford posing with his half unbuttoned shirt on a bed in arms of a sexy female model. However, soon he decided to change the ads and take it from an “egier and more graphic side and approach”, as claimed Ford’s spokeswoman. Secondly, he decided to collaborate with famous photographer Terry Richardson.

 And this is the outcome of their work. 

However, the pictures are not all – when visiting Tom Ford’s webbpage, you might be even more shocked by a very lively Flash Player Presentatation. On the other side, if we look at this campaign from the other side – for Tom Ford it is not so surprising. While the Golden Years of Gucci and YSL under his hands, there already were many cutting-edge sexual and pornographic themes, moreover, most of the ads for Tom Ford Cosmetics were positioned with sex.

 

 

Will commercial actually work?

CERTAINLY!

I do not think that I am the only one who will remember this disturbing

pictures many days after actually seeing them.

And that is what the advertising companies want!

 

This Ad appered in popular men’s Lifestyle American Magazines GQ and Wallpaper.

 Find more information and Tom Ford and this Commercials:

http://beautyanonymous.blogspot.com/2007/09/provocative-ad-tom-ford-for-men.html

http://commercial-archive.com/…/septjpgs/tomford.jpg

http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/774090/

Does Sex sell?

Sex in advertising has been a very debated issue during the last decades. Marketing and advertising companies use the strategy of “sex selling” and according to the amount of more and more advertisement with sexual content I can say that this intention seems to be working. Moreover, seems to be working very well. So, if we ask ourselves just a simple question if the sex in advertising sell, the answer is clear – Yes, it does. But what is the price of it? 

So the main purpose – to sell is achieved. However, the creators of this provoking campaigns also succeed in getting our attention and prokoving an emotional respons. What are very important segments of our response to the advertisement. People not only buy, the product but also remember the campaign which is more extraordinary, eventhough it contains explicit pictures.