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Most people agree that "the sexual ads that have drawn the most protest are those that exploit women as sex objects and those that use underage models in suggestive ways" (Duncan 2002). With the use of sexually oriented advertising comes scrutiny and protests by parents, legislators, and consumer activists--just to name a few groups. Consider the public furor over the FCUK brand from French Connection or the Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake incident during the half-time show at the 2004 Super Bowl, when Jackson's breast was exposed to viewers. This so-called wardrobe malfunction resulted in months of debate about American core values and the role of the Federal Trade Commission (which is only one of several federal agencies that has jurisdiction over the monitoring of one or more aspects of advertising and marketing communication in the United States) in regulating live television programs (Elliot 2005). In the wake of this incident, a time delay has been placed on all live television programs.

People still talk about the Calvin Klein controversy of the mid-1990s, when the designer used young-looking models (albeit over 18) to star in his controversial jean ads. While many critics rated these ads as outright "kiddie porn," others contended that any PR is good PR (Lippe 1995). Some commentators compared these ads to the bare-bottomed toddler girl in the classic Coppertone ads, which are now viewed in a different way due to the current spotlight on pedophilia. The question remains: Was Klein just a wise businessman capitalizing on America's craving for sex? Are sexual images in advertising today just good marketing? On one side of the argument is the belief that "the chief aim of marketing is to sell more things, to more people more often for more money" (Danziger 2002). The bottom line is profit, and, therefore, the sole obligation of the firm is to do whatever is necessary, within legal parameters, to maximize return on shareholder equity.

So, if sex sells more products, then sex in advertising is good for business. It sure has been good for a coffee stand in Seattle, Washington (Brady 1995). The owner has developed a special niche for his retail store, and business couldn't be better. He uses gorgeous women barely dressed in bras and panties to lean out the window to take orders and deliver coffee and sweet treats. According to the owner, anything is fair game as long as his employees' breasts and buttocks are covered so they aren't breaking the law. The business owners report few complaints other than long drive-through lines.

The alternative point of view says that organizations must look beyond the specific profit interests of the firm and consider their greater social responsibility. Is sex in advertising going against moral and ethical standards? Is it exploiting women? Has it turned "sex into a dirty joke" (Kilbourne 2005)? Are sexually oriented ads just outright distasteful and wrong? Or do they just reflect a culture in which "the heat level has risen, the whole stimulation level is up" (Brady 1995)? An additional concern is that the more sexual images that are used in the media and advertising, the more acceptable the extent of the sexuality that will become in future advertising. In other words, sexual images are now an expectation in the advertising of clothing, perfume, body lotions, and hair products. The laws regarding sexual harassment indicate that acceptable behavior should be defined by what a "reasonable woman" would consider acceptable behavior. As we become socialized toward sexual innuendo and images, reasonable women will become more and more accepting of lewd behavior and images. This may up the ante for advertisers who feel continuously pressured to increase the "wow" factor and therefore increase the amount of sexual imagery they use.

As stated above, the unexpected in terms of sex appeal in advertising has become the expected, and now it has also become the norm. But the larger question is: Does that make it right? What are these graphic images teaching our youths? "That women are sexually desirable only if they are young, thin, carefully polished and groomed, made up, depilated, sprayed and scented" (Kilbourne 2005). At the opposite end of this spectrum, however, are new approaches to advertising, including the Dove theme suggesting that all women, regardless of their body type, are beautiful and desirable. Many advertisers are now using larger women as models. It has yet to be seen whether this is an improvement or simply an extension of the use of sexual imagery. In other words, if large and less traditionally attractive women are also presented as sexual objects, some might say that we are going backward instead of forward.

The women's movement has spent decades fighting for an equal place at the table (i.e., equal pay for equal work, fair treatment, and the elimination of the glass ceiling). Has the women's rights movement been a waste of time if we are still reducing women to nothing more than sex objects? We are teaching our youths (both boys and girls) to devalue the mental and spiritual aspects of a woman and focus exclusively on the physical.

For thousands of years, advertisers have used women as eye-catching images in their ads. At the start of the 21st century, this strategy continues full speed ahead. By modern standards, the images are raunchier, more explicit, and more widely employed. As a society, we get to decide where to draw the line. Therein lies another controversy--in a complex culture, which ones of us will make the decision? Will we turn off the TV, decide not to buy a product, or refuse to shop at a retail store that uses sexually explicit images in its advertisements? Regardless of our opinions about the use of sex in advertising, we ought to be concerned that private companies and their advertising agencies appear to be making those decisions now. We need to ponder the long-term effects on our culture.

References:

Anne, C., "Sexual Promotion Can Motivate, Distract, Alienate, or Liberate." Advertising and Sales Promotion 19, no. 10 (1971): 52.

Associated Press, "Coffee Shops Show a Little Skin to Compete." KOMO-TV- Seattle, Washington-News ( January 9, 2007). http://www.komotv.com/news/5402241.html

Brady, James, "Fueling, Feeling the Heat." Advertising Age (September 4, 1995): 1, 34.

Danziger, Pamela N., Why People Buy Things They Don't Need. New York: Paramount Market Publishing, 2002.

Duncan, Tom, IMC: Using Advertising and Promotion to Build Brands. New York: Irwin/McGrawHill, 2001.

Elliot, Stuart, "Emphasizing Taste, and Not Just in Beer, at Super Bowl." New York Times ( January 26, 2005).

Goodrum, Charles, and Helen Dalrymple, Advertising in America: The First 200 Years. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990.

Gould, Stephen, "Sexuality and Ethics in Advertising: A Research Agenda and Policy Guideline Perspective." Journal of Advertising 23, no. 3 (1994): 73-81.

Kilbourne, Jean, "What Else Does Sex Sell?" International Journal of Advertising 24, no. 1 (2005): 119-122.

Lippe, Dan, "Readers Rate Klein 'Porn' Campaign." Advertising Age (September 4, 1995): 34.

Maciejwski, Jeffrey J., "Is the Use of Sexual and Fear Appeals Ethical? A Moral Evaluation by Generation Y College Students." Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising 26, no. 2 (2004): 97-105.

Reichert, Tom, The Erotic History of Advertising. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2003.

Reichert, T., and C. Carpenter, "An Update on Sex in Magazine Advertising: 1983 to 2003." Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 81, no. 4 (2004): 823-837.

Rutherford, Paul, A World Made Sexy: Freud to Madonna. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007.

Schiff man, Leon G., and Leslie Lazar Kanuk, Consumer Behavior, 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2007.

Spurgin, Earl W., "What Was Wrong with Abercrombie and Fitch's 'Magalog'?" Business and Society Review 111, no. 4 (2006): 387-408.

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