When television networks spend hundreds of millions of dollars researching ways to increase their viewership and, as a result, their advertising rates, you've got to wonder whay they ended up deciding that "sex sells". It apparently DOES. I'm seeing "Fear Factor" on the tv right now, and it's all bikinis.

How many of you use sex to sell your products online? I'm not talking to the porn merchants ... I mean the rest of you. Are you making your product line "more sexy" to appeal to your online buyers?

Why? or Why not?

If not, do you think it may be impacting your sales? Are you appealing to a different, less prurient interest in your potential buyers?

If so, why, again? Taking advantage of more R&D than you could normally afford? Do you just have faith in the "sex sells" maxim?

I sincerely hope that our collective imagination and relatively unlimited resources could come up with a more humanist "bottom" line. There MUST be a more effective key to the purchasers' unconscious.

Musn't there be ... ?
:confused:

I read a report by I think it was the ASA, or possibly the MRB, that concluded that in the UK, unassociated sex/nudity suggestive behaviour etc, had a negative impact on the image of the product and sales of the product. So unless you are selling Bikinis, then it is not a good idea to have a neked girly in one to try and help sell your car! In the uk anyhow.

That is good to know, James. Now I don't have to go and look for a girl in a bikini to put on my home page to sell SEO/SEM services! :D

OWG: So there might be a positive impact for "associated" nudity? :)

I'm wondering if the higher profile of low-level sex in the UK takes some of its sales impact away? I hear tell of daily newsrags that regularly feature semi-nudity and salacious stories. Perhaps this makes a difference in public perceptions of sex?

Apparently sex must sell in the United States, it seems to be in almost every magazine ad or commercial these days. But what I think is funny is that I have seen some of these "sexy" advertisements whether on television or a magazine ad and the people I am with almost always make a comment about how pathetic the advertisers must be to have to go that low to sell something. What happened to quality product? The problem is there are so many makers of the same product, they all look the same and they are using sex to get noticed. The rest of them are doing the same thing. I have read in many articles how Americans have "choice anxiety". There are too many choices in products. Personally, I'll choose a product/service that doesn't use sex. I could get on many soapboxes about that concept being the mother of a six year old girl.

Linda ;)

Personally, I'll choose a product/service that doesn't use sex.


Must be really tuff when you have to buy condoms :)

As someone who made abit of cash from advertising, I can see now that product suppliers are getting hoodwinked by ad agencies. Many of the current range of ads are more and more 'clever', so clever that people are distracted from the product and can rarely remember what is being sold.

I like ads like Ronseal are running. A guy, in a boiler suit with a paintbrush walks aver to a door, and touches it with his hand. He then says to camera " I painted this door 30 minutes ago with this (shows product called Ronseal dry in 30 minutes varnish) Man says " Ronseal, it does what it says on the tin"

Now I can remember that ad, I can remember the product. Every single day I watch adverts I have seen, but still can't recall what they are for until half way through. Waste of adspend IMO

I think the perspective on sex in europe is different. I spent 15 years living in England and Wales (ruabon/wrecsam - old welsh guy). The british tend to be a lot more cynical as a whole than most americans. Having a half naked woman laying across an SUV doesen't make me want to buy it... however (and this is true in the UK) when your a young guy looking to pick up women seeing a hotrod car with a woman on it makes you think.. buy the car get the woman.. which is sexist yes.. but its also a hormonal reality.

So for me sex sells depending on the target market. I remember all the old ford escort ads in the UK which always had women in them because their target market was 16-25 and it was all about the speed of the car to get the woman mentality.

I always use soap operas as an example when i talk about the different mentality between the US and UK. In the US most of the Soaps used to be about beautiful people with lots of money and these big world dominating power schemes.. In the UK most of the soaps were about the "working class" struggling in east or west london and almost always centered around the local pub for 10 out of the 30 mins of the soap. The actors were not considered "beautiful people" they seemed as regular as anyone else walking down the street. Which basically becomes : US soaps shows people doing better than you and something you should aspire to and UK soaps show people doing worse than you which makes you feel that perhaps life could be worse .. :looney:

I think it all depends on the industry. Using sex to sell Tide is silly, but using sex to sell Fear Factor works. I wouldn't use it to sell my services, but if I were selling a teen comedy, I most likely would.

I think it all depends on the industry. Using sex to sell Tide is silly, but using sex to sell Fear Factor works. I wouldn't use it to sell my services, but if I were selling a teen comedy, I most likely would.
Very good point. It seriously depends on what you’re selling, promoting or introducing. Sex appeal could possibly be applied to anything, but other things it could be a deterrent I think. Has anyone seen that new AXE commercial. It's kind of disgusting and I think they went a little overboard. So I guess it depends on how strong the message is as well as what it has to do with.

It depends on the targeted customer. 15-30 year old males...sex SELLS! Targeting middle age women like me...better try something else. ;)

Michele