Freddy,

I love your take. Nicely put. You shared some great examples, especially if you are marketing to young men. When a brand is sexy, using sex to sell is actually responsible marketing. Clothing is supposed to be sexy. So is a body spray. GoDaddy’s ads, as tacky and absurd as they are targeted to a young (often lonely) male demographic, but they’ve also sold the cheapest domains around. Hardees and Carl Jr’s “power-users” are young men, too.

Neal,

Sure, sexy ads can be controversial and can raise awareness. For a sexy product, it even makes sense sometimes. But the fact is, while this advertising is memorable, it’s memorable for the sex, not the product. So it’s no surprise product recall is low. Burger King recently took Crispin Porter to task. Why? Their ads became too provocative and sales were dropping — while McDonald’s more family friendly advertising was having the opposite effect.

I don’t agree that merely having a sexual overtone in an ad makes it unimaginative. There are plenty of nonsexual ads that are nonimaginative, too.

I love the sentiment, and I hate to be the contrarian in Responsible Marketing, but unfortunately, sex sells and it does so extremely well.

American Apparel has built an entire brand on it (for better or for worse) — seriously, we’re talking low-quality T-shirts that sell at a premium here. GoDaddy came to national attention (and leadership) because of a raunchy Super Bowl ad. Sports Illustrated’s best selling issue every year is the swimsuit one. Others who use sex appeal to sell: Carl’s Jr, Las Vegas, Axe body spray, and most of the music industry. Did Britney Spears become a millionaire because of an incredible voice? Do Guess jeans sell because of their fabric quality?

I wholeheartedly agree that sex is overused as a marketing tool, and it can look ridiculous when there’s a brand disconnect between product and message. (Women in bikinis selling car tires.) And, yes, it can also be offensive, as with the example in your video. But in other cases, it works tremendously well. And in the hands of the right artistic director, it can be tasteful. The sexy Norwegian Cruise Line ads from a few years back were almost artsy, and they helped differentiate a brand in an industry known mostly for Hawaiian shirts, shuffleboard, and buffet lines.

Freddy

…I think overly-sexed ads create attention, yes. But the advertisements that work are those a person can relate to – I personally am much more likely to pursue a product or service in the ad if it’s relevant to my personal experiences (and generally that doesn’t include a playboy bunny or a spice girl!)