Sex Sells
By Nicolette Damianou
If you’ve ridden your bike around the Sports Center lately, you may have crashed it, while gawking. In other words, you can’t have failed to notice the newest addition of posters for the Athletic Union, featuring a half naked man and woman with the tagline, “Sex. The 2nd Best Way to Get Your Heart Beating.” Even more scandalous are the AU Ball posters, which sport a female in her underwear and the phrase “Survival of the Fittest. AU Ball, Survive.” Yes, it seems the Athletic Union of St. Andrews has had a recent makeover, and a sexy one at that.
Although not as aggressive, last years ads for the Polo Club’s “Charity Polo Tournament” featured a male hand patting the butt of a female in white polo jeans, with a polo mallet closely following underneath as if to further tap the female’s rear end; the slogan being, “Game On…”
This year the Scandinavian Society has chosen to advertise their annual “Nobel Ball” with women in lingerie, bottles of champagne and what appears to be a threesome in bed.
Notice any pattern?
In the marketing world, and clearly in the St. Andrews bubble, it is no secret that sex sells. Generally speaking, anything we see that is sex-related will catch our attention. And why not? It’s simply human nature to think and be curious about sex. It’s not just advertisers who know this. Heck, Britney is singing “Gimme More,” PETA is shouting “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” and Jaguar is claiming itself “Gorgeous” (although more so the women than the car itself.) It’s safe to say we live in a sexualisation generation.
What concerns society, however, is the way in which sex is being portrayed - because there isn’t just one definition of sex, is there? Sex can be seen in a biological, emotional or spiritual manner, all generally neutral or positive perspectives. Yet advertising tends to spin it in a negative light, sexually objectifying both men and women, separating them from their personalities and individuality and reducing them to mere physical and sexual attributes; eye-candy for the masses. Even more so, if one were to analyze provocative ads depicting couples, they would find that it is almost always the male who’s in a domineering position, further emphasizing and promoting their social role of power in society while belittling women. Just take a look at one of Dolce & Gabbana’s recent ads, featuring five males, one of which is aggressively pinning down a woman and essentially projecting an image of gang rape and violence against woman. Is this really a woman’s place in the world – at the hands and feet of a man? Yet it’s the fact that everyone in the image has tanned glistening skin and is wearing expensive designer clothing that makes it acceptable, right?
Sex sells, but at what cost? Half the time, the product being promoted has absolutely nothing to do with anything sex related. Remind me again of the connection between luggage and all but naked bronzed women, as it seems to be obvious to the people working at Longchamp.
True, in the early and mid 20th century, the use of sexual descriptions and entendre to advertise a product were able to make a difference of millions in sales. However, today, UK studies show that sex does not in fact automatically produce the best sales results. Why? Well lets face reality here, in the case of a television advert, how can anyone actually remember the product they might or might not want to buy when they’ve just been bombarded with enough sexual content to last a life time?
This is not to say the Athletic Union or the Polo Club or any other organizations in St. Andrews hold a warped value system. However, its not as if there isn’t another approach to advertising that is capable of grabbing just as much attention. Adidas’ 2006 World Cup campaign across Germany comes to mind: a take on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel using a collection of 10 soccer gods (all Adidas sponsored) instead of Biblical scenes. See, it is possible - a series of unconventional and powerful yet non-sexual, non-offensive ads that stops you in your tracks and effectively produce revenue.
Remember, we live in a town populated with families, not just students. Let us not add to the rising number of 12-year old girls buying thong panties and padded bras, pressured to skip meals and be in a serious relationship. I’m not sure how sales and fundraising are going for all the student organizations here, but as we have all experienced in this town, demand usually hurtles over supply. Students of St. Andrews, I encourage you to embrace your marketing creativity and run like the wind. Unless of course, the underlying issue for everyone is that they believe marketing leads to mating, in which case it is evident consumer capitalism has dealt its cards and sealed our fate.
By Nicolette Damianou
If you’ve ridden your bike around the Sports Center lately, you may have crashed it, while gawking. In other words, you can’t have failed to notice the newest addition of posters for the Athletic Union, featuring a half naked man and woman with the tagline, “Sex. The 2nd Best Way to Get Your Heart Beating.” Even more scandalous are the AU Ball posters, which sport a female in her underwear and the phrase “Survival of the Fittest. AU Ball, Survive.” Yes, it seems the Athletic Union of St. Andrews has had a recent makeover, and a sexy one at that.
Although not as aggressive, last years ads for the Polo Club’s “Charity Polo Tournament” featured a male hand patting the butt of a female in white polo jeans, with a polo mallet closely following underneath as if to further tap the female’s rear end; the slogan being, “Game On…”
This year the Scandinavian Society has chosen to advertise their annual “Nobel Ball” with women in lingerie, bottles of champagne and what appears to be a threesome in bed.
Notice any pattern?
In the marketing world, and clearly in the St. Andrews bubble, it is no secret that sex sells. Generally speaking, anything we see that is sex-related will catch our attention. And why not? It’s simply human nature to think and be curious about sex. It’s not just advertisers who know this. Heck, Britney is singing “Gimme More,” PETA is shouting “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” and Jaguar is claiming itself “Gorgeous” (although more so the women than the car itself.) It’s safe to say we live in a sexualisation generation.
What concerns society, however, is the way in which sex is being portrayed - because there isn’t just one definition of sex, is there? Sex can be seen in a biological, emotional or spiritual manner, all generally neutral or positive perspectives. Yet advertising tends to spin it in a negative light, sexually objectifying both men and women, separating them from their personalities and individuality and reducing them to mere physical and sexual attributes; eye-candy for the masses. Even more so, if one were to analyze provocative ads depicting couples, they would find that it is almost always the male who’s in a domineering position, further emphasizing and promoting their social role of power in society while belittling women. Just take a look at one of Dolce & Gabbana’s recent ads, featuring five males, one of which is aggressively pinning down a woman and essentially projecting an image of gang rape and violence against woman. Is this really a woman’s place in the world – at the hands and feet of a man? Yet it’s the fact that everyone in the image has tanned glistening skin and is wearing expensive designer clothing that makes it acceptable, right?
Sex sells, but at what cost? Half the time, the product being promoted has absolutely nothing to do with anything sex related. Remind me again of the connection between luggage and all but naked bronzed women, as it seems to be obvious to the people working at Longchamp.
True, in the early and mid 20th century, the use of sexual descriptions and entendre to advertise a product were able to make a difference of millions in sales. However, today, UK studies show that sex does not in fact automatically produce the best sales results. Why? Well lets face reality here, in the case of a television advert, how can anyone actually remember the product they might or might not want to buy when they’ve just been bombarded with enough sexual content to last a life time?
This is not to say the Athletic Union or the Polo Club or any other organizations in St. Andrews hold a warped value system. However, its not as if there isn’t another approach to advertising that is capable of grabbing just as much attention. Adidas’ 2006 World Cup campaign across Germany comes to mind: a take on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel using a collection of 10 soccer gods (all Adidas sponsored) instead of Biblical scenes. See, it is possible - a series of unconventional and powerful yet non-sexual, non-offensive ads that stops you in your tracks and effectively produce revenue.
Remember, we live in a town populated with families, not just students. Let us not add to the rising number of 12-year old girls buying thong panties and padded bras, pressured to skip meals and be in a serious relationship. I’m not sure how sales and fundraising are going for all the student organizations here, but as we have all experienced in this town, demand usually hurtles over supply. Students of St. Andrews, I encourage you to embrace your marketing creativity and run like the wind. Unless of course, the underlying issue for everyone is that they believe marketing leads to mating, in which case it is evident consumer capitalism has dealt its cards and sealed our fate.