Gair Rhydd

Sexy selling

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Does sex not sell anymore? Amy Davies looks at our immunity to sexed-up adverts

It’s an old formula, cliché, adage, whatever you want to call it – everyone knows that in the world of advertising, sex sells. Or does it? With more and more research suggesting otherwise, we question whether consumers are growing weary of the constant barrage of buff bodies on display and instead leaning more towards new and inventive advertising styles?

Remember the 1994 “Hello Boys” Wonderbra advert? Of course you do, it is ingrained in our cultural subconscious, forever enshrined as the holy grail of sexy advertising. It increased the sales of Wonderbra astronomically and caused distracted drivers to swerve into distracted pedestrians (apparently). Here of course lies the all important difference, that is, between sex and sexy. A spokesman for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has stated that “sexy sells much better than sex”, further adding “the gratuitous use of sexual imagery is a turn off”. The woman in her bra was sexy yes, gratituous, no.