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Media Advertising and Sex Essay

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Advertisements are everywhere, combining images and words together to create a message to sell a product. The initial impression is that the advertisers are just trying to sell their products, but there often seems to be an underlying message. It is often heard that “sex sells.” So, many advertisers will use beautiful women and men in their advertisements to try to market a product. The hope is that “sex will sell,” and people will go out and buy what the ads are selling. There are many advertisements and commercials that use this approach. Prime examples of this are the advertisements for Orbit Gum and A Diamond is Forever. Also, the commercials for Levi jeans use sex to promote the sale of their brand. As a way to …show more content…

If the main point is really about engagement rings, shouldn’t the ring be seen on her finger? Since there is no ring shown, it is implied that buying this ring will make your relationship more sensual. It makes a man think that his girlfriend will love him even more for buying her that ring. For a woman, it means that her boyfriend truly and deeply loves her. It tries to play on people’s love for each other. “Sex as Symbol in Fashion Advertising” points out that “the creators of any advertisement are trying to generate some kind of an effect or emotional response” (184). This ad does exactly that. It plays on a couple’s emotions.

Likewise, the advertisers for Orbit Gum use a common situation involving a man and a woman to sell their product. The ad pictures a side view of a construction worker’s face, with his mouth open, looking at a woman. However, the only parts of the woman that are seen are her legs and feet. The ad draws attention to the fact that the man is only looking at one part of the woman’s body. The ad reads, “Dirty mouth? Clean it up with Orbit.” It is implied that since the man is looking at just the woman’s legs, he is thinking of something sexual, possibly even saying it out loud. Therefore, he is being dirty, and the only way to become clean is to chew some Orbit gum. In this ad, the woman is seen as a sex object. As Jean Kilbourne points out,

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