When sex doesn't sell

Check out this article: Study: Sex Doesn't Sell

This June, two University marketing professors are releasing a study that suggests sex doesn’t sell. The research, based on 200 college student interviews suggests that sex-obsessed advertising can actually backfire against marketers, triggering doubts about product quality and legitimacy.

and:

Beauty and the beholder: Why pretty faces don't always help sales

Beautiful young models are used to sell everything from computer processors to motor oil. But is it really effective to use a pretty face to market something that has nothing to do with physical attractiveness? New research from the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research argues that an attractive model can actually negatively influence product perception if the model is irrelevant to the quality of the product and the consumer had a very high interest in the product to being with.

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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the entire point of this website. I wanted to show that the phrase "sex sells" is a broad generalization that is sometimes true, sometimes very untrue, and all too often quoted to defend negative things. People say "sex sells" to justify sexist images that promote misogyny and directly hurt women ("sex" does not equal "sexism"!) Of course, sometimes sex does sell, but not in the way that people often claim. In conclusion, all of this objectified sexualization of women in advertising seems to be doing nothing but damage. Don't take my word for it, just check out the countless scientific studies that have been done on the subject.

And finally, one last bit of news from trendhunter.com:

French Fashion Label Uses Hardcore Porn for Catalog

"A French Fashion Label, Shai, has decided to launch its latest clothing line using full x-rated pornographic content. The interactive online site features x-rated porn with woman-on-woman, man-on-woman, and man-on-man sex scenes that feature the clothing on the bed. The website also allows users to react, and does not censor those who object.

One user writes, “intentional or not its complete crap. you only see the same set of clothes the whole time, i get it, the clothes are on the bed, so what, the next 5 minutes is porn, and a terrible track that has no other meaning than the brands name repeated over and over. Brands should build good stories at the very least, not brainwash people into [pleasuring themselves] while listening to someone awfully singing “Shhaaiii"”

The site is engineered to start a viral trend with links for bloggers to post videos, tell a friend links, and an online press kit…"

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Just to make sure I'm being clear, I'm not including this here as a commentary on pornography. The point is that advertisers are using sex as a commodity in ever more extreme ways, which does not seem to make any sense in light of the scientific studies I have been sharing.

Finally...I wanted to say thank you to everyone reading this and especially to those who have commented on my posts or sent me emails. I love getting your feedback. Knowing that this website has been a positive thing for even one person definitely makes it worth my while.