Sex sells, so the saying goes, and from naked supermodels driving away in their brand new sports cars to the old days when advertisers airbrushed all sorts of nudey stuff into the ice cubes in a glass of whiskey, semi-clad beautiful women have become associated with certain products. Whatever new trends technology may have generated, sex still does the trick. It is of universal interest and will be pretty much guaranteed to get the attention of your audience. The 1970s were the heyday decade: if you had something to sell, you'd splash a seductive woman all over it and, well, you sold.
However, feminism has had an enormous impact. Businesses tend to steer clear of overtly sexist campaigns - not because they have consciences, but because they have a "need": to make money. For today's media-literate population, if sex is applied gratuitously, people are often just turned off. Ads for the likes of the Wonder Bra, though, are still all gorgeous buxom babes. Why not? After all, why would anyone be considering buying a breast-enhancing bra, if not to make herself more alluring? Sex is arguably relevant here.
On the other hand, it might be said that ads like this cause a certain amount of harm by playing on insecurities, because they promote a very specific, and very rare, female form. In general, ads use sex in a more tongue-and-cheek manner these days - and men are increasingly the object of desire. Such is the case with the car ad in which a woman in her nightie stares lustily through her bedroom window at what appears to be the local car wash man, washing the family car. A lump stirs in the bed, presumably her husband. She catches the eye of the man outside, and they run to the kitchen for an encounter. Just as it's all about to happen, the lump in the bed emerges from behind his blanket - it's son number one, reporting for breakfast. Daddy (as it transpires), having washed the car and almost kissed the wife, offers to deal with the little interruption upstairs. A new man, an absolutely gorgeous one - how could you possibly resist that car?
