Selling via sex hasn’t failed to draw consumers in to purchasing products with the use of sex appeal or innuendos. Sexually appealing images may or may not pertain to the product or service, but catches the human eye almost instantly.
Advertisements and powerful images have always been closely associated with one another in producing successful advertising, and sex is one of the top most powerful visuals in an ad. Sexual appealing imagery can range from explicit displays of sexual acts to basic facial or body cosmetics to increase attractive qualities. An ad for “Nivea For Men” presents a very strong sexual message through imagery and text. The ad also portrays a very strong stereotypical gender role by putting the male in the dominant position, as if it was referring to the woman as an object of sex. The ad’s intended sexual reference is displayed through the characters presentation of gender roles and the scene they are taking place in. The advertisement for “Nivea For Men”, a 3 in 1 shower gel, quickly draws attention to itself with the virtually naked male and female together in a shower setting.
The two very seductive adults, wet from the shower and lathered in the shower gel, hold onto each other. While the woman gently drags the razor across the man’s chest, they are smiling and express happiness, purposely showing every way the shower gel can be used. The three uses of the gel being to shower, shampoo, and shave, in big bold letters “Shower, Shampoo & Shave” are placed in the middle of the ad. Underneath the bold words, the ad states “Girl Not Included”.
It is written in less bold letters almost like on a product that operates on batteries, “batteries not included”. There is a big, dark blue bottle of the gel in the bottom right hand corner with water washing up around the product. To the left of the product itself, the words “What Men Want” are displayed in the same bold letters being used in the statement above. The image behind the two characters is a dark blue tile that is made to set the scene of the shower and possibly to match the color of the product itself.
