Perfume Advertising Gone Wild & Seductive

Beyonce first fragrance commercial

Heat. 

Video Source: Youtube.com

Sex Appeals in an advertisement

According to Bharwada (2010), there is one element that arouses the immediate interest of both men and women. Sex has the greatest universal acceptance of all strategy in advertising. They always use sex appeal as a promotion strategy to sell the product. the exact role of in advertising is debatable, and all effective advertising must capture the attention of its target market in order to get a message cross. According to WiseGeek (2012), a lot of advertising company using sex appeal to be beneficial in social marketing. Mostly high-end brand or celebrities promote their perfume products by their desires and sexual attraction in order to catch the buyers, like what you can see the video above by prestigious celebrities of all time, Beyonce. 

Ralph Lauren Ads. 
Source: Diana

According to New Zealand Herald (2008), the reason of why the women are often to be a primary focus of sex appeals is because they can fulfill girls and man fantasy and also attract the man to buy. Diana (2010) justified how gender essentialism is very crucial in the world of advertising. She also added that advertising using the term of feminist aesthetics which means the appreciation of beauty, nature and art. She highlight some of the specific things that gender traditionally feminine way, particularly in the contrast of man's advertisement. Like for example, perfume ads by Ralph Lauren that using both gender to attract the man buyers more. 

Bebe New Scent Ads
Source: Be be

Victoria Secret
Source: Victoria Secret

In relation to Diana's statement, it does not mean that all the purpose of advertisement is just to attract the man buyers but it also to attract the women.Like for example, Victoria Secrets using the woman as their sex appeals in order to attract the woman to buy, as they are selling underwear to the women. Another seductive advertisements is by Be be that selling scents to woman. In this ad, the giant bottle was positioned directly as it is emerging from her vagina. This could portray the meaning of vagina as the heart of woman, which possibly can direct to good or bad meaning. 

Women power and right should be enforce in order to stand the term of feminism. Although, advertising with sex appeals is undeniably get a higher reaction. In conclusion, sex appeals on advertising doesn't necessarily bad, but it would be better to be less seductive. 

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Reference:

Bharwada, C 2010, Sex Appeals as a Promotion Strategy, Loyalty&Customers, viewed June 8 2012, <http://loyaltyandcustomers.com/2010/03/sex-appeal-as-a-promotion-strategy/>.


Diana, 2010, Perfume Marketing and Feminine Aesthetics, Pt2: Sex/Erotica and the Male Gaze in Perfume Advertising, Feminine Things, viewed June 7 2012, <http://www.femininethings.org/2010/03/perfume-marketing-and-feminist_30.html>.

New Zealand Herald, 2008, 'Sex sells, OK?_actually no', The New Zealand Herald, viewed June 7 2012, <http://search.proquest.com.ezlibproxy.unisa.edu.au/docview/430225738>.

WiseGeek, 2012, What is the Role of Sex in Advertising?, Conjecture Cooperation, viewed June 7 2012, <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-role-of-sex-in-advertising.htm>.