Soap Industry

Tobacco Industry

The idea of sex selling in advertising originated from the Tobacco industry, where in 1871 Pearl Tobacco created a poster to advertise their brand which was simply a naked female no relation to cigarettes themselves. Despite the advertising having no relation to the products they were selling, Pearl Tobacco seen a high increase of sales following this advertising move as this was extremely out there for the time. As people could see how successful this worked for Pearl Tobacco it was not long after where we can see other Tobacco companies were taking on board this strategy. The most recognisable use of sex in the tobacco industry at this point and time would have to be W. Duke & Sons. When Duke & Sons seen how much this strategy increased sales for Pearl Tobacco, they followed to create trading cards, which would be found in every packet of cigarettes purchased, these trading cards had provocative pictures of females on them. These cards became so popular that quickly W. Duke & Sons was launched into leading the Tobacco Industry. Looking back on these images we can see how much the idea of sex sells has changed back then these trading cards were highly provocative, compared to this use of sex in modern day advertising, society would not recognise these as sexual images which shows how much society has progressed.