Modern Day Adverts

1970s & 80s

Sex only became a more and more prominent feature in advertising, and from the 70s sex became the leading tool in the fashion industry. The fashion industry really profited from sex sells it was the idea if you sell people clothes on an attractive model people will believe that is how they will look and feel. In the 1970s it was really the beginning of the sexual revolution; sex had a serious impact on American society. This also became the time where the sexualisation of young women became an increasing issue. A perfect example of this was in the 1980s when Calvin Klein started to find their brand from heavily sexualised advertisements, the first beginning with using the actress Brooke Shields who at the time was only 15 years old, with the tag line “Do you know what comes between me and my Calvin’s? Nothing.” This advert got severe backlash as the actress was only 15 years old which caused many U.S networks to ban the advert from being shown. However, Klein himself stood by his decision and did not see an issue with it whatsoever.

“Jeans are sex. The tighter they are the better they sell”

- Calvin Klein

“Do you know what comes between me and my Calvin’s? Nothing.”

Modern Day

One thing which is widely debated in modern day society is whether sex still sells, there has been a drastic change in how we view sex in advertising. Has it lost the impact throughout its years? Or has the world we live in become to use to it where it has lost the affect it once held? With the rise in sex selling over the years our society has changed a lot with it, with the generation z being highly about female empowerment and body positivity, the cliché sexual stereotype is losing its affect as nowadays we no longer want to see these perfect men and women as it had a negative impact on how we view body types. The traditional idea of sex selling in advertisement is becoming slightly outdated to the younger market, however this in no way means it is not still used. We still see sexual imagery being used especially in the fragrance market, and highly used in high end fashion with progression with the focus on using models with different body types, not just the stereotype of what was once thought of as beautiful.

“Sex sells because it attracts attention. People are hardwired to notice sexually relevant information, so ads with sexual content get noticed.”

- Tom Reichert

Designed by Siobahn Bourhill