Sex Sells
The instinctive reaction to being asked whether sex sells or not may be to agree. Many industries are guilty in some way or another of using sexy campaigns to their advantage. Newspapers, music, and retail industries offer skimpily clad conceptions of beauty, aimed at consumers who would rather fall in love with the brand's sex symbol as opposed to their products. I’m sure we could all name a pop star whose career hinges on a combination of undressing and an auto-tune. It would be easy to assume that sex still sells. And to a certain degree it probably still does. However, the tide may be turning from some very unlikely places.
It is most probably assumed that most sexual advertising is directed at men in some way or another. It may drive purchases of Rihanna’s back catalogue by middle-aged men seeking some good-looking morning music for their travels to work. But ladies, both sides are probably guilty of buying into these sexual fantasies. I mean, how many women out there have partners that resemble the muscular models sporting the pants they purchase for their significant others? It’s not like David Beckham modeled Calvin Klein’s for his male football fans. They were already happy with him in a football kit.
Much of the fightback regarding the sexual exploitation of women is no doubt fairly accredited to a feminist movement, which continues to gather momentum whilst continuing to challenge sexist roles and practices within industries. #MeTo springs to mind here. So does the President's Ball. And if women should not find themselves exploited sexually by individuals or charities, then why should a company profit from sexually exploiting women for an advertising campaign? Perhaps then, women should be treated as more than a pretty face for men by companies seeking to exploit their perceived beauty for profit.
Some will scream that the free will of these women has enabled them to seek such employment as beautiful marketing tools. Arguments may persist that women are empowered through such employment. And such arguments will be left here for another to debate. Other types of resistance may still persist even if we ignore the concerns of female free will. Male resistance to the removal of sexualised campaigns may be expected, especially within male-dominated arenas. It is also most probably assumed as a fact that men would want to keep their sexy retailers. But it may not actually be the case.
If we consider both darts, formula one, and even the construction industry, we may fairly agree that these activities, sports, and occupations are ones that are male-dominated. Therefore, it is likely that we would find sexualised forms of advertising aimed at men. Darts has traditionally used walk-on girls to escort their male players to the stage whilst female players enter alone and unguided by a male model. Formula one has grid girls, who perform certain promotional tasks clad in the logos of various sponsors. Even the construction industry is notorious for its use of showgirls to promote various products to a largely male audience.
Enter the expected male resistance.
Or perhaps not.
Darts has recently dropped its use of ‘walk on girls’ which was supported by large sections of its male participants and audience, including the current world number one. Formula one continues to follow such gender evolutions by holding a recent vote on its continued use of ‘grid girls’. After outspoken damnation from F1 bosses like Stuart Pierce of Silverstone who views the grid girls practice as ‘outdated’ commenting that; “we think it’s an egalitarian world and I don’t want my daughter growing up thinking that lycra is what she ought to aspire to.”
Perhaps under pressure, even the construction industry is starting to follow suit. By rolling out a new code of conduct for its trade shows, such show-girl type advertising from its stalls will be banished whilst companies will be encouraged to present teams which represent the companies’ diverse employment staffs. How receptive the ascribed laddish audience will be of these trade conventions remains to be seen. I’m sure some clever marketing whippet can come up with a way of subduing collectives of wolf-whistling, rubbernecking laddish tradesmen that doesn’t involve stripping. Even if no such clever marketing whippet exists, and the problem remains unsolved, it’s unlikely that tradesmen will suddenly down tools and stop buying the supplies they need if they cannot ogle something pretty along the way.
The examples given above are by no means exemplary but point to a shift in attitudes from male-dominated industries. The degree of resistance within both the participants and the consumers, being either male or female, is likely to vary. However, the discussion at the top of industries is usually the result of at least a degree of pressure from the audience, who want a change. Yes, there may be external pressure. But what we may at least take from these examples is the fact that sex doesn’t necessarily sell anymore, even to a male audience.
