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Sex Sells (view source)

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{{quote|''Girls with nice hands help selling rings, bracelets, gloves, nail polish... Girls with nice legs help selling stockings, shoes, pantyhose... Girls with nice breasts help selling bras, swimsuits, shirts, TV sets, cars, washing machines, cookies, video games...''|'''Folklore'''}}
 
Here's a question for you. Say you have a new product or an old product in new packaging. You want to sell a lot of it and you want to sell it quickly. How? Do you describe it [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|exactly how it is on the tin]]? Do you try to [[We Suck Less|compare to other products]]? No way. Just think about it: you want people to buy what you sell. People buy what they like. People like sex. [[Artistic License Logic|So you should equate what you sell with sex]]! Easy as pie...[[Metaphorgotten|served by bikini-clad models]].
 
That is, you use a sexy image on an advertisement to sell the product. The thing is that the product has ''almost nothing'' to do with the image. It's simply an attention grabber, or something that causes a Pavlovian response that associates the product with sex.
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** Probably referenced in an early episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' where Bart is running for Class President. Homer has a good idea for an campaign poster: '''SEX!''' Now that I have your attention, vote for Bart!
** Explicitly referenced in the one where Homer gets a job writing fortune cookie fortunes: one he pitches is "You will be aroused by a shampoo commercial" - the owner pauses, says that's not bad, then gives him the job.
** And of course, [[The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Advertising)|the new Old Spice ads]], which simultaneously parody this phenomenon and play it straight with their [[Mr. Fanservice|buff]] male protagonist/announcer. "Anything is possible when your man uses Old Spice body wash. I'm on a horse."
* There's an advert currently running for Aero in which a man wrapped in a towel explains [[Double Entendre|suggestively]] what makes Aeros so nice. It's [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] at the end of the advert; two women in voiceover converse thus:
{{quote| Oh, so that's why Aeros are so bubbly and delicious.<br />
Hrm?<br />
You know, like he just said.<br />
[[Distracted Byby the Sexy|He was speaking?]] }}
** There's also a funny advert running for [[Air Max]], where a beautiful women, with big breasts and booty, gets her clothes blown off by opening packages. She is left standing in front of the two men butt naked, and the last frame shown is her naked butt.
* There is [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gd5mVp9k3zk this] Miller Lite commercial (and [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ECyQCvttcOc&feature=related its sequel], complete with lampshade hanging)
* There is an Italian commercial featuring beautiful women draped over...''coffins.'' Cause you know, that's ''exactly'' what I'd be thinking about right before I die.
** [[All Men Are Perverts|If you're lucky]], [[Out Withwith a Bang|you will!]]
* In Taiwan, selling betelnuts is done by pretty young women who attract customers by wearing very, ''[http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobie_openshaw/sets/72157594581621891/ very]'' skimpy clothing. Just to make sure everyone gets a good view, they sit in transparent, brightly lit booths on the side of the roads.
* The advertisements and box art for ''X3: Reunion'' featured a woman in a somewhat revealing costume. The kicker is ''X3'' is a space trading and combat sim notorious for its 'cockpits-eye view' even when docked at a station. Excluding a couple of cutscenes, the player literally never interacts face-to-face with any other characters, including the box-art woman.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck14LKBI9GM&NR=1 This] French commercial goes [[Refuge in Audacity|over the top]], using computer animated [[Petting Zoo People|furries]] in a very suggestive and well choreographed song and dance. Includes sensual dancing, bouncy breasts, [[Scenery Censor]], and lots of splashing fluids and [[Freud Was Right|climactic]] imagery. What is it all about? ''[[Orangina (Advertising)|Orangina Juice]]''! Their recent commercials however have become milder compared to that one though.
* Ads running on this very site for an ''Age of Empires''/''Civilization'' rip-off freeware game called <s>"Civony"</s> ''[[Evony]]'' frequently spend most of their ad space up with a picture of a scantily-clad woman (or rather just her torso) and the comment, "Your queen awaits, my Lord." Of course, going to the site and playing the game will make you realize that there ''is'' [[Lady Not-Appearing-In-This-Game|no queen in the game]].
** "[[Double Entendre|Come play]] now, my lord".
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** As far as ads for similar games on this wiki are concerned, see also ''Flyff'', ''Perfect World'', ''Shaiya'', ''Last Chaos'', ''Legend of Mir3'', ''Mabinogi'', ''The Seventh Dragon'', ''Kingdom Heroes'', ''Rappetz'', and no doubt a few that have dropped off the map. (Remember that one with the blissful elf chick in the leather underwear? What was that called?) However, ''Evony'' has left them all way behind at this point.
** The Civony/Evony ads are [[Take That|cheaply parodied]] (how else could you parody it?) by an Alteil ad where the skinsuit elf girl has a caption that says "She is actually in our game, my lord".
** ''[[Adventure Quest (Video Game)|Adventure Quest]]'' isn't exactly innocent of this tactic, although their ads look perfectly tasteful compared to the competition, but they have also parodied ''Evony'''s "play discreetly" campaign. "Pants, m'lord?"
** An Aika Online advertisement had a woman with a very [[Stripperiffic]] [[Chainmail Bikini|set of armor]], where the breast cups were upside down, a ring at the bottom of the cups ([[You Fail Biology Forever|blank skin only showed]] preventing any [[Nippled and Dimed|naughty bits]]), and straps going downwards. The images were quickly altered by moving the guy next to her so his sword and shield now hides the Fail.
** The [[Evony]] ads are parodied in [http://images.lazygamer.co.za/2009/08/popcapEvony1.jpg this] ''[[Plants vs. Zombies (Video Game)|Plants Vs. Zombies]]'' ad.
* In the same vein as Evony, there's an animated ad on this wiki for a game apparently called Pristontale2, consisting of your standard blue-skinned [[Hot Amazon]] in a backwards corset [[Gainaxing|breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out...]]
* Ads where ladies wear [[Pretty in Mink|fur coats]] [[Going Fur a Swim|and swimsuits]], although they are not as popular now [[Fur and Loathing|for obvious reasons]].
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* The exploitative undertones of PETA's anti-fur campaigns. Yes, [http://cm1.theinsider.com/media/0/109/75/10_15_08_dk_peta_1.0.0.0x0.400x334.jpeg naked models] are ''so'' beneficial to animal liberation.
** They've managed to attract people with cannibalism fetish. Yeah...
* Every [[Grand Theft Auto]] game (since the third) features a beautiful woman on the cover of the box art, despite the fact that they [[Lady Not-Appearing-In-This-Game|don't actually appear in the game]]. The one exception is the hooker in [[Grand Theft Auto III (Video Game)|III]] (Misty), whose role is extremely minor. Considering that each game always has a few significant female characters, you'd think they'd use one of them.
** In ''China Town Wars'', the sexy Ling appears on both the cover and a poster included with the game. She survives for barely one mission.
** The woman on the cover of ''The Ballad of Gay Tony'' (Joni) appears in-game.
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* One really weirdass commercial for Overstock.com had the spokeswoman listing things you could buy on the site in the form of "it's all about the [product or value of the product]" or something along these lines. It's perfectly normal until the very last shot before the logo screen, where the spokeswoman appears to be wearing nothing but a gold necklace for some reason, and saying "But sometimes, it's all about the gold." The only reason I can think for her to be naked is to emphasize that it really ''is'' [[Visual Metaphor|all about the gold]].
** That may have been a transitional commercial. When Overstock.com started, they called themselves the big O, and made commercials with the obvious entendre. People thought they were a sex site.
* A Head & Shoulders advert aimed at men turns a simple shower into pure [[Fetish Fuel]] when six [[Hospital Hottie|nurses]] burst into the shower to aid his shampoo [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjN3NYFDhTU efforts]. You might wonder what attractive uniformed ladies with sexy curves have to do with washing your hair. That is '''[[Distracted Byby the Sexy|if]]''' you even remember what the ad was selling once it started.
* An ad several years ago in South Africa featured women in Victoria's Secret-esque lingerie and underwear, frequently draping themselves over mounds of...chocolate.
* A recent Honda commercial has a rather subtle example: Animated mascot Mr. Opportunity has a live action girlfriend on his arm as he talks about the car company's annual clearance. When he says "It's the only thing from Honda that won't last," his girlfriend [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|giggles]].
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* Recent ads for [[Rappelz]] show a woman wearing [[Stripperiffic]] armor and the slogan "Discover the luscious [[Double Entendre|hills and valleys]] of Rappelz.
* There's a commercial for POM, a pomegranate juice, which has a naked woman lying somewhat on her side but managing to avoid showing anything with a python lying on her.
* Oddly enough, Japanese musician and [[Bishonen]] [[Gackt]] was used to promote ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]''. He [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygrvvyMswVI appeared in the Japanese commercials] and there is also a dogtag in the game with his name on it. This is despite the fact that Gackt himself had nothing to do with the game and didn't even sing a theme song for it.
* A recent UK advertisement used models seductively posing in their underwear to sell sofas. That's right, ''sofas''.
* Political rather than product sale, but [[Useful Notes/Ukraine|Yuliya Tymoshenko]] intentionally and openly flaunts her sex appeal to bank more voters. She's one of the country's most powerful politicians, so it works.
* An internet game called Soccer Star (advertised on this very site). If having a buxom blonde in a soccer ball bikini top weren't enough, the "balls" shimmer and even briefly enlarge, meant to draw your eyes toward them.
* [[The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Advertising)|The Man Your Man Could Smell Like]] is ''technically'' [[Sex for Product]], since the message of the ad is that if your man uses Old Spice, he'll be like the Old Spice Man. Then again, it's the [[Mr. Fanservice|Old]] [[Memetic Sex God|Spice]] [[Even the Guys Want Him|Man.]]
* Lampshaded in an old joke about an Eskimo who wrote to Sears and Roebuck to complain that the product he ordered hadn't come with the beautiful model that was sitting on it. Variations of that joke are probably in diverse places.
** During the [[Finns With Fearsome Forests|Winter War]] Finnish propaganda leaflets promising large sums of money to defectors had come with pictures of models. One historian invokes that jokes by claiming that the few Russians to accept were rather disappointed.
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* Anybody who's cracked open a radio control car magazine at some point has probably come across a full page ad for [http://www.acerracing.com/ Acer Racing] consisting of a woman in lingerie, possibly with the product (ball bearings) positioned inconspicuously about her person.
* As far as movie trailers go, chances are that if it's a comedy or action movie, or just a film that's there to make quick money, the T&A will be heavily marketed. If a male character has a shirtless scene, it's going in the trailer. Ditto for female underwear scenes or even skimpy clothing. Examples:
** ''[[Constantine (Film)|Constantine]]'' gave clear focus to Keanu Reeves appearing shirtless. He is shirtless for about a minute onscreen.
** ''[[Good Luck Chuck]]'' heavily marketed it as being a Jessica Alba film despite her being a secondary character.
** The ''[[Almost Famous]]'' poster with Kate Hudson showing off her long legs.
** ''Into The Blue'', you'd be lucky to find a shot of the actors wearing clothes in the trailer. Not that they wear much clothes in the movie either...
** The ''[[King Arthur (Filmfilm)|King Arthur]]'' poster not only had Guinevere in her battle costume front and centre (she's about third in terms of character importance), they photoshopped Keira Knightley's breasts to look bigger. They also did the same thing to [[Emma Watson]] on one of the posters for ''[[Harry Potter (Filmfilm)|Order of the Phoenix]]''
** ''S1mone'' had the titular character nude on the poster when she doesn't even appear nude in the film.
* This is the main reason many [[Visual Novel|visual novels]] have [[Explicit Content|shoehorned-in sex scenes despite well-done and engaging plots]]. [[Updated Rerelease|Updated rereleases]] with the sex scenes removed coming out once the creators have "paid their dues", so to speak, are not uncommon.
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* In ''[[Mad Men]]'', Don Draper describes this expression as over-simplifying things. Basically, he argues, people want to ''be'' the product. So, people buying perfume want to be Gwyneth Paltrow.
** More specifically, in a scene when he tells Peggy to use ''less'' sexual imagery in an ad for an airline, she quotes the trope name at him (essentially parroting back what he said at a meeting earlier that day), and he responds sharply with the page quote.
* An in story example can be seen in ''[[Queer Asas Folk]]'' with Brian Kinney being the [[Informed Ability|supposedly great commercial producer]], though he's really a one-trick pony. Selling booze? use the sex angle. Selling Viagra? The sex angle. A charity carnival? Make it sexy. ''A Republican campaign''? [[Blonde Republican Sex Kitten|Use the sex angle]]!
** Well it's not his ''only'' approach; it's just the one that works best. He does do campaigns that aren't sold by sex. Notably, the first time we see him working he tells the two men presenting their idea to him that the man is TOO attractive for the (ugly as hell) shoe they're trying to sell, and that they should make the campaign less flashy. Also, he mentions having to create an ad for baby wipes, and Brian may be plenty of things, especially [[Really Gets Around|sexually]] but he is not that kind of pervert.
* After Michael left ''[[The Office]]'', James Spader played one of the applicants interviewed to replace him. When asked how he would sell paper, he explained that "There is no such thing as a product. Don't ever think there is. There is only sex. Everything is sex." After he left the room, Jim commented that "He creeps me out... but I think he might be a genius."
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* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] by ''[[Bob the Angry Flower]]'' to cover up the fact that he can't actually [http://angryflower.com/attemp.gif reconcile quantum physics with general relativity.]
** [[Word of God]] is that this is a self-referencing strip, since how many of you noticed that the remaining frames are mostly just outline drawings?
* ''[[Head Trip (Webcomic)|Head Trip]]'' asks: [http://headtripcomics.comicgenesis.com/d/20070319.html Are they selling clothes or...?]
 
 
== Web Original ==
* ''[[SkippysSkippy's List (Literature)|Skippys List]]'' has examples:
{{quote| 42. Not allowed to attempt to appeal to mankind's baser instincts in recruitment posters.}}
 
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* Mocked on ''[[The Simpsons]]'': An ad shows a nerdy guy driving a convertible through the desert when he comes to a deserted gas station. Suddenly three busty women come out and start washing the car (and each other), the camera zooms in on one's cleavage...to focus on her crucifix.
{{quote| -'''Voiceover''': "Catholicism! We've made a few...changes."}}
* Also mocked in the ''[[Dilbert (Animationanimation)|Dilbert]]'' episode ''The Infomercial'', where the titular infomercial for the Gruntmaster 6000 features a beautiful blond model in a pink bathing suit, and the [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] trying to talk about the actual product, but he kept fainting and conking his head against the ground due to the sight of her.
{{quote| '''[[No Indoor Voice|Loud Howard]]''': (about the commercial) I'VE ONLY SEEN IT ONE TIME, AND ALREADY I WANT TO DATE THAT MODEL AND SUFFER HEAD TRAMUA!}}
 
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