Sex sells
Sex sells (English: 'Sex sells (itself)') is a phrase taken from the language of advertising with the same meaning from English into German . In a broader sense, sex sells is part of gender marketing : It expresses that a product sells better if it is presented in a context that presents sexual content. Typical examples are scantily clad women in advertisements for cars or motorcycles, which serve as eye- catchers, or girl spotting as the temporary zooming in (for a few seconds in close-up) of young women on TV shows .
Working principle
The psychology of learning empirically confirmed that a subject, including a product name, better in the memory imprints when in an emotionally is met exciting context. Such emotional excitement can be caused by fear , disgust , joy, or anger , in addition to sexual innuendo .
The latest empirical studies, however, express strong doubts about the general validity of the sex sells statement .
There is also the risk of the so-called vampire effect . Tests with special glasses have shown that the object of emotional arousal can greatly distract from the essentials. The actually advertised product, e.g. B. in the form of a figurative mark , is therefore no longer noticed.
Emergence
Around the turn of the century from 1890 to 1905, the Anheuser Busch brewery first showed photographic images in beer advertising. Until the fifties of the 20th century, advertising with slightly erotic motifs was occasionally used in the USA . But it wasn't until the late summer of 1953 that the first Playboy magazine came onto the market in the USA. Editor Hefner was not yet sure whether it could be established. Quote: "I didn't even know if there would ever be a second edition."
The skepticism turned out to be unfounded. He had portrayed the then young Marilyn Monroe . The actress had just become known to a large audience in the USA with the film Niagara . He bought the rights to the nude photos for $ 300. They showed Marilyn at the age of 19 full-page in the studio of the photographer Tom Kelley in Los Angeles, so before the beginning of her acting career. She wore nothing but her lipstick and, as she later said, Chanel Nº 5 . The photo became the most famous pin-up in the world, and the Playboy success story was born. With it and the corresponding Playboy advertisements, the slogan sex sells became known as such.
To what extent the erotic representation in dance , painting or poetry in the social context has been known since the earliest human culture in the figurative sense of the motto to promote early barter, the recruitment of soldiers or the implementation of other economic goals cannot be determined with certainty.
See also
literature
- Janet Nikolay: Sex sells? Male nude charms in advertising. Diplomica, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8428-7788-7 .
- Franziska Rumpel: Neuromarktforschung: Analysis and prognosis of brand choice decisions using classic and neuroscientific methods , 2010, DNB 1006920188 (online dissertation University of Magdeburg 2010, 263 pages, full text online (free) PDF; 5.1 MB).
- Hans-Uwe L. Köhler (Ed.): Sex sells. Myth or Truth? Gabal, Offenbach 2006, ISBN 978-3-89749-623-1 .
- Chandra Kurt : Sex Sells - Why Undress For Advertising. Orell Füssli, Zurich 2004, ISBN 978-3-280-05082-8 .
- Nils Borstnar: Masculinity and Advertising. Staging - Typology - Meaning. Ludwig, Kiel 2002, ISBN 3-933598-23-0 .
- Gunnar Immisch: Sex sells? A theoretical discussion of an ancient myth. (= Series of publications focusing on marketing / working paper on the series focusing on marketing , volume 134). FGM, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-934491-92-8 .
- Thomas Jendrosch: Sexsells: the new trend towards pleasure in business and society. GIT, Darmstadt 2000, ISBN 3-928865-29-3 .
- Gisèle Freund : Photography and Society. Roger & Bernhard, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-8077-0054-4 .
