Built-in sexual overtone, Back to the breast, and Babes in consumerland

Summary

These articles discuss the differences in marketing strategies and the way certain demographics are targetted in advertisements. Many businesses use sex appeal to advertise to men and women; making women think a product will make them more desirable and making men think a product will make them seem more manly. Traditionally, oral consumables sell very well and make up the majority of goods consumed. Therefore, when telling a group to stop using a product that would be used orally, such as cigarettes, then they often push for another product that can be used orally, like chewing gum. Food can also be very powerful in conveying feelings, rich foods can convey satisfaction and excitement and bland foods could mean comfort or dissatisfaction.

Example

While reading the section about oral consumables, I was reminded of my high school tennis coach that would go through a pack of chewing gum during a tournament. She would go through a whole pack, sometimes more, during matches or tournaments because she was nervous. Sometimes, she would eat sunflower seeds as an alternative, but she would usually have something that she could chew or such on during our matches. If she ran out of gum, then she would sometimes chew on her pens or would anxiously bite her nails.

Connection

My coach’s habit of anxiously chewing gum or eating sunflower seeds is a strong example of the release of tension through the act of chewing. She would chew gum to help her be less tense while watching us play matches. Sometimes she would eat sunflower seeds because the act of sucking on them and them breaking them open can be a tension releasing action. In the article that discussed gum and marketing it as an aggression reducer was very apparent in my coach. She was usually more relaxed during matches rather than practice, and part of it was probably due to chewing gum.