“The built-in sexual overtone,” “Back to the breast and beyond,” and “Babes in consumerland” in The Hidden Persuaders

Summary:

The articles focus on how advertises have used sexual tones in their advertisements to either bring in a particular target market or appeal to men/women through their carnal desires. Examples would be how advertises promised to make women more desirable if they purchased the product or how men would look more masculine if they had this product. The articles also discussed why products that are used or consume orally usually perform so well. Things like cigarettes and gum provide a natural comfort in the same way a child finds comfort in breastfeeding, showing how products can appeal to our more basic or infantile forms of stress relief.

Outside Example:

This advertisement by 5 gum depicts a young man in boxers who seems to be apart of an experiment or test. He proceeds to lie down in a large platform filled with a sea of small metal balls. As the the man in the room above turns a knob, powerful speakers begin blasting waves of low frequency sounds that become stronger and stronger until the young man is brought from the balls covering him, moving him up and down to the rhythm of the bass that is blasting all around him.

Connection:

This advertisement is very sensual as it incorporates many of our senses.The balls look hard yet support the young man as he is thrown up and down by the bass. The young man in the advertisement is also only in his boxers which adds a certain amount of vulnerability to the character, but at the same time he is confident and seems excited with the experience is about to have. The advertisements are also for gum, one of the products that are so popular due to the comfort they seem to inherently offer. This fact, along with the sensual depiction between the scarcely dressed man and his rhythmic movement with bass and the balls around him, make the advertisement seem sexually charged in some aspects.