Sex in advertising
Sex in advertisingSex In Advertising
An important controversial issue that America faces today is the debate of sex in advertising. Edward A. McCabe and John Carroll are two authors that present opposing arguments about this issue. McCabe persuades the reader into thinking that sex in advertising is no big deal, while Carroll explains why this is a major problem in America. Sex ads are defined as any type of advertising that shows pictures of partial nudity with wording that relates to the body in a sexual way, usually portraying women. Sex in advertising has been around for a long time but has the industry become too sexually explicit?
Sex is everywhere, in almost every advertisement we see. While some people do not even realize it is there, others have strong rejections against it. McCabe admits that some of it is “unnecessary and tasteless,” but most of us do not admit that it affects us, but it does. The truth is that sex sells by capturing the consumer’s attention.
The problems associated with sex in advertising are overlooked. One ad designer said, “it’s supposed to be funny. People shouldn’t take it so literally and seriously. It’s just advertising” (p 596). But advertising is serious because it affects everyone’s lives. It impacts everyone since we learn about society through it. In sex ads, we learn that women are just objects and we can do whatever we want to them. It is offensive to women and causes insensitivity to them. It basically says “hey, look at me, I’m sexier than you.” Women in society start believing this and it results in a lower self-esteem and it could eventually lead to male domination. Advertisements capture the attention of everyone, but what we don’t realize is that it also catches the attention of children who are not ready for these types of ads. This is a major problem in the American society.
Most advertising professionals share the same position that it is not a serious issue. But if the advertising business as well as the rest of society becomes aware of this problem, change can occur. Over the last few years, protests over the depiction of women in ads have grown. If society is aware of this problem, it will act against it to reduce this problem.
Another way to solve this issue is to reduce the amount of sex in advertisements since most ads have nothing to do with sex. There should be a campaign or organization to regulate such ads, similar to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Its purpose would be to figure out what ads are...
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