Download Jessica Mauricio Coms 114 December 12, 2008 Nudity and

Jessica Mauricio
Coms 114
December 12, 2008
Nudity and Advertising in the US
Today everywhere you look there are thousands of ads containing various degrees of
nudity. These ads give into the old idea that sex sells. In society today that is so very true. Ads all
over the country have women, and sometimes men, in the nude promoting and selling various
products and ideals. Studies in this particular topic can better educate the advertisers and
consumers on the effects that these ads may have on our culture. Already studies like the Paek
and Nelson study have compared the occurrences of nudity in advertising in the United States to
that of other countries like Brazil, China, South Korea, and Thailand. The findings of Hey-Jin
Paek and Michelle R. Nelson have found to be very shocking. Most Americans feel that racy ads
containing large amounts of nudity are far more likely to come out of Europe than United States.
Those Americans would be wrong. The Cross-Cultural and Cross-Media Comparison of Female
Nudity in Advertising study found that the United States was among the top countries in the
world with high levels of nudity found in their advertising (A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Media
Comparison of Female Nudity in Advertising, p.1-2). Since the early twentieth century nudity
has been used to advertise to the world. Then nudity was looked at as being more of an artistic
aspect to advertising rather than a necessity to sell the product. (1c.) Since the start of the sexual
revolution and women’s liberation movement sex has been a lucrative marketing tool to both
women and men (Historical and Psychological Perspectives of the Erotic Appeal in Advertising,
p.52,58). Can this be something that might be desensitizing our country?
1c.
Everyday the press reports on starving celebrities and models and their effect on society.
There are stories blaming stars and advertising on the growing number of anorexic and bulimic
teens throughout the United States. Should something be done to regulate advertising when it
comes to nudity and the false body image it creates? Most countries have decided to not police
nudity in advertising, but expect the advertisers to self-regulate their use of nudity.
Sex sells. That is the idea that is behind most explicit advertising, but does it really work?
That is the question Clair Sherman and Pascale Quester have asked in their 2005 study of the
influence of product/nudity congruence on advertising effectiveness. This study questions
whether nudity is necessary for an ad sexual in nature to be successful (The influence of Product
/Nudity Congruence on Advertising Effectiveness, p.1,21). In the PETA ad below (1a) Alicia
Silverstone is shown naked in a provocative pose selling the idea that being a vegetarian is sexy.
In the study we would find if the ad would be as effective if Alicia Silverstone would have been
put in a sexy dress and in a similar pose. Does the nudity make a difference in how people react?
Well, of course it does. Nudity is often used as a way of creating shock value in an ad. Shock ads
create a kind of buzz about them, thus making them an effective advertising tool.
1a.
Would there be as positive or negative reaction to an ad containing a not so famous or not
so model-like figure? (1b) This is a risk that Dove decided to take. What they have found is that
most women could more readily identify with the real bodied model more than ever before.
Though the customers are more likely to identify with the model in the ad it has proven difficult
for the ad to convey any appeal. Women purchase beauty products in hopes of achieving a
greater more idealized beauty rather than simply achieving a real world look. It has been proven
in a study by Alexander and Judd that nudity in advertisements does not add to the appeal or
brand recognition any more than a clothed ad (Do Nudes in Ads Enhance Brand Recall?, p. 1-4).
Brand recognition is only achieved through repetition and frequency of the brand name and
products.
1b.
Sexuality is such a large part of consumer culture today and that is simply the biggest
reason for studying its effects. With future studies on the subject advertisers could figure out just
what it is about sexuality that makes us want to go out and buy anything associated with it and
how to possibly make its effects on the culture more positive in nature. Nudity is advertising tool
that is extremely effective in getting people interested in a product, but how it is used is
something that advertisers must be very careful about. There are so many things that an
advertiser must look at before using nudity effectively in an ad. They must establish the target
audience, and discover the sexual values of the audience and predict their reaction to such a
subject (Female Nudity, Arousal, and Ad Response, p.9). When used properly nudity can make
an advertisement become a work of art, but when used incorrectly can cause disapproval and
disgust in a product and brand. Nudity in advertising is much like playing with fire. Just enough
can add beauty and artistic value. Too much and an advertiser could get burned.