The Overuse of Sexual Imagery in Advertising | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Sexual imagery used in campaign ads may sell products, but is its use ethical? Deeming what is and is not appropriate has a large gray area and is subject to interpretation. The long history of sexual imagery in advertising has only resulted in a few guidelines for limitations. There have also been some suggestions for further protecting the targeted and affected youth from these advertisements due to the found seriousness and future repercussions. Even though sexual imagery is open for interpretation; the effects on the youth alone prove that ethics should be questioned. The prevalence of these ads are growing at enormous rates, and will thusly further affect young adults and society. The use of sexual imagery targeting young adults to sell almost any type of product is unethical in regards to the increasing effect it’s having on younger audiences. Sexual imagery for advertising has been snowballing since its early history; attempts to enforce limitations are run over as their use corrupt youth and will ultimately wreak havoc on society if it continues to blow out of control.

    Since the 1800s sexual imagery has been used to advertise a wide variety of products. For the most part, advertisements would mainly use female models appealing to both men and women. Originally, the use of sexual imagery was targeted to adults; however, this advertising technique is now targeting younger and younger audiences. Also, these “inappropriate” ads were not easily accessible to young adults in earlier years due to the limited medium for advertising. Even with this use of advertising having been around for over two centuries, only in the past few decades has it been targeting younger audiences and having more negative effects. In today’s day and age where technology has sky-rocketed; advertisements are no longer limited to only using printed media. The use of sexual imagery to promote products can be advertised now through the internet, television, billboards, movies, games, radio, and are even more sexually explicit in magazines. In the past adult models were used, now models are plucked fresh out of high school, which further attracts young viewers. What makes an ad “sexual” falls under the categories of what they’re wearing as well as what they’re doing. In assessing these classifications of “visual sexual content” Dr. Reichert affirms:
    Each model's clothing was classified as not sexual or sexual according to the amount and style of
    clothing. Nonsexual clothing included demurely dressed models clothed in "everyday" wear. Sexual wear
    included suggestive and revealing clothing, and partially clad (underwear, swimsuits) or nude models
    (typically inferred). Second, when at least one female and male model were present, their interaction was
    classified as either nonsexual (no contact or holding hands) or sexual contact (e.g., kissing or more)
    (3).
The use of “dress and interaction” variables is “coded” by experts for their most effective use, which targets young adults. Sexually laden advertisements manipulate young people who are just discovering themselves and their sexuality; making them more venerable and acceptable to these ads.

    Putting strict limitations on what can and cannot be put into advertisements cannot be expected to ever evolve. There has been/ are regulations on what can be put into ads but they are very vague and are mostly up to advertisement companies. The difficulty of defining what’s considered unethical and inappropriate, due to its subjectivity to interpretation, advertisers can only be given a handful of rules, which in themselves are subject to interpretation. The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) has a “creative code” with the purpose to “extend and broaden the application of high ethical standards” (“Standards”). The rules/ guidelines administered by the AAAA have been in regulation since 1924, which has last been updated in 1990. Some of aspects of their code (that specifically pertain to sexual imagery) prohibit them from intentionally creating advertisements containing: “False or misleading statements or exaggerations, visual or verbal…Statements, suggestions, or pictures offensive to public decency or minority segments of the population” (Standards). Advertisement agencies are supposed to use their own judgment and what they consider to be in “good taste” for what they ultimately publish in their campaigns. Gould testifies sex in advertising is defined as “typically visual (physically attractive models, depictions of sexual behavior with partners or alone) but can also include verbal innuendo and explicit copy” (qtd. in Reichert 1). Along with the regulations set by the AAAA there have been suggestions of ways to further control sexual imagery. Some of the 36 suggestions for limiting sexual imagery made by Dr. Papadopoulos include “games consoles, mobile phones and some computers to be sold with parental controls already switched on. …ban on ‘sexualized’ music videos… internet service providers to block access… creation of a website where parents can report any ‘irresponsible marketing’ they believe sexualizes young children”(Casciani).

    Advertising with the use of sexual imagery primarily targets young adults more than mature adults. Young adults are targeted because “sexual expression and experiences are still relatively new. As such, hormonal changes and body development contribute to the novelty and salience of sexual images” (Reichert 2) Female models are more apt than men to be sexually dressed in advertisements; and more sexual ads are found in women’s magazines. Female models being seen as sexual icons and idealized, instills psychological issues for adolescents as well. Young adults develop eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, and thoughts of suicide. When adolescents engage in sexual activity at an early age they are more prone to have also been “associated with other potentially health-endangering behaviors such as alcohol, marijuana, and other drug use” (Escobar-Chaves et al.).



    Having sexual imagery shoved in the faces of young adults everywhere they turn, there will be more effects than just raised sales’ profits. In the United States young adults are “engaging in sexual activity at early ages and with multiple partners” (Escobar-Chaves et al.). The amount of young sexual activity has been rising directly as technology has been increasing. The Keiser Family Foundation established that “In film, television, and music, sexual messages are becoming more explicit in dialogue, lyrics, and behavior. Too often, these messages contain unrealistic, inaccurate, and misleading information that young people accept as fact. Adolescents have ranked the media second only to school sex education programs as a leading source of information about sex” (qtd. in “Sexuality”). Advertisers are unethically finding more ways and means to target young audiences with sexual imagery in order to make a profit. The exploitation of vulnerable teenage hormones to sell products, to uninformed audiences, must have their negative effects publicized.

    If sexual imagery continues to grow at its current rate and used in all advertisements then children and the economy/ society will both suffer greatly. A report by Dr. Papadopoulos, a psychologist, was conveyed by BBC News and stated “One outcome had been the rise of sexual bullying in which girls felt compelled to post topless or naked pictures on social networks” (Casciani). Just as violent behavior portrayed on television has increased violence; sexual advertisements increase sexual activity. People becoming sexually active earlier and becoming pregnant earlier will increase government assistance to these unprepared and under aged parents. They will be too young to support and raise their child. It has already reached a point where middle-school aged children are having babies. In the United States, “nearly 9000,000 teenage girls become pregnant” (qtd. in Escobar-Chaves et al.), over a third of which are under seventeen years of age, each year. The amount of sexually transmitted diseases has sky-rocketing right along with teen-pregnancy. The use of sexual innuendo for advertising should be limited as well as no longer targeting young adults. Sexual advertising unethically undermines family and moral values when they target young adults. Adolescents don’t understand the severity of what consequences are brought by engaging in sexual activity before they’re physically, mentally, and financially “ready”. It has been all too well accepted that grandparents are expected to shoulder the responsibility of raising the offspring of young adults who cannot handle the responsibility on their own.

    It’s especially unethical to specifically and intentionally subject young adults to influentially “inappropriate” sexual imagery through advertisements as well as other media. Associate Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Alabama, Tom Reichert has researched and found, “ads targeted to young adults were 65% more likely to contain provocatively dressed models and 128% more likely to contain sexual behavior than those for mature adults. In the ads for young adults, female models were 3.7 times more likely to be portrayed sexually than were male models” (1). Having thought that seeing numerous advertisements using sexual imagery for products was a coincidence; now know that its use and prevalence are engineered to appeal to young audiences. Most people don’t agree with the concept, but accept that there is sexual imagery used to promote sales and dismiss it. Few people/ adults take time to “look” at the content of the ads; those that do are appalled and often feel uncomfortable. Psychologist Dr. Papadopoulos states "Unless sexualisation is accepted as harmful, we will miss an important opportunity… to broaden young people's beliefs about where their values lies," (Casciani). The over use of sexual advertisement has diminished moral values and influences the targeted adolescents more than what is realized. The PhD and DrPH authors of the article “Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors” which was published in the medical journal Pediatrics in Texas have researched and reveal “Approximately 47% of high school students have had sexual intercourse. Of these, 7.4% report having sex before the age of 13 and 14% have had >4 sexual partners” (Escobar-Chaves et al.) With the increase of technology within the past decade has reaped the consequences of these sexual ads. People are shocked when they hear that a child in seventh grade and younger are having children already. Even more outrageous is that these young children are engaging in sexual activities and relations with older people; as much as 19 and older. Each year adolescents will see “nearly 14,000 sexual references…165 of these references deal with birth control, self-control, abstinence, or the risk of pregnancy or STDs…. 56% of all programs on American television were found to contain sexual content” (“Sexuality”). Advertisements and the media rely too heavily on using sex to sell their products or increase tv show ratings. Media research by MacKay and Covell in 1997 supplied warnings of “the ‘dark side’ of sexual appeals. There is evidence that young men viewing sexual images of women in ads are more accepting of sexual aggression toward women, rape, and sex-role stereotyping” (qtd. in Reichert 2). If the rate of teen pregnancy continues, there will be an entire population of parents that are under 21; which if continued to be accepted will change laws and ultimately be the downfall of civilization.



    The effects that sexual imagery are having on young adults alone give reason to deem their excessive use as being unethical. It’s unethical to intentionally target vulnerable adolescents in order to make a profit. Sexual imagery may have been around for two centuries already, but only recently have they been targeting young adults. Sexually laden ads are too easily accessible to young adults, and more recommendations need to be made in order to monitor who views them, as well as their content. Unethically advertising through the use of sexual imagery to young adults is diminishing values, and society. Sexual advertising is causing the pregnancy rate to go up and the age of parents to go down. Advertising to adolescents through sexual imagery has gotten entirely out of control and must be stopped before society is completely turned upside down; all due to the over use of the concept “sex sells”.

Works Cited

Casciani, Dominic. "BBC News - Children 'over-exposed to Sexual Imagery'" BBC NEWS | News Front Page.
    BBC News, 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.

Escobar-Chaves, Lillian, Susan R. Tortolero, Christine M. Markham, Barbara J. Low, Patricia Eitel, and
    Patricia Thickstun. "Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors -- Escobar-Chaves
    Et Al. 116 (1): 303 -- Pediatrics." Pediatrics 116.1 (2005): 303-26. AAP - Journal of the American
    Academy of Pediatrics. 1 July 2005. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.

Reichert, Tom. "The Prevalence of Sexual Imagery in Ads Targeted to Young Adults. | Marketing &
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    Resources, Advice and Forms for Large and Small Businesses. 22 Dec. 2003. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.

"Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media -- Committee on Public Education 107 (1): 191 -- AAP Policy."
    Pediatrics 107.1 (2001): 191-94. AAP Policy - Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee
    on Public Education, Jan. 2001. Web. 17 Apr. 2010.

"Standards of Practice." American Association of Advertising Agencies. American Association of Advertising
    Agencies, 18 Sept. 1990. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.