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The camera
While observing different advertisements of jeans I noticed that most of them had one common theme: sexual appeal. I was confused by the idea that jeans of a certain type of company would all be advertised in the same general way. Most clothing lines have a secondary line devoted to jeans, and the advertisements, although belonging to the same brand, differ vastly. The main clothing line sets a certain ethos that each brand attempts to portray, but the jeans rely on sex. Why is this?
I started focusing on the main clothing line ads to discover what each attempted to portray. The Armani person is one who is charming, sophisticated, and sensual. One who buys Versace is a strong, powerful, and sexual being. Guess? is all about the young, carefree, and energetic spirit. GAP likes to keep things simple and casual, an all American innocent and fresh look. Ralph Lauren alludes to a certain aristocratic lifestyle. And lastly, RocaWear appeals widely to the urban hip-hop scene.
Every main line ad possesses a certain connotation; certain type of people buy certain brands of clothes. Why? To become what that brand represents and the lifestyle that it purports. What if you don’t know the type of person that you want to be yet? How do you learn to be a consumer in the fashion market?
I have chosen to argue that the reason why brands advertise their respective jeans in a sexual manner is to lure consumers into their lifestyle. Because jeans are ubiquitous, everyone desires them. They are one of the most popular clothing items in the world. Therefore, companies choose the universal human appeal of sex to attract customers. Companies aren’t advertising to a certain demographic with jeans; however, if one buys Versace jeans will one be more likely to then buy a Versace suit? Brands try to turn simple customers buying a simple product like jeans, into consumers who subscribe to their ethos through sexual stimuli. It is “used as a motivating appeal in the graphic (visual) presentation of a commercial message, the copy (verbal) portions of that message, or a combination of both” (http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/114605-1.html).
In fact “research on the use of nudity as an advertising appeal indicates that although nudity may increase attention” (Baker 1961), “it is less effective than nonsexual illustrations in achieving brand recall” (Steadman 1969). Steadman analyzed that, “the attention paid to the sexual illustration detracted from attending to the brand name”
(http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/114605-2.html). In accordance with my argument, companies do not want customers’ preconceived notions to affect whether they will buy a pair of jeans based on the brand reputation, just yet. On the ads that I chose to study, the name of the brand either doesn’t appear or it appears in the corner, not blocking the models. Companies want people to have the experience of their products. Once a customer likes his pair of jeans, he will be more inclined to purchase other products of the same brand. And in turn, adopt the lifestyle of that brand.
Although sexual advertisements can often cross the line of what is considered decent and moral, often leading to controversy, they still receive attention. People become interested in the product!
Severn, Jessica, George E. Belch, and Michael A. Belch. "The Effects of Sexual and Non-Sexual Advertising Appeals and Information Level On Cognitive Processing and Communication Effectiveness." Journal of Advertising Wntr (1990): 1-9.
SexInAdvertising.pdf