SEX! Now that I have your attention.... That old joke pretty much sums it up. Using sex as an advertising tool works. No one can deny that. 

For men, who respond quite well to visual stimulation, bikini clad women can push through any product that you stick in their hands. Sexual innuendo, or the old "nudge, nudge, wink wink" approach has been used since the concept of advertising was birthed. (heh, get it?)

So why does using sex work so well? For some, it stimulates fantasy in an otherwise monotonous life. For others, the innuendo means you are privy to an inside joke. Either way sex is the main underlying motivation in our society and it is a common experience we all share in our own different way. Also, let's face it, sex is exciting. This makes us perk up and pay attention when sexual imagery is presented to us in TV, print, radio, and web advertising. 

However, when it comes to advertising the REAL question we should be asking is this, "Why do advertisers use sexual images and innuendo to sell products?" Get your pens ready...the answer is... because it is easy. When an advertising agency is desperate to show immediate results they will use sex. Building a brand image takes a long time. Agencies have to be very clever and patient when building up a brand image and a client can easily lose confidence that a long term campaign is working. In a sense a new brand has to get in line and wait for it's day in the sun. Sex cuts the queue. It shows immediate results and it tells a lot about the agencies that use sex as their main "go to" tool.

There is a direct correlation between sex and creativity. The more creative and clever an ad agency is, the less they have to rely on using sex to sell. The reverse is also true. The more an agency uses sex to sell a product, the less likely they are to be creative, clever, and more importantly, patient while building your brand image. This should be a red flag to a business owner who is looking for a new agency. Immediate results with no concern for the long term image breeds the same type of client. Customers who pay attention at first but will probably drop off later. That same ad agency most likely sees their client relationships in the same manner. Sure, they have your attention now, but when the business wants to drop the sex approach and build more credibility with a wider audience the relationship will dissolve. Mainly because that is all the agency has got. They will be out of tricks.   

All the creative people I know have spent many years building up a big bag of tricks. They rarely, if ever, rely on using sexual imagery to sell a product. I am not trying to post the question of right or wrong but I am saying that I would look twice at an agency that uses the easy path when building your brand image. A quick return may not be worth it in the long run. 

However, I would also be wary of a creative company that uses the word "SEX" in the title of a blog post and then pulls a bait and switch in the article. That is simply uncalled for.