Sex in advertising

We’ve all heard the famous abbreviation when it comes to the luxurious motor car manufacturer brand BMW, Be My Wife, Brings Me Women, Bought My Wife, Broke Man Walking… All these abbreviations has one thing in common, and that one thing, is women. So it didn’t come as a surprise in June 2008, when BMW released an advertisement featuring a seductive looking woman with the quote “You know you’re not the first, but do you really care?” promoting BMW premium selection of used cars.

(sutzblog 2009)

This advert instantly sparked negativity and criticism from the general public because it is said to have put down women having compared them to a used car. So, what exactly caused this controversy? Women have always been at the centre of attention when it comes to using sexuality in the advertising business, because women represents sex, and sex always sells. In the case of the BMW advertisement, the denotation of the message simply states what’s wrong with driving a used car, it provides the exact same service, except that it’s pre-owned and doesn’t portray the quality of a “new” car. This message is entirely logical and the rhetorical questions used is effective in proving a point for the advert. But the connotation of the message however, compared a non-virgin woman to a used car. Marketers used the sexuality of this woman as an example to invoke the mirror thought in a man’s head, simply put, if you landed a chick as hot as the woman in the advertisement, do you really care if she’s not a virgin any more, or would you still take her for a “ride”? This message directly compared women to a used cars and the connotation in the term “used” was said to be insulting women, using them as an object of sexual innuendo causing this advert to become a controversy over sexism. But before this advert could attract any success, it was withdrawn from the public because of its copious amount of negative feedback.

Marketers have definitely done their homework on this piece given the fact that studies have shown that customers are more likely to respond to an advert if it contains any sexual content, it is their nature. They tend to focus more on capturing their audience attention rather than the informative content of the advertisement. Today, sex appeal is still advertised in all sorts of products, some of which are coffee machines, tomato sauce, beers and accessories.

reference

sutzblog, 2009, BMW used cars advertisement, image, blogspot, viewed 23 March 2014, <http://sutzblog.blogspot.com.au/2009_12_01_archive.html&gt;

Madison, J 2011, Second-hand car ad pulled after using Tom Ford’s image with tagline: ‘You know you’re not the first… but do you really care?’, dailymail, viewed 23 March 2014, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1378906/Second-hand-car-ad-pulled-using-Tom-Fords-image-tagline-You-know-youre–really-care.html&gt;

Stirling, R 2014, You know you’re not the first. But do you really care?, Propaganda for change, 20 January, viewed 23 March 2014, <http://persuasion-and-influence.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/you-know-youre-not-first-but-do-you.html&gt;

Mediterranean, 2008, Virgin imagery to sell used cars, trendhunter, viewed 23 March 2014, <http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bmw-youre-not-the-first&gt;

Hondagrrl, 2008, BMW’s “Shameful” Greek Used Car Ad, CNN iReport, viewed 23 March 2014, <http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-50205&gt;