Are Ads Too Sexy?

Sex sells. It’s a common mantra among many in the advertising industry, but is there a line regarding how much sex – either in imagery or innuendo – is too much? Over half of Americans (56%) say they are bothered by the amount of sexual imagery in the advertising they see. One-quarter (25%) say they are very bothered by the amount while one-third of U.S. adults (32%) are somewhat bothered. Almost two in five (37%) say they are not at all bothered by the amount of sexual imagery they see in advertising and 6% of Americans say they do not see any sexual imagery in advertising.

These are some of the findings of a new AdweekMedia/ Harris Poll, survey of 2,098 U.S. adults surveyed online between October 5 and 7, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

As one might imagine, gender plays a large role in how bothered Americans are regarding the sexual imagery in advertising. Almost three-quarters of women (73%) say they are bothered, with one-third (34%) saying they are very bothered by the amount of sexual imagery in ads. Over half of men (53%), however, say they are not at all bothered by the amount of sexual imagery in advertising.

There is also a difference by age in how bothered someone is by the amount of sexual imagery in advertising. Less than half of those 18-34 (46%) and half of those 35-44 (50%) say they are bothered by the sexual imagery in ads, compared to three in five of those 45-54 (60%) and two-thirds of those 55 and older (66%) who say the same.

What about those not bothered by sexual imagery?

Among those Americans not bothered by the sexual imagery in advertising, over half (55%) would not like any change and say the current amount of sexual imagery is acceptable. Just over one in five (22%) say they would like to see more sexual imagery and a similar number of those not bothered (23%) would like to see less.

Again, one might not be surprised to see there is a gender divide on this issue. Almost three in ten men who are not bothered by sexual imagery (28%) would like to see more of it while just 6% of women who are not bothered agree. Conversely, almost two in five women who are not bothered by sexual imagery in advertising (37%) say they would prefer to see less of it compared to fewer than one in five men (17%) who say the same. However, similar numbers of men (55%) and women (57%) who are not bothered by sexual imagery in advertising say that no change is needed.

So What?

Despite most Americans saying they are bothered by the amount of sexual imagery in ads, marketers are probably right on this one – sex does sell. Or at least gets people to talk about an ad and, hopefully, the product as well. And while there might be some discomfort regarding the sexual imagery, marketers still want to use these images. What they need to do is be careful to not cross the line and turn a potential customer away.

To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

For more information at http://www.harrisinteractive.com