Does Sex Sell

Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that you can escape advertisements. They all have their target audience who they have specifically designed the ad for. This is a multi billion dollar industry and advertisers study many ways that they can attract people's attention. One way that is used the most and is in some ways very controversial is use of sex to sell products. Evan Williams, a company who sells whiskey, released a print ad of a young woman dressed in her Sunday best on one side of the advertisement saying â€Å"the longer you wait†. On the other side they have a picture of the same woman as an adult dressed in a sexual manner saying â€Å"the better it gets†. In the middle of the ad is a bottle of their whiskey and next to that it says â€Å"aged seven years†. An analysis of the Evan Williams advertisement will include the appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos. The target audience is both males and females in their late teens to mid twenties. This company gets the male side of the equation by getting their attention and interest drawn to the attractive woman on the right with bright colors, drawing your attention there, as well as the bottle of whiskey which is right in the middle of the page. One way to try and get the females to look at the advertisement and read it is by showing a very plain girl who seems to be very typical of girls during their younger years. On the side of that picture they show the same girl who now has become a woman, and is very attractive and just seems so much more powerful and sure of herself. One way that you can achieve that is to drink Evan Williams Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. I feel that this advertisement is not very ethical at all. They send the message that if you do not wear sexy clothes and try and act sexy then you are not good enough. The logic behind the advertisement is almost in all essence, sexual. They are using a woman who is very attractive with bright colors standing next to a bottle of whiskey. As well, they try and use their slogan that goes with their product and apply it to a completely different situation with a woman. They show how much â€Å"better it gets† when it is aged seven years. This is very degrading to the woman because they portray her as being ugly in the first photo, but after seven years, less clothing, and makeup she is much better. There is nothing wrong with the girl on the left who is just plain and simple. When you have to wear something sexual to get noticed it just continues to drain away from the collective respectability of our society. They try to play sexual emotions in this advertisement. They show an attractive woman and a bottle of whiskey. They try and make it seem that if you drink their product that you can get this woman. Also they try and use the emotions of the females talking about how a decent looking woman can become very attractive. The newer picture also is more vibrant plus she is wearing a lot more sexually provocative clothing than her old self, who is covered up and not showing any skin. It also seems to draw onto girls that have a lower self esteem. Showing that you will become a much happier person if you are good looking and dressed very sexually, than if you are not better looking. Personally I think that this is an unethical dilemma that we face in society today. Using sex to sell products is something that companies should stay away from. Depicting images of people for personal gain is not right in my opinion. Unfortunately in our society this form of advertisement is accepted. This ad is although one that does appeal to its targets by using clever wording.