Anywhere You Dare Essay, Research Paper

Anywhere You Dare

When I first saw the Candies fragrance ad, I immediately had a perception of its entire meaning. It is interesting to see how the advertisers for this particular advertisement try to pull people in and buy their product. This ad is an example of the sexual influence on our society s marketing strategies. We tend to deny that sexual influence has become a mainstream market in our society but if you look through an every day magazine you begin to notice how extreme it really is.

In the Candies advertisement that I chose, a model looking in to a cabinet in a bathroom. She stands wearing a black bra and bottom. Inside the cabinet are three full shelves of condoms. I noticed that there are a variety of colors and brands. In the center of the cabinet are two bottles of the fragrances. There is a light shining on them to make the product stand out in the entire advertisement. The expression on her face almost seems like an evil smirk.

As I flipped through a magazine, this advertisement immediately caught my attention. My first belief of the marketer s intentions was to give an idea that if you wear their product, you can be with whomever you wish, anywhere you dare, and however many partners you desire. Of course, this was ridiculous to me, but it definitely caught my attention. It seems as if the condoms signify multiple partners. The fragrance is the center of attention in the entire ad and you will be to if you us the product.

I asked a few people what it seemed like the advertisement meant and most of them had similar opinions to mine. The whole idea of a sexy girl standing in front of three full shelves of condoms is pretty self-explanatory. What is interesting about this is that there are so many ways to advertise a fragrance, but marketers tend to use sexual concepts in the advertisements for fragrances.

Using any type of sexual influence for an advertisement for teenagers can bring up some controversy. Many parents would believe that the ad is promoting teenagers to have sex, and therefore would not allow their daughters to purchase the product. Why is it that almost every ad that targets teenagers, seems to be about sex? I think it is because sexuality is a new thing to them and it always grabs their attention. It is human nature for us to be attracted to sexuality so marketers and advertisers give us what we want. For example, the most popular sites on the internet are sexually orientated sites and music sites that access MP3s. This is just one example of the popular sexual influence in our society.

While working on this assignment I began to notice advertisements and their motives more often then usual and I have come to believe that sex sells in our society. Many believe that it is inappropriate to use sexuality to sell a product, and or promote for a company. I agree that sometimes they can get some what ridiculous, but if it is going to gain profit for the company I do not see anything wrong with it. For example, I may say that I do not get influenced by advertisements but in reality I do. If I see an advertisement that is interesting enough to catch my attention then I most likely will remember it. Then if I m shopping and I see the product I may check it out because it is something I have seen before. Just like the Candies advertisement was interesting enough to grab my attention so I wouldn t mind seeing how the fragrance is. This is not always the case. There are so many different types of ads and the majority of the time they do nothing but waste space. That s why it is important for the advertisers and marketers to do a good job at pulling those consumers in. The easiest way, in my opinion, is to use sexuality to draw our attention. For this particular ad, I noticed that is an eye catcher. It may not be a very practical or meaningful idea, but it is a very good marketing strategy. The marketers must have thought of ideas that would stir up a little controversy. I think they like the idea of going as far as they can go so that people will talk about the ads.

I also feel that sometimes advertisements can effect society in a negative way. If there are people out there who get influenced literally by advertisements then that could be a definite problem. Teenage girls may see the Candies ad and feel sad about themselves because they do not have a body like the model in the advertisement. I don t really believe that companies are at fault though. I know it already is a huge problem in our society because girls want to be as thin as models in magazines and television, but they are just doing there job. Whether the image is portraying sexuality or health, it is the individuals responsibility to not take it seriously.

In our everyday lives we are exposed to hundreds of advertisements a day. These advertisements are put out to grab our attention so we can find interest in the product. There is nothing we can do to change the way advertisement are set up; all we can do is take them as they are and try not to take them too seriously. The Candies fragrance ad promotes sexuality to sell the product. It is definitely something that works to create an image that we pay close attention to. As much as we deny it, anything that gives us the image of sex will do well in our society. Whether it is a woman s body on a magazine, or images and words in an advertisement we buy it and don t want to admit to it.

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