Does Sex Sell You?

[berettaprofessor]

Looks like about 70% here are denying that the extra skin/sex suggestions in ads affect their buying decisions. Wow, talk about an advertising win-win! Influence people subconsciously and they never know they've been had.

Cmon y'all; You have two pictures to choose a free car from; one is a red mustang sitting there against a white background. Another is a blue mustang flying down the road with a gorgeous blond, scantilly clad, in the passenger seat, with her hair flying back and a dumpy middle-aged man in the driver's seat. I'm betting there would be a 100-1 sales ratio of red vs. blue mustangs from males.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Cmon y'all; You have two pictures to choose a free car from; one is a red mustang sitting there against a white background. Another is a blue mustang flying down the road with a gorgeous blond, scantilly clad, in the passenger seat, with her hair flying back and a dumpy middle-aged man in the driver's seat. I'm betting there would be a 100-1 sales ratio of red vs. blue mustangs from males.

I'd be #102 and buy the Dodge Challenger, with or without hottie in the ad.

Mustangs........

 

[KarenTOC]

i can see to an extent the Khar ads because they are marketed to some degree towards women who want a small gun for ccw, women want to be thought of as sexy or attractive they see the "slim is sexy" slogan and so begins the subconscious advertising

"Does this gun make me look fat?"

It never occurred to me that the Khar ads were aimed at anyone but women. The photos of the skinny lady in black do not seem male-directed at all. The woman is thin, attractive but not beautiful, and fully clad in an outfit that a normal woman might conceivably wear on a night out. To me, the ad says "You, too, can still be feminine and attractive while carrying our gun." That's not a guy message.

I guess I'm swayed by ads to some extent because that ad makes me think "darn, that gun is really cute..."

I picked the first poll option. After all, you can't decide to purchase an item until you realize the item exists You may not buy it because of the ad, but the ad at least informed you of the existance of the product. It did what it was intended to do.

 

[hso]

Generally annoys me to the point of having a negative influence. The approach has generally been sexist and sleazy with few exceptions that are "classy".

 

[Sam1911]

I am quite put off by it, personally. As some others said regarding bad beer, including that kind of thing makes me feel an involuntary rejection of the product as it seems like a transparent attempt to prop up an insufficient product with "below the belt" advertising.

There are some quite attractive ladies who do some mighty fine shooting with top tier equipment. Seeing THEM favoring a certain gun (in a competition setting, in full competition gear) may be a compelling sales tool.

Some unknown woman, in neither a shooting setting nor in shooting gear, is just clutter that overpowers the item being sold. If the advertiser message overpowers the qualities of the item being sold with the "qualities" of the model holding the item, chances are the gun won't be MORE impressive when I'm holding it and she isn't there.

In some limited cases, an attractively dressed woman might make an effective sales tool if she was present in the ad to demonstrate the particular utility of that gun for minimalist concealed carry. But I've yet to see an ad that really did that effectively.

Most are just cheesecake. That "belongs" in ads for lousy beer and sleazy Vegas vacations. Not for any gun I'd want to buy.

 

[joshk-k]

Sex-based advertising is a reinforcement of a patriarchal system that generally oppresses women and prioritizes men. That should leave you offended, not enamored.

Josh

 

[MachIVshooter]

Sex-based advertising is a reinforcement of a patriarchal system that generally oppresses women and prioritizes men. That should leave you offended, not enamored.

Haven't payed much attention to feminine product ads the last couple decades, have you..................

There's plenty of it on both ends.

 

[rbernie]

I'm an engineer, by trade and by mindset. I want to see the product. I don't care what's propping it up, and get mildly annoyed when the prop is more prominant than the item.

 

[ArmedBear]

I like sex. I like naked women. I have no moral objection to either.

But I marked #3, because I have to think that a company that tries to sell a product using sex might just have a product that can't stand on its own merits.

OTOH, with ads everywhere, companies want to catch your eye somehow, so I can't blame them for that.

 

[Maverick223]

As crazy as this may sound, I like to buy products that I find interesting, well-constructed, and perceived as useful, not what someone tells me I should buy. The ad makes little difference to me, because 99% of the time I will handle the product prior to making the decision to purchase.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Yup...And all those sexy ladies in the Dillion catalog and I STILL don't have any "blue Kool-aid" on my bench.

 

[alohachris]

Sexy women in ads doesn't effect my decision to buy. It gets me to look, but does not get me to buy.

+1 on the woman in the Kahr ads. I've see street walkers more appealing than that.

 

[jayjaypunisher]

I actually dont even notice what the hotties are even tryin to sell so isn't it a little counter productive?

 

[Phydeaux642]

You could put a Hi Point in a bikini clad Jennifer Aniston's hands and I still wouldn't have any interest in one. I'm not trashing Hi Point, I just personally don't want one.

Now, a deep, rich blued wheelgun with wood grips.....that's sexy. Sometimes I just thumb through the Smith & Wesson Standard Catalog and drool.

 

[atomd]

I find it sort of annoying. I almost feel like some companies think that I'm stupid and I'm going to buy their product just because they have an attractive woman selling it. It's even worse to see some of the firearm industry ads where most of the women aren't even attractive to begin with and they can't even hold the firearm or other item properly for even one picture to be taken.

I will buy the product if I feel the product is worth the money and it something that interests me.....bad advertising or not.

 

[Chemist]

Well, chicks don't do anything for me...since I am one. Nothing like standing inside a store trying to conduct business only to have some guys making comments about the scantily clad women in the posters. Can you say awkward?

 

[FourteenMiles]

It makes you notice the add and hence the product.

 

[pockets]

The "thin is sexy" advert women is NOT SEXY. She's actually borderline homely.
The same with the blonde in the Taurus Judge commercial....woof woof.
If they want "sex to sell", then they really need to hire better looking models.

 

[Ruger Redhawk]

The only way it would effect my purchase would be if she came with the product. That's not going to happen so I said no it does not effect what I buy.

I'm getting to the age now I couldn't handle the youngs things anymore anyway LOL.

 

[2ndAmFan]

I kind of think a man who is immature enough to be swayed toward buying a particular gun by the presence of a female model in an ad for it should probably not own a firearm at all. As some other posters noted those ads just use models to get your attention. Besides, a lot of those ads are for small handguns and are directed at women as the prospective buyers.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Sexy ads will get my attention, but won't close a deal.

Sex-based advertising is a reinforcement of a patriarchal system that generally oppresses women and prioritizes men. That should leave you offended, not enamored.

Sex based advertising isn't used because it supports some deep, dark ulterior motive agenda of some privileged class.

It's used because it works, especially when you're trying to sell something to hetero males. Entirely different techniques are used when selling to other markets.

And besides, you can't oppress a "class". A class is an abstract thing, a description of a group, incapable of being oppressed. You can only oppress an individual human with an act that takes from them that which is rightfully theirs, or prevents them from taking some action which is rightfully theirs to take.

 

[jhansman]

The Dillon catalog makes me laugh. What a cheesy way to front products.

 

[atomd]

The "thin is sexy" advert women is NOT SEXY. She's actually borderline homely.

That's an understatement. She must be a relative of theirs or something. hahahaha

 

[dagger dog]

The Tarus Judge ad with the blonde walking through the underground parking lot is one that completley turns me off.

The girls on the Dillon Blue Press covers are well done, and they do handle the guns like they might have used one.

Most "gun Moll" models hold the guns like they are covered with contaminated horse poop! That ain't sexy!

 

[macadore]

I never understood the ridiculous pictures of semi-nude women firing semi-automatic firearms. The first time one of them gets hot brass on one of their soft parts, they will decide that was a real bad idea.