Sex Doesn’t Sell
Here’s an intriguing piece. Blogger/columnist Violet Blue interviews advertising expert & blogger Steve Hall for the San Francisco Chronicle. The topic is sex in advertising, and in particular whether, as the old saying goes, sex sells.
Sex Doesn’t Sell: Violet Blue says that if you think “sex sells” then you’re not paying attention.
The whole thing is worth reading, but the normative question comes right at the end:
VB: Should there be more sex in advertising?
SH: Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that sex is normal. It should not be taboo. It should be a normal part of everyone’s life and so therefore should be represented as such in advertising. No, because it’s just too easy and makes for too much bad advertising. And the sexual content in a sexually-laced ad can overshadow the product being promoted and therefore make it even more difficult to remember what the ad was actually promoting.
The Business Ethics Blog 
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