Nudity used to promote MS awareness

Skin can be used to sell more than branded goods as this Multiple Sclerosis public service announcement from Australia demonstrates. It features a nude female with “used by” printed on various parts of her body. Similar approaches have been used to promote skin cancer prevention and breast cancer research among other causes.

Nudity gets the ad noticed and the connection helps to get the message across. Research published several years ago in Journal of Advertising shows that sexually oriented social marketing appeals can be more persuasive than the standard informational approach used in many PSAs. At the very least, credible tie-ins with sex offer social marketers another tool to get their messages noticed.

Sexy seniors

A new study shows that seniors are more sexually active, both mentally and physically, than previously thought. That might explain the approach for this Cenegenics ad that ran this summer in USA Today and various in-flight magazines.

The ad touts Cenegenics, a multifaceted weight-loss program, with before-and-after pics of Dr. Jeffry Life, a 67-year-old physician. Readers are naturally drawn to the good doctor’s physique, but the incongruence between mug and body maintain attention as viewers deal with the visual distortion. Nothing against older men, but when was the chiseled chest of a silver-haired senior last used to sell anything? Anticipating this response, the ad explicitly states: “This photo is not digitally enhanced.”

As recent vacation photos indicate, Putin may be a Cenegenics client as well.