Top Five Sexiest 2013 Super Bowl Ads

Another Super Bowl in the books. This year's big game was a down to the wire, but the Ravens prevailed despite a determined 49er's comeback effort. Regardless, research shows that people are as apt to tune in for the ads as much as for the on-field action.

As usual, several ads in this year's big game contained sexual themes and/or imagery. Here is our list of the five sexiest Super Bowl ads in 2013 plus some honorable mentions. View all the the Super Bowl ads at USA Today and tell us what you think.

5.  Tie:  Best Buy - Asking Amy / Audi - Prom
Amy Poehler asks as lot of questions of her Best Buy associate that become increasingly playful:  "Do you deliver? No, I mean, do you deliver?" And "Does it make you uncomfortable when I use the word 'dongle?' Playful for sure. And "Will this one read 50 Shades of Grey to me in a sexy voice? Will you?" Again, playful and flirty. Nothing over the top but humorous and one sure to go over the kids' heads.

Lots of interesting messages in this Audi spot, but a protracted smooch with the prom queen earns this commercial from Venables Bell a tie for top five. Long kisses was a theme in this year's Super Bowl (see Go Daddy's spot at #2).

4.  Speed Stick:  Laundry
Fairly classic theme with a young man caught inadvertently folding a strangers underwear at the laundromat. Totally innocent, of course, but he does insert his foot into mouth at the end. Again, a tired theme but almost any ad with undergarments will get on the list.

3.  Axe:  Lifeguard
Eye candy for both men and women alike, Axe's latest effort attempts to prove that astronauts (that wear Apollo) are more desirable than sexy lifeguards--even those who duke it out with great whites. Humorous spot with a predictable ending. Reminiscent of Baywatch with plenty of chiseled hunks and skimpy bikinis, this spot is definitely qualifies as sex in advertising.

2.  Godaddy.com:  Perfect Match
Featuring supermodel Bar Refaeli--is DiCaprio jealous?--the spot features an extreme closeup of Bar (sexy) slurpily kissing (meets) nerd (smart). Word is that the domain-name marketer had its busiest day for online traffic last night. Like it or not, there is little doubt that sexual content has served to distinguish Go Daddy from the competition. As one colleague said, "Ask most Americans to name another domain marketer."

1.  Calvin Klein:  Concept
Also disliked by most viewers (USA Today's Ad Meter) and panned by Ad Age, this spot was nonetheless, the sexiest spot of 2013 Super Bowl. Who can argue that this spot was a blatant example of beefcake in the extreme. The spot from Calvin Klein created awareness its Concept line of underwear.

Honorable Mentions
Kia: HotBots; M & Ms: Love Ballad; and Mercedes-Benz: Soul.

Consumer Reports determines Dial's "sex appeal" claim comes up short

Will Dial “Magnetic” body wash for men enhance their sex lives? Not according to research by Consumer Reports. In its February 2011 issue, CR investigated Dial’s claim that the pheromone-infused wash would attract women. The scientist they interviewed said, “no way.”

Dial joins a long line of male targeted soaps, deodorants and body sprays positioned as sexual enhancers. Think of brands such as Axe, Tag, and Old Spice that employ the sexual benefit trope: “Use our brand, and get the attention of the opposite sex.” In advertising, this strategy was first used in 1911 by JWT to sell Woodbury Facial Soap to women. The appeal was so successful that JWT and hundreds of other agencies have used it to sell almost every personal care product imaginable, and continue to do so today.

CR does neglect to consider that simple bathing, an act some young men find abhorrent, may indeed enhance one’s prospects. But then any deodorant soap will do.

Axe taps Facebook to reach college men

Axe is dangling tantalizing trips to European cities to get college men to funnel their buddies to an Axe Facebook page.

Axe is touting weeklong grand prize excursions to Rome, Paris, and Madrid as tongue-in-cheek "Study Abroad"opportunities. A quarter page ad in Univerity of Georgia's Red & Black directs men to the contest's website. The ad features pictures of young beauties and the promise of "learning the language of love." Contestants must be 18-to-24-year-old males enrolled F08 in an institution of higher learning. Winners are determined by the largest number of male friends registered on Axe's Facebook page.


Each grand prize winner, there are four, can take three friends to a destination city. In Paris, for instance, contestants can discover why it is "known as the city of romance, and get to know firsthand the age-old art of French kissing." In Rome, one can expect to find young beauties who "like to strip down and jump into fountains." In Marid, the "hot senoritas" like to "frolic into the afterhours."

Unfortunately, the contest only provides the flight, room, spending money, and a Flip recorder and Marmot bag. Contestants must ignite their own romantic opportunities. Pity the young women in these cities when the "Study Abroad" winners touch down with their amorous expecations.

Sexy viral videos: Axe and Silverjet

Viral videos, posting one’s commercial on YouTube or other sties, is a way to garner extra exposure for one’s company and sexually themed messages past network standards boards. Two such instances surfaced recently. Axe posted clips of women auditioning for its spots: “Bow chicka wha wha.” Axe is garnering extra exposure with the enticing videos, which in most instances would be left on the cutting room floor.

Second, and we’re not sure of the video’s authenticity, a viral video making the rounds promotes Silverjet’s “women’s only” bathrooms with a same-sex nod to the mile-high-club. It’s doubtful the spot would make on it US television but it can still be seen online.

Red Zone spicing it up on campus

As the temperature rises so does interest in a recent ad in the Red & Black, University of Georgia’s campus newspaper. In the half-page ad, viewers are told to “Keep it clean”—a mocking reference to “Keep your mind out of the gutter.” The image is obviously designed to be sexual and, for young men, a link to Red Zone’s sexual campaigns of the past few years. Red Zone, a P&G brand, swiftly aped Axe’s positioning as a female attractant. Similar to Red Zone’s “When she sweats its sexy” spot, however, the current ad offers no benefit (does anyone really believe that Axe, Red Zone, and Tag are sexual attractants?). The approach is clearly aimed at attracting the attention of college males. One can only hope that these students are not as easily influenced (or susceptible) to such low-brow and empty appeals as this ad suggests.