Prediction: Less sex in advertising in 2013

At Cannes Lions this summer, Susanna Kempe, CEO of WGSN, predicted for 2013 that “overt sexualisation” will be out. She should know; WGSN is a leading trend analysis firm servicing the apparel and design industries. This global business spots macro-trends and seeks to keep clients “on trend” or at least ahead of the curve.

Apparel and designer brands have long been at the forefront of sexual explicitness in advertising and marketing. Dolce & Gabbana has faced scrutiny for ads that crossed many lines, as have American Apparel and other designer brands with ad featuring adult themes, homoeroticism, bondage or nudity.

It was once explained to me that designer brands, at least in consumer magazines where there are page-after-page competition, must do something to stand out from the crowd. This can include pushing boundaries and flirting with sexual taboos. Being at the forefront—important for exclusive brands—also means associating your brand with elite fringe social trends.

Research generally shows that sexual content in advertising continues to increase each year. But there are exceptions. In the 1980s, for instance, ads displaying hook-ups and anonymous sexual situations took back seat to stories of ‘sex within committed relationships’ as awareness of HIV increased. Similarly, Sam Shahid has said that advertising reflects the cultural and political barometer: It even reflects who occupies the White House (less under W., more under Clinton).

What other routes may designers take in 2013 other than overt sexuality? Simplicity, letting luxury speak for itself and “deteching”—or moving away from too much social media (read more here), say Kempe and WGSN. It will be interesting to see if their predictions are accurate.

Diesel successfully exploits the link between fragrance and fashion, and sex

Use with extreme caution. That's the advice of marketing researcher and consultant Bob Brecht in a recent post about sex in advertising. Dr. Brecht refers to industry research concluding that sexual appeals are effective at grabbing attention but tend to drain attention away from brand information. Rightly, he also makes the point that product relevance to sex is key to use of this emotional appeal.

I'm reminded of the accompanying ad for Diesel fragrance for men. This adappeared in public posters (at least in France) this summer as well as in magazines. The message is that Diesel cologne is "fuel for life" and, I suppose, an important component of male virility. Fortunately the ad contains a warning, "Use with caution," so that young men will be mindful of the cologne's effects.

Whether effective or not, fragrance does have a legitimate claim to relevance with sexual attraction. The use of sexual appeals is not new for Diesel. In addition to attracting attention to its ads with sex (and judges at Cannes Lions), Diesel continues to successfully employ this appeal to market its products.

What do monkeys and humans have in common when it comes to sex in advertising?

Do monkeys respond to sex in advertising?

That’s what a team of advertising professionals, market researchers and primatologists is seeking to discover.

I attended a seminar at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity where Elizabeth Kiehner and Keith Orwell did a marvelous job explaining their research project. I also learned that the test subjects, Capuchin monkeys, share up to 98% of human DNA.

The marketers teamed up with Laurie Santos of the Yale primatology lab. Dr. Santos has done some ground breaking work with Capuchins, including teaching them how to use money. Advertising seems like a natural if you want to part monkeys and their money. Sex in advertising is first in a serious of studies designed to see if monkeys can be shown to respond to advertising.

The concept for the sexual ad is built around the monkeys’ natural behavior. We were told that female Capuchins publicly masturbate. The males find this behavior intriguing and copulation naturally follows observation. This sexual behavior sequence happens frequently each day.

So, the creative team designed an ad featuring the female Capuchin in all her glory. They paired this image (and a non-sexual image) with a logo. The hypothesis is that the sexual image will result in a behavioral preference when just the logo is available.

I suspect the researchers will discover a sexual effect. Sex is a powerful motivator that should become associated with through simple conditioning with a brand logo. We know these effects translate in the marketplace with humans. With such a shared heritage, we should expect the same with Capuchins.

It would be really interesting to see if the monkeys vary in their affinity to sexual stimuli. Working with Michael LaTour and John Ford, we just reported in JAR that personality variables as well as moral reasoning influence human responses to nudity in advertising. I want to know if the same is true for monkeys.

We look forward to hearing the results of this intriguing study.