Tan = “Magna Cum Hottie!”

Who cares about grades? Make “A’s” and get on the Honor Roll by hitting the tanning beds.

Despite efforts by the American Cancer Society and other change agents to alter norms regarding tanning, the accompanying ad strongly suggests that tanned skin is still valued. The ad, featuring an attractive model in a sequenced top, plays to young women’s desires to be “confident,” “sexy,” and “noticed.”

In work by Jacque Lambiase and myself, we identified three dominant messages advertisers use with sex. The image and headline unmistakably argue that if you use our services, others will find you more sexually attractive: “Use our tanning beds, and you’ll get noticed.”

For a look at some research conducted on sex in advertising and media, visit Sex in Media Rearch.

Naked poker anyone?

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Kate Moss and Nikon

Kate Moss has recovered nicely from her cocaine incident to become Nikon's current model. Much like the house model she was for Calvin Klein in the 1990s, for $1 million Moss agreed to appear in fashionesque ads for Nikon's latest campaign.

Apparently nude and with a suggestive expression, Moss is lending a sophisticatedly erotic feel to Nikon's image. Work by Smith and Engel in 1968 suggests that scintillating models can actually influence people's perceptions of the product. In their study, a hot model in a Buick ad resulted in viewers rating the car as faster, more powerful, better designed, and less safe than the ad sans the model.

It's likely that Moss has a similar effect for Nikon cameras. Which camera is cooler, sleeker, and faster? One advertised with middle-aged tourists or Kate Moss?

Tell Timmy and Susie to come inside...Falcon Beach is on!

Falcon Beach recently joined ABC Family's "Sizzlin' Summer" line up. The prime-time seriel is about a collision of worlds (rich vacationers meet townies) as teens wrestle with love, lust, and the "loss of innocence."

The images in the Falcon Beach promo piece certainly suggest that 'sizzlin'' has as much to do with sex as it does temperature. A buff shirtless male and three females (two are bikini-clad) are sure to draw attention. Firm bodies are positioned and photographed so that they are emphasized. Notice, too, that the young woman in white appears to be making eye contact with the viewer (a form of interpersonal flirting behavior) while others are looking off the page.

What do the promoters of this program want to communicate? Any normal person would be safe to assume that Falcon Beach viewing offers plenty of beachwear to behold and plot lines revolving around sexual tension as young romances (d)evolve.