Sex in Advertising

Commercials are supposed to tell us about various products offered by companies. It's no surprise that they want to grab onto our attention and make us take notice of what they have to offer and perhaps sway us into buying their brand versus their competitors brand; however, I've noticed a trend developing with some of these companies. They feel compelled to use sexual undertones within their commercials.

Remember when seeing a commercial for feminine hygiene products made us blush with embarrassment? Those television ads have nothing on twenty-first century marketing.

Smiling Bob and Enzyte:

You know this one. The commercials where Bob is smiling all over himself? These ads are full of innuendo. In most of these Enzyte commercials, Bob appears to be waving, if anyone is paying attention, they will see that it is obviously phallus. Other innuendos play out before our eyes:

1. Bob dives into the pool and loses his swim trunks.

2. Bob is the life of the party.

3. All the women want to sit on Bob's, uh, Santa's lap at the company Christmas party.

4. If you look closely at the wood paneling behind those rows of Enzyte packages toward the end of the commercials, you will see what looks to be a part of a man's physique.

Arby's: Fast Food Erotica?

There's a new Arby's commercial on the air promoting the chains Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich that had me thinking to myself, "What?".

This guy is lying in his bed and from another room you hear a female's voice call out, "You know I'm only doing this for your birthday!" She walks into the room wearing an Arby's uniform and carrying a tray full of food. As he lies there smiling, the Arby's logo springs from him head, obviously turned on at seeing his lady dressed this way.

I don't know about you, but it left me scratching my head and wondering what exactly Arby's was thinking when they put this commercial out there for us all to see. It didn't leave me wanting to rush to my nearest restaurant to try out the sandwich they were peddling. Rather, it left me feeling embarrassed.

IKEA:

IKEA is known for its daring commercials. My personal favorite is the one where the woman runs out of the store believing a mistake has been made in her bill. Did the checkout lady make a mistake and undercharge her? "Start the car! Start the car!" she hollers as she makes a run for it. It's hilarious!

IKEA has overstepped itself and has recently had three of its ads banned from airing:

1. "Tidy Up": Mom can't find her baby after looking all over her cluttered house. She finally enters the laundry room where she finds the baby covered in dirty clothes in a laundry basket.

2. "Spaghetti": While seductively eating a plate of spaghetti (without silverware), the girl inadvertently gobbles up shoestrings from her boyfriend's tennis shoes.

3. "Horny Parents": Mom chases dad around the living room with a pitchfork, she in a teddy, he donning a pig mask. After stripping him of his underwear and leaving him nude, their daughter and a male friend walk in on the two. The father grabs a picture of his daughter and hides himself with it, thus humiliating his daughter even further.

For the most part, these and other risqué commercials are funny and give us a good laugh at the outrageousness of it all. There are others that leave us feeling more than a little embarrassed and uncomfortable. Perhaps it's a sign of the times and we should get used to seeing more of these types of commercials filling the airwaves. Gone are the days of boring TV advertisements that left us snoring.