Well, with so many commercials using that tactic, it wouldn't be hard to assume that it works exceptionally well.

Haha yes of course it works. As the old saying goes: ''Sex sells''
I think this isn't an eye opener for anyone.

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.


Imo, it probably DOES sell, just not for me. I don't look at Lynx(or axe, for americans) or Specsavers and think "damnn, that pair of glasses or body spray is gonna have hundreds of women stripping down for me."

I think a subtler approach would work better, if you ask me. Or something more realistic.


But hey, that's just me. I'm sure the reason they're using it is because it DOES work.



Ben.

Sex sells...

...But only when used correctly, in a market that's receptive.

Last year, I did a marketing campaign for a neighborhood bar in San Francisco to help them regain their previous prominence.

We created characters out of the extremely loyal and sexy female bartenders...

...and colored the bar as a place with the overt reputation for singles to hook up.

Of course...

In reality, this was no more a place to hook up than any other bar.

But the campaign worked and jacked up their daily takes over 30% during the course of spreading the new message.

The campaign got people talking, putting up more Yelp reviews, engaging in their Facebook page... and now they're continuing to use these tactics to grow their clientele even more.

The combination of selling the sexiness of the bartenders and the not-so-subtle hints that if you want to hook up, this is the place to come reached a lot of people... men AND women!

So yes, sexy women (and the hope of them) do sell.

But again...

It depends upon the market!

Mark Pescetti

In my experience, using sex to sell does not work. Using pretty does though. My site uses pretty to sell products, and that works great. I doubt that all consumers are so easily swayed by sex. It is over-used and it's a tacky way to sell.

Mr. Subtle can you verify that she's European?

Of course it does you never see a fat person on a weight loss comm
Whens the last time some fugly chick was on tv

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The opening scene...

Specsavers 'The Specs Effect' Advert (Lynx/Axe parody) - YouTube
From out of the primeval forest a scantily clad lass (who just happens to be absolutely drop dead bloody gorgeous) sniffs the air expectantly.

Quickly joined by hundreds of other hot sexy chicks in the first 15 seconds.

What are they doing?

What has captured their collective imagination?

What is causing this collection of gorgeous hot women to run out of the forest from all directions, down the cliff, on to the beach some of them clasping their designer bags?

All almost 'undressed' in different coloured bikinis? (The appeal of/to the subconscious tribal instinct).

15-23 seconds in...

They're prepared to do whatever it takes.

They're prepared to overcome any obstacle to get their hands on what they want and desire so much. (Hence the shots of the jungle, the red high heels and the puddle eek).

The offer (whatever it is) is irresistible.

They just have to take action to get to the source.

They want it right now.

They want to 'buy into' the offer.

The lure is driving them collectively crazy with emotional desire.

30 seconds in...

On the beach stands this geekish looking chap. Not the most handsome guy in the world.

They don't care. He just smells SO good.

And he's spraying himself with Lynx which is acting as a very powerful pheromone. He's got magnetic attraction. Has them all swooning at his feet.

He looks up through blurred vision to see to his astonishment hundreds of the hottest most gorgeous chicks running towards him. He's the star attraction.

Puts his glasses on to correct his vision.

To believe what he thinks he's seeing. ("I am a sexy beast... Wowww - OH YES!"

Unfortunately, without his specs on he chose the most hideous pair of red glasses possible from the competition... hence the tagline... Should've Gone to Specsavers.

If he'd only gone to Specsavers all his dreams would have come true.

The girls turn their backs on him looking very highly disappointed.

The day would have been saved if he'd gone to Specsavers because their designer glasses are the hottest, coolest designs available at a great price especially with a 2 for 1 special offer at £99.

The advertisement is a parody of another companies tv advert (Lynx) and works on many different levels for the intended audience.

That's my paraphrased take on it.

What's yours?


Mark Andrews

Hey mark I would think sex or sexy sells always good! Look for example at all the nice ufc girls they are all beautiful and you'll never see a fat woman there (but it would be really funny).

Sometime it can make a blast but not all the times. Basically that depends on product. Say for example you are selling holy books then using sexy women will decrease your sell.

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Sex appeals to our weakest, most innate desires and that emotional affect can sometimes get transfered onto the product.

I think the more intellectually stimulating the product the less that sex can sell it because logic and emotions generally do not mix that well.

Such ads definitely draw males' attention which can eventually lead to buying a product. Using this tactic one does not have to invent a lot of creative things, and all one has to do is to simply make a use of natural human instincts. Cheap but efficient.

I think gets attention (otherwise why are we all here looking at this thread ) but it only works as a sales tactic if the rest of the offer or promotion is coherent.

This is a really fascinating discussion. I am a former psychology major so these kinds of topic rock!

Well 1.6 million youTube viewers cant be wrong!

The ad is a parody of Lynx ads and they are targeted at men obviously. I'm not sure how spec savers female audience would feel about this ad it seems a bit risky to potentially offend a large % of your customer base.

That being said it works for me but i'm a bloke...

Latest stats show that the most popular clickable ad image with men is women showing cleavage. Know what the most-clicked ad image is for women? Same thing! Real world test results, millions of clicks analyzed. I find that hilarious!

Sex helps with the sales process but if its funny its even better...

Definitely, you can see it everywhere and it is here to stay. Where do they find so many beautiful women anyway LOL

Another ingredient is humor .

I love Specsavers ads; sexy and humorous........:-)

It is a fact that a banner which shows a beautiful blonde woman wearing glasses with big busts get more clicks.

it's worked since the beginning of time
in fact... they used this tactic in cavemen commercials

It do. It can help sell though.. not just sexy but also pretty/beautiful and has the sense of initiative about the product it selling

ehh yeah, it applies to male and female consumers...pretty, sexy, attractive women sell products

Everyone knows that sex sells but it really depends on the niche and, more important, on your target. If you target men be sure that hot and sexy women will help you convert offers like there's no tomorrow. Speaking from experience ...

Oh sure they do....

And I bet the reverse works subconsciously on women as well. (No matter how much they'd deny it to their graves...)

:rolleyes:

-WittyBlogger

.... I'll go ahead and say yes. I love the sight of a sexy woman.

Helps if it's relevant, and I'm sure most would like to think not but I'm also sure history will tell you that sexy women do indeed help sell products.

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Ultimately, it is effective, it is right and it is just! Life and sexuality are a twin flame – they don’t burn separately. The female form is a wonder to behold, and a blessing to be honored. In my humble opinion, I would submit that “The Feminine” sells – not sex (or not so dang much).

I know I do

Sexy women will always sell in any market. Sexy men sell to though!

I haven't read all the posts here, so this might already have been said, but:

Read the book "Buyology" (yes, that's spelled correctly), written by one of the worlds most recognized people in branding and marketing, it actually has a part dedicated to this question. The short answer? No, sex doesn't sell. The long(er) answer? It has its ups and downs, but in the big picture, no, sex doesn't sell.

Obviously we're not talking about selling porn here... then yes, sex sells. But using it for advertising a product, overall, no, sex doesn't sell. Of course there are exceptions, as with everything, for instance mirror neurons (not sure I'm translating that correctly from Danish, nonetheless it's the instinct action of the brain to copy what it likes) can play a role here, but again, in the big picture, no, sex doesn't sell.

Sex will attract attention, but does the consumer remember the actual item being sold afterwards? In a lot of the Marketing Research I have been involved in, the answer was more often than not, no. People can remember the commercial, and the girls/guys in the commercial, and can often name what kind of product it was, but did not remember the actual specific product or brand - it was an even lower rate for new products, or brands that did not traditionally use sex in commercials.

In some email advertising tests we did, our sexy lady emails had the least clickthroughs/ lowest conversion, and highest unsub rates of any campaign. And the customers were male, hunters, gun owners etc.

Its just a hunch, but I think the Go Daddy commercials work, not because they are sexy, but because the original ones were so blatantly over the top, people had to know who the heck would do that. More shock value than sex. Then it became their schtick. At the same time, we have to remember that the Go Daddy ads are polarizing as well. So, using them as a case study for sex sells may not be the best example.

Now, in the instance of videos that are created only for the sole purpose of going viral, sex is probably a great idea.

Look, Psychology geek or Copywriter I am not. I am a consumer ,though.

The ad would not influence me to buy specsavers or freaking Axe or anything else that matter, unless it was an ad on how to hook up wit a hundred chicks on the beach.

Party!

What it would do,is get me to show my central florida redneck friends the video, and probably would influence THEIR buying decisions. Yup. Sure nuff.
Sub consciously at the least. Here's how the conversation would go:

"Hey,Man, Didja see dat dare video where dares a thousand chicks running down the beach wit there titties floppin? It's for some British glasses or axe or sum'in."
And out comes the smart phone (yess, we have smart phones) and Bubba goes " DAAAANNGGG! Lookit dem titties, send me the link" and off it goes.

mission accomplished

I'm not sure if it helps to sell product, but it definitely makes people click on your link. Sometimes people just click on a video although the thumbnail and the title are not relevant at all.

It helps to attract customers. I already tested it before on my sites, and by using sexy women, it can get you higher ctr/conversion/sales. Rather than using other kind of picture.

Where are all the women to comment on this?
I'll provide a woman's perspective then.
Yes, sex sells, but I also agree with RedSealCanada that pretty also sells, and sometimes more effectively.
You, Men, may be interested to know that most women, willingness to accept or acknowledge it aside, have in the very least, a bit of a lesbian tendency. It may be as innocent as noticing that the woman you just brought a bottle of milk from was very attractive, to the more active participation pashing complete strangers of the same sex on dark dance floors as an 'experiment', but there is no denying it, its there somewhere.
We, women, appreciate a well put together, sex focused ad as much as the next guy. Add some humor and you have a winner. But the same goes for those that feature men.

Mark asked for a newbie's perspective, so here goes.

I think that sex sells for the same reason that a big fat juicy cheeseburger sells, or a brand spanking new BMW sells.

I think most people, and I include myself in this, suffer from a feeling of lack. Now, you can argue that that feeling is induced by advertising, and I won't argue with you too strenuously, but it is a powerful feeling nonetheless.

So, you want the sexy lady because you don't have a sexy lady. You think "sexy lady drives Honda Civic, if I drive Honda Civic, me get sexy lady too." Or, perhaps more subtly than that, you think "A Honda Civic might make me feel less bad for not having a sexy lady."

How does this relate to cheeseburgers or BMWs? You see the picture and you instantly feel the lack of whatever it is that is on the screen, so you are inclined to purchase whatever is associated with the picture because it will make you feel better, you hope.

I think this might mean that the perfect ad would have a hot lady eating a cheeseburger in a BMW, selling insurance.

For the ladies, I don't presume to speak for you, but I read that the difference between a man and a woman seeing a hot lady in an ad is the man thinks "I want that lady" and the woman thinks "I want to BE that lady."

That's all I got. Thanks for a stimulating discussion. Er. Well you know what I mean.

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Oh dear, I venture into the copywriting forum... this is a foreign land to me and I hope I don't get ripped to absolute pieces. But after all these garbage one liners, I had to chime in. I by no means call myself a writer, nor a psychological analyst - but I do have a college education and a small bit of life experience, so I'll give it a go.

First off, I'm not familiar with SpecSavers whatsoever, as I'm from the USA. In terms of how you described it, it reminds me of a similar company we have called "LensCrafters", basically chain of glasses stores that sell on the cheap.

There advertisements are nothing like these - boring and generic - and in tune, that's how I see the company.

So for a company who I feel is most successful using sexy ad campaigns- I will be discussing a chain of fast food burger joints here called "Carl's Jr." (Ironically enough they are now heavily promoting their salads, which is the ad I am going to be focusing on.)


And I know you said we're not talking "orgasmic sex here" but this one was just too hard to not talk about.

First, they have Kim Kardashian - who is a sex symbol, known for her assets. In the first second of the video that's what you see. She's curvy, wearing a robe-like risque outfit, and she then ventures into in the most sexual of all places - the bed.

Eating with her hands - carnal instinct. Closeup of the female mouth - obviously a sexual innuendo here. Dripping juices from the apple - I mean come on, how sexual can you get here?

But I'll admit, on the carnal level it does get me excited. So there doing something right.

Also, I forgot to mention Carls Jr is known for not only their sexy ads but also for ads about, how do I put this, making a mess while eating?

So why not, let's just finish the commercial with Kim in a bath... I mean, I'd probably buy the salad if I knew I got to share it with her in there.

What strikes me as the most interesting is A. who wants a salad from a fast food joint? and B. it seems like such a male targeted ad, yet they're selling a salad, which is known as a more popular female food?

Or perhaps - the commercial is intended for men in order to convince their female counterparts that Carl's Jr sells salads, so they could join them for a meal while they enjoy a juicy half pound burger, while pretending their female counterpart looks half as stunning as Kim.


Did I do OK?

not really, depend on the goods you were try to sell, targeted customer etc etc. But i think it will work quite good enough up to 80% succes rate

Summoning Mark Andrews - I need his evaluation of my evaluation.

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depending on its products. whether its products can use a beautiful woman or not. but I strongly agree with the seduction of a beautiful woman will sell more products.

It may not be applicable to all.... but in some categories sex rules. Especially when applied to appeal to men.

When it comes to sex, it isn't just about marketing products & services alone. It goes beyond. Movies, music, pop culture & media.

Sex sells of course but really viewers need to take away something memorable from an ad and a half naked women will always make the brand shoot up in popularity.

If the results withstand the scrutiny of replication, it can help explain why pretty women are more successful salespeople in certain industries, say pharmaceuticals and alcohol, and less successful in other areas. Moreover, it provides a profit incentive for the continued sexualization of the mass medias, especially in advertising, but also in other commercial activities. What is the policy response if the profit incentive to have sexy models help push a product comes from natural tendencies in males?

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I would bet my house that If I flashed some booty and some tig bitty in my profile pic that i could sell ANYTHING in this forum!