"Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves." Also: male gaze on the Gender Ads Project. Laura Mulvey's original 1975 essay on Male Gaze in cinema.
posted by Optimus Chyme on Mar 12, 2009 - 248 comments

This site examines the cross-cultural trend of headset-wearing customer support representatives on corporate websites! [more inside]
posted by exlotuseater on Feb 18, 2009 - 28 comments

Americans Not Making Time for Making Love according to Durex® [note: PR and attendant conflicts]. "Americans are having a lot less sex than just about everyone else in the world, and when they do, less than half are fully satisfied." Also from the 2007/2008 Durex® Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey: Where is sex safer?
posted by kliuless on Sep 26, 2007 - 42 comments

This is not sex. A Web Essay on the Male Gaze, Fashion Advertising, and the Pose.
posted by Ljubljana on Apr 5, 2006 - 95 comments

Shower gel gets you laid. iTunes gets you laid. National Public Radio gets you laid. Craigslist gets you laid (if you're a Republican). Obscure Jewish humor apparel gets you laid. Going vegan gets you laid, unless you're a nice guy, natch. [All links SWF. First link leads to an advert that may not be.]
posted by fatllama on Dec 17, 2004 - 30 comments

Sex for Money, Money having Sex? Ban on Russian ads depicting euro having sex with dollar. Immoral or are they just dancing?
posted by kodas on Sep 24, 2003 - 14 comments

Fashion & Farm Sex Benneton Group company Sisley is well known for ...well, uhm... different images in advertising campaigns. Right now they're using cute animals and evil girls... What do you think about that?
posted by heimkonsole on Dec 5, 2001 - 40 comments

Critics call Abercrombie & Fitch catalog soft porn. I can't comment on the catalog itself, since I haven't seen it; I just had to laugh out loud though when I read this sentence: "Boycott organizers contend the company... is wooing younger customers and using sex to popularize its image." Oh, the horror! Also striking was A&F's spin on it, calling it " the Norman Rockwell of 2001." Clearly, a divide in perceptions. Can anyone who has seen the offensive/inoffensive material in question explain why it is/isn't any different from the marketing practices of, oh, say, everyone else?
posted by topolino on Jun 22, 2001 - 23 comments

Apparently, the Lt. Governor of Illinois has WAY too much time on her hands.... Of course, rallying public support for a boycott of Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't really seem like what she was elected to do, but hey, never hurts to throw your title around when your teenagers are going ga-ga over half-naked muscle-boys, huh?
posted by m.polo on Jun 15, 2001 - 24 comments

Is this banner offensive? I'm all for using a little sex to sell product, but this execution shows no link between the ad and the actual product that I could see...
posted by owillis on Apr 10, 2001 - 15 comments