Blog Post #6 - Sexualized Women in Advertising

In the past decade, more and more commercials have started to display women in a very sexualized manner, exploiting their appeal to men as the key point in many ads. Back in the day, advertisements displayed women as caring housewives, allowing themselves to be controlled by their husbands and utilize the product in question to please their spouses.

One advertisement from the 1950's that shows a woman catering to her man's needs.

 However, in this day in age, advertisers are exploiting female’s sexuality to appeal to men and their deepest desires. One of the most successful advertisements of this year’s Super Bowl was Kia’s new ad for the Optima. This ad featured model Adriana Lima waving the checkered flag in a very skimpy outfit for a high-speed race, all in a guy’s dream. This is just one example of many advertisements on television today that shows women in a sexual manner.

The Kia Super Bowl ad with Adriana Lima

However, advertisers have been known to push the limits in regards to displaying women. One Heineken ad I saw during a football game displayed a bottle of the beer rocking back and forth on a tan table. As the camera zoomed out, it became apparent that the bottle of Heineken was actually on a naked woman’s back, as the lady was having sexual intercourse with two guys at the same time. This commercial, while very funny, was immediately pulled from the air and now can only be seen on YouTube. The line is very clear on what is appropriate for television use and what is not. Although the extremely sexual commercials are funny at times, I do believe that television should be relatively conservative in how sexual advertisements display women. 

The banned Heineken ad.