RCS 362-Sex appeal in advertising, too much or just right?

After much thought about what I wanted to blog about this week I figured I would write about something that a few people in our class seem to have strong opinions on: sex appeal in advertising and how that affects women in particular. Considering that we just covered this topic I’m sure that many of us are more sensitive to the commercials we see and what message appeal they utilize.
The Axe commercials have created a lot of hype recently, it seems that the company is able to quickly turn out new scents and products and advertise them in creative/interesting ways. There is a new ad on TV about the chocolate-scented Axe spray, depicting a man that has turned into a human size piece of chocolate and women want to literally take a bite out of him, even lick his face. This is only one example of the commercials created by Axe that clearly uses sex appeal to gain viewers attention. Obviously, this commercial is not targeted to young females but to young men anywhere from their early teens to mid-thirties. I’ve listened to a couple of my peers talk about how they think that this kind of commercial portrays women in a negative way, as if we are only meant to sexy. I tend to go back and forth on my opinion whether I believe this kind of ad campaign is in bad taste or not. Would I feel differently if I worked for a company that produced ads like that or would I want to work for them in the first place? I know many males my age that use Axe and I personally think that the body spray and wash smells great, however, there may be a way of advertising the product in a classier style. Additionally, there was a commercial that we watched in class that was advertising a beer that had been placed on the lower part of a woman’s back, moving back and forth, and multiple hands where reaching for the beer from the back and front of the woman. Again, this ad wasn’t targeted for young women and there is no doubt in my mind that it was effective for male viewers. I’ve been paying more attentions to the ads I see and I don’t see many that portray men in an outright negative manner. I hear frequently about commercials getting pulled from the air due to inappropriate material, whether it is for language, sex, etc. It makes me wonder how the commercials above are much different except for the fact that maybe they do it in a more subtle way. Sex appeal is one of the four core message appeals and seems to be an effective way of reaching targeted market segments, but where do we draw the line? Is there justification in offending one particular gender solely because a company is able to increase sales? This also ties in with the topic concerning ethics in advertising.
My purpose for choosing this topic was to see how many women are actually offended by advertisements like this and if so, do you think it perpetuates the idea that females are only good for one thing. On the contrary, I know girls that have no feelings towards the subject at all, and find the commercials funny. I don’t think there is one right way to feel about it but just a matter of opinion. It will be interesting to see as years go on if we start to pull away from such sexual ads or if they only get more provocative. It would be nice to hear some people’s opinions if this topic has any sort of significance to you.