Sex Outsells Products A common criticism of advertising is the presence of sexualized female images in the media in order to attract consumer interest and project a cultural message. These advertisements use sex to connect with audiences and convey messages related to social female stereotypes. A scene from the popular television series Family Guy simplifies advertisers' use of the sexualized female image by showing how a female character's attractive physical appearance is used to sell an idea, a technique that is successful in any context social. This scene from Family Guy reaffirms how sex is used to sell products, while also establishing the cultural message that male consumers of these products will also have access to the sexualized and objectified woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The chosen scene from Family Guy demonstrates the necessity of sex in advertising in all social contexts. In the episode "The Griffin Family History", the characters in this scene are set in the prehistoric era of planet Earth, showing caveman representations of the modern characters. The conflict presented in this scene arises when caveman Peter invents the wheel, an innovation vital to the progress of humanity. Despite the efficiency of the new wheel, most of the cave population is reluctant to accept this development. Caveman Brain attempts to help Caveman Peter with his sales pitch, but when he realizes that normal advertising techniques don't seem to influence caveman consumers, he resorts to "drastic measures". (FG 4:12) The “drastic measures” in this situation involve using the presence and physical appearance of cavewoman Lois to sell caveman Peter's product. When cavewoman Lois is positioned next to the wheel in minimal clothing, the audience responds positively. A caveman states "a beautiful lady next to the wheel, make me want to wheel". (FG 4:20) Although the male characters are not very intelligent or evolved, they still respond positively to a sexualized female image; this is the very basis of the use of sex in advertising. The theory behind the success of sexualized advertising depicted in this scene from Family Guy is supported by various literary arguments that describe the important relationship between sex and advertising. William M. O'Barr draws inspiration from advertising professor Tom Reichert's definitions of sex in advertising. Reichert defines a feature of sex in advertising as often "showing attractive models in the stages of undressing". (O'Barr 3) This characteristic is clearly shown in the Family Guy scene, when caveman Brian tears off caveman Lois's clothes, leaving her with only what appears to be her underwear. Reichert argues that "sex and advertising often revolve around clothing: what models are or aren't wearing." (O'Barr 3) Lois's character's obvious lack of clothing is key to representing “a fundamental type of sexual information” (O'Barr 3) that is shown to the audience through advertising. This sexual information is what leads to the development of female cultural stereotypes, such as the importance and usefulness of having a sexy body. The ever-increasing level of sexual imagery used in advertisements attracts a considerable amount of criticism; but, despite the criticism, “sex in advertising has often… increased consumer interest and often aided the sale [of]products". (O'Barr 5) Family Guy accurately depicts this relationship between sex and consumer interest by illustrating the immediate effect on the audience's willingness to purchase the product after Cavewoman Lois endorses it with her presence. After the caveman audience enthusiastically moves to purchase a wheel for themselves, caveman Peter reflects on his success, acknowledging how "people want Peterwheel because of the sexy wife. (FG 4:30) This specific male dynamic -female shows how caveman Peter is the bread winner in the relationship, while caveman Lois plays a minor role where her job is essentially to stand there and look pretty. The use of this relationship dynamic in “advertising stereotypes can have a great influence on sexual roles” (Artz 24) that people are encouraged to develop. The combination of the sexualized female image and culturally acceptable views on normal sexual relationships has a significant impact on the social and cultural values ​​that originate from erotic advertising. Analysis of the correlation between sex in advertising reveals that in addition to selling a company's product, advertising also sells specific cultural views on sex and female stereotypes. In the selected scene from Family Guy, the audience that caveman Peter introduces himself to consists of a large group of other male cavemen. The use of a sexualized female image is particularly effective when the target audience is the normative heterosexual male. Family Guy generalizes the "supposed heteronormativity in both content and audience", which has been the highlight of advertising "for much of its history". (O'Barr) By projecting the success of heterosexual beings onto the public, the same advertisements simultaneously highlight the importance of being normal and embracing heterosexuality. In addition to conveying ideas to audiences about what constitutes normal sexual desires and relationships, “sex in advertising often employs…sex-related promises”; (O'Barr 3) as the promise that if a consumer buys a certain product, they also buy the objectified female models who endorse that product. One of the cavemen in the audience in this Family Guy scene explicitly states the sex-related promise suggested by the wheel's commercial: "Maybe if I buy the wheel, I'll get a nice lady too." (FG 4:20) The caveman public then rushes to the caveman Peter (FG 4:22) eagerly waiting to purchase the new wheel, which now contains the promise that they will also gain the affection of a “beautiful lady.” The “tendency for women to be displayed…as seductive sexual objects” (Artz 20) is essential to the cultural views developed about what a woman should do. The increasing frequency with which women are portrayed as subordinate sexual objects is destructive to the image and status of the female body within a cultural context. When “women [are] portrayed as sexual objects…[they] are reduced to 'body parts' rather than whole people.” (Artz 25) This dehumanizing deconstruction of female body image has an extremely negative impact on how women view their worth in society. The advertisement in this case confirms the traditional male-female dynamic of a dominant male figure and a subordinate female counterpart; Despite the progress women have made in the 21st century to overcome archaic stereotypes like this, advertising companies send the message that this dynamic is successful, rather than obsolete. The ubiquitous presence of sex in advertising is used to attract the undivided attention of the consuming public, while at the same time strengthening the status.