Sex is fundamentally great for advertising. Through the designs of naughty Mother Nature our eyes are automatically drawn the sight of an attractive, scantly clad female/male form. In fact, if you can think of anything else that draws the eye quite so well, use that in advertising and you’re on to a winner. Sex is the one thing that almost everybody in the world shares an interested in. Now that’s a pretty impressive target market.

A big problem with using sex in online marketing schemes is the current over-abundance of sexual content on the net. For a lot of people; the Internet has developed a reputation for smuttiness, seedy advertising and porn, with some people avoiding it all together for that reason alone. This is most definitely NOT a good thing for the vast majority of web-based businesses, and therefore web developers, who are trying to promote the Internet as a legitimate and trustworthy medium for doing business. There is also a danger of your marketing being lost within the smut. True, sex draws the eyes but sometimes there’s so much of it the eyes don’t know where to look. I often find myself seeing ads with sexual images and automatically disregarding/book marking it, assuming it’s just another link to one of ‘those’ sites.

So is it possible to use the benefits of sex and stand out from the rest while maintaining a respectful image for your product/service? Yes, I think it is, but not in the way you’d expect. People are drawn to sexual images because they are attracted to what they see. It appeals to their senses and triggers off sexual desires and feelings. Because of the mysterious way in which our brains work, we subconsciously form an association between our desire for sex and whatever product is being advertised. However, naked women and men in pants are not the only way to trigger this association. In fact, many other things are considered sexy and you’re not limited to the visual sense to get people’s juices flowing. Think colours (dark reds, purples and blues), sounds (music and sultry tones), shapes (curves) and provocative taglines. I find http://www.jaguarusa.com/uk/en/home.htm). They use sensually appealing colours and shapes, provocative glances from windswept model types, close up shots of mouths. It’s sexy! It works. I want one. The Moët & Chandon homepage (http://www.moet.com/home/flash.html?langue=gb) is also a great example of sexy colours and patterns, notice the dark, silky background and smooth animation effects.

Conclusion

Does sex sell? Yes. Of course it does. Sex has always and will always sell. However, we must be aware that there are definite boundaries of decency that should not be crossed. The secret I think is to be indirect, tap into people’s sexual senses and unlock their desires without them even realising it. Remember, keep it clean, and at the risk of sounding like a condom advert, be careful with sex lest we plunge the internet into a deeper and darker hole than it’s already in.

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