Report: Nudity in Sexy Commercials Aired on Gender-based Television Stations

I’ve been wanting to share my report from a few years back as a student in a  Sex in Advertising course.  The class was taught by Dr. Tom Reichert who runs www.sexinadvertising.com.
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Abstract
This report investigates the levels of undress that occur within sexy commercials on gender-based television stations including Spike TV, MTV, and the Women’s Entertainment Network (WE).  On November 5, 2007, these stations were watched from 9-10pm, at the height of prime time.  Generally, it is perceived that sexy ads are mostly targeted to men, and the younger generation.  However, this report discredits that belief.  The study found that 30% of all commercials aired on Spike TV and WE utilized sex in advertising.  MTV had slightly less sexy ads at only 27%.  However, while the majority of WE’s sexy ads (60%) displayed actors whom were demurely dressed, half of all sexy ads aired on Spike TV featured actors whom were partially clad.  MTV’s sexy ads were even across the board, yet they were the only station to air an ad that featured a nude model.  All three of these channels had a similar percentage of sexual commercials, however, the majority of the sexual commercials on the WE network were demurely dressed as opposed to suggestively clad, partially clad, or nude as was the case with Spike TV and MTV.

Background
Sex is used in advertising to grab an intended audience’s attention and interest.  One way advertisers send out engaging sexual information is by positioning their models and actors in varying levels of undress.  These levels are broken down as follows:

1. Demurely dressed – normal everyday clothing
2. Suggestively clad – miniskirts, hot pants, muscle shirts
3. Partially clad – bathing suits, undergarments
4. Nude

Significance
How often sex in advertising occurs and the levels of undress that appear in sexy commercials is important because it provides  a foundation of information on the similarities and differences of ads used on TV programming for men, women, or both.  This question has the power to either reaffirm or debunk old-aged beliefs that all sexy commercial’s objectify women and target a predominantly male audience.  The objective of the research was to see if there is a correlation between gender-based programming and sexy ads.

Previous Research
The study of the effects of sexual advertising in relation to television commercials is one that has been replicated numerous times with a range differing scopes and focuses. One previous report conducted by Mary Gilly, who sought to discover the primary difference in sexual advertising between the United States, Mexico, and Australia. Although this does not emphasize the difference and similarities between gender-based television stations, it acknowledges the role of culture in the influence in sexual advertising. In the research, it was first established that the roles portrayed in all television commercials are those that fulfill sex stereotypes (Gilly 76). In addition, to gain a better understanding about the use of sexual advertising in television media, there were several basic themes that were identified including those that the media influences many younger people about such areas as body image and appearance; traditionally the roles of women in commercial advertisement have been “limited and negative” (Gilly 77); and men and women are portrayed very differently, with women often appearing helpless or submissive to men. This is but a sampling of the conclusive evidence discovered by her findings.

Another study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted a survey of 1,008 parents of children ages 2-17 shows that parents are beginning to become more self-conscious about the amount of sexual advertising in the media. This is important explicitly to this research effort, in that it may help to explain the finding that MTV showed particularly sexual advertising as compared with our other focus groups. According to the study, in light of increased sexual and violent images on broadcast television, 65% of parents now say they closely monitor their children’s media usage (Kaiser Family Foundation 4). Although this does not parallel our research design, the findings from this report show that there is a prevalence of sexual imagery to persist in programming attuned to younger audiences, and this study supports the reactionary effect of sexual advertising.

Hypothesis
For this study, MTV, Spike TV, and the Women’s Network were selected for content analysis because they all have different target demographics. MTV’s median age is 23.3 years old as it targets young adults and teenagers.  In view of the fact that younger audiences tend to be drawn towards the sexier ads, the hypothesis is that MTV will have the most commercials which contain partially clad, nude, and suggestively clad people.

MTV Findings
During the hours of 9pm-10pm on November 5^th, 2007, there were two different thirty-minute shows playing and, interestingly enough, during both shows there were much fewer sexual ads than there were non-sexual ads. Here is a graph of the results from both shows:

These graphs illustrate that the percentage of non-sexual ads is significantly greater than that of sexual ads. It is interesting to see that although during “A Shot of Love with Telia Tequila” there was a higher percentage of sexual ads, during “The Hills” there were nude ads.  Moreover, it is a little surprising that there were not more sexual ads on a television station like MTV.  32% of the ads during “A Shot of Love with Telia Tequila” were sexual and a mere 22% of the ads during “The Hills” were sexual.

Spike TV Findings
Spike TV’s median age of viewers is 37.6 years old. Due to the fact that this channel is largely targeted towards men, we assumed that there would be a high percentage of sexual commercials with people being demurely dressed, suggestively clad, and partially clad. However, we predicted that MTV would have a higher amount of sexual advertising than Spike TV due to the significantly younger crowd that tends to watch MTV.  Here is a graph of the results from Spike TV:

The graph on the page above shows that 30% of the commercials on Spike TV were sexual. This data is very similar to the data results of the MTV ads. In fact, the results during MTV’s “A Shot of Love with Telia Tequila” are extremely close to the results during “The Predator”. This data strayed slightly from our hypothesis as we predicted that MTV would have significantly more sexual commercials than Spike TV. However, this was surprisingly not the case.

WE Findings
The final channel that viewed was the Women’s Network. The Women’s Network attempts to target women from ages 18-49. However, the average woman watching the WE channel tends to be towards the end of this target demographic. As a result, we predicted that there would be fewer sexual commercials on WE than on Spike TV and MTV. The graph below illustrates the results:

This graph shows that there were 70% non-sexual commercials and 30% sexual commercials. However, it is obvious that the majority of the sexual commercials had people that were demurely dressed in them. This number is high because there was a plethora of suggestive shampoo commercials with women who were demurely dressed in them. Of course, it is still interesting that the WE network did not have any fewer sexual commercials than Spike TV had.

Analysis
All three of the channels appear to have around the same number of sexual commercials. Still, the WE network had significantly more demurely dressed people within their sexual commercials while Spike TV had more partially clad people during the commercials. Initially, it was thought that MTV would have the most sexual commercials. While the percentage of sexual to non-sexual commercials was not much different from MTV to the other two channels, MTV was the only channel that had any nude commercials. Furthermore, this data shows that MTV’s advertisers are the most likely to take risks with their ads. Below is a graph that demonstrates the amount of commercials on each channel that contained demurely dressed people in them :

The graph above shows the number of commercials that contained people who were demurely dressed. This goes along with the hypothesis that WE’s advertisers would be more conservative and have more sexual commercials with demurely dressed people than the other two channels. Seeing as all three channels had a similar percentage of sexual commercials, it makes a sense that a majority of the sexual commercials on the WE network were demurely dressed as opposed to suggestively clad, partially clad, or nude. Thus, the research hypothesis was validated.

Conclusion
Based on this study, it is conclusive that sex in advertising does not show favoritism between gender-based programming.  Rather, programs geared towards men air a higher percentage of revealed models in ads than do women’s television channels.  In addition, the ads geared towards a mixed, young audience are also very risqué.  There is a direct correlation between the level of undress in a sexy ad and its intended audience.

Works Consulted
Gilly, Mary C. “Sex Roles in Advertising: A Comparison of Television Advertisements in Australia, Mexico, and the United States.”Journal of Marketing. Vol. 52, No. 2. (April, 1988): 75-85. JSTOR. U of Georgia Libraries. 29 Nov. 2007. <http://www.galileo.usg.edu>

“Parents, Children, and Media”. Kaiser Family Foundation. (June 2007): 1-42. 28 Nov. 2007.             <www.kff.org>

Historical Significance of Kellogg’s Cereal Advertising

In order to understand what is happening in today’s world and to foreshadow what is to come, one must first analyze the past. Because advertising is a mirror of society, helps to create abundance, and spurs the consumer culture, historical ads hold perspectives unique to the time in which they were created. To see what information ads hold, I have analyzed Kellogg’s cereal print ads from the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. My observations are based on selected ads that Kellogg’s has posted, in gallery format, on their website www.kellogghistory.com/gallery.html.

1920s
The 1920s (January 1, 1920 – December 31, 1929) is also known as the Roaring Twenties. The 20s were a time of economic prosperity that followed WW1 and the Industrial Revolution. The 20s also marked the first time in America’s history in which more people lived in cities and suburbs than in the country.

Kellogg’s ads from the 20’s are simple. They provide information about what their products are, how they can be used, and their benefits. During the 20s, cereal was a new product. Kellogg’s ads aimed to show how cereal can improve diets by providing additional fiber to Americans and to build the Kellogg’s brand itself.
The headlines are wordy, dull, and boring. They are informative and that is about it.

The artwork is entirely simple illustrations. The ads always show the product. The dominate part of the ads are the body copy. The copy is lengthy and rational. The ads focus on a target market that is unaware of the product, its uses, and its benefits. During the 20s, Americans were becoming more metropolitan and wealthier. Many of them did not grow their own food and instead went to stores to buy what they needed. Kellogg’s 1920s ads show that the people of that time were not familiar with the concept of breakfast cereal, which today is the most popular breakfast meal.

1930s
The 30s (January 1, 1930 – December 31, 1939) is sometimes referred to as the Dirty Thirties. The first few years of the decade were marked by the Great Depression, which had a traumatic effect worldwide. The decade also saw a proliferation of new technologies, including intercontinental aviation and the radio. WW2 began at the end of the decade.
Advertisements for Kellogg’s from the 1930’s feature headlines with emotional appeal, and are sized less prominent than on the ads of the 20s. The long copy features emotional appeals to “Old Maid’s”, men out of work, and toys for children. Many ads from this period emphasize value and tradition. Both of these appeals worked well considering that, the great depression rocked the 1930s.

1940s
The 1940s (January 1, 1940 – December 31, 1949) is when most of WW2 took place and the economy saw great improvement from the Great Depression. The decade also saw the early beginnings of new technologies like the computer.

Ads from this era focus on the war effort. Many of them reinforce the stereotypes of women as mothers and homemakers. The appeals seem to be directed to men, which is ironic, because at this time, women began to make more purchasing decisions. The ads feature very long copy and are jam packed with information and brand messages, perhaps appealing to the “man’s sense of logic.”

1950s
During the 1950s (January 1, 1950 – December 31, 1959), manufacturing and home construction was on the rise as the American economy was on the upswing. The Korean War and the beginning of the Cold War created a politically conservative climate. The Red Scare, fear of communism, caused public Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress and Anti-Communism was the prevailing sentiment in the United States throughout the decade. Conformity and conservatism characterized the social mores of the time. 1950s America is considered to be socially conservative and highly materialistic in nature.

Ads from the 50s are far more simple, and contain less copy than ads from the 40s. They seem to use images to appeal to the materialistic nature of consumers who are eager to try something new or have the first of something. Product benefits illustrated in the ads seem to be more of an emotional nature rather than a hard fact.

Take Away
Ads for Kellogg’s cereal have changed with the times to reflect the social climate and current events of the era. Informatively, appeals changed from those that sought to market the tangible reasons why a consumer should purchase the cereal to intangible, emotional appeals. With this change, copy shortened and pictures became more prominent. Ads shifted from providing pure market information to a gray area of “buy the cereal because it’s new, or because your friend bought it.” In essence, the ads in the 1920s worked to create consumers for cereal and the ads in the 1950s worked to ensure consumers continued to buy.

Super Bowl 44 Observational Study

Situation
For 44 years, the Super Bowl has been an American tradition. It’s a game, a social event, and a reason for 98 million people to gather around the TV for one game. To understand how people watch the big game, what they do, and how they behave, I conducted an unstructured observational study of people attending a Super Bowl party.

Background
The party I studied was held Sunday February 7, 2010 at my fraternity house. There were approximately 30 people ages 18-23 there who watched Super Bowl 44 from 6:30pm-10:30pm. The setting was contained to one room; furniture was positioned in a semicircle around the 120-inch projector screen.

Insight
My study validated my hypothesis that commercials that run during the Super Bowl are an important part of the Super Bowl experience. However, I was surprised to discover that in some instances, the commercials eclipsed the game itself. When commercials ran, people were markedly more engaged watching the TV than when the game was on. When ads came on, side conversations immediately stopped and everyone became glued to the screen. Once the commercials ended and game play resumed, people talked about the ads, continued laughing, and went off into other side conversations. How the women at the party behaved was most intriguing. It is a given that more men are football fans than women are, and that women are more social than men are. About 10 women were present and facing the TV during the duration of the party. Although they were in front of the tube, they had brought things to preoccupy themselves with. They were studying, surfing the web, reading magazines, and incessantly texting. They were physically present, but in comparison to the men, they were not mentally involved with the game. In fact, the girls looked bored during the game. However, when the commercials came on, the girls were totally engaged with the ads. They stopped their side activity to devote themselves to what was on the TV. After the commercials, they resumed their previous activity.

Inspiration
So what? What is significant about my observations? While much of what I described is typical of many Super Bowl parties, an important discovery was made during my observation: audience engagement of Super Bowl commercials is higher than engagement of the game itself –especially for the women in the audience. From these small insights, I have learned that in a big way, commercials really make the Super Bowl the hugely popular televised event that it is. Advertisers like Doritos, Denny’s, and Coca-Cola who air multiple spots during the game not only buy a large audience, but also an audience that is fully engrossed with their brand message.