Sex appeal as a marketing tactic has been both supported and opposed throughout its history. This tactic is not only used directed towards the male population, but, to the female population as well. The point that is trying to be established in this essay is that not only should sex appeal be ethical, but, it can be a great marketing tactic. There is some opposition to this point also because some people disagree on the fact that it is used and used appropriately. What they are trying to establish is that sometimes there is an argument towards an advertisement that a younger audience has been exposed to it. For every argument, there has got to be some opposition, or else there is no argument to the piece, it is strictly a biased essay towards what the individual feels is best. This essay is trying to establish that sex appeal is ethical and can be used effectively and be used to help suffering businesses and shoot sales potentially to record highs. The leading fields that ethically used this tactic and are here to establish my point are clothing companies, fast food restaurants, and car dealers. 

The first ethical representation in my research that sex appeal was used was through the marketing of clothing. Owners and CEO's of clothing companies started to realize that not only do people buy clothes based on the brand, but they also buy them based on the people that endorse them. For example, Victoria's secret has been the main company known for using sex appeal in their clothing. They have some of the skinniest models in the business wearing some of the skinniest coverings of clothes. If anyone has ever walked by one of their stores, the marketing is staring you right in the face and it has been proven to work. The main reasoning for companies using these women to make their products sell as follows. Customers tend to believe that if they wear those clothes and they conform to the style and the brand name that those people are portraying, then, they will look like those people. Reichert added, "Even the most conservative of companies rely on sex to sell their products. It plays into one of our deepest human desires". This may seem farfetched, but, this is the common perception by the public and if the customers really start to pay attention to what they buy and why they buy it they will start to notice that not only do the people that were involved in this said experiment do it but they do it as well. For example, the Nike brand is one of the biggest attractors for men. The reason that this appeals to men is because people tend to judge you right away on what clothing individuals are wearing, what brand that they are wearing and your physical appearance. The Nike brand to men is just a brand that people in the pros tend to wear such as pros in the National Football League. Every team in the National Football League is sponsored by Nike for on field uniforms and those people that are known worldwide for their talents in one of men's favorite sports. Rosenthall stated, "Nike will be the 'official uniform provider and will produce all on-field apparel including game uniforms and base layer, as well as sideline personnel apparel and fan gear'". The clothing market has been used as a primary method for sexual appeal for years, women have Victoria's Secret, and men have Nike. Reichert acknowledged, "As long as people desire to be attractive to others, and as long as people desire romance, intimacy, and love, and all the wonderful feelings they involve," he says, "advertisers can show how their products help meet those needs and desires. Whether we like it or not, products play a role in society's intimacy equation". Not only do people buy these clothes because of brands, they buy them because other men or other women are more sexually attracted to them because they are seen wearing the same type of clothes that the models on television are wearing. 

With every positive comes a negative, in the clothing sector specifically. The popular clothing brand Abercrombie and Fitch was another company that used this tactic to market their products. They did not get such a positive feedback about said tactic. They use the marketing just like Hollister does, hardly dressed teenagers that are marketing their clothing to appeal to a younger audience. The argument that the campaign argued was that the marketing was inappropriate for young audiences, and that is a good point. People should be of a certain age before they are exposed to this tactic. They should only be able to pitch this to a certain age group and that age group should be at least 16+. The reasoning behind this is because the public thinks that the age group in question should be able to handle it without any talk from the opposition. The reasoning is because they feel that the parents of the children younger than these have their parents buy their clothes for them and it is not appropriate for their age. Their point being made is that in a store that partially is marketed towards young children, should not be okay with their children being exposed to this, the typical parent would react the same way.  Apparently, they were not alone in this mindset. Rogers stated, "In 2003, thousands of Americans threatened to boycott the store, causing it to stop selling the catalog for a time". As well-known as this business was, there is always going to be some opposition to what the majority thinks, this is just one example that is seen as negative. 

Another example is the hair care product company Axe. Axe has built an empire around teaching dorky guys how to be sexy is the article that was used to establish this point. As soon as "The Axe Effect- Women- Billion" came out in 2006, the Axe haircare product sales chart soared. This commercial focused on 'billions' of women running in bikinis towards a man that doused himself in Axe. The fallacy that they are trying to get the public to believe here is that if you use the Axe haircare product, this will happen to you, and this was not a bad assumption. But, the Commercial-Free Childhood Campaign said that this commercial "epitomizes the sexist and degrading marketing that can undermine girls' healthy development". While that may have been a true statement to them, The Atlantic thought differently. "The problem was, the ads had worked too well in persuading the Insecure Novices and Enthusiastic Novices to buy the product, geeks and dorks everywhere were now buying Axe by the caseload, and it was hurting the brand's image." But, in 2012, the company announced that they had a new demographic that they were trying to target, women. Who knows, maybe men will get the same feeling whenever they are the ones in the spotlight rather than the women. 

The next way that people are ethically using sex appeal is in the fast food business. Hardee's is most famous for this work. As we know, they also used this tactic in their day to day work. The famous supermodel Kate Upton starred in one of their commercials in 2012 and was widely known for marketing the mushroom swiss burger. But, the food wasn't the only thing that people were drooling over. Kate Upton is one of the most desired women on the planet, which was decided by the hormones of most males. The article that was used for this section was, "Hardee's girls". This article described how Kate Upton drives to a drive in Movie Theater and pulls out her patty melt, the Jalapenos that are featured on the sandwich start to make her sweat, so she sheds layer after layer until she is barely wearing her dress. Kate is known for having a dream body, and her crawling all over the car and of course drawing attention from other guys. The featured male in the commercial is with his girlfriend in the neighboring vehicle, his girlfriend sees him staring at her out of her peripheral view and he turns back, red in the face. This is a perfect execution of the sexual appeal tactic, not only are people desiring the sandwich in her hand but they are desiring the person holding the sandwich as well. That is the best way to get a product up and running. While a product is good enough by itself, if you get a popular, toned celebrity to market the food for you, it's pretty much guaranteed money as long as you pitch to the proper audience. 

The third and final way that was seen a major swing in the charts for using the sexual appeal marketing tactic is through the sale of vehicles. Most of the time, it is strictly a brand name that makes people desire a car. In this situation, this makes people desire the car brand Lexus more than they normally would. The commercial opens up on a couple that is going out for a fancy date night, the male dressed in a suit and tie and the lady dressed in a tight, sexy dress. The commercial goes through the features of the car and the miles per gallon that it gets and the manufacturer's suggested retail price. The woman is obviously intrigued by the high class Lexus that he was driving, but, she was more interested in the man standing on the outside of the car rather than the features of the car. At first glance whenever you look at this couple you automatically think that they have a lot of money, they are seen as the high class. That is the reason that they were chosen for this commercial, they wouldn't stick a man with a scraggly beard and tattered clothes up there to market a $50,000 car. The people that they feature in these commercials also influence the effect that this commercial is trying to portray and the image of the actors is just as important as the product itself. The woman finally meets the man at the car, looks at the camera, and faces back at the man and then right as she goes in to kiss him, the commercial ends. Men are visual so if the advertisement gives the man a portrayal of power it could work for them. Women are more emotional, therefore the ad needs to appeal to the emotional experience. That is the kind of marketing that people desire to have with their products. Any person that is watching this commercial whether they are a male viewer or a female viewer they want the life that the people that are featured in that commercial have. The way that the public perceives this commercial is that the people who invest in this vehicle will automatically have the life that the people in the commercial are trying to portray. That is the key to using sexual appeal in marketing any product. The desire for the life, look, or the portrayal success in the life of a certain individual is a huge factor in why people invest in the products that these people are putting forth. That commercial is the best example that enhanced my point towards my argument of the legality of sexual appeal in a positive way and not only helped this argument, but, showed the public that clothing and food are not the only ways that people are seen to use this tactic. It seems a little off course, but, that is why it was chosen, people do not normally expect this area of the market to be using that tactic. This area specifically shook up the public view of sexual appeal and demonstrated that when used right and with the right people, it can be used in any aspect of selling any product out there. 

Not only is this tactic an argumentative topic, but, it also is very significant in this world today. Every other day you hear about a mother complaining that the signs in front of Hollister, Victoria's Secret, and Calvin Klein and how inappropriate they are. Then again, you have both the male and the female age group that the marketers are trying to appeal to that buy the product that is being advertised because of the marketing that is done. Steve Davies, famous writer for Skiddmark stated "Whether it's appropriate or not, sex has been used to sell nearly every type of product since the beginning of advertising itself and even more so when it comes to digital advertising on the internet". This argument gets us to the point that there are definitely two sides to this argument. Both sides to this argument can be seen, but, the opposition is only a problem because the audience that disagrees with this tactic, most of the time isn't even the audience that the company or the organization is trying to appeal to. This tactic does not only address the problems outlined but it also signifies the argument that is made and makes it a good one. Not only does the public see that the marketing tactic is seen in a positive light and that there are people who conform to buying the products in question just because the marketing was so excellent. There is also a negative side of this and there are people that think that not only the younger audience should not be exposed to it, but, also there are people that think that this marketing tactic objectifies either the male or the female in question whether the person is famous or not. We as a public should not only accept this tactic, but, encourage other companies to use this tactic to boost their sales and to make their product no matter what it is more desirable to the public. We could definitely make a change to both sides of an argument in the real world. Just like the public boycotted Axe along with the Commercial-Free Childhood campaign, but, the public eye could keep these companies in check and they could keep the event that had happened in Abercrombie and Fitch from happening. Also, companies that use these tactics effectively and their audience that they are trying to reach is being reached effectively and efficiently, then they should continue to use that tactic and use it to its full potential. 

In conclusion, sex appeal with the evidence provided is definitely ethical. Not only that, but, in the right situations and with the right audience, they would be able to judge whether or not this tactic is being used to the best of its ability. Whether or not the audience in question is the right age and using the right people to market the product. The ways that this tactic is used and used effectively in the most popular way is through clothing, fast food, and car sales. The points provided above are definitely controversial. Depending on whether or not the audience is the audience that the company is trying to appeal to or whether the opposition is younger than the audience that the company or the organization had in mind. Sex appeal can be seen as a negative thing, but, if the company uses this towards the right audience in the right company that it would work legally every single time.

