May 19,2000 UNT Inhouse publication: Survey: 'Sexiest' ad leaves something to imagination

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Survey: 'Sexiest' ad leaves something to imagination

To UNT students, the sexiest ad running is one that features invisible people.

Tom Reichert, assistant professor of journalism, asked 225 students to identify advertisements that they consider to be sexy and to describe what makes them that way.

The students identified 100 different ads ranging from a billboard for a local gentleman's club to national print and broadcast advertisements.

The most identified ad? A television spot for Levi's jeans featuring an invisible couple interacting to Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On," chosen by 14 percent of the students. More students identified that ad as sexy than several overtly sexual ads for Victoria's Secret Desire bras, Calvin Klein and Candies fragrances, and Clairol's Herbal Essence shampoo.

Reichert says the Levi's ad is notable for what it doesn't show. The spot begins with a woman, invisible except for her clothes, visiting her equally invisible boyfriend in his loft apartment. Both take off their clothes, and the young man's invisible mother makes an unexpected and ill-timed visit.

"The music is sexy, as are the actions and outlines of the models. What's left to the imagination may just be sexier than the real thing," Reichert says.

The second most chosen ads were the Desire bras television spots, selected by 9 percent of the students. In these ads, Victoria's Secret models Stephanie Seymour, Heidi Klum and others offer their definitions of "desire." Filmed in black and white, the ads feature close-ups of the models in brassieres. They give definitions for desire, including "wanting something you can't have" and "wanting something so badly, it hurts."

The next three most popular ads were the beach scenes television spots for a Calvin Klein fragrance, chosen by 8 percent of the students, and the Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo ad and the Candies fragrance ad featuring actress Alyssa Milano, each chosen by 4 percent. Ads rounding out the top 10 were television spots for Uncle Ben's microwave rice meals, Doritos snack chips, Trojan condoms, The Gap clothing store and Miller Lite beer.

"Sexy ads for intimates and fragrances are standard in today's advertising, but the ads for microwave rice meals and snack chips suggest that sex can be used to sell brands not typically associated with sex," Reichert says.

He says that some ads no longer running were mentioned by the students, including the Diet Coke spot featuring female office workers ogling a bare-chested construction worker, and the Victoria's Secret "Angels" campaign.

"When all ads were tallied by brand, ads for Victoria's Secret represented 18 percent of all ads mentioned. So although the invisible Levi's couple was the most popular sexy ad, ads for Victoria's Secret are sexy and pervasive," Reichert says.

He adds that the reasons male and female students chose the ads differed significantly. Fifty-nine percent of the men described a physical characteristic of a person in the ad, compared to 37 percent of the women. However, 26 percent of the women said the interaction between the models made the ad sexy, whereas only 6 percent of the men believed this.

Reichert says the survey results provide a glimpse of the brands that are sexy to young adults.

"In the battle to position the brand in the consumer's mind, using sex not only to attract attention but to influence perceptions, especially for tomorrow's consumers, may be an effective route for advertisers," he says.