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From: on@hpda.UUCP (Owen Rowley)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.motss
Subject: Re: offensive advertising
Message-ID: <1285@hpda.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 12-Jan-86 00:39:14 EST
Article-I.D.: hpda.1285
Posted: Sun Jan 12 00:39:14 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 14-Jan-86 05:04:48 EST
References: <237@birtch.UUCP> <1825@cbsck.UUCP> <78@midas.UUCP>
Reply-To: on@hpda.UUCP (Owen Rowley)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 32
Keywords: sex in adv
Xref: watmath net.women:8342 net.motss:2443

>It might interest the advertisers to know that I can remember a number
>of ads that used this formula where I can't for the life of me remember
>what they were advertising. It's possible that appealing to such
>powerful feelings blanks out the memory of something as trivial as
>the name of a product. It's also possible that I'm atypically insensitive
>to advertising (anybody else transfer the local weekly saturation-mail
>schlock directly from mailbox to garbage can? Pull out the Sunday funnies
>without so much as a glance at the advertising they're supposed to be
>irremovably entwined with? ).
>
>					Jeff Winslow

In many cases the advertising that uses the SEX and DEATH symbology to sell
products is not designed to be effective on your consciousmind..
In fact it is your subconscious mind that is being worked on.
You can bet that the advertiser is aiming to have that subconscious
process lurk below the threshold of your memory , it gets triggered 
when you are in the act of shopping.. your eye sees the product name
your subconscious mind dredges up the emotional reaction brought on by the 
sensual image (or the frightened one in the case of the "Death aspect)
You have no consciousness of why but at that point unless you have a stronger
reason to go for another brand you will wind up bying the one that used the
sensually based advertising. 
Switching sex roles and veiled homosexuality are also very strong triggers, 
and are more common in clothing advertisments than you would think ..
LUX .. on
Owen Rowley
hplabs!hpda!on

		Sex and Death Advertising agency
		our motto
		We don't fuck around, we know what sells!