Promoting Perfume Through Sex

Promoting perfume through sex
Gucci uses sexual desires to entice consumers to purchase their perfume.

By Juliana Beu. ’23 , Media and Communication.

Perfume ads have always been known to been centered around sexual pictures and videos in hopes to pull at people’s desires to be sexually wanted. It’s human nature to want to be noticed by the other sex, and natural for people both men and women to want to feel sexy and attractive. This tactic aims to create the idea that by wearing the certain brand of perfume being promoted, that you too will be as lusted for as the model in the picture.

The illustration inserted above is a fragrance ad from the brand Gucci. The picture shows a male and female in close proximity to each other with what looks to be no clothes on. Between the proximity, absence of clothes, and touching each other’s faces, most viewers would automatically think of sexual chemistry and love.

The woman in the ad has flawless skin with dramatic makeup, perfect teeth, and her nails polished. The man in the ad also has flawless skin, with dark features but blue eyes which adds to the drama due to the fact that it is rare. The woman looks very petite compared to the male who is very muscular. He  is hovering over her in a cradling position which sparks the idea that the woman is being taken care of by the man who lusts for her. This is very stereotypical because it makes the woman out to be sort of a damsel in distress with a sexual aspect to it.

Both the male and female have an olive skin tone with dark hair which is presumably Middle Eastern, Italian, or Latino. These ethnicities are known for being beautiful and sexy which is probably why the creator of the ad chose to use them.

The picture is promoting Gucci, a very expensive designer brand, which not everyone can afford. The models are perfectly polished, and while the woman is wearing a Gucci bracelet, it implies that the “couple” has money and are of a higher socioeconomic class. A high socioeconomic class is what most people strive for, and making Gucci out to be what rich people can afford, some may purchase their products just to feel like they have a piece of a higher class.

The ad pulls out people’s natural sexual desires of being wanted, beautiful, sexy, and having a companion. By doing so, it creates a subconscious emotional attachment to the ad which is much deeper than a logical attachment. The ad also portrays a logical attachment by using the idea of money. This drives people to want to buy the product being promoted in order to feel good about themselves and be viewed as having money by others.

This ad implies that our society as a whole and people in general run off of emotional stirrings which most people do not realize happens. Emotional effects are very effective in getting consumers to purchase products which is why Gucci and many other perfume brands use the tactic. With both emotional and logical advertising, this ad is able to reach everybody in some way.