History Main / SexSells

* Frequently overlaps with CelebrityEndorsement when the celebrity is a current sex symbol.
** Didn't Music/BritneySpears do some ads for Pepsi, and Music/ChristinaAguilera do some ads for Coke?

* A few years back there was a commercial where they had a couple making out while going down in an elevator while a security guard watches giving them looks when they get out of the elevator. In the end, what's the ad for? Dasani Bottled Water

** Probably referenced in an early episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Bart is running for Class President. Homer has a good idea for an campaign poster: '''SEX!''' Now that I have your attention, vote for Bart!

* There is an Italian commercial featuring beautiful women draped over...''coffins.'' Cause you know, that's ''exactly'' what I'd be thinking about right before I die.
** [[AllMenArePerverts If you're lucky]], [[OutWithABang you will!]]
** Not just a commercial - the coffin firm did at least two ''erotic calendars''.

* Go Daddy.com ads are this, with a level of unapologetic blatancy that is hard to describe.
* One really weirdass commercial for Overstock.com had the spokeswoman listing things you could buy on the site in the form of "it's all about the [product or value of the product]" or something along these lines. It's perfectly normal until the very last shot before the logo screen, where the spokeswoman appears to be wearing nothing but a gold necklace for some reason, and saying "But sometimes, it's all about the gold." The only reason I can think for her to be naked is to emphasize that it really ''is'' [[VisualMetaphor all about the gold]].
** That may have been a transitional commercial. When Overstock.com started, they called themselves the big O, and made commercials with the obvious entendre. People thought they were a sex site.

** The beer commercial with the bikini-stuff was parodied in ''Manga/LuckyStar'' with a Coke commercial showing '''the''' LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya, with incredibly voluminous breasts.

** ''Film/{{Constantine}}'' gave clear focus to Creator/KeanuReeves appearing shirtless. He is shirtless for about a minute onscreen.

* ''LightNovel/SoICantPlayH'': Ilia is a popular {{teen idol}} and face of the Merlot Insurance company for a reason: [[EveryoneLovesBlondes because she's a blonde babe with a bangin' hot bod]]. So all of their ads feature her doing swimsuit poses, while wearing string bikinis.

** Asahi Beer of Japan for example is very prominent example of this. While some model of the year do dress up in bikinis holding beer, some simply opt for more casual clothing, even if they are noted to be bikini models themselves.

* An internet game called ''Soccer Star'' (advertised on this very site). If having a buxom blonde in a soccer ball bikini top weren't enough, the "balls" shimmer and even briefly enlarge, meant to draw your eyes toward them.

* A minor controversy around ''Manga/UzakiChanWantsToHangOut'' was [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2019-10-16/busty-uzaki-chan-wants-to-hang-out-blood-donation-drive-poster-sparks-online-debate/.152264 a campaign done by the Japanese Red Cross]] using Uzaki's image for a blood donation drive (more specifically one where, despite being fully clothed, [[GagBoobs her huge breasts stand out]]). Needless to say, and despite the detractors ([[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity or maybe thanks to them]]), the campaign was quite a success.

* [[InvokedTrope A big part of Satsuki's plot]] in ''VisualNovel/KoiToSenkyoToChocolate'' revolves around her getting in a fight with the rest of the student council over their decision to base her campaign for president around her [[BuxomIsBetter beauty and figure]] as opposed to her diligence, intelligence, and competence as an administrator.

* Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike is ''technically'' SexForProduct, since the message of the ad is that if your man uses Old Spice, he'll be like the Old Spice Man. Then again, it's the [[MrFanservice Old Spice]] [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Man.]]

* In the same vein as ''Evony'', there's an animated ad on this wiki for a game apparently called ''[=Pristontale2=]'', consisting of your standard blue-skinned Amazon in a backwards corset [[{{Gainaxing}} breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out...]]

* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'': Despite its mechanics and steep learning curve, [[BestKnownForTheFanservice the main draw of the series has always been its fanservice]], [[{{gainaxing}} jiggle physics]], and plentiful female character models.

Here's a question for you. Say you have a new product or an old product in new packaging. You want to sell a lot of it and you want to sell it quickly. How? Do you describe it [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly how it is on the tin]]? Do you try to [[WeSuckLess compare to other products]]? No way. Just think about it: you want people to buy what you sell. People buy what they like. People like sex. So you should equate what you sell with sex! Easy as pie...[[{{Metaphorgotten}} served by bikini-clad models]].

A SuperTrope to {{Fanservice}}, SexyPackaging, SexForProduct, LadyNotAppearingInThisGame, HoodOrnamentHottie. In a way also of HollywoodBeautyStandards.

A SisterTrope to RuleOfSexy.

* One of the [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition premium versions]] of ''Pinball/{{ACDC}}'' is the "Luci" edition, with the backglass and cabinet decorated with the HornyDevil girl [[LouisCypher Luci]] and her friends. Near as anyone can tell, the only reason for this edition is to invoke this trope.

* In the episode "Rixty Minutes" of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', the titular characters view a commercial for "Turbulent Juice", which features buff, attractive men wearing tight clothing suggestively spraying a substance all over themselves and various locations in a house. But it's so obsessed with showing off sex that it never actually got around to saying what the commercial was selling.

*** Their spokespersons also include Creator/KateUpton, Creator/EmilyRatajkowski, Charlotte [=McKinney=], [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playmate of the Year 2007]] Sara Jean Underwood and now [[https://t.co/ccDnIFN2Mi Hayden Panettiere]]. You get the idea.

** And by extension, any shaving device. Male ones, after cutting from the [[ShavingIsScience begoggled nerds in lab coats who supposedly invented the thing]], always have a nice shot of a chiseled chin, along with a ShirtlessScene that involves various amounts abs. Female ones [[strike:rarely]] never show anything besides the woman's [[ShesGotLegs long shapely legs]].

*** Their spokespersons also include Kate Upton, Creator/EmilyRatajkowski, Charlotte [=McKinney=], [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playmate of the Year 2007]] Sara Jean Underwood and now [[https://t.co/ccDnIFN2Mi Hayden Panettiere]]. You get the idea.

* Like Creator/ParisHilton and Creator/KimKardashian above, Kate Upton [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34472535/drive-in/ takes this trope and runs with it for Carl's Jr.]]

*** Basically, anything with Kate Upton applies ([[BillingDisplacement except that Superbowl ad with Willem Dafoe]]).

A SuperTrope to {{Fanservice}}, SexyPackaging, SexForProduct, LadyNotAppearingInThisGame. In a way also of HollywoodBeautyStandards.

-->[[http://images1.ynet.co.il/PicServer2/03072003/294037/1_h.jpg ‘Some commercials use this with no reason. We have an excellent reason: your life.’]]

-->‘Some commercials use this with no reason. We have an excellent reason: ''[[DoubleSubversion we’re horny!]]''’

* ''VisualNovel/MarcoAndTheGalaxyDragon'' has an in-universe example with the ad for [[DepravedDentist Pandagraph’s]] dentistry clinic, which consists of a swimsuit-clad Pandagraph posing seductively at the beach while talking about the services she offers.

--> Mr. King turned to face the audience in a parody of her stance, muscles clenched tightly, gripping his mic with both hands, knuckles white, “I feel like I’ve been locked up tight, for a century of lonely nights… no wonder you’re locked up, you look constipated! You’re probably in hospital for a ruptured bowel. THIS IS A PERFORMANCE! MOVE! You’re a girl, for God’s sake, move that ass, baby!”
--> Mr. King span and wiggled his ass at the audience for emphasis, “Strut that stuff, girl! If you’ve got it, flaunt it! Sex sells. If you think [[Music/ChristinaAguilera Christina]] got where she was on her voice alone, you are sadly mistaken.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' fic ''Fanfic/HerFracturedSpirit'', Callie and Marie's first hit single was "Ink Me Up". It's suggestive title caused them to be put in the limelight.

** In ''VideoGame/TouhouShinpirokuUrbanLegendInLimbo'', Byakuren Hijiri showed up in a skintight biker suit with AbsoluteCleavage. Screenshots of this spread like wildfire on the internet because it was so unusual.

* ''Manga/RuinExplorers'': In the second episode, Ihrie ends up having to work as a bar maid, after Fam runs off with her coin purse. The barkeep tells her to ShowSomeLeg and [[{{Fanservice}} wiggle her butt]] to attract costumers, before smacking her on the ass to send her back to work.

* For younger fans of ''Franchise/StarWars'', seeing the [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/2/21/Star_wars_old.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100708051712 original poster]] for the [[Film/ANewHope the 1977 original]] can be a bit of a shocker, as it's a pretty JustForFun/{{egregious}} case of CoversAlwaysLie: Luke Skywalker is shown wearing an open shirt that leaves his chest exposed, and Princess Leia is shown wearing a skimpy white dress with a split side and a low neckline, leaving her thigh and her cleavage exposed. Not only do neither of them actually wear costumes that show that much flesh, the artist gets a bit "creative" with Creator/MarkHamill and Creator/CarrieFisher's actual appearances, depicting Hamill as quite a bit more muscular than he actually is, and depicting Fisher as being quite a bit bustier than she really is.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' Players desiring sexy female avatars have generally used the miqo'te and au'ra girls as their staples. However, they are sexy in the cute and petite sense and there were poor choices for curvaceous women due to all the races' womens' notoriously flat butts. This was remedied by the tall, curvaceous elf-bunny race viera and many were happy to buy the the premium race change potion to use on their existing character. As for sexy, muscle endowed male characters, players often choose au ra men, if horns and patches of reptilian scales are your thing.

* A commercial for a dry skin lotion shows a woman making flirtatious expressions and dancing [[MaleGaze in her underwear while the camera zooms in on her stomach, back, bare shoulders, legs, and feet]] to a jaunty rendition of "Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes". It's been described as the most upbeat striptease on television.

* A rather bizarre example from a Swedish car commercial features two ladybugs engage quite wildly inside a car, [[UpToEleven rocking the entire thing]] and drawing gazes from people on the street.

* In "The Republic of SHKID", two students attempt to create a toy cinema (or, rather, a slide show) for entertainment. At first, it's quite popular among other students, but once they decide to charge money, the amount of visits drops dramatically. So they decide to make an adult movie. People do come, a lot of them... but the next day, they are reported to the headmaster.

* An accidental version in ''Spitfire Girls'' by Carol Gould. An aviatrix is pitching the idea of using female pilots for ferry duties. As she leads some VIP's around the airfield, one of them barges through a door without knocking and sees a pretty pilot [[ShowSomeLeg with her skirt hitched up]], adjusting her suspenders. Later she muses that the flash of garter might have been more effective in gaining a supporter than anything she might have said.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In the ParodyFic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/13109238 Farce Contact]]'', this is used to explain the change from the pragmatic overalls of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' to the DangerouslyShortSkirt and knee-high boots of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.
-->"That's just so more people will pay attention to what's happening on Enterprise," said Archer. "It's a basic principle that any space program can't exist without public support and media interest. Starfleet is calling it the [[JustForPun Prime Time Directive]]."

* There's another ad for Levis' 501 jeans or something to that effect which features two [[DawsonCasting "teenagers"]] stripping down and talking to each other about trust. Then they jump in the water. Cue gratuitous panty shot. MaleGaze no kidding.

** The ''Film/KingArthur'' poster not only had Guinevere in her battle costume front and center (she's about third in terms of character importance), they photoshopped Keira Knightley's breasts to look bigger. They also did the same thing to Creator/EmmaWatson on one of the posters for ''[[Film/HarryPotter Order of the Phoenix]]'' and Kate Hudson on the poster for ''Film/FoolsGold''.