History Main / SexForProduct

Curiously, this trope does not usually hold for products whose main function is birth control, though it does apply for non-contraceptive parasexual products like Viagra or sexual lubricant. Ads for female oral contraceptives (the Pill) promote their secondary functions, such as regulating one's period or preventing acne.

* Parodied fiercely in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeXQbBxP5UI 2008 Superbowl ad]] that showed a woman who was really quite genuinely ugly -- not just HollywoodHomely[[note]]though if you look closely, you can tell it's a makeup/prosthetics job[[/note]] -- having men falling all over her all day. It was revealed that this was because she rubbed a particular brand of cashews (the product being sold) on her wrists and neck as perfume. The degree to which most people found the reversal here to be intrinsically disturbing shows the one-sided nature of this trope.

* The UK legalised TV gambling adverts in 2008. One result- Beth Cordingly (having fallen seriously far from her role as PC Kerry Young in ''Series/TheBill'') in a shoulder-revealing dress, lying on a roulette table.

* One of the terrifying PMC commercials in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' is a disturbing exaggeration of this kind of advertising, showing sexy naked women with guns writhing around amongst sticky pink tentacles, to sell you a job killing people.

** Sexburger ads directly sayi that their products will give sex appeal.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1286 The 5th panel of a strip]] from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' parodies body spray commercials' use of this.

* One of the terrifying PMC commercials in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' is a disturbing exaggeration of this kind of advertising, showing sexy naked women with guns writhing around amongst sticky pink tentacles, to sell you a job killing people.

** In 2014, Old Spice is back at it with commercials showing an obvious android straight out of the UncannyValley seducing many beautiful women before he comically malfunctions.

!!Examples:

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T8kKkfLwgc Bud Lite]] mocks the trope by saying, "Putting a pretty woman in a cowboy hat" is one way beer manufacturers try to sell their product. But you never see women with other types of hats. The commercial then runs through a few alternatives, such as a pretty woman in a balloon hat and saying it's "not hot". It finishes with a woman in a bowler hat. The narrator pauses, and says, "...surprisingly hot". The commercial then goes on to ''decry the use of pretty women in cowboy (or any other) sort of hats in order to sell beer''. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial While simultaneously displaying the pretty woman]] [[BlatantLies in a cowboy hat in a split-screen next to the beer]] [[DontExplainTheJoke for the remainder of the commercial]].)

!!Commentary elsewhere

* Rodney Carrington did a similar bit, where he claimed that all you need to sell a product is a beautiful woman. He says that a commercial for wheelbarrels could feature a beautiful, naked woman in a lawn chair, no word being said aside from "mmmm" and the flash an ad for wheelbarrels on the screen. "You couldn't sell enough fuckin' wheelbarrels." Which explains why most print ads for Newport brand cigarettes have the titular product completely absent and all the implications of a Viagra commercial.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had a skit set in the Stone Age. When Caveman-Peter built the first wheel, he was unable to sell the idea to his fellow cavemen. So, he tore off most of his wife's clothes to make a FurBikini, and had her stand next to the wheel. The other cavemen ''immediately'' want to buy Cave-Peter's wheel, saying that they believe it will get them hot women too, reasoning this must be how [[UglyGuyHotWife Peter got his wife]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGa80fQ1eMM An ad from the 1990s shows how a woman uses her boyfriend's Axe deodorant after a morning shower because her own can is empty]]. Then she travels through the city and gets ogled by [[RuleOfSexy a rather above average number of lesbian/bi women]], all of which are conventionally attractive, including one who ''already has a girlfriend''. "[[FanService If you use this product, women will]] ''[[GirlonGirlIsHot have sex with each other]]''!"