Images of nude and semi-naked bodies abound in the media. In fact, nudity has become a commodity that is bought and sold by advertising companies in an effort to boost the sale of products and services. Because the public has become so immune to images of nakedness, the respect and dignity that should be afforded sexuality has become submerged in careless consumerism. Sex and nudity has become something cheap, something carelessly exploited by advertisers who disregard the effect of such a credo on the younger generation. For example, a billboard recently seen in town used evocative words and images designed to provoke sexual thoughts in relation to a product being sold. In this advertisement, four male torsos were shown in scanty clothing, alongside a slogan that said, “We have the tools for the job”. The word “exposure” and the image of a cock/ rooster were used in the same advertisement. Words and phrases such as these –with double meanings and sexual connotations, are used shamelessly to arouse lurid thoughts and images of sex. In-your-face advertisements such as these are a reminder that we are inundated by similar messages from the media every day. Even more blatant examples are to be found on late-night weekend television advertising. Here, the innocent movie-watcher is exposed in 15-minute intervals to a clamour and ruckus that would compete with the sound made by mating monkeys, along with hypnotically repetitive demands for cell-phone subscription to a variety of porn sites. Either we are so disempowered that our voices of complaint are not heard, or we have come to take it so for granted that no one does anything about it. Are we are allowing ourselves to be drowned in this depravity –all in the name of freedom of expression and commercialism? Unless we take a stand, the moral well-being of our youth will be corrupted. When we are exposed to offensive advertising, instead of ignoring it or changing the channel, I think we should air our complaints, boycott the product, or report it to watchdog organisations.
It would be good to know how this sort of thing causes problems in the minds of individuals. If we could show that this sort of this contributes to to a decreased quality of life then there would be some moral justification for banning it. There could be some religious reasons for banning this as well. The way I see it the first reason is the best reason.
Yeah, I agree with Rack, some statistics or reproducible experiments showing the negative effects would be nice.
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Why did you resort to sexual advertising in naming your thread?
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Why did you post this paragraph of concern in the Essays and Theses section?
I think there are far more nefarious influences at work corrupting the youth than an overload of sexual advertising. At any rate, parents are the natural filter between children and harmful material. Additionally, human beings in general are preoccupied with sex. We are biologically driven to fixate and obsess over sex. I don’t see that changing any time soon. All you can really do is push people to exert or repress their sexual energies in different ways. You can’t make it disappear.