Sex Sells

I'm not sure if I learned about the "sex sells" concept of advertising in one of my college marketing classes, in one of the 8 Mad Men episodes I watched, or just through living life. There is certainly debate about the effectiveness of using sex to sell products. Within two months of each other, Business News Daily said yes it helps while Business Insider wrote no. Based on my experience as a consumer, I'll go with the compromise position that sex sells sometimes.

Why am I discussing this today? Well, recently, I received this postcard in the mail from a sports betting website. Please note that I covered up the company website and phone number since I didn't want to provide them free advertising.

Perhaps I should have covered up the woman in the picture too. Based on this ad, am I to believe that if I bet big money on the Tennessee Titans to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars that this woman will be instantly attracted to me? (I mean I get that most women are but I've yet to be approached or propositioned by a woman wearing only football shoulder pads.) I understand that most sports bettors are male, but I tend to doubt that a picture of this woman encourages more people to wager on a Central Michigan-Toledo college football game.

Conversely, I also received the latest catalog for SmartPak Equine. (I'm sure all of you get this too.)

While most of the catalog's pictures feature horses, I'm not sure why, but I think I may need to buy a long-sleeve shirt or new jeans.