Anyone who watches any form of television, YouTube videos, or intakes any kind of visual entertainment has surely encountered advertisements. I bet some of you watched the Super Bowl for the sole purpose of seeing the new commercials. With that being said, you saw some that were funny, some that were cute, and some that pushed the envelope in more ways than one.
There are some companies, like Heinz, that make your heart smile while you see all the cute little dachshunds wearing hot dog buns running toward their humans in ketchup bottle suits. The cuteness is almost crippling.
There are some, like Mountain Dew, that make you see "Puppymonkeybaby" in your nightmares (but also totally make you want what they're selling).
Then, there are some that just make you completely uncomfortable. I'm talking about the commercials that are completely and totally hyper-sexualized: the ones that you definitely don't want to watch with your parents or any other group of people when/if they are ever air on television. I'm sure your brain can conjure up quite a few as you read this.
Our society knows that sex will sell on literally any platform, and companies aren't shy about promoting it to make a profit or a point. Remember when PETA's "Veggie Love" commercial was banned a few years ago and now in 2016? The most recent commercial depicts two couples between the sheets with a message implying that vegans "last longer", both in bed and where lifespan is concerned. The end of the commercial shows the non-vegan actor getting killed by a falling piece of machinery. Needless to say, the commercial is quite risky, and that's probably an understatement.
Another example would include basically any recent Hardee's commercial. It seems that every new burger requires a new model in a barely-there bikini to be the spokes-person for the fast food fed to millions of families and young adults that stop by their restaurants every day.
Prime examples of both of these commercials can be found on the internet. You can look them up, if you feel so inclined.
One could argue that young children and impressionable teens could see this kind of promiscuity on any given cable channel, and you're right, they could. The can basically see it anywhere they look these days. However, commercials are meant to evoke emotion from the viewer and encourage action. So, why is "last longer" in bed the message we send for a healthy lifestyle? Why is being nearly naked the image we give hungry people when all they want is a cheap meal? What does this say about what actually sells?
Men and women alike should not have to take off their clothes to market a product to be used or purchased by their peers, their families and the youth of America.
