The highly sexual art of selling perfume

source:http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-beauty/the-highly-sexual-art-of-selling-perfume-20120518-1yvd4.html

Sexual content has become an imperative subject as advertisers have made advertisement to change in the way of women's rights and their image. After reading the article of "The highly sexual art of selling perfume" and watching the video, my brain has came to realize that advertisers are really changing the scene and using women as an object to sell.

Why advertising perfume uses a lot of skin and women? It is simply because these advertisements are selling something intangible and to make a benchmark among their competitors, they use gender and sex attractions as a symbol to represent desire and scent. In reference to Brooks and Hebert (2006), "we employ feminism as a multidisciplinary approach to social analysis that emphasizes gender as a major structuring component of power relations in society".

It is obviously not ethical on being a sexist even through advertising. Among the specific moral principles in advertising are to respect the dignity of EACH HUMAN PERSON and this is by Human Freedom. This means that when advertisers' attempts to inform or to persuade its audience, it must be rightfully respecting the purpose of human freedom which explicitly includes sexism of women in advertising (Smillie, 2012). Advertising in Malaysia on the other hand, is more strict and conservative. If advertisement from the article that I have read is published in Malaysia, it would definitely be ban or even the company may be sued.

The picture below is an example of a Malaysian poster advertisement that is took down and banned.

source: http://www.dailychilli.com/news/2205-sexy-ads-banned-in-seberang-prai

This poster is taken down in Seberang Prai where the councilor Soon Lip Chee stated that the models should not expose their bodies and it does not reflect the Malaysian culture. I agree with the councilor as most slimming product and massage parlor company in Malaysia has posters and billboards excessively showing off women body to attract customers. This is not ethical at all as it discriminates women in the society. 

As the Advertising Standards Authority Malaysia (2008)  states that, "advertisements should not suggest or imply that any product, medicines or treatment offered therein will promote sexual virility or be effective in treating sexual weakness or habits associated with sexual excess or indulgence, or ailment, illness or disease associated with such habits". This means that advertising should not be anything related to sexual content that can be used to attack customers indulgence and desire. 

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References

Advertising Standards Authority Malaysia, 2008, 'Malaysia Code of Advertising Practice', Online, file retrieved from < http://www.unicef.org/malaysia/Code-of-Advertising-Practice.pdf>.

Brooks, D Hebert, L 2006, 'GENDER, RACE, AND MEDIA REPRESENTATION', online, viewed 8 June 2012, journal retrieved from <http://www.afghanjc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GENDER__RACE__AND_MEDIA_REPRESENTATION.pdf>.

Smillie, M 2012, 'Ethics in advertising', online, viewed 8 June 2012, website retrieved from <http://www.carroll.edu/msmillie/busethics/ethadvertising.htm >.