Even in the most private circumstances, erectile dysfunction isn’t an easy topic to discuss. And it’s made even more challenging when addressed on the very public format of an ad—which is part of the reason why much of the promotional material in this space tiptoes around the issue with vague references to male empowerment. However, rather than adding to this burgeoning canon of off-topic allusions, Testo has ditched all subtlety to release a campaign that makes it quite evident what the medication being promoted aims to achieve.
A similarly straight-forward approach is also being used in the Schick Hydro Silk TrimStyle ad that’s currently screening on Kiwi TV. Featuring three women attempting to trim a bush, the ad provides a literal argument as to why the Schick product is a necessary accessory for summer.
But innuendos don’t need to have any connection to the human body at all. This Claussen ad shows that they can be just effective at selling gherkins.
Travel company Lastminute quite often takes an off-beat approach to its advertising, and this trend continued this year when the brand went about selling the “sexy delights of Europe” in a spot that successfully sexulised everything from ancient statues and paintings to baking buns and champagne bottles.
Playing on a Playstation is quite often a solitary act, done in one’s room, in the dark. And the brand decided to draw a comparison between this and another act that’s often done solitarily in one’s room in the dark.
Several years ago, a highly sexualised faux Aston Martin ad was circulated around the internet. And while the misspelt text saying ‘preowed’ was a dead giveaway that the ad was fake, the catchphrase ‘You know you’re not the first but do you really care?’ had previously been used by BMW in a 2008 campaign. And the line was again reprised in a 2011 campaign for an Ontario-based car dealership that went one step further than BMW by creating masculine and feminine variations of the ad.
