Community Discussions
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Sex for sale: This NYC avenue is overrun by brazen brothels operating in broad daylight
Main Post: Sex for sale: This NYC avenue is overrun by brazen brothels operating in broad daylight
Top Comment: Aw man this is terrible... where are these horrible streets at so I can avoid these prostitutes???
Stop using "sex sells" as a crutch for bad game/character design
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It's been pissing me off to no end, people using "sex sells" whenever i say that i dislike the design of a woman in a game as if "good character design" is different from "attractive", the point of good character design is appeal, IT'S IN FAVOR OF ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE. They use it as a way to deflect criticisms with the intention to make it BETTER, i want them to look good just like everyone else but people act like i'm a prude.
It's even worse when a game with fanservice gets popular as proof of it being true, that's survivorship bias and undermines the other parts of what made the game successful, i've known several games that are either super unpopular or straight up died DESPITE being riddled with fanservice, cause they were either not memorable and/or the game is just ass.
It feels like a big disservice to the popularly attractive characters like tifa, 2B, bayonetta, etc to think they are just sex appeal or said sex appeal is just brainless slop that anyone can replicate without considering why their design works so well.
Attractiveness is complicated, everyone has a specific thing that tickles someone's brain so it should be treated with enough depth and attention as everything else. You are valid for wanting to design a character purely to make a hot character/for a specific fetish, it's your game/book/whatever, but please give it thought just like when you make any other character.
I hope i can properly convey my point well here, to reiterate: there is nothing wrong with being attractive, it sounds like a no-brainer but people genuinely think that criticisms towards conventionally attractive characters are designed to make them uglier.
Top Comment: Sex sells.
Why is "sex sells" part of the branding ethos for female pop stars when their target demographic is usually straight women?
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No shade towards artists who use sex as part of their onstage persona, it just kind of fascinates me on a sociological level that these artists utilize sex appeal so heavily when their audience is predominantly people who aren't titilated by it. Is the idea to play into a kind of power fantasy for fans, who potentially want to imagine themselves in the role of a sexy woman? Is it a particular type of sexiness made to appeal to other women on a purely aesthetic, non-erotic level?
You don't really see the same thing in male musicians marketed to men, or even male musicians marketed to women. Sometimes you'll see male artists do a sexual stunt that's meant to be silly, like when RHCP did socks on cocks, or you'll see kpop guys go shirtless or dance sexily. But you don't see male artists strutting around in banana hammocks in half of their music videos, the way female pop stars so often perform in outfits that basically look like swimsuits.
You'd think that with all these sexy outfits and risqué songs, these female artists would have cultivated more straight male fans, since that's the logic underpinning "sex sells." But that's not the case. Are straight male listeners just less interested in the idea of being attracted to the musician they're listening to?
Again, this is not meant to shame artists for using sex in their songs or performances. I'm just looking to understand the demographic appeal.
Top Comment: Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks! I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Sexsells used to have hundreds of people online, like all the time, now it's usually only 20-30 people. Where has everyone gone? What subreddits/platforms do you sell on?
Main Post: Sexsells used to have hundreds of people online, like all the time, now it's usually only 20-30 people. Where has everyone gone? What subreddits/platforms do you sell on?
Top Comment: I was wondering the same the other day and was answered the following: ‘There was a marked change after Reddit went public with their stock. Suggests that they changed the algorithm to push nsfw content less.’ It does make a lot of sense, I saw the online community drop in numerous subs at about the same time. I do wonder if this will change back to what it was before, once transactions are made (?) I think nowadays Reddit is mostly useful to: do promo and get traction to online platforms. do promo & make direct sales. I don’t see the adds type of subs working as much as they used to for most people, although someone commented they do currently well on Sexsells on that same post (it’s on my profile)
Sex sells
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This is something I dont see being talked about very much. It was like the (and likely still is) #1 rule in advertising. Go all the way back to buy a diamond campaign it always been about selling your item is easiest done if you can appeal to the sex drive. This isnt even a "you just want to sell to men" bs either as "85% of all consumer purchases in the U.S. are made by women". So what has me REALLY confused is how movies / games / media of any type expect a different result from going the other way. The reason this is strange is "Game Theory" if you expect to change the rules by acting different your competition is just going to exploit your weakness and appeal to sex and take your market share. I think a lot of choices that have been made in the idea of going "woke" would actually be more accurately be described as trying to not follow the #1 rule with VERY obvious and expected results. No one is going to buy your overpriced burger if it looks like something you got out of a dumpster. Companies from other countries who dont / wont have the restrictions the west is self imposing will just walk over western countries who have both their hands tied behind their backs. Its sooo weird their CFO's are ok with it.
Top Comment: If I was making a new Star Trek show, I would make the Captain and the 1st officer hot as hell and of opposite sexes.
Why do people often use "sex sells" when they mean "female objectification sells to straight men"
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And what is the women's equivalent to "sex sells"? Let's say you have a fantasy video game where you sell outfits that are skimpy for the female characters, what is the equivalent you can sell just as easily to women?
Top Comment: I know this is slightly beside your question but I think its humorously relevant, Does Sex Really Sell? Paradoxical Effects of Sexualization in Advertising on Product Attractiveness and Purchase Intentions : To test the “sex sells” assumption, we examined how Italian men and women react to sexualized advertising. Women showed lower product attractiveness and purchase intentions toward products presented with sexualized female models than with neutral ads, whereas men were unaffected by ads’ sexualization (Study 1, n = 251). Study 2 (n = 197) replicated the overall results. Study 3 (n = 198) tested hostile sexism as a moderator as well as negative emotions as a mediator of consumers’ responses. Especially men with higher hostile sexism showed more purchase intentions after viewing female sexualized ads than neutral ads. Moreover, women’s lower consumer responses toward sexualized female ads were due to higher negative emotions. Study 4 (n = 207) included ads with both female and male models, replicating responses to female sexualization and showing that both women and men had lower product attractiveness and purchase intentions toward male sexualized ads than neutral ads. Replicating and extending Study 3’s results, women’s negative emotions was the mediator. The present study has practical implications for marketers because it suggests that “sex does not sell.”
West Japan man arrested for alleged sale of porn videos with pixelated images altered by AI
Main Post: West Japan man arrested for alleged sale of porn videos with pixelated images altered by AI
Top Comment: Should be a national hero.