User:Tmase1/sandbox

Abercrombie & Fitch used sex to market their brand in a variety of ways, including store greeters dressed only in underwear, models working in store and topless models on the bags. Employees were hired based on physical attractiveness (1). This strategy was aimed at teenagers and young adults, who are the most impressionable consumer group, and who have vast amounts of disposable money. During the late 1990s, the company produced a magazine/catalogue (magalog), featuring semi-nude or nude models. The magalog was a success, with A&F issuing over 1.5 million copies. Despite being somewhat paradoxical, the use of sexual branding raised their revenue from $85 million in 1993 to $1.35 billion in 2002 (2)

Sex can also be used subtly in advertising. Volkswagen’s campaign for the Beetle Cabriolet pixelates the non-existent roof to the car, alongside the word “topless”. The blurred roof is similar to the pixilation that occurs when female’s breasts are exposed in some forms of media. Volkswagen have a history of producing tongue-in-cheek adverts, and this one serves to compare their new convertible to a woman who goes topless at a beach. It implies the car is relaxed and fun, like someone who goes topless at a beach.