In the 1950s and 60s, scantily clad women populated many automotive ads. These women served to attract the reader’s attention (commonly referred to as "borrowed interest") but served other purposes as well. For example, one study found that sexual images like the one to the left could influence perceptions about a car’s styling and performance.
A recent analysis indicates that only about 1% of automotive ads in today’s mainstream consumer magazines contain sexual images. It’s more likely that these images are showing up in local "free" publications like Trocas; a truck magazine targeting Latinos in the in greater Atlanta area. Guys buy trucks so this ad, appearing in a 2007 issue of Trocas, used pinup material to keep them staring at the page long enough notice a truck.
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