Ben Marcom Weekly: Sex appeal in Chinese advertising

Most Chinese people will remember a TV commercial for a gum called Qing Zui with the opening line of: "Do you want to feel the taste of kissing?" Advertising using explicit sexual messages did not go further on Chinese TV: A few months later, a government organ released a statement banning TV commercials with obvious sexual imagery. However print ads are less tightly monitored.

This week's Ben Marcom Weekly looks at a few examples.

Oriental son, I love you
Chery is an auto brand under the hydra-like group known as the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation or SAIC. Early this year, they launched a new car called Oriental Son. In the pictured ad, a half-naked Western woman is looking with lustful eyes at the reader. A car and traditional Chinese flower painting are tattooed on her back. The headline is "Oriental son, I love you!" Maybe she loves his wallet even more. Attraction is instinctive
Most perfume ads rely on sex appeal, which is not surprising since such products are specially designed to increase your sexual attraction.

Lancome have been using their global advertisement for Attraction, splashing this unambiguous image of a man and woman on billboards all over Shanghai and on glossy magazines distributed nationwide.

Charming and intelligent MOTO
Instead of featuring a sexy girl like most mobile phone ads, this Motorola stars a sexy young boy. This is a typical example of the metrosexual (dushi huayang meinan?) look that is becoming so popular in China.