Grant 1

Bea Grant
Prof. C. Bevill
ENG 1301-21
November 5, 2014
When Sexuality Sells
Observing the billboard for the Calvin Klein Jeans in SoHo, New York, the first thing that comes
to mind is sex. There is a young woman, topless, lying on top of a young man but kissing another. The
three are topless on the couch while another man is lying on the floor, shirt open and with a satisfied
expression on his face. All of them wearing jeans, hers is just a small short. The billboard was placed on
an urban environment with buses and taxis traffic, and where pedestrians cross the street, facing the ad.
It is a very provocative ad as many Calvin Klein has done in the past. In Europe there is more
lenience and freedom to express sexuality, but America is still very conservative.
The audience seems to be the working young adult.
There could be a moral problem if school buses pass this street or family with children walk by.
The ad if very sexually aggressive; it leaves very little to the audiences imagination. Sexual
freedom could be the theme, and if you wear the jeans, it could bring you more sex appeal. The ad has
been called edgy and shocking (James).
The controversy can bring attention to the ad and more advertisement.

Grant 2
Works Cited
Chacko, Rebecca. The Mystery of Sex in Advertising. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, 2009.
Mhlearningsolutions.com. nd. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5957

James, Susan Donaldson. Calvin Klein Ad Taps Foursome Sex. ABC news Internet Ventures
2014. Abc.go.com, 17 June 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7854000