Sex Sells But Do We Have To Buy It?
The other day I visited a popular tourist destination and notice they had recently installed a 30-foot tall sculptural piece created from 1254 bicycles by internationally acclaimed artist and activist Ai Weiwei. What surprised me the most about the exhibit was the lack of people that were there to see it. My 8-year-old son and I had the outdoor location all to ourselves and I watched in delight as he was mesmerized at the sheer size and design of the sculpture and fascinated by the story behind it.
As we talked about this over some hot chocolate it got me thinking about what attracts people and what sells products and what attracts our attention. Have you ever really thought about it and noticed that we are entertained by nothing at all? We sit at home and spend hours watching shows on Netflix or cable without giving product placement any thought. We spend hours scrolling through Instagram and Facebook so that we can be left feeling like our lives are not as exciting and fulfilling as people we don’t know but feel we compete with. Social media and Google track what we look at and search so more personalized ads will pop up every time we scroll or change screens. Once manufactures know what we are looking for then they market the product to us with sexualized ads offering very little content. We are no longer entertained by art, literature, the music itself or what has the most money by rather by what has had the most money pumped into it. It doesn’t even have to say or do anything, does it?
Scroll through the weekly music top 20 charts and you will notice a variety of artists from Halsey, Camilla Cabeo, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. She can sing, right? We’re pretty sure she can but you’re not looking at her mouth, are you? What is the song about? Heartbreak or new love? Some guy has left her or someone has left him? If you aren’t paying attention what does it matter? Let’s face it they look good, wear revealing clothes and they drive fancy cars and have massive yachts. If they make videos about it and post it on their Instagram accounts it must be what we want or why else do that? Now don’t get me wrong I am not against having a fancy car, a big yacht or an abundance of scantily clad woman gyrating all around me. After all, I am a product of my environment as well. The question here though is not is it right or is it wrong. The question we need to be asking ourselves is what purpose does it have? If they showing you a product with all fluff and no substance and they are marketing it that way then are you just all fluff and no substance to them? If the product was as good as they say it is does it need a nearly naked person to sell it? You are nothing more than a target audience and sex and money sells so it doesn’t matter what Nicole Ritchie, Kanye or any one of the Kardashians is peddling because we want it regardless of how poorly it is made or how overpriced it is. If I buy that people will think I am successful and my life is better than it is.
At some point in time we need to but some serious thought into the content that captivates our attention and what it causes us to do. If all our focus is on how to be better than the person next to us then we need to ask ourselves what are the things we aren’t focusing on? We spent all of our time and attention on what is stylish and what isn’t and what that girl you hated in high school now has that we give little thought to the fact that we are still dropping bombs on people, Donald Trump was elected president, the literacy rate in the US is still pathetic and the wealth inequality is worse than it ever has been. Sure we retweet something from that spoiled little shit Greta Thunberg but if it wasn't for her wealth and the fact we all want it would we even care what she had to say? Sex and wealth dominate our attention while the world crumbles around us. While this topic isn’t new those selling the products have found new and more innovative ways of convincing us we need clothes and products to cover up the fact that we are in love with a lie. I wish I had more time to discuss this but Drake has a new tracksuit line dropping and I need to be first in my Instagram community to have one.
