By Brandon Ramsey
So what do you think youth clothing, shampoo, cars, and milk have in common? Before you call me and say I have completely lost my mind, I assure you that they do have something that ties them together, along with a huge variety of other various things. What they have in common is that advertisers use sex and sexual imagery to sell them.
I couldn’t believe it either, “Milk.” Until I saw a half naked woman holding something in front of her chest in order to retain some sense of modesty, despite the exposed midsection and the bare upper chest, sporting a milk mustache in a magazine a couple days ago. The caption read, “Milk sure did her body good!”
We all know about the Abercrombie and Fitch ads that have continually made headlines and who could forget the commercial where the woman is making such a commotion while washing her hair that her husband has to come check that no infidelity is occurring.
My question is “Why?” And those that know me would tell you that I am not a prude in any way. In fact my candid discussion of sex in premarital counseling has been known to make most young couples blush. Not because of the crudeness but the openness to discuss it as it was designed.
The funny thing is that these ads have gotten so mainstream that I would guess that ninety percent of the readers did not guess the connection until after I mentioned it and the other ten percent cheated and read down for the answer.
The question is how did it get that way? Did some marketing executive wake up one morning and say, “You know, today I’m going to go out on a limb and try this new sex sells motto.” No, they are trained to take the temperature of the present society and advertise accordingly. It was not hard for them considering pornography is an forty billion dollar industry in the US in 2022 according to Microsoft. Yes, I did say billion with a “B”.
That is bigger than the NFL, NBA, and the MLB combined. It is also bigger than NBC and ABC by double. World wide porn sells is in the 100 billion dollar range. A recent poll stated that forty-five million people visit internet porn sites on a regular basis. And the breakdown of these visitors is sixty-five percent male and thirty-five percent female. Not just a male problem is it? It does not take a rocket scientist or a marketing genius to see what “sells.”
The scary thing is that this is feeding on an addiction. Yes, pornographic material is addictive, and we all have a predisposition to becoming addicted to it. It has repercussions that reach much deeper than many give it credit for. I am not just talking about the embarrassment of getting caught or having to explain the habit to a spouse or loved one. It has repercussions that will affect your life and the life of your loved ones. Pornography slants your view of a relationship, intimacy, romance, and definitely sex.
There are two disastrous false mindsets that people get trapped into when dealing pornography. The first is that it is an individual thing. That it does not affect anyone else. And the second is that pornography brought into a marriage could “spice it up.” These could not be further from the truth. These thoughts and actions should be avoided at all costs.
There are many of you right now that are turning your noses up and saying that I am being an extremist and that no one would ever do that. Just consider yourself blessed that you have not made that mistake. For the others that have made this step or are debating on it, there is hope and ways to turn the train around. For the next couple articles I will be breaching this touchy topic of pornography and how to deal with it on a personal and relational way.
