Does Sex Sell in Advertising? Go Daddy Thinks So.

Overtly sexual Super Bowl ads have made a comeback this year, despite the evidence that sexual ads actually turn many consumers off. Yes, a lot of men watch the Super Bowl but a heck of a lot of women do too – about 40% of the entire Super Bowl audience.  A record number of female viewers helped propel Super Bowl XLV to become the most-watched television program of all time last year — and according to the research, they were watching primarily for the commercials.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who have been analyzing Super Bowl ads for more than two decades, indicate that sex doesn’t sell as much as it used to – finding that ads with sexual imagery take a 10% hit in “likability” versus ads without racy images. Case in point: this year’s Go Daddy’s Super Bowl commercial.  Here’s  a look at how the world reacted to Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels needlessly painting a naked model to promote the web domain company. From “stale cheesecake” to “pricelessly awful,” it’s fair to say the ads weren’t exactly well received.

“Yes, once again GoDaddy served up stale cheesecake in the form of two commercials that exploited women in the guise of empowerment.” – The New York Times

“In a cheap-looking spot, GoDaddy body-paints a model and then asks you to go online to see more. I didn’t, and no one else in my house did, either—though, come to think of it, my brother went to the bathroom for an unreasonably long time, carrying his laptop.” –The New Yorker

“I think the ad that best summarizes how debased our excessive commercialism has made us is the Go Daddy commercial that features two women using another woman’s body as a billboard on which to write and draw the Go Daddy brand.” – The Baltimore Sun

“What would a Super Bowl be without a terrible Go Daddy ad? The incomprehensible appearance by Jillian Michaels was pricelessly awful.” – Newsday

“Is there an American male left who still goes to GoDaddy.com expecting to see a half-naked Danica Patrick?” – San Francisco Chronicle

Popular Un-Sexy Super Bowl Ads

With that in mind, we thought we’d take a look at some of the best un-sexy Super Bowl ads in recent history. These ads are simply fun, and managed to be so without even a bikini shot.

1980: Mean Joe Green
A little boy offers a grumpy football star a Coke, which he drains with terrifying speed before tossing the boy a sweaty towel as a symbol of their newfound friendship. BFFs!

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2008: Hank The Clydesdale
Underdog horse trains his hindquarters off to make it onto the Budweiser team of Clydesdale horses, set to the most inspirational theme song of all time.

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2009: Love Story
Google uses Google searches to tell the full story of a modern romance, from a search for “study abroad paris france” to … well, the ending is too cute to spoil.

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2012: The Dog Strikes Back
This two-part ad from Volkswagen opens with a cute montage of a dog getting back into shape so he can chase cars again, then moves to a Cantina-style bar filled with Star Wars-esque characters debating if the dog is better than last year’s adorable Darth Vader kid. Spoiler alert: He makes an appearance, too.