Safe Sex Advertising

Safe sex or advertised sex? In the United States, nearly 75 percent of teenagers have had intercourse by the time they turn 20; only 15 percent report remaining virgins until the age of 21. Additionally, there are reports by The Guttmacher Institute that indicate that the teens in the US are more likely to have sex before the age of 15, and to have more than one partner in a year, than teenagers in Sweden, France, Canada, and the United Kingdom (teenage). One may ask why these numbers are so high in the US compared to other countries. The reason is that in today's society the advertisement industry has increased the number of ads that relate to sex. These advertisements are seen everywhere, in high schools, television commercials, and in the lyrics of songs. However, according to the advertisement industry, the purposes behind these ads are to promote "safe sex". They do so, by encouraging the use of condoms, birth control, and other contraceptives. Nevertheless, we question
The majority of television shows and commercials imply some kind of sex in them. There are movies, commercials, and shows that include sex, and are available for all kind of ages to watch. Some are very accessible and do not even require any kind of parental supervision. One of the most popular sex promotion deals with the usage of condoms. For example, one commercial expresses a new condom named "ecstasy". By using words such as: "lubricated inside and out, so thin that it feels like nothing is there", the condom is expressed as the new and greatest invention out there. These choices of words make an individual curious, allowing a sensation of "wanting to try it". This cause and effect commercial is towards young teenagers because they are attracted to those types of words. As previously mentioned, some teenagers have sex because of pleasure and that is exactly what the commercials do, they make sex seem more pleasurable and