Gallup & Robinson: Sex in Advertising

But perhaps the single most defining event, the big bang that set sex free, was the advent of Playboy Magazine. What was once considered pornography became an acceptable art form for the mass culture.

It was truly intoxicating and advertisers eagerly embraced it, clumsily and blatantly at first, as was typical of this Sony ad.

Brand: Sony Electronics
Magazine: Playboy
Date: September 1971

But it didn't seem to matter that its use often was irrelevant, merely a papering over, where it tended to overwhelm the product. For some advertisers, shock value was the opportunity to get the reader's attention.