'You'll never forget your first F' is a tagline that leaves little to the imagination. Produced by boutique agency, Filter, the campaign for beer brand Foster's rolled out recently in Singapore is part of a new wave of provocative advertising sweeping Asia.
Even more shocking is that conservative Singapore is in many ways leading the trend towards more sexually daring imagery and innuendo. Racy Hagen Dazs billboards on the local subway and the publishing of the English-language men's magazine, FHM, is signalling a change in not only media habits but also a thirst for a more open and challenging urban culture.
In the July editorial of Sex Issue, which will be into its 50th issue in December, it read: "Lipstick was said to have been invented in ancient Egypt for women who specialised in oral sex. This was said to make their lips more inviting."
This is not an Asian phenomenon. Sex sells around the world, albeit with different treatments - but the latest wave may have been influenced by recent controversies in the United States and Europe.
A recent campaign by Kaplan Thaler Group in New York, a company that is part of the Bcom3 Group, caused outrage and a storm of press coverage with its Clairol Herbal Essences campaign.
The joke at the heart of the effort is the confusion between the words 'orgasmic' and 'organic'. It describes the Herbal Essences line of personal care products as a "totally organic experience and then depicts women moaning with pleasure as they use shampoos, conditioners and skin-care lotions. The use of phrases like "She's got the urge, the urge to Herbal as well as the use of foam spray imagery and a momentary glimpse of a man reading Moby Dick exaggerate the allusions to sexual bliss.
New York Times advertising columnist, Stuart Elliott, bemoaned the campaign, which was a recipient of a 'negative' award by the Advertising Women of New York as part of an annual event called The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - even though Kaplan Thaler is led by women. However, the campaign was considered effective in selling Herbal Essences, evidenced by the fact that when Clairol was recently sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb to Procter & Gamble, Kaplan Thaler was retained. Moral of the story - sex sells.
In Europe, there is even an annual event dedicated to sex in advertising.
Now in its second year, the Lisbon Erotic Advertising Festival (LEAF) rewards erotic or sensual content in advertising. 'Since Saatchi London won the Grand Prix Print in Cannes with very suggestive work for Club 18-30, the question "Does Sex Sell? seems very accurate this year,' says an advertisement flyer for the event.
Attitudes to sex in Asia vary greatly from country to country. The homogeneous nature of the United States, or to a lesser extent Europe, is not relevant in the region with widely varying cultures and religious beliefs at the root of popular values.
"It's all about recognising that you have to let your brand live in the society you are advertising to, says Richard Pinder, regional managing director at Leo Burnett, also a part of the Bcom3 Group. "Push them too hard and the backlash could be very damaging. The brand Herbal Essences uses the US version of their 'totally organic experience' in Australia.
But, the ad was re-shot for Thailand to show the girls having a fun time rather than an overtly erotic experience. This is to recognise the differing attitudes to what can be talked openly in Australia versus Thailand."
In Asia, sex is simply not used directly, for both reasons of regulations and market acceptance.
"Sex is a universal language, says Bates South Asia director, Matthew Godfrey. "Generally, the adjustments needed are to reflect the standards imposed by the regulations in a market. Thus we have had lipstick on men refused from one government authority and nude armpits on women refused by another.
"In another case, we had to raise the neckline of a dress to reduce the cleavage. These are all changes that reflect a certain amount of cultural values, but more often the values the government wants their people to have. Advertising needs to respect the values of a consumer if it wants to engage with them."
Godfrey says that FHM or the Hagen Dazs commercials in Singapore are actually quite tame compared to what people can view in the privacy of their own homes.
"We do not generally lead the consumers, we generally follow what is deemed socially acceptable. However, the overriding trend in Asia is the use of entertainment in advertising, whether spiced with sexual innuendo or not.
"We are primarily looking for new ways to entertain people in our communication so that they want to receive the information and thus increase desirability to our brands. We are trying to evoke an emotional reaction from consumers - happiness, sorrow, love, pity - and yes, sometimes lust, adds Godfrey.
One country that communicates lust, laughs and self-deprecating humour by the truckload is Australia - and the place offering the most outlandish use of explicit material in order to shift product.
In fact, the recent Burnett campaign for clothing business, Trims, did more than that. The sexy poster for the campaign was hard to keep on the wall, with glass panels being smashed by thieves making off with the poster for their private collection, claims the agency.
The cheeky 15 metre by 1.5 metre bus shelter poster is part of a campaign to mark the opening of Trims' new store in Adelaide, and depicts a well-endowed woman in a high-buttoned shirt and one strategically-located button that is undone. The tagline states simply 'Now Open'.
In predominantly Islamic countries, provocation is almost entirely non-sexual, but more attitude-driven.
"The barriers in Malaysia cannot be pushed at all. There are no backs of knees or baby's bottoms, says Grey Worldwide regional creative director, Jeff Orr.
"What is permissible in film and TV drama is vastly different. I took this up with the minister in Malaysia and he said advertising was more influential than programming. It was a powerful engine of social change."
In Malaysia, as in Indonesia, provocative advertising is frequently used, but as a means of stirring up social debate, rather than consumers' loins.
The Perodua car brand is a case in point where Grey launched a campaign during the Chinese New Year that claimed people did not want to give as much as they wanted to receive, causing outrage in the Chinese community.
Another issue addressed was Indian racial stereotypes.
"Agencies are trying to push the limits, but not in a sexual way - it is more in the way of pushing the intelligence of consumers by making the ads more involving and intriguing, says Orr.
"People are no less horny in Asia. Thailand, for instance, may be the horniest place on earth. But what you see in commercials is what people want in the comfort of their home. And a bar is not what someone wants in their home."
Some analysts argue that economic hardship has led to a rise in nationalism in many countries in Asia and a return to deep-rooted cultural and social values. With the entry of the Thaksin Government's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party in Thailand, for example, his squabbles with the international press and strict social order campaign have fuelled such claims.
"Not so, say the country's leading creatives. Despite the way Thailand is often perceived around the world, its advertising industry rarely uses sex to sell products. The only example in recent years was a tacky beer campaign that bombed.
Desperate to erode the dominant position Chang Beer had wrested from them, Boon Rawd Brewery launched Leo Beer. The advertising campaign began in similar vein to Chang's, creating a straightforward idea by combining celebration and music to talk to its upcountry audience.
However, it moved to splashing a massive billboard throughout the countryside of Look-Gait, a Thai sex symbol, in a skimpy outfit suggestively staring out with a bottle of Leo Beer in front of her.
"It was not funny or suitable for the product or brand, says Jureeporn Thaidumrong, executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand and president of the Bangkok Art Directors Association.
"Sex is not used in Thailand as it goes against our traditional Buddhist values and culture, she says. "For Thais, humour is the most powerful and effective method whether you use sex appeal or not. This is the most important ingredient in selling products. If sex is used in a funny way, it will work.
"But emotionally, if sex is used seriously it will be rejected. It doesn't talk to consumers as it is too far from traditional values."
J. Walter Thompson (Thailand) managing director, Rutaiwan Wongsirasawad, adds that Thailand is increasingly more daring - but not in relation to sex. "We believe in grabbing customer attention. The attention could be through surprise, humour or beauty - sensuality is one element, says Rutaiwan.
"When you sell Lux, for example, you need to show the beauty of bare skin. When you sell Close-Up toothpaste you need to show the sensuality of people getting close."
"There is a fine line between being sexy or sensual and being cheap or tasteless. If we use sex, it should be for a good reason."
So does sex sell? Yes, but in different measures in different countries.
But most consumers simply don't seem to give an 'F' if sex is or is not used. They want to be entertained.
