Hunkvertising: The Objectification of Men in Advertising

Some wish they’d just keep their assets covered

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Call it hunkvertising.

The objectification of men in advertising (as with women) is not new. Consider icons like the Marlboro Man and Old Spice’s sexy pitchman Isaiah Mustafa. And yet, a disproportionate number of buff, often-shirtless studs are lately popping up in ads for everything from salad dressing to air freshener—in other words, consumer products not normally associated with sexual imagery.

As ever, sex sells—even the hirsute sex, apparently.

Many ad experts and social critics see the whole thing as a harmless turning of the tables following decades of bikini-clad babes in beer commercials.

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