At first glance this ad is advertising gym membership but we @ droppingjaws.com always like to interpret ads that maybe misunderstood by the average citizen or non marketing and advertising community member. Now let’s take a better look at this ad: The term that comes into play is SEXUAL INNUENDO  wikkipedia defines this as -, namely that of a “risque” double entendre by playing on a possibly sexual interpretation of an otherwise innocent uttering. The first thing that comes to mind is that is an attractive female bending over, secondly the women having a mischievous smirk on face, thirdly the purposely extend arm and fourth OH YEAH THE BILLBOARD STATING ” WE ONLY DO THIS ONCE A YEAR” .

This type of strategic positioning is very clever with fitness Juggernauts  like LA Fitness working out  millions of members across 21 US states and Canada not to mention Gold’s Gym, YMCA, Bally Total Fitness and the names go on and on. So we @droppingjaws.com understand the  brash style of advertising for this fitness center but everyone knows that they’re  protocols to follow when dealing with the public.

Dealing with double minded marketing and advertising strategies is a catch 22 which is a measure or policy whose effect is the opposite of what was intended or a situation presenting two equally undesirable alternatives (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catch-22) basically having a sexually laced fitness gym membership drive ad can rub current and future members the wrong way . Some  individuals don’t mind discussing taboo subjects like this campaign may or may not have been implying,  but one thing that most members of the marketing and advertising community understand is that most marketing and advertising campaigns must be voted on and tested before it hits the media outlets.  Look careful below at the typical amount of  individuals involved in a marketing and advertising decision:

As stated in “Kellogg On Marketing 2nd edition”  authors Bobby J. Calder, Richard Kolsky, and Maria Flores Letelier addresses the type of strategies  marketing and advertising professionals need to understand. They go on to say “The traditional goal of marketing is to stimulate consumer demand and/or shift it from one company’s product to another.” Once again this ads is playing by the rules but they may have overlooked these important lessons. Lesson 1)  The strategy must address social values.

The slippery slop of  sexual innuendo flirts with a topic that some may catch and some may not ,we’re  not going  to go into too much detail but MSN lifestyle states that every couple should have 8 kinds of sex (http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=8319611) but there are plenty of other reasons to join gym membership besides sex. We @droppingjaws.com can name a few health, the environment and confidence  but to assume that people are motivated by only sex is an understatement. If sex and money is the main reason for join a gym maybe that would explain why two-thirds, more than 190 million Americans are overweight or obese  and obesity-related diseases are a $147 billion dollar medical burden every year. So yeah, them addressing  social values are a tad bit off. Lesson 2) The strategy must produce a new consumer.

Well don’t get us @ droppingjaws.com wrong the ad got our attention but it did not provoke us to join the gym but maybe putting it on our site will. This hit or miss style of brash marketing/advertising generates a buzz but does not generate a long term commitment according to( www.about.com) some of the major deterrence towards exercise which would directly affect  new consumer  gym membership commitment  : 1) You really hate to exercise. 2)  You’ve tried to exercise but you keep quitting. 3) You’re not seeing any changes in you body.4) You want to exercise but you have to take care of the kids and family. 5) You don’t have the time. These are just several reasons that sex appeal or sexual innuendo has no affect on.  This ads generates attention but this photo wont work when you hate to exercise or don’t have the time. Once again sex can’t sex everything!!! Wanting to be healthy is a lifestyle that can only be sparked by self motivation not raunchy billboards.