Can Sex Sell Air Freshener?

renuzit "gorgeous"

Scantily clad women are used to sell, well, almost anything. But do sexy men have similar consumer appeal?

Renuzit Fresh Accents is testing that idea with a campaign that features half-naked men peddling air fresheners ... because nothing says sex appeal like pine. (Or in Renuzit's case, raspberry and "after the rain.")

Click here to see the ads>>

According to Renuzit's press release, "While it’s certainly not the first time a brand has used sex to sell product, it will be a first for the air care category and a relatively risqué approach to take when you consider the ads will be targeted at women 25-54 and will run in relatively conservative women’s magazines."

The mutually exploitive, sex-sells marketing ploy isn't new: That's the whole point of the Brawny man. (Granted, he was a cartoon).

The New York Times took note when a 2009 ad for Pine-Sol, a lady-friendly, household cleaning product, featured spokeswoman Diane Amos coming home to a shirtless, muscular man mopping her floor.

In 2010, Stayfree and BBDO Toronto created an ad campaign in which hot men sold sanitary napkins ... an unwelcome first.

And most recently, David Beckham posed in his underwear for H&M. The ad premiered during the Super Bowl and, according to the TV analytics company Bluefin Labs, generated 109,000 social media comments—the most social buzz of any Super Bowl spot this year.

So Renuzit's isn't exactly breaking new ground. The tongue-in-cheek ads also make an effort to qualify themselves as an ironic ploy— most products using half-naked women don't make such excuses.