I think it's a great point that sex + humor is what's generally safer. For products sold to women, sex can be used without humor pretty reliably, but it's a different type of sex: The "I want to look that delicious to men" type, which is manipulative in a whole other way. But for ads that are successful for things other than Herbal Essences ("a truly organic experience," wink-wink, nudge-nudge) and and Victoria's Secret, the successful/harmless sex campaigns I can think of all use humor. I'm thinking especially of the Axe body spray campaign that features an array of dorky guys with hot women drawn to them like flies. Or there was once a commercial for some energy drink that was a musical routine on the theme of the drink being just what you need the morning after your shameful one-night-stand.
But by and large, outside of the world of music, I don't really see too much that would be considered edgy in mainstream media here in the U.S. Maybe there are too many watchdog groups out there making sure that our children aren't corrupted by the sight of boobs at too early an age. Look at the frenzy following the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson thing. If that wasn't an example of puritanism in action, I don't know what is.
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