It's as old as advertising: sex sells, but too much of anything is bad and that extends to areas we didn't expect; like bikinis. Advertisers are finding sex used to sell -- because it was exciting. But now just about everything, from movies to TV to computers, bombards us with scantily clad people and sex in ads isn't working as well.
Dr. Betsy Gelb is a marketing expert at the University of Houston.
"The idea that we see so much of it that it doesn't get our attention, candidly, makes a lot of sense at this point."
"The idea that sex is the way to do that or people with not a whole lot of clothes on just isn't working out because they can see that a lot of places."
So if sex doesn't sell, how about humor? Dr. Gelb says that can be risky.
"A lot of people don't think stuff is funny that the folks who wrote that copy think is hilarious."
Dr. Gelb says ads with context may be a more important strategy these days -- why a product is needed and why it's the best solution.