Selling Surgery with Sex: Sultry Ginsburg Models Set High Expectations
The sultry outdoor boards of a brunette in a criss-cross halter top and blonde in short shorts are hard to miss. They’ve been up along the metro areas interstates for several months.
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The brunette is in near-perfect shape without an ounce of fat to spare. To underscore that point, her tummy is bare from cleavage to the second button of her bluejeans. There’s no cellulite in site. No stretch marks or muffin top. Look close and you can count a few of her ribs.
Her blonde counterpart appeared more recently, toned and tanned, wearing a comparatively modest white tank top and Daisy Dukes. For a holiday promotion, another blonde sporting a low-cut Santa mini dress and go-go boots opens the gift that keeps on giving, surgery.
The boards, seminars and newsletters promote Ginsburg’s Smart Laser Liposuction, and one has to wonder if the ads’ sultry visuals jive with the real world results. Are we to presume that these women look this desirable because of the procedure? Or that they looked like the majority of the population pre-operatively? Forgive the skepticism, but none appear to have ever had an extra ounce of misplaced fat on their bodies during their short time on this Earth.
Ginsburg Dermatology newsletter
Playing devil’s advocate, a marketer might argue that the images aren’t intended to portray potential surgical outcomes, but help viewers positively envision themselves younger, sexier and more confident. After all, who would want to see up-close real world results? And what actual patient would sign the photo release? Should marketers in this entire industry be restricted to clinical before and after photography while the rest of the world gets to plunder all the stock photography it can get its hands on?
We use sex to sell almost every product and service in this country. But using sex to sell surgical procedures seems prone to setting unrealistic expectations.
The Ginsburg site observes that “Although the results can be spectacular, perfection is an unrealistic expectation. We strive for “significant” improvement. Puckering or “cellulite” may be helped by liposuction, but will not be eliminated.”
That’s ironic, given the campaign’s images. Why would we expect anything less after seeing miss halter top with the navel ring? The before and after photos on Dr. Ginsburg’s site of actual patients do indeed portray significant improvements, but not perfection.
What do you think? Do these boards oversell the service to the point of making an unrealistic claim, or is the public smart enough to recognize that once again the advertiser is just using sex to sell? Perhaps more importantly, are they effective? Are you more likely to schedule a procedure after seeing the campaign?
Sound off in comments and rate this campaign below.