Sex Sells

Risque Business

Sex sells. It's the oldest truism of marketing. But is it true? Not always. DailyFinance's Sarah Gilbert has covered naked marketing for years, and she's done her share of recoiling and grinning. Here, she reviews the 10 most eye-popping campaigns: the ads so likable and clever that they make even a reserved feminist (like herself) laugh, or the ads so demeaning they make even the goofiest frat boy cringe. To learn more about these naked ad campaigns, peek through our gallery.
First Up: PETA

Risque Business

1. PETA
Alicia Silverstone and Eva Mendes
When Alicia Silverstone stepped naked out of a swimming pool for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to boast in 2007 that she'd given up meat, Comcast Cable in Houston declined to run the 30-second spot. Eva Mendes also went nude for PETA that year, with a moony campaign of her own: "Fur? I'd rather go naked."

Risque Business

2. Nike
"Bear Butte" Running Camp
A funny spot for Nike's Free 5.0 running shoes, featuring buff runners wearing nothing but Nikes, was a viral smash a few years back. (Butts were visible; naughtier bits were digitally blurred.) One advertising critic did a double-take, saying, "The company isn't as humorless as many of us thought."
Next: Midnight Cowboy

Risque Business

3. Air New Zealand
Body Paint
If an airline asked its baggage handlers and flight attendants to appear on TV with their clothing painted on their bare bodies, would that be exploitative? Not if the CEO gets naked too. Air New Zealand shows off a sense of humor (and "nothing to hide") in a recent campaign.
See the Full Monty

Risque Business

4. Chevrolet
The Naked Cowboy
Why was Chevrolet's Super Bowl spot for its HHR wagon so lame? Was it the pointless nude-male car wash? Or not enough of Times Square's delightful Naked Cowboy? Or maybe the fact that Chevy was hoping to excite viewers about a car that nobody cared about then, and that nobody's heard of since? We'll check D, for "all of the above."

Next: Coffee Splash

Risque Business

5. Starbucks
The Original Mermaid Logo
Back in the Age of Aquarius, Starbucks was a hole-in-the-wall coffeehouse, and its mermaid mascot might as well have been a hippie, flopping around a Woodstock mud puddle. By 2008, Starbucks was a flailing global corporation, and reintroducing its vintage mascot was met with indifference by some and hostility by others.
Next: Show Us Your Soap!

Risque Business

6. Lush
Employees' Aprons-only Attire
Hip British cosmetics chain Lush prides itself on the fact that its soap has no packaging. And neither, apparently, do its employees, who are encouraged periodically to show they have nothing to lose but their aprons. As effective a sales tool as a bare bottom might be, it's an even more effective way to promote your brand.
Next: Driven to Distraction

Risque Business

7. Calvin Klein
Obsession Billboards
Long before unveiling this month's startling threesome -- or is it foursome? -- above a Manhattan intersection (not shown), the bad-boy designer was notorious for stylish, salacious outdoor and magazine campaigns for Obsession cologne. That the images are of women (clearly depicted in the throes of passion for Obsession-scented men) reveals a target largely comprising young single men. But its appeal is objectifying and humorless. It's about sex, and nothing else.

Risque Business

8. JCPenney
Dress Rehearsal
Two sweaty, horny teens in their respective bedrooms, wrestling into their clothes as fast as they could, to practice getting caught in the act? It didn't look like a JCPenney ad -- and, as it turns out, it wasn't. The spot that got the Cannes critics hot and heavy was created by a renegade producer who (in a not-so-shocking turn of events), is no longer working for Penney's ad agency.
Next: A Real Whopper

Risque Business

9. Burger King
Flame Body Spray
As its increasingly creepy ad campaign tried pushing barriers, Burger King blurred the lines between real life and satire by marketing a cheap scent, claiming (falsely) that it smelled like their flagship brand. The presence of the eerie mascot was even more unappealing than usual, no thanks to a lack of either clothes or inhibitions.

Risque Business

CEO Sex Scandals

In 2002, the man known as "Neutron Jack" fell in love with Suzy Wetlaufer, editor of the Harvard Business Review. The problem was that Welch was married to his wife Jane. His romance with Wetlaufer started when they collaborated on an article together.
It wasn't love at first sight. "When I first met Jack, I was terrified of him," Suzy Welch told 60 Minutes. Wetlaufer was forced to resign from the prestigious publication when word of her dalliance with Welch came out. She asked her bosses to spike her article when her relationship with Welch compromised her journalistic objectivity.
Jane Welch wound up getting her revenge. "When divorce negotiations stretched out, Jane Welch disclosed that Jack was getting sizable retirement perks from GE, including an apartment and the use of a GE jet. Welch agreed to pay $2 million a year for their use," according to USA Today.
The SEC later launched and then closed an investigation into the matter. Jack and Suzy Welch are living happily ever after, writing several books together, including Winning, and they co-host the Web-TV reality show It's Everybody's Business on Microsoft's (MSFT) MSN network.

CEO Sex Scandals

Dov Charney, a Canadian immigrant who dropped out of college in 1990, is living the American dream. Too bad it's turning into a nightmare for some of his employees.
Charney is a world-class weirdo. Among the proclivities he's fessed up to are walking around his office in his underwear. He's also the gift that keeps on giving to employment lawyers. The CEO has confessed to having numerous affairs with female subordinates and has been repeatedly sued for sexual harassment.
Two women claimed in lawsuits that Charney exposed himself to them and masturbated in front of them. In 2005, three American Apparel employees filed suit against Charney for allegedly sexually harassing them at work.
His inability to learn what behavior is acceptable in the workplace and what isn't is breathtaking. For instance, Charney seemed not to understand that women may find the term "slut" offensive, explaining in a court deposition (via Dateline NBC): "You know, there are some of us that love sluts. You know, it's not necessarily - it could be also be an endearing term."

HR World named the lawsuit among the top 20 sexual harassment claims of all time. The Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky case was No. 1.

CEO Sex Scandals

Exactly what Mark Hurd did to lose his job running HP was never fully disclosed. Suffice it to say he crossed a line.
Hurd resigned on August 6th amid allegations that he sexually harassed Jodie Fisher, a former actress and reality-TV personality who worked for HP as a marketing consultant. That claim was settled, and Fisher has denied having a sexual relationship with the married Hurd.
To make matters even more confusing, an HP investigation found Hurd didn't violate the company's sexual harassment policies, although he did submit inaccurate expense reports to cover up his relationship with Fisher. Then why would Hurd bother to cheat his employer if he wasn't doing anything wrong?
"Hurd submitted receipts for expenses ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 over two years, including meals and travel, that should have been labeled as personal and not related to business, said a person familiar with the situation," according to Bloomberg News. What was included in the wining and dining was not immediately clear.
Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Elison rushed to Hurd's defense and hired him as co-president. "The HP board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago," the tart-tongued billionaire is quoted as saying.

CEO Sex Scandals

When Harry Stonecipher came out of retirement to head Boeing in 2003, he vowed to employees of the scandal-plagued aerospace company that its new code of conduct would apply to everyone, all 150,000 employees. In March 2005, Stonecipher was forced to resign after he admitted having an affair with a female Boeing executive later identified as Debra Peabody. In fact, Stonecipher and Peabody reportedly met when he signed the pledge. Joan Stonecipher, his wife of 50 years, filed for divorce after her husband's affair became public.
The timing couldn't have been worse. Fifteen months earlier, CEO Phil Condit was forced to resign after two Boeing executives were convicted in a military procurement scandal.

CEO Sex Scandals

In 2007, the UK construction company was rocked by an affair between married CEO John Dodds and Deena Mattar, the company's finance director. The reaction to the scandal was nothing like what would have happened in the US. For one thing, Dodds didn't lose his job, even though the media reaction was scathing after it was revealed that Mattar used Kier Group resources to remodel her home, The Daily Telegraph said.
Dodds retired this year at the age of 64, four years past the company's retirement age. He married Mattar and told the Telegraph he had no regrets. "Not one. It's all turned out exceedingly well," he is quoted as saying.

CEO Sex Scandals

Australia's David Jones is what's called an upmarket retailer - think of Down Under version of Bloomingdale's. At the helm for seven years was CEO Mark McInnes, until a sexual harassment complaint was brought against him by a 25-year-old female employee named Kristy Fraser-Kirk.
McInnes, the complaint said, allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward her. The executive quickly resigned and fessed up to behavior that "was unbecoming of the high standard expected of a chief executive officer to a female staff member." It was the first time that an Australian CEO resigned because of sexual harassment allegations.
In August, Fraser-Kirk filed a A$37 million sexual harassment lawsuit alleging that the board of David Jones knew that McInnes was a serial harasser and did nothing to stop him. Unflattering stories appeared in the press after the suit, Australia's largest sexual harassment case, was filed. Fraser-Kirk even offered to donate any punitive damage awards she received to charity. The case settled in October for A$850,000 with Fraser-Kirk declaring that she would be unable to keep her earlier promise.

CEO Sex Scandals

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Add to that wealth and computer savvy, and whomever is the object of the jilted woman's rage is in real trouble. Just ask Oracle Co-President Charles Phillips.
In January, YaVaughnie Wilkins decided not to get mad at Phillips after he broke off their eight-and-a-half-year-long relationship to patch things up with his wife. She got even.
Wilkins bought billboard ads in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco with pictures of her and Phillips snuggling, and her proclamation that the tech executive was her "soul mate." She even set up a website (no longer in operation) featuring pictures of her and Phillips.
But the media frenzy died down, and Phillips remains on the job.

CEO Sex Scandals

Lord John Browne was one of the world's most admired businessmen who few knew was a closet homosexual. The head of BP was horrified to learn in 2007 that former lover Jeff Chevalier was trying to sell his story to a tabloid newspaper. He failed to block publication but said in court papers that the two met while exercising, even though the true story was that they met through a gay escort service named Suited and Booted.
Authorities decided not to pursue perjury charges, but Brown was forced to end his 40-year career. In his book Beyond Business, Browne admitted that he was wrong to lie about his relationship with Chevalier. No longer hiding his sexual orientation, Browne is now a senior partner with US private equity firm Riverstone.

CEO Sex Scandals

In 2007, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide (HOT) and CEO Steven J. Heyer parted ways after it was uncovered that he sent "inappropriate and suggestive e-mails and text messages to a female employee," according to ABC News. He also had an "inappropriate physical encounter" with a woman outside a restaurant restroom. Heyer, who reportedly denied everything, was ratted out by an anonymous letter sent to the board of directors.
Still, Heyer was able to rebound. He's currently chairman and CEO of Harry & David Holdings. He's also lead director of Lazard Ltd. and is on the board of Omnicare (OCR).

CEO Sex Scandals

World's Sexiest Hotels

Crazy Bear Hotel, Beaconsfield, UK

This may look like a traditional English mansion on the outside, but things really heat up on the inside. Cool off in your own private gold bathtub in Room 8.

World's Sexiest Hotels

The Seven Hotel, Paris, France

Floating beds, mood lighting and twinkling star lights will get you in the mood for romance. Jazz it up even further with the super sexy 007 suite and its special steam bath.

World's Sexiest Hotels

Hotel Amour, Paris, France

A hotel called 'Love' in Paris! Each room is individually decorated at this old bordello turned artsy fashion hotel in the red light district. Nowadays, just for fun, they'll rent rooms for half a day.

World's Sexiest Hotels

Andaz San Diego, San Diego, California, USA

Austin Powers would have been right at home in the two-room Star Suite, with shag-pile carpet, strippers pole, adult only bunk beds, glass bathroom, mood lighting and discreet sex kit.

World's Sexiest Hotels

Maison Moschino, Milan, Italy

Fashion and fantasy infuse to create rooms that look right out of fairy tales. For something a little more sexy and less airy fairy, go for the Forest room with four poster tree beds.

World's Sexiest Hotels

The Library Hotel, New York, USA

A hotel based on the Dewey decimal system may not seem sexy, but snare a room in the erotic literature section (Room 800.001) and you'll never want to leave this library.

World's Sexiest Hotels

The Palms, Las Vegas, USA

Chill out in your very own Playboy Jacuzzi pool at the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa overlooking the Las Vegas strip, then retire to your rotating bed. But don't get dizzy!

World's Sexiest Hotels

Night New York, New York, USA

Located in midtown Manhattan, these dark, black rooms are the ultimate in sexy chic. If that doesn't inspire you, reach for your bedside copy of the Karma Sutra. Seriously.

World's Sexiest Hotels

Fleming House, Goldeneye, Jamaica

A three bedroom cliffside beach house designed by 007 author Ian Fleming himself. In fact, it was in this very place that he wrote all 17 James Bond novels. How would you like your Martini?

World's Sexiest Hotels

Hotel Sezz, Paris, France

Let loose in a luxurious room of reds, chocolate wood, stone and chrome. Spice it up further in the Eiffel Tower Suite with views of the famous french phalanx symbol.

World's Sexiest Hotels