Gavrilov Georgy
Abstract: The article demonstrates the limits of effectiveness of political advertising using the elements of sexuality in political campaigns in Russia and abroad. Many cases prove that appeal to Eros may be partially effective in achieving destructive goals in the election campaign: carnivalization of the campaign, political provocations, discredit of a competitor, etc. In addition, a soft form of positioning of a politician through emphasizing his/her masculinity or femininity could achieve a good result in between the election campaigns. Such forms of implicit advertising “humanizes” the incumbent and makes him/her closer to the common person. The use of sexuality in positive campaigning during the election campaign almost always leads to devastating effects. Discussion of topics related to sexuality during the campaign causes the polarization of the electorate, or generates frivolous or scandalous image of the candidate. Broad publicity earned due to such provocations does not result in a growth of rating. This fact applies not only to majoritarian candidates who strive to win an absolute majority of votes, but also to participants in proportional elections when the political party relies on the epatage in order to occupy at least a minority part of the political market. As a result, such political technologies are mostly used by marginal political forces. In addition, we could see a clear feedback: the use of such techniques marginalizes every participant of the election campaign.
Keywords: elections, political advertizing, campaigning, political technology, political parties.