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Finally, an Ad Campaign Aimed At Monkeys

TaeKwonDood writes "Does sex sell for monkeys the way it does humans? Apparently so. And researchers are now hoping sexy billboards can cause monkeys to prefer a flavor of Jell-O they otherwise do not."

11 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Not News, Not stuff that matters! by LostCluster · · Score: 2, Funny

    Did I mistakenly load an idle story? Sorry, haven't been here in while.

    1. Re:Not News, Not stuff that matters! by sortius_nod · · Score: 4, Funny

      Did you come back just to show how much you don't like a site you don't read?

      Wow, sad life.

  2. Uh Oh by itchythebear · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I pictured an ad using sex to sell jell-o, I pictured a jell-o fight between two attractive females. That was an awesome thought.

    Then I pictured the same ad, but with monkeys. That was a less awesome thought.

    I don't think I want jell-o anymore :(

    --
    If what I just said sounded like a troll, it was probably just a failed attempt at humor.
  3. Re:Go bannanas by amicusNYCL · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Monkeys have been shown in previous studies to really love photographs of alpha males and shots of genitals, and we think this will drive their purchasing habits."

    Huh.. so we're really not that different.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  4. Creating a culture of consumerism in monkeys? by gmuslera · · Score: 2

    Thats cruel, evil, even (or maybe, specially) inhuman. Where is PETA? Greenpeace? Is that humanity will never stop finding new ways to torture animals?

  5. Re:No pictures... by hey! · · Score: 3, Informative

    Science is competitive. If you've ever worked with scientific data sharing you know that scientists are totally paranoid about unpublished data. And history shows they're justified. Watson and Crick weren't entirely up front with Rosalind Franklin about how they were using her data. Later they stiffed her on the degree of credit she deserved, minimizing her contribution even though they'd have had no chance of being first to publish without her xray data.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  6. Of course it does. Monkey whores. by Seumas · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does sex sell for monkeys the way it does humans?

    Of course, it does. I know this is a *slightly* different question, but it has already largely been asked a long time ago. Almost a decade ago, researches at Yale were studying monkeys learning to use money. They taught them to use currency to buy fruit and jello. They then discovered that monkeys would use money to buy favors. And not long after that, they discovered that the females would start prostituting themselves to the males, in return for money and then they would use the money to go buy treats for themselves, after the sex.

    It would only seem entirely logical that they would, therefore, have similar reactions to sex used in "marketing".

    1. Re:Of course it does. Monkey whores. by Seumas · · Score: 2

      So the real story is that Jell-O is funding universities to study how they can literally move product into the monkey world - whether by advertising or whoring. Devious.

    2. Re:Of course it does. Monkey whores. by Seumas · · Score: 2

      The researchers tried to downplay that aspect of the study. It wasn't an intentional "let's see if they're pay for sex" study. It was the byproduct of the introduction of currency and economy and trade that occurred naturally and definitely disturbed those involved.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/magazine/05FREAK.html?pagewanted=1

  7. Statue of Liberty by user+flynn · · Score: 2

    Is anyone else picturing the Statue of Liberty barely sticking out of a sandy beach?

    --
    In the distance you hear an ominous moo.
  8. Re:"Monkeys" non-generic for male, just as is "men by mug+funky · · Score: 2

    um, they used alpha males as well. they did two sets of ads.

    at least read the summary.