Do you desire yogurt more when you see it slowly being savoured in a commercial by a young, attractive female closing her eyes and moaning softly as she licks the spoon clean, while its ingredients are being listed by another in a low, seductive voice?

I am certainly not conservative, nor am I squeamish about sex. But I am so tired of every single company using sex to sell a product.

I do not mind a sex scene in a movie or the occasional breast in a football game's half-time show. What bothers me most is having sex shoved down my throat in a barrage of television advertisements for everything from yogurt to tampons to SUVs to herpes treatments. Never mind if the product has nothing to do with sex. Ironically, commercials for products that are relevant to sex are unsettlingly unsexy. For example, a Trojan Magnum commercial features a perky female voice chirping, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

I feel that this overkill is degrading to my intelligence, pandering to the lowest common denominator. They mean to hone in on our insecurities, to make us think we will be sexier, happier, more confident people if we purchase their product, and to cater to our inner sex fiends by creating a connection in our minds between buying this product and our ability to get laid. Similarly, Pavlov used food to condition his dog to respond to the sound of a bell. When you think of the yogurt, you think of the sexy females. You then feel desire for the women; thus, the company hopes, you will also desire the yogurt. This form of advertising works on the weak.