The advertising world is a truly fascinating instance of subtle or even overt psychological manipulation. Its basic formula — (1) Create a feeling of need or inadequacy (2) Offer a product to fill the void (3) ??? (4) Profit!!! –- is one that is intrinsically demeaning. It is therefore unsurprising that accusations of sexism are often hurled with great fervor at many marketing campaigns. Some of these are mild and easily brushed off – yes, gender specific products are pitched at the relevant sex, but they are necessarily discriminatory. Some are harder to defend – whether overtly sexualizing women in advertisements amounts to sexism is debatable. Others are impossible to defend, either because they blatantly proclaim one gender as inferior or because they reinforce established sexist gender stereotypes. Here are 15 really, really sexist ads.
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Over the years, savvy marketers have systematically discovered and created not only the greatest products to sell, but precisely how to package and push them upon the world.  No matter the negatives, or how unnecessary a certain product or service is, corporations have found a way to portray themselves and their products as indispensable.  To reject those products and services is to reject happiness, or so the consumer should believe.  Over the years there have been some extreme standouts in this advertising game, most notably the following fifteen:
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