Sex has long been used to place brands in some provocative positions, but Diesel’s decision to advertise its latest underwear campaign on Pornhub and YouPorn – as well as on dating apps – is deviant behaviour for the fashion industry. Could porn be a ripe market for advertising?

China’s lonely single men are fuelling its ‘hormone industries’, finding an outlet for their desires in anime, social networks, and games that hint at sex. YY is China’s top video cam karaoke site – but is it for playful teens, or the next stage in China’s faux-coy hook-up culture?

Overflowing champagne bottles, foamy shower scenes, models in pillow fights. The sexy tactics used to flog products are well established. Yet with an increasingly feminist culture and studies showing that such imagery can impair our ability to remember what’s being advertised, does sex still sell?

Although China’s online dating industry will generate over $350 million in 2014, the stigma attached to casual sex may hold it back. Understanding cultural nuances, social gaming app Pengpeng has amassed more than 300,000 users and is popular with Millennial men and women alike.