Real men don’t crave cheesecake.
In fact, a new study claims that sexy images of the female form leave men hankering for beef and pork.
Researchers behind “Is Meat Sexy?,” published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, tracked more than 1,600 men and women in the US, UK and Australia to explore advertising’s impact on red-meat consumption and how that relates to mating.
When experiencing “sexual motivation,” the men tended to act out in ways that “increase their desirability” as a sex partner, say co-authors Eugene Chan and Natalina Zlatevska, marketing professors at Monash University and University of Technology in Sydney, respectively.
But they aren’t turning into carnivorous Casanovas purely out of lust for lady flesh — it’s also about signaling status, researchers say.
And few things say “I’m a powerful, hot-blooded man” like a thick, juicy porterhouse steak.
“The link between meat and status is grounded in evolutionary drivers of consumption,” Zlatevska claims. “Cavemen consumed meat in order to be strong, healthy and powerful enough to survive the harsh environment. Royalty and the nobility also consumed meat because it signified wealth.”
While evolution shaped mankind’s eating habits, Chan tells The Post, marketing is manipulating them.
Carl’s Jr. styled hotties such as Kim Kardashian as bikini-clad burger-munchers and launched the tacky trend. The fast-food chain eventually dropped the oversexed ads amid backlash, but not before spawning a rash of imitators, including Kraft’s Devour frozen dinners, billed as “Food You Want To Fork.”
The new research suggests an unintended effect of the heavy-breathing ads, Chan says.
“Sexualized images of women can make men eat meat more as a way to increase their masculinity and status, to show them off to the opposite sex,” he says. “[But] since the growing trend of meat consumption harms one’s health and is bad for the environment, sexy ads don’t just sell the latest cologne or clothing — they may have unforeseen consequences.”
Meanwhile, the study says, women crave meat less when sexed up, probably because they realize other traits — beauty and good health among them — make them more desirable mates.