“The eye contact that the female is perceived to make with the viewer in [many] . . . ads is particularly forceful as a sexual signifier. The pupils are generally dilated . . . . This comes as no surprise since the female face is perceived as more sexually attractive when the pupils are dilated. In fact, in earlier times in Italy, extracts of the drug belladonna were used for its cosmetic effect, given that it produces extreme dilation of the pupils. . . . [This] explain[s] the origin of its name, which in Italian means “beautiful woman.””

—Marcel Danesi, Brands, 2006.