In Utah, the debate over decency in advertisements is ongoing and passionate. Popular targets in recent years have included Squatter's and its sister company, Wasatch Beers, for their St. Provo Girl and Polygamy Porter advertisements, Brighton Ski Resort for its polygamy billboards, and regular tussles over Abercrombie & Fitch's ads and catalogs.

Robert Roveta, executive producer of the Ultimate Combat Experience, said UCE is proof that sex and gore sells. Ultimate Combat Experience presents a live show every week at Club DV8 in Salt Lake City and a broadcast version on Sunday evenings on KPNZ-Ch. 24.

"Our show is all about shock value," Roveta said. "It's guys out there beating the crap out of each other, and in between rounds there are the ring girls. People love the girls. The more we do with them, the more the crowd goes wild."

Using its previous approach, which focused on the martial arts aspect of the sport, Roveta said the event was struggling.

"When I took over (as event producer), we were at 11:30 p.m., behind a foot infomercial," he said. "Now, we're on in prime time, and I think we're (KPNZ's) number one show on Sunday nights."

Ultimate Combat Experience has hosted wet T-shirt contests and "show your bra" contests, and its audience continues to ask for more, Roveta said.

That enthusiasm toward the event's provocative advertisements and promotions does bring Roveta to consider boundaries.

"We've never gone wrong," he said. "We have a limit on what we can and will do. But it does seem like the more we do, the more people like it.

"At the end of the day, it's a business. I knew I had to keep my sponsors, and when we did the wet T-shirt contest I worried about that. But they were the ones cheering for it. The results are there. The ratings have gone up. Commercial sales have gone up. Sponsorships have gone up. Attendance at the live shows has gone up. There's a buzz."

Does sex sell?

Some say that if sex sells — if it's an effective way to bring attention to, and increase sales of, a company's product or service — it shouldn't be a big deal. Where's the harm in giving the public what it wants?

JoAnn Hamilton, president of Bountiful-based Citizens for Families/Coalition for Community Standards, said in cases like the Super Bowl halftime show, the public isn't given a choice.

"No one in America was given a choice into what they saw on TV that night," she said. "Strangely enough, many probably thought they were watching a sporting event."