How is the female role portrayed in advertising? Does the sex role portrayal in advertising affect company image and buying intention? What are the major demographic or psychographic factors that will affect the impact of sex-role portrayal advertising on consumer evaluations? Do culture and product category matter in determining how sex-role portrayals affect consumer behavior? These questions are addressed by reviewing more than 70 articles in the major marketing, psychology, consumer and communication journals: 1971-2011. The contributions of the current research are three fold: it develops a theoretical framework, suggests major findings, and provides key implications for global marketing managers.