Explain how viewpoints and ideologies are communicated by the media language used in adverts.
The aim of Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man” campaign in 2010 was to transform the brands identity and market to a completely new target audience. The idea was to disassociate the brand with an older, more mature male audience. However, after the campaign the brand was able to reinforce the idea that they were a brand for fresh, young men, and ensured their scents appealed to men and women alike. This brand identity was portrayed by the sense of escapism, humour and the use of American Actor and ex NFL player Isaiah Mustafa in its advertisements which meant the product now appealed to a wider target audience, including younger men as well as women, which is unconventional for a men’s aftershave brand to market a male orientated product to women.
According to Halls Reception Theory, the preferred reading of the advertisement would be that Old Spice is a fun, modern brand for both men and women to enjoy, however the oppositional reading of the advertisement may be that it reinforces patriarchal ideologies. This idea is created through using an ex professional sports player as the celebrity endorsement, the slogan and the product itself, which all reinforce masculinity and the ideological dominance of men within society.
The aim of the advertisement is to sell the product, and so, unusually for men’s grooming adverts, the brand addresses women, suggesting to them that buying the product for their partner may make them a better man, perhaps even as witty and good looking as Isaiah Mustafa. This effect is created by the use of sex appeal, the model is topless and smirking, as well as the sense of escapism created through the depiction of the Bahamas. This idea also works for the male audience as they come to believe that using the product will make them a better man. This ideological viewpoint is widely accepted by both male and female audiences.
Not only does the advertisement draw on patriarchal stereotypes, it also reinforces ideological assumptions about lifestyle in accordance to our appearance to others, by suggesting that smelling good will make you more attractive as a person. It also follows conventions of advertisements in that it uses beauty appeal in its model to attract attention from the audience, as well as make both the advert and the product aesthetically pleasing which adds to the professionalism of the brand. However, the use of a male, topless model could arguably be seen as reinforcing ethnic stereotypes about hyper-sexualised black men in the media, as well as conforming to the ideal that couples should be heterosexual, women will be attracted to men and vice versa.
Comments
Post a Comment