Advertisments use that mindset that you were raised to believe to their advantage to sell products. By changing the name of perfume to cologne and passing it off as a manly product, you can start selling woman products to males eliminating the femininity of it all. So, if a product loses it's manliness and feminineness by it's name and spotlight being changed, then what makes a product manly or feminine.
My advertisment shows a semi naked man using cologne, lieing down in almost the same fashion that you would see a woman lieing down in the similar advertisement, but unlike a woman, the man looks like he is deep in thought, trying to understand a problem of some sort. I'd have to say the advertisment is trying to sell you that a man should be in thought, always trying to find a solution to any problem that may come up.
While he's also in deep thought, the man is semi naked and you can see that he is fairly built. So one can say that the advertisment is also trying to sell to you the fact that a man should care about his body. Just as a woman cares for her waist, to be a man, you need to show that your strong and built.
Finally, the man has the average messy-clean hairstyle with a good looking face, so the only thing that comes to mind, maybe a man should be good looking for others. An ugly man isn't a man unless he has a face like the guy on this advertisment. Masculinity is based on the same things that make a woman feminine in this advertisement, body, mind and looks, so in this sense, there both the same. The advertisment shows masculinity as a good looking guy with a sharp mind, which is one of the most common views of masculinity.
you make a good point. men and women both strive to impress their desirable partners by leaving a long lasting effect with their looks and style of clothing. in these present times men feel the need to be attractive to demonstrate the aesthetic characteristics that are becoming popular in today's pop culture.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great start to an analysis of the ad. But I think the first quote from Friday's Quick Write would is more directly related to your ad. Think about your ad, and what Bordo says about 'men acting and women appearing". I really like your idea that the man in the ad embodies both feminine and masculine qualities, but in the end, you state, he is unquestionably masculine. Why doesn't the fact that he is laying down, presenting himself to the viewer, much like women do, make him appear any less masculine?
ReplyDeleteremember what i said on Monday when we were discussing your ad, I forgot to post it up today. Analyze your ad a little better and make your argument a little stronger. Is cologne giving that name because it's targeted for men? Or is cologne given that name because of its scent that can be recognize?
ReplyDeleteyour general idea is great, cant wait to see your final.