The media, consisting of its various forms, is a very influential socializing agent. Messages fed to us through forms of advertising and marketing have a lasting impression, often changing the ways we think and behave.
As the popularity of an ad grows, so does it moral implications, as well as its influence on audiences world wide. This week's topic of “advertising and Difference: Gender and Race” is supported by two articles which examine the effects of adverting and stereotyping on African American culture, as well as females from different cultures.Eric King Watts and Mark P. Orbe have adopted a critical view in examining one of the most memorable works of advertisement of the 21st century; the Budweiser “Whassup” Superbowl Campaign. Watts and Orbe do a great job in examining just what it is about the ad which forces
...most of us to laugh hysterically. They soon establish that it is both the familiarity of the ad, as well as the unfamiliarity of the ad which make it so appealing to audiences.
They go on to argue that “the ad campaign constitutes and administers cultural 'authenticity' as a market value” (Watts, 258).Watts and Orbe continue on to argue that the success of the ad also relied on “spectacular consumption” and the “reproduction of the 'authentic'”. The authors simply convey the idea that the ad was developed to appeal to a primarily white audience, who's imagination of “authentic” blackness, would prove the ad to be accurate. The ad campaign suggested a male bonding ritual which “every man” can identify with in order to disguise the false “authentic blackness” behind the ad.With the use of focus groups, Watts
and Orbe also discovered some other aspects which lent to the success of the “Whassup” campaign. They identified that the level with which the audience could relate to the “experience” of the ad, as well as an unconsciousness of commodification helped render the ad both comical and memorable.
The second article in our course reader for this wee's topic was J. Robyn Goodman's assessment of the impact that thin female figures portrayed by the media has on both Latina and Anglo women.Goodman's assessment of, a commonly discussed issue in regards to media influence; the portrayal of thin women, begins with establishing the media as a socializing agent,transitioning into the effects media has on body image. She progresses to examine how audiences, rather than feel pain when consuming these ideals of thin women, experience pleasure. Goodman attributes this pleasure with the notion of such glamorous images serving as an outlet for a type of escape. She links this idea of escape to the notion of identifactory fantasy.
These fantasies “establish excessively thin media models as the 'other', and the viewers gain pleasure in objectifying the 'other'” (Goodman, 282). Goodman further develops her assessment by examining links between thinness and attention, thinness and career, thinness and attraction, as well as thinness and power and control. This time of year seems to be a crucial make or break point for advertisers, with the Super Bowl and all the hype which surrounds it. Memorable, creative, even controversial advertisements have been established at Super Bowl time.
This year did not fail to introduce some new works of art, notably the Old Spice ads.These ads, portraying only one character, are funny, clever
and memorable in delivering a message of both desire and cleanliness. In developing an ad campaign, the main character of the Old Spice commercials is often seen carrying out actions of extremely manly, attractive, and comical natures. Although the main character is never seen doing the same thing twice, the message behind the ads never changes. He is often seen wearing nothing but a towel, the ads often originating in a washroom, and progressing into scenes of nature, workplace, even on a boat.Aesthetically, the Old Spice ads maintain a certain level of fluidity and randomness, evoking a more often than not, comical sense.
The main character is, in ever instance, meant to be portrayed as the ultimate male. The idea behind the ads in fact is selling a body wash for men, mean to make them smell like manly men. At times during most of the ads, the main character literally exclaims that “your man could smell like me [the main character] and not a lady”. The message which resonates so strongly in every one of these ads is always directed to women.
The main character, looking directly into the camera, is speaking to women, selling them the idea that if their men bought and used old spice body wash, that they too, could be as manly and awesome as he is. The jumpy transitions from one moment him being on a boat, to the next where he is riding a horse leaves no question in our mind that the ad was developed as such to evoke laughter and intrigue, but nonetheless develops the main character as a jack of trades type who has the abilities
ever man secretly wishes he had.The ad's power connects this comical nature and character uniqueness to the idea that by simply buying and using Old Spice body wash, any man can smell like this type of ultimate explorer/ attractive male. By applying the principles extracted from this week's readings,we can establish how these ads are so memorable and effect. As Watts and Orbe concluded in their research surrounding the Whassup Super Bowl ad campaign, both familiarity and unfamiliarity contribute to the effectiveness of an ad.
In this case, examining the Old Spice ad, I, as a viewer was sold because what I saw on the screen; the various forms of luxury and manliness were familiar to me, whether accurate of society, or as a comical twist. Because I was able to associate the various activities the main character in the ad was carrying out with the notion of empowerment, attractiveness and manliness, I understood the ad's message of what could be made of a man who uses this kind of body wash. , as well as what kind of man I would be if I smelled like the man in the commercial.The notion of “reproducing the authentic” which Watts and Orbe also attribute to being one of the factors rendering the Whassup ad campaign successful can also be attributed to the success of the Old Spice ad campaign. The Old Spice commercials rely very heavily on visuals to get the message to viewers.
These visuals are also a reproduction of what we believe to be authentic. Just as the Whassup guys are believed to truly be slang talking males, the main character in the Old Spice
ads is truly seen to be the ultimate male. This perception is based solely on what people believe to be authentic.What makes a man the ultimate, desirable figure? Is it his muscular body, or his adventurous lifestyle which make him the alpha male? A clear indication that these ads rely on the reproduction of the authentic ties back to the product being sold. In this case, the men's body wash, is developed as the perfect product, allowing any man to resemble the one on screen.
Unless I am the only one who does not have a television which can emit smells, how can anyone truly know what the product smells like, or what the ultimate man smells like? For this reason, we are relying solely on the reproduction of he authentic, allowing us to believe that the body wash is truly the best smelling product available, and that it will truly make you smell like the ultimate male.Finally, Watts and Orbe suggest that the level to which the viewer can relate to the ad will determine its effectiveness. In the Old Spice ad, the message relates to a very widely accepted concept of cleanliness. Every man and every woman would love to always smell great. Coincidentally, in this case, every man would love to be the ultimate man as depicted in the commercials, and every women would love for their significant other to be so also.
To be able to smell great, so great as to be compared to the man everyone has come to love and admire, is a home run in terms of buying a useful product. Consequently for the advertiser, Old Spice, they
too have acquired a home run in the sense that their advertising campaign speaks to millions of both men and women. There is no doubt that these ads are influential, as is most of the media which we consume. As Goodman relates the media portrayal of images to certain aspects of life, they can easily be related to the content in the Old Spice commercials.
Beginning with images and attention, Goodman discusses how the media portrays certain images, thinness for example, to having the ability to merit more positive attention. In the Old Spice ads, the ultimate man is of course a fit and muscular character who never wears a top, in efforts to establish a connection between a fit body and desirability. The media constantly reinforces the fact that a fit male will be more desirable than an overweight man. The commercial, for example, would not be as effective in selling a body wash, which makes a man smell like the man on the commercial, if the main character was overweight.
The second aspect which Goodman relates to images portrayed by the media is the ideal of power and control. In the Old Spice commercials, the ultimate man is shown doing things which are deemed to be luxurious, rich and sophisticated. The fact that he does so with both an attractive body and an attractive voice, links the idea that with a good desirable image, comes power, wealth and prosperity. The whole idea behind the ad, in fact, is that because the man is so desirable, and his abilities to please a woman are so outstanding, the fact that his scent can be bottled up is
magnificent.That bottle, which supposedly has the power to make any man smell like the ultimate man becomes that much more valuable.
If the man, for instance, was doing normal things throughout the commercial, rather than holding diamonds and riding on horses and yachts, then the idea of a man smelling like the man portrayed in the commercial would lose significant value. Ultimately the idea of the character being abnormal, in a good way, is what gains both attention and validity for the advertising campaign, all while contributing to its overall success.
