Advertising: Score case study and wider reading
We have already studied the changing representation of women in advertising but there is no doubt that the portrayal of men and masculinity has also changed significantly too.
Our first advertising CSP, the 1967 Score hair cream advert, provides a compelling case study for the representation of both men and women.
Notes from the lesson and the blog task are below.
Hypermasculinity in advertising
Hypermasculinity is defined as: a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality.
Advertising in the 1950s-1980s often featured a hypermasculine representation of men – and some representations in the media today still continue this.
Gelfer: Changing masculinity in advertising
Joseph Gelfer, a director of masculinity research, suggests that the way masculinity is represented in advertising is changing. Looking at advertising over the last 20 years:
“Previously, masculinity was mostly presented in one of two ways: either a glamorous James Bond-style masculinity that attracted ‘the ladies’, or a buffoon-style masculinity that was firmly under the wifely thumb.
Thankfully, and somewhat belatedly, things are beginning to change.” (Gelfer, 2017)
Gelfer: Five stages of Masculinity
Gelfer suggests there are five stages of masculinity – how people perceive and understand what it means to be a man.
Stage 1: “unconscious masculinity” – traditional view of men
Stage 2: “conscious masculinity” – as above but deliberate
Stage 3: “critical masculinities” – feminist; socially constructed
Stage 4: “multiple masculinities” – anyone can be anything
Stage 5: “beyond masculinities” – it doesn’t exist
Gelfer says advertisers need to think about how their target audience views men and masculinity when creating campaigns.
Masculinity in crisis? David Gauntlett
Media theorist David Gauntlett has written extensively on gender and identity. He disagrees with the popular view that masculinity is ‘in crisis’:
“Contemporary masculinity is often said to be 'in crisis'; as women become increasingly assertive and successful… men are said to be anxious and confused about what their role is today.”
Instead, Gauntlett suggests that many modern representations of masculinity are “about men finding a place for themselves in the modern world.” He sees this as a positive thing. (Gauntlett, 2002)
Score hair cream advert: CSP context
The Score hair cream advert is an historical artefact from 1967. It should be examined by considering its historical, social and cultural contexts, particularly as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques.
Context: 1967 can be seen as a period of change in the UK with legislation on (and changing attitudes to) the role of women – and men – in society. Produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality and three years before the 1970 Equal Pay Act, the representation of gender could be read as signalling more anxiety than might first appear. The reference to colonialist values can also be linked to social and cultural contexts of the ending of Empire.
Score hair cream advert
Answer the following questions to ensure you have a comprehensive textual analysis of the Score hair cream advert:
1) What year was the advert produced and why is the historical context important?
- 1967 and the historical context is important because it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques.
2) Analyse the mise-en-scene in the advert how is costume, make-up and placement of models constructed to show male dominance?
- The male is at the top carried by the women who are wearing revealing clothing staring at the man with a look of adoration. Not only that the make up is there to enhance the female actresses looks further enhancing the ideology of male dominance.
3) The main slogan is: 'Get what you've always wanted'. What does this suggest to the audience and how does it reflect the social and cultural context of 1967?
- That men who use their product will be able to have women and power which reflects on the social and cultural context of 1967 as being filled with a sense of hyper masculinity and being against gays.
4) Why is it significant that the advert text says it is "made by men" and that it also contains "Score's famous masculine scent”?
5) What representation of sexuality can be found in the advert?
- An extreme sense of hetro - sexuality .
6) How does the advert reflect representations of masculinity in advertising 50 years ago?
- Through the use of the positioning of the man being above the women holding a gun.
7) How much do you think things have changed with regards to representations of masculinity in advertising?
- The fact is that instead of just women being sexualised men are also more sexualised and this goes for the majority of advertising companies, meaning that masculinity has become sexual than just powerful.
The Drum: This Boy Can article
Read this article from The Drum magazine on gender and the new masculinity. If the Drum website is blocked, you can find the text of the article here. Think about how the issues raised in this article link to our Score hair cream advert CSP and then answer the following questions:
1) Why does the writer suggest that we may face a "growing 'boy crisis’"?
- A growing global ‘boy crisis’ suggests that we could be, in fact, empowering the wrong sex. Of course, women are woefully under-represented in boardrooms and certain walks of life, with casual sexism and unconscious bias still endemic, but the difference is that we are all now familiar with the narrative around tackling these issues, however we are much less equipped to talk about the issues affecting boys.
2) How has the Axe/Lynx brand changed its marketing to present a different representation of masculinity?
- As Lynx/Axe found when it undertook a large-scale research project into modern male identity, men are craving a more diverse definition of what it means to be a ‘successful’ man in 2016, and to relieve the unrelenting pressure on them to conform to suffocating, old paradigms
3) How does campaigner David Brockway, quoted in the article, suggest advertisers "totally reinvent gender constructs”?
- In order to prevent a full blown crisis of self-worth, Brockway advocates that advertisers “totally reinvent gender constructs” and dare to paint a world where boys like pink, don’t like going out and getting dirty, or aren’t career ambitious, for example.
4) How have changes in family and society altered how brands are targeting their products?
- In somecountries men are doing 40 per cent of the supermarket shopping.“In the US men are running household budgets now. If brands don’t recognise this, they are going tolose out because they’re increasingly ignoring their potential biggest audience. We hear a lot aboutwomen’s voices needing to be heard, but in FMCG men are a strangely silent group.”
5) Why does Fernando Desouches, Axe/Lynx global brand development director, say you've got to "set the platform" before you explode the myth of masculinity?
- “This is just the beginning. The slap in the face to say ‘this is masculinity’. All these guys [in the ad] are attractive. Now we have our platform and our point of view, we can break the man-bullshit and show it doesn’t matter who you want to be, just express yourself and we will support that.
Campaign: Why brands need to change
Read this Campaign article on Why brands need to change their approach to marketing masculinity. If the Campaign website is blocked, you can find the text of the article here. Think about how the article relates to our work on gender and advertising then answer the following questions:
1) What are two ways advertising traditionally presented masculinity?
- Previously, masculinity was mostly presented in one of two ways: either a glamorous James Bond-style masculinity that attracted ‘the ladies’, or a buffoon-style masculinity that is firmly under the wifely thumb.
2) What are the two reasons the writer Joseph Gelfer suggests for why this needs to change?
- one altruistic, the other self-serving. The altruistic reason is that traditional masculinity causes problems, whether it be its impact on men’s wellbeing or on women and their equal representation in society.
3) What are the five stages of masculinity?
- Stage 1 is "unconscious masculinity”, which means that traditional masculinity has been adopted by someone without them even thinking about it. People at Stage 1 are living their lives according to what they perceive to be "common sense" or "intuition" and do not actively address masculinity, perhaps because they are too busy surviving, or just don’t have the required critical thinking skills.
- Stage 2 is "conscious masculinity", which means that traditional masculinity has been consciously adopted by someone. People at Stage 2 look to various "proofs" of masculinity, such as historical evidence, biological determinism or even holy books.
- Stage 3 is "critical masculinities" and is largely aligned with feminist thought. People at Stage 3 are aware that society is often patriarchal and homophobic and want to counter these problems. They also tend to believe that masculinity is not biologically determined, rather socially constructed.
- Stage 4 is "multiple masculinities" and suggests that masculinity can mean anything to anyone. People at Stage 4 share many of the concerns of those at Stage 3, but they are less burdened by guilt from the problems caused by masculinity, and focus more on the freedom to be who they want to be.
- Stage 5 is "beyond masculinities" and proposes the simple truth that masculinity does not exist. People at Stage 5 understand how masculinity operates at the other stages, but ultimately believe it to be an illusion that society has created to keep people in line.
4) Take the Five Stages of Masculinity Personality Inventory testto see what stage of masculinity you are at. Where did it suggest your views are currently? Do you agree with its assessment? You can read more about the five stages of masculinity here.
- Did a different test said i am not very masculine but more feminine, I don’t agree.
5) What stage of masculinity was the Score advert aiming at in 1967?
- Can not tell since it wasn’t there.
6) Why are the stages of masculinity important for companies and advertisers when targeting an audience?
- It allows them to see where they need to advertise on the five stages scale and can help them to increase their customer base because of that.
Additional Score Questions:
What is the product being sold?
How does this advert create desire for the product?
- It shows a man being above women, whilst he’s holding a gun. This links back to the male gaze theory that women see from the eyes of men that they’re objects used to show status in almost primitive fashion only there for the desires of men.
What is the idea being sold?
- That if you use heir hair cream that you’ll be able to attract women. This ideology links back to Gerbner’s cultivation theory by making men slowly adapt to this nonsensical belief.
How does Score construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience?
- From Stuart Hall's encoding and decoding theory Score’s advert encoded the message that as long as you use their hair cream that you’ll be able to get women.
How is this reinforced through Mise en Scene?
- This is further reinforced by mise en scene by the fact that the women are wearing make-up and skimpy clothing whilst staring at the guy they’re holding above themselves.
Can you use semiotics to argue this?
- The gun signifies power however you can also see the plants which represents being in the jungle/danger, altogether this can represent that you can have the power/strength to help protect others.
How and why audience responses to the narrative of this advert may have changed over time?
- Over time people have become more aware of women rights and that this advert itself is derogatory to women putting whilst putting them down.
