Score advert and wider reading

Media Factsheet - Score hair cream

1) How did advertising techniques change in the 1960s and how does the Score advert reflect this change?

In the 1960's advertising techniques were used which portrayed elitism and authoritarianism. Score hair cream advert reflects this as the man with the gun and how he is positioned at a higher level. This portrays hierarchy and shows how some have more power than others. Also this supports where it says that visual took more importance.

2) What representations of women were found in post-war British advertising campaigns?

In the UK, during the post-war period, advertising reinforced the idea that a woman's place was in the kitchen. The women were to remain inferior to the men and to 'support the man in his efforts'. 

3) Conduct your own semiotic analysis of the Score hair cream advert: What are the connotations of the mise-en-scene in the image? You may wish to link this to relevant contexts too.

C: The costumes in this advert are important as they play an important role in gender stereotypes. The single male is wearing a khaki coloured safari clothes and looks very smug and comfortable in his seat. The women in this advert however, are wearing revealing clothes and are semi-naked. This exposes their bodies to the audience and objectifies them. 

L: They have used high-key lighting to reinforce the setting of the jungle

A: The male is placed in a higher position compared to the females. It reinforces the gender imbalance and prominence of a patriarchal society in 1960s. The females are placed around him to make him central and denotes their powerless dynamic in society.

M: The women are decorated for the purpose of luring men in into buying the product. The women are made to look seductive. Females are used as objects for voyeuristic pleasure.

P: The jungle theme included a variety of props which make up the setting properly. It highlights colonistic values. The use of gun could be interpreted in a sexual manner, a phallic symbol. It parallels with how the women are semi-naked and seductive, so 'Score' can allow you to get the women. Links to hypermasculinity. 

S: Jungle setting. Exotic vibes. 

4) What does the factsheet suggest in terms of a narrative analysis of the Score hair cream advert?

The man is presents as a hero (Propp's seven spheres of action). The image infers that he is the protector of the tribe. The women adore him and so are his rewards for his masculine endeavors. This appeals to young men who are the target audience who aspire to be like him. There is a idea that women are sexually available and fall at the feet of the men, which can also be seen in the Lynx adverts today (sex sells).

5) How might an audience have responded to the advert in 1967? What about in the 2020s?

A male audience in 1967 would've seen this as ironic and humorous (Stuart Halls reception theory - dominant reading). However women, who weren't the target audience, would've read this in an oppositional way but still would've accepted it as it was a representation of a patriarchal society which they lived in. Modern audiences would understand the sexist narrative and how it is outdated and offensive in todays society.

6) How does the Score hair cream advert use persuasive techniques (e.g. anchorage text, slogan, product information) to sell the product to an audience?

The use of the copy (slogan) stating "Get what you've always wanted" uses direct mode of address which attracts it's audience to get what they've always wanted by buying the product. The name of the company "Score" also suggests that by buying their product that they can achieve their goals. The anchor text also states "great grooming" telling men to buy the product because it is exclusive to them and that they are better than other companied trying to sell them the same thing. The anchor also says "made by men for men" suggesting that men know what each other want. 

7) How might you apply feminist theory to the Score hair cream advert - such as van Zoonen, bell hooks or Judith Butler?

van Zoonen and Mulvey similarly suggest that a women body is used in the media to sexualise them and Mulvey also suggest the male gaze and that men look at women and are spectacles. In the Score advert, we can see that women are wearing revealing clothes, clearly sexualising them and exposing parts of their body. 

bell hooks suggest that feminism is a movement to end patriarchy and that we cannot look at feminism without looking at race or class. She uses the term 'white supremist, capitalist patriarchy'. In this advert we can see that the man is superior one (patriarchy) and he is also white.

Judith Butler suggest that gender is not biology and instead a repeating acts or traditions. In this advert we can see the man being very masculine and powerful and also the women dressed and looking a certain way (reinforcing gender stereotypes). However we can also see the man who has to look and dress a certain way, by using the product and the women who are strong as they are carrying the man on a platform (subverting gander stereotypes). 

8) How could David Gauntlett's theory regarding gender identity be applied to the Score hair cream advert?

Gauntlett suggest that media help construct our identity. We can see the producers of Score create an identity of masculinity which men used and still use (maintaining authority). This would also show the women her place in the world (having to look and dress a certain way.)

9) What representation of sexuality can be found in the advert and why might this link to the 1967 decriminalisation of homosexuality (historical and cultural context)?

The adverts represents heterosexuality and also promotes this in some way. This links to 1967 decriminalisation of homosexuality as you were aloud to be homosexual from this time. This advert shows that heterosexuality is more better and for the elite.

10) How does the advert reflect Britain's colonial past - another important historical and cultural context?

This links to British colonial past as this was the time where the British empire was coming to end. Many of the countries that they controlled were in Africa and therefore the setting of the safari gives reference to this. This shows that the British are still powerful and exerts their dominance. This also gives a narrative similar to Hollywood movies due to the jungle setting, the gun and protecting his tribe.

Wider reading

The Drum: This Boy Can article

1) Why does the writer suggest that we may face a "growing 'boy crisis'"?

As they believe we are empowering the wrong sex and that we are "less equipped" with tackling boys issues and therefore we have an unconscious bias when they have a problem and stereotypically tell them to 'man-up'.

2) How has the Axe/Lynx brand changed its marketing to present a different representation of masculinity?

They gave men a much more diverse definition of what it means to be a successful man in 2016 and to relieve the pressure on them. This then led to the step-change 'Find Your Magic campaign.

3) How does campaigner David Brockway, quoted in the article, suggest advertisers "totally reinvent gender constructs"?

To make boys like pink, don't like going out and getting dirty or aren't career ambitious. 

4) How have changes in family and society altered how brands are targeting their products?

That men are now running the house-hold budgets in the US and that brands need to recognise this otherwise they will lose their biggest audience. He also states the in places like Britain that the "meaning of 'family' is profoundly changing"  and that advertising are not helping to normalise different scenarios by largely failing to portray this "new normal".

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?

As meaning of masculinity and men is changing, you need to have proper definition and therefore 'set a platform'. Once you do this, you can then talk about it openly and get your message through 'explode the myth'.