For this task I have chosen to look at the
advertising campaign for Lynx, shown during the Superbowl Commercial in
America. The placement of this campaign is very clever because of the exposure
to the target audience and future members of the audience (young males). Primarily
the young males would read the message and this would affect the ambitions they
have for their life.
The advertisement challenges stereotypical
dreams of little boys when they are young by having both the hero and the
astronaut represented throughout. The hero would be seen as the lifeguard who
saves the beautiful woman from a shark in the sea. The attractive lifeguard beats
up the shark and carries the woman out of the water. This immediately sparks a
hint of romance between the two characters and the audience would think that
they would become sexually involved. The story is challenged by an astronaut
walks onto the beach and catches the woman’s eye. The woman runs to the
astronaut and the tag line reads ‘nothing beats an astronaut’.
The advertisement plays on these stereotypes,
which young males aspire to as they grow up. It is also suggesting that to be
attractive to a woman is not to be a fit and healthy male but to be an
astronaut.
The concept of ‘Othering’ is apparent
throughout this advertisement as it is suggesting that men should aspire to be
an astronaut who would be very intelligent rather than a lifeguard who is
simply attractive. This would then cause an immediate separation between the
two groups because the astronaut is perceived as more important and attractive
even though he is not the hero.
No comments:
Post a Comment