Advertising: Maybelline case study and wider reading 

Our second Advertising and Marketing CSP is the 2017 Maybelline 'That Boss Life Pt 1' mascara video advert.

This gives us an opportunity to explore the idea of gender fluidityin society and the media - plus compare the changing representation of masculinity in advertising. Notes from the lesson are here:

Gender fluidity

Gender fluidity is when gender expression shifts between masculine and feminine. Indeed, gender identity has become a major media and social issue in the last 10 years.

Young (and some older) people are increasingly identifying as gender fluid – and some have credited the internet for this change. They suggest that millennials grew up with the internet so can easily find information on topics like gender expression.

You can read more on this view and gender fluidity in this CNN article here.

Maybelline 'That Boss Life Pt 1'

The Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ advert is part of a digital campaign for their ‘Big Shot Mascara’ product.

The campaign is significant as it is the first time Maybelline has used a male brand ambassador and digital influencers. The use of YouTube stars Manny Gutierrezand Shayla Mitchellmeans the brand can reach their combined 5.1 million Instagram followers and 2.5 million YouTube subscribers.

In addition, Gutierrez (‘MannyMua’) is Mexican-Spanish-American and openly gay, offering a very different representation of masculinity and sexuality to the 1967 Score hair cream advert.

Blog task: Maybelline 'That Boss Life' case study and wider reading

Work through the following tasks to make sure you're an expert on the Maybelline CSP and particularly the wider social and cultural context.

'That Boss Life' close textual analysis

Use your notes from class to write about the connotations and representations created by the following technical and audio codes. Write at least a paragraph on each:

1) Narrative & genre: narrative theory and sub-genre

The Narrative is that if someone puts on their mascara, they’ll instantly become rich and wealthy despite what and who they are. We see that Manny who is openly gay wears it and he becomes “gold” and the same with Shayla, who isn’t white and goes against stereotypes that adverts should include white, skinny women. The advert also challenges the stereotype that only men can wear makeup. They open up a gold, glittery suitcase and out tumbles the product that everyone wants, the ‘Big Shot’ mascara.

2) Cinematography: camera shots and movement

Camera is smooth and follows the characters, we can see slow motions shots and close ups of their eyes to show how well the mascara really is. The canted angle as soon as they change in a good way shows that their lives are turned upside down as a result of the mascara.
3) Mise-en-scene: costume & props

All the characters are wearing normal everyday clothing before putting on the mascara and we see that as soon as they do apply it, they themselves become gold - exactly the same as the product. It feels as though the gold touches everything if it is used

4) Mise-en-scene: actors, setting, lighting and colour

The lighting is always natural and the fact they are overlooking a city and have the view show that they are already high up and when they put on mascara, the colour feels as though they themselves are gold. The main actors being well known (MannyMUA and Shayla Mitchell) may imply that the famous use this, and so should you.

5) Editing: pace, transitions and visual effects

The pace of the cuts are actually quite fast apart from when the camera zooms, thats when all becomes slow and the visual effects give it a real sense of royalty as they all light up. 

6) Graphics: text/graphics on screen

The text and graphics on screen show that this is mainly for the younger generation as the use of hashtags implies that because the majority of the youngsters use hashtags on social media etc, it is also used in the advert to signify that.

7) Sound: dialogue, music and sound effects

The way Manny is talking shows the stereotype that, that is how ‘most’ gay people talk and so people may say that it is offensive as it is not challenging the stereotype. The music also feels that its mainly again for the younger generation as it has the bass and the jumpy ‘catchy’ melody. The sound effects is mostly giving the feeling of sparkles and royalty.

Maybelline 'That Boss Life': wider reading

Read the following articles on this campaign:

Glamour: Manny Gutierrez Is the First Man to Star in a Maybelline Campaign, and Its a Huge Deal
Your Story: Cosmetics giant breaks gender stereotypes by choosing male model as a face of the brand
Adweek: Maybelline Recruits Manny Gutierrez as Its First Male Beauty Star

Complete the following questions/tasks:

1) Why was this campaign such a landmark for beauty product advertising?

Because the advert is saying that beauty brands are finally getting the hint that makeup isn't just for girls; it's for guys too.

2) What do the articles suggest regarding the changing representation of sexuality and masculinity?

3) Read this WWD article: Maybelline Taps Digital Makeup Influencers for New Mascara Campaign. Why might 'digital influencers' be so attractive to companies?

As influencers continue to show their prowess in the beauty space, it is not surprising that Maybelline jumped on the bandwagon, said Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer of WSL Strategic Retail. “Maybelline is saying, ‘We’re a very social brand and we want to maintain a younger, more digital shopper base.'

4) Why do you think Maybelline chose to use MannyMuaand MakeUpShaylain particular?

They may chose the YouTube stars MannyMUA and Shayla Mitchell (MakeUpShayla)because it means the brand can reach their combined 5.1 million Instagram followers and 2.5 million YouTube subscribers. 

5) What does the WWD article suggest is the crucial factor for brands regardless of whether they use influencers or more traditional celebrities?


Media Magazine: The Changing Face of Masculinity

Now go to our Media Magazine archiveand read the feature 'The Changing Face of Masculinity' in MM63 (page 15). This will allow us to compare our two advertising CSPs - the Score hair cream advert and the Maybelline digital campaign. Answer the following questions:

1) What message does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert is trying to communicate to the 1967 audience?

2) How does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert uses narrative to sell the product?

The ‘Score’ ad uses a large image of a grinning man dressed like a hunter with a rifle nestled in the crook of his arm. belts. Four women look up at him adoringly (one reaches out longingly) while the fifth, with a sultry expression, looks directly at the consumer. The advert is using female sexuality to
show men they can have power: you can conquer, you will be desired.

3) What 1967 stereotypes does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert reinforces?

A dominant reading of the ‘Score’ text would be that as a heterosexual male, one can achieve everything presented before them in the picture: power, control and sex appeal, with better hair. An oppositional reading or a critical interpretation would be that the macho-laden ideas presented in
this image are damaging to male self- esteem and present women as passive and merely decorative

4) Applying Stuart Hall's reception theory, what does the article suggest the preferred and oppositional readings could be for the Score hair cream advert?

5) Moving on to the Maybelline advert, why is the background of Manny Gutierrez and Shayla Mitchell significant?

6) What is the narrative of the Maybelline advert?

The narrative of the maybelline advert is clear -

7) What does the article suggest the Maybelline advert's message is?

By simply applying the mascara, the wearer – female or male – is instantly transported to a more sophisticated cosmopolitan life surrounded by the finer things: a Manhattan hotel room, glamorous
clothes and the promise of admission to the hottest clubs in the world’s greatest city.

8) The final section of the article focuses on masculinity. What do the Score advert and the Maybelline advert suggest regarding the changes in society and media between 1967 and 2017?

Score Advert Remake - Questions

What is the product being sold?

Hair cream for men that is in the form a liquid.

How does this advert create desire for the product?

Because they use the females to create the idea that if they use the hair cream they will get girls. 

What is the idea being sold?

The idea is that the product is a liquid hair groom, with score's scent, and greaseless look. The idea is that you will be irresistible if you use it.

How does Score construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience?

Score creates a narrative that females will 'worship' the man who wears this hair cream and that they will irresistible.  

How is this reinforced through Mise en Scene?

by the way the people have been positioned, where the male is being lifted by the women to show that he is above them as they 'worship' how good he is. We can see that the man is the one who is at the top and above women that also seem as though they are lifting him up and the man is the one who appears to be smiling the most. We see that his masculine features are put in the frame clearly e.g his arms

Can you use semiotics to argue this?

he has power over the women are their to sit and look good.

 How and why audience responses to the narrative of this advert may have changed over time?

Audiences' response has changed over time because there has been an increase in equality towards women. This would have been seen as sexist in earlier years as women are underneath men and their power, however, now there are more rights. 

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.

Blog task: Score advert and wider reading

Complete the following tasks and wider reading on the Score hair cream advert and masculinity in advertising.

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?

Produced in 1967 - This advert was produced in the year that homosexuality was decriminalised and three years before the Equal Pay Act was initiated

2) Analyse the mise-en-scene in the advert how is costume, make-up and placement of models constructed to show male dominance?

We can see that the man is the one who is at the top and above women that also seem as though they are lifting him up and the man is the one who appears to be smiling the most. We see that his masculine features are put in the frame clearly e.g his arms

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?

The advert was produced in the year when homosexuality was decriminalised and also three years before equal pay rights. 

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”?

It is significant because the fact that the fear of homosexuality was still somewhat alive, Score want to let their audience know that it is for the ‘real men'

5) What representation of sexuality can be found in the advert?

We could probably infer that the representation of sexuality was that most men would still be straight, we can see this through the way the women are standing around the man 

6) How does the advert reflect representations of masculinity in advertising 50 years ago?

We see that the representations of men being at the top and that they are the most masculine and 50 years ago when homosexuality did start becoming legal, they still had negative ideas and so the advert reflects the way they represent the ‘real man’ and not a stereotypical gay man

7) How much do you think things have changed with regards to representations of masculinity in advertising?

I think that most adverts today we can still see the male being the dominant figure and the female being there to satisfy his needs, females still appear to be sexualised in many adverts to this day

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’"?

We are much less equipped to talk about the issues affecting boys. There’s an unconscious bias that males should simply ‘man up’ and deal with any crisis of confidence themselves.

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

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”?

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?

As Miller says, the definition of “family” in places like Britain is profoundly changing – but advertising is not helping to normalise different scenarios by largely failing to portray this new normal.

Joey Whincup, insight director at Creative Race, agrees that success comes down to better research and she’s witnessing a slow but growing shift towards targeting consumers on more than the usual ‘ABC1 male’ demographics. Quite a few brands still segment like this, but others are seeking “a true understanding of their target consumer; who they really are, their beliefs, their attitudes, where they are now, where they want to be in future. “These brands are not just governed by the jobs men do or their age”.

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?

Fernando Desouches says. “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.

“What being a man means, and what ‘success’ means, is changing and this change is for the good. The message hasn’t exploded yet but we will make it explode. We will democratise it.”

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?

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

2) What are the two reasons the writer Joseph Gelfer suggests for why this needs to change?

Two equally important reasons: 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. All brands need to do their part in making the world a better place, so looking at masculinity can really be seen as part of corporate social responsibility efforts. The self-serving reason is that masculinity is constantly shifting and brands need an equally agile response in order to engage with consumers and remain relevant and competitive. By repeating tired clichés or offering alternatives of only limited imagination, brands are in danger of failing on both these fronts.

3) What are the five stages of masculinity?

Stage 1 is defined as "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 defined as "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 defined as "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 defined as "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 defined as "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) What stage of masculinity was the Score advert aiming at in 1967?

5) Why are the stages of masculinity important for companies and advertisers when targeting an audience?

Introduction to Advertising

Blog tasks: Representation of women in advertising

Advertising: The representation of women in advertising 

Start by watching her Ted Talk…

https://youtu.be/Uy8yLaoWybk

The representation of women in advertising is a vital area of study. We need to be able to discuss how representations have changed and apply these ideas to both unseen advertisements and our CSPs.

 The notes from the lesson are below.

 Jean Kilbourne: Killing us softly

Activist and cultural theorist Jean Kilbourne has been studying the image of women in advertising for over 40 years. Her series ‘Killing us softly’ highlighted the negative representation of women in advertising.

 She went on to make further documentaries studying this issue and whether it was changing over time.

  

Liesbet van Zoonen: Feminist Media Studies

 Liesbet van Zoonen was one of the first theorists to explicitly link gender, feminism and media studies. Writing since the 1990s, van Zoonen is a key figure in third wave feminism alongside theorists such as Butler and McRobbie.

 Looking specifically at the representation of women in advertisements in the 1970s and 80s, van Zoonen questioned how much things had really changed. For example, women in adverts may be shown to have jobs but their appearance was usually still the vital element.

 Liesbet van Zoonen: third wave feminist

Like McRobbie, van Zoonen was interested in the pleasures female audiences took from the women’s magazines that were heavily criticised by more radical 1970s-style feminists.

 In a similarity with Butler, van Zoonen sees gender as negotiated and dependent on social and historical context. She wrote the meaning of gender is a “discursive struggle and negotiation, the outcome having far-reaching socio-cultural implications.” (van Zoonen, 1994) 

Liesbet van Zoonen: constructing meanings

Van Zoonen also built on Stuart Hall’s reception theory with regards to how gender representations communicate their meanings to audiences. She suggested the media’s influence in constructing gender is dependent on:

•Whether the institution is commercial or public

•The platform (print/broadcast/digital)

•Genre (e.g. drama/news/advertisement)

•Target audience

•How significant the media text is to that audience

Create a new blogpost called 'Representation of women in advertising' and work through the following tasks.

Academic reading: A Critical Analysis of Progressive Depictions of Gender in Advertising

Read these extracts from an academic essay on gender in advertising by Reena Mistry. This was originally published in full in David Gauntlett's book 'Media, Gender and Identity'. Then, answer the following questions:

1) How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s?

Advertising has increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual
orientation of the subject(s) are markedly (and purposefully) ambiguous.

2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?

Soon after 1945, women were made to feel guilty by warnings of the dangerous consequences to the home that had begun to circulate. Looking at women's magazines in the 1950s, Betty Friedan (1963) claims this led to the creation of the 'feminine mystique’: The highest good is keeping house and raising children’

3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?

Major area of expansion in production/consumption - clothes and make-up - which led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative (empty) objects.

4) Which theorist came up with the idea of the 'male gaze' and what does it refer to?

Laura Mulvey - 'Male Gaze/female gaze': Women see themselves through the eyes of men and are not sexualised by men. Audiences are force to view women from the point of view of a heterosexual male or a male is sexualised in fragrance adverts for a women demographic.

5) How did the representation of women change in the 1970s?

that women are depersonalised and objectified because they are
encouraged to 'use commodities to serve men; they use them on themselves to aid femininity; commodities replace them in their relation to men'

6) Why does van Zoonen suggest the 'new' representations of women in the 1970s and 1980s were only marginally different from the sexist representations of earlier years?

From the mid-1970s there was a proliferation of distinct images that became labelled as the ‘New Woman', and that were seen as representative of the 'changing reality of women's social position
and of the influence of the women's movement'


7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?

Barthel notes that 'today's young women can successfully storm the bastions of male power... without threatening their male counterparts'

8) What does Richard Dyer suggest about the 'femme fatale' representation of women in adverts such as Christian Dior make-up?

claims that such images are something of a misrepresentation of women's liberation: '[advertising] agencies trying to accommodate new [feminist] attitudes in their campaigns, often miss the point and equate "liberation" with a type of aggressive sexuality and a very unliberated coy sexiness'

Media Magazine: Beach Bodies v Real Women (MM54)

Now go to our Media Magazine archiveand read the feature on Protein World's controversial 'Beach Bodies' marketing campaign in 2015. Read the feature and answer the questions below in the same blogpost as the questions above.

1) What was the Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign?


The Protein World team were clearly courting the female market (19-30) into looking their best for the beach this summer. The advert – featuring a tanned, blonde female in a full-frontal pose

2) Why was it controversial?

invited readers to think about their figures, we did not consider the image of the model would shame women who had different body shapes into believing they needed to take a slimming supplement
to feel confident wearing swimwear in public.

3) What did the adverts suggest to audiences?

The advert was arguably aimed first and foremost at the male gaze (an interesting way to get the attention of both sexes) but the question – and the subsequent advertising message – was definitely designed for women.

4) How did some audiences react?

Some protesters responded visually by posing next to the advert in their bikinis, to offer a more realistic depiction of women’s bodies. When angry consumers contacted Protein World, complaining about the campaign, the company’s Twitter response urged them to ‘grow some balls’ – an interesting response for a campaign supposedly directed at women.

5) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty – one of the most successful of the digital age. The campaign features real women with real bodies of all races and ages. Dove created an interactive Ad Makeover campaign that put women in charge of the advertisements, where they themselves would choose what they saw as beautiful, not the advertisers. The campaign’s mission is to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety.

6) How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns? 

7) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?

8) Through studying the social and historical context of women in advertising, do you think representations of women in advertising have changed in the last 60 years?