Blog task: Score advert and wider reading

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

Media Factsheet - Score hair cream

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #188: Close Study Product - Advertising - Score. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets. If you need to access this from home you can download it here if you use your Greenford login details to access Google Drive.

Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:

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

Advertising agencies in the 1960s relied less on market research and leaned more toward creative instinct in planning their campaigns. The “new advertising” of the 1960s took its cue from the visual medium of TV and the popular posters of the day, which featured large visuals and minimal copy for a  dazzling, dramatic effect. Print ads took on a realistic look, relying more on photography than illustration, and TV spots gained sophistication as new editing techniques were mastered.

This links to the Score advert as moving from the 1960's women were began seen as sexual objects. This is because this could have been encouraged by the more liberal attitudes of the sexual revolution in the latter half of the decade. By 1967 it would not be uncommon to view females as both subservient to men and wearing very little clothing – as observed in the Score advert.

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

In the post-war period the division of labour between the sexes was clearly defined in advertising. Men were represented exclusively as the breadwinner and – more often than not - intellectually superior to their female spouses. The woman’s role was 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.

Mise-en-scene

*Facial expression: satisfied smug smile. (Sense of achievement)

*Setting: Jungle theme - evokes Britain's colonial past

*Costume: dressed provocatively (sexually objectified) reinforce Western beauty ideals (male gaze) females were exploited in 1960's to subvert female stereotypes e.g biceps and utility belt. 

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

The Score advert identifies the man as Propp’s ‘hero’ in this narrative. The image infers that he is ‘exulted’ as the hunter-protector of his ‘tribe’. The adoration – and availability – of the females are his reward for such masculine endeavours. This has a clear appeal to the target audience of (younger) males who would identify with the male and aspire to share the same status bestowed on him.

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

I feel like the audience in 1967 would have responded to this in a positive way as it was more of a dominant patriarchal society and the idea of the men being dominant and getting all the females would have been heavily supported. However, if this advert was shown and distributed to an audience in 2020 I feel there would be a mixed response given to this advert. This is because of how gender roles have changed and have been subverted for men and women to be treated equally and if women saw this advert they would feel offended by the fact that men hold all the power over them when times have been changed for the better. 

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 Score hair cream advert uses persuasive techniques such as anchorage text to help draw their audiences attention. This is because they use direct address to males "you" and reassure men about their sexuality showing that they care about them and using this product will help you for better hair.  

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

 Judith Butler asserts that gender is not biologically determined but rather socially determined; learned through society. She believes that gender is a performance. Both the male and the female in the Score advert are performing the roles of the (masculine) man and the (feminine) woman in accordance with their biological sex. The advert also serves to reinforce the binary opposite gender roles ascribed by society.

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

David Gauntlett's theory on gender identity revolves around on the idea of  that both media producers and audiences play a role in constructing identities. This can be applied to the Score hair cream advert as the producers for the advert are aiming to sell towards men and they are using females to help draw their attention to the product. This is because in the advert it shows the women being submissive towards the male due to using the hair cream product. Furthermore the use of the females wearing very little clothing connotes that they are being objectified to look pleasing and attractive towards men which is again supporting the idea of Gauntlett's theory on gender identity and how men and women are represented in advertising. 

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)?

In the advert you can clearly see the contrasting difference between how the male is being represented compared to the female. This is because of the male being shown as the central image and has been deliberately positioned more higher than the females to connote and assert male dominance. In addition to this, the females are shown to be below the male to connote that they are submissive towards him and that they should always obey him as these were the ideas of how women should have acted in the 60's-70's. This all links to the past of 1967 as this year was seen as a period of change with the role of women and men in society and that they should be equally treated just like men. 

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

This links to Britain's colonial past due to the jungle theme. This is because the use of the Jungle theme can connote of the past of how Britain went to invade other countries around the world and colonise them. Furthermore, the use of the army suit that both genders are wearing in this advert can connote the period of when Britain was at war with other countries due to them colonising bringing in the fact of how wrong it was.

Wider reading

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. After all, men (certainly white, middle-class, Western men) are better paid, have more opportunities and are not inhumanely oppressed in some parts of the world. Yet, the reality is that men commit suicide more than women, and are more likely to drop out of education and get involved in crime, drugs and binge-drinking. Moreover, as women are increasingly empowered, many men feel increasingly disempowered, accentuating these social problems.

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. This insight led to the step-change ‘Find Your Magic’ campaign from the former bad-boy brand. One of the sectors most impacted by this insight is FMCG because the weekly shop is one of the household traditions where gender roles are most challenged; the person who wins the bread and the person who buys the bread isn’t down to gender these days.

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

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. But some authors think it’s already too late, with book titles proclaiming ‘The End of Men’ and that today’s male is a ‘Man (Dis)connected’. So, with so much evidence of this implosion of male identity and the risks of pandering to outdated stereotypes.

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. For brands nervous of saying the wrong thing, Whincup suggests experimenting with social media as it allows flexibility and for more targeted messages. Additionally, if it doesn’t work, it can be removed. One example is the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which raises awareness of male suicide. The charity is chipping away at loaded language that puts pressure on men through its #mandictionary, a place online where men can “redefine themselves on their own terms”. According to Laura Jones, strategy director at Exposure Digital, men need this permission to talk about their struggles and insecurities, and advertisers can play a hugely positive role on this front, as Always did with ‘Like A Girl’. Jones worked on the Always campaign and says the normality of women freely discussing their troubles, facilitated by brands, is “undoubtedly” a factor in declining rates of female suicide.

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, Axe global brand development director, he knows that. And, as he says, you’ve got to “set the platform” before you explode the myth. “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.” The passion in the Argentinian’s voice is tangible; this is a man on a mission. He’s already forged partnerships with several NGOs, from CALM to Promundo to The Representation Project, and says more developments are on the horizon.