Advertising: Score hair cream CSP
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.
2) What representations of women were found in post-war British advertising campaigns?
Reinforced that the women's role was in the home as a mother and housewife
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.
The red white and blue colours of the score bottle in the pack shot and the jungle setting in the background - the union jack colours make the audience feel a sense of patriotism and reflect their colonial past, makes the audience who would have been very traditional and miss when Britain had all of the power want to buy the hair cream
The jungle setting - links to their colonial past, instilling a sense of patriotism
The costumes - The women wearing revealing clothing reflects how women were viewed at the time, as objects and things to be looked at (Mulvey-male gaze) and shows how women were objectified (Van Zoonen)
Actor placement - The way the women are looking up at the man admiring him reflects how women were seen to serve men and be enamoured by them, the women are clearly seen as passive and secondary to the man (Van Zoonen) which clearly shows how disregarded women were and how inferior they were to men.
4) What does the factsheet suggest in terms of a narrative analysis of the Score hair cream advert?
Thye man is presented as the hero using Propps character theory and the women are seen as his reward for being so brave.
5) How might an audience have responded to the advert in 1967? What about in the 2020s?
In 1967 most people would have seen no issue with the advert and would've seen the preferred reading that buying score hair cream will make you irresistible to women who are just objects however a current audience hopefully would take the op positional reading that the advert pushes harmful representations of both men and women.
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?
"Get what you've always wanted." - Implies that men should only ever want to be surrounded by women and that they will be if they use score hair cream, it also uses their masculinity to get them to buy it.
4) What does the factsheet suggest in terms of a narrative analysis of the Score hair cream advert?
Thye man is presented as the hero using Propps character theory and the women are seen as his reward for being so brave.
5) How might an audience have responded to the advert in 1967? What about in the 2020s?
In 1967 most people would have seen no issue with the advert and would've seen the preferred reading that buying score hair cream will make you irresistible to women who are just objects however a current audience hopefully would take the op positional reading that the advert pushes harmful representations of both men and women.
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?
"Get what you've always wanted." - Implies that men should only ever want to be surrounded by women and that they will be if they use score hair cream, it also uses their masculinity to get them to buy it.
7) How might you apply feminist theory to the Score hair cream advert - such as van Zoonen, bell hooks or Judith Butler?
Van Zoonen - The owmen are objectified and presented as passive and secondary to the man. The way the women are positioned and their costumes it is cleaqr that they are there for the male gaze (Mulvey). The women all follow western beauty ideals.
bell hooks - The advert could be a way for men to fight back at the third wave feminist movement
Judith Butler - gender roles are a performance, it is clear that they men and women are presented very differently
8) How could David Gauntlett's theory regarding gender identity be applied to the Score hair cream advert?
He suggests that masculinity is not in crisis and that it is just evolving, the advert represents what was seen as the ideal man in the 60s.
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)?
They are clearly against it and are trying to show that men being surrounded by women is seen as the "norm" and that it is what men should "always want"
10) How does the advert reflect Britain's colonial past - another important historical and cultural context?
The Jungle setting, the colours of the union jack used and the props and costumes.
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'"?
The writer suggests that we are empowering the wrong sex and that we should be empowering men instead
2) How has the Axe/Lynx brand changed its marketing to present a different representation of masculinity?
They did a study on some men and found that they crave a more diverse representation of what it means to be successful.
3) How does campaigner David Brockway, quoted in the article, suggest advertisers "totally reinvent gender constructs"?
David Brockway, who manages the Great Initiative’s Great Men project, urges the industry to be “more revolutionary”, particularly when it comes to male body image, which he says is at risk of following the negative path trodden by its female counterpart
4) How have changes in family and society altered how brands are targeting their products?
Their are more movements and awareness for men
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?
Judith Butler - gender roles are a performance, it is clear that they men and women are presented very differently
8) How could David Gauntlett's theory regarding gender identity be applied to the Score hair cream advert?
He suggests that masculinity is not in crisis and that it is just evolving, the advert represents what was seen as the ideal man in the 60s.
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)?
They are clearly against it and are trying to show that men being surrounded by women is seen as the "norm" and that it is what men should "always want"
10) How does the advert reflect Britain's colonial past - another important historical and cultural context?
The Jungle setting, the colours of the union jack used and the props and costumes.
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'"?
The writer suggests that we are empowering the wrong sex and that we should be empowering men instead
2) How has the Axe/Lynx brand changed its marketing to present a different representation of masculinity?
They did a study on some men and found that they crave a more diverse representation of what it means to be successful.
3) How does campaigner David Brockway, quoted in the article, suggest advertisers "totally reinvent gender constructs"?
David Brockway, who manages the Great Initiative’s Great Men project, urges the industry to be “more revolutionary”, particularly when it comes to male body image, which he says is at risk of following the negative path trodden by its female counterpart
4) How have changes in family and society altered how brands are targeting their products?
Their are more movements and awareness for men
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?
Lynx/Axe has attempted to get the conversation rolling with its U-turn ‘Find Your Magic’ and, while admirable, it’s not the game-changing calibre of Always, Dove and Sport England
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