Women’s Women: Neutrogena Wave Commercial
The Neutrogena Wave commercial displays
a beautiful young female (Vanessa Hudgens) using the new face cleansing
product. She demonstrates how quick and simple the Wave is to use and how
quickly she received results. The advertiser is trying to SHOW that women who
are accepted by society are expected to have clear and beautiful skin, and the
Neutrogena Wave makes achieving this idea a cinch. By using a young and pretty
cultural icon as the lead in the commercial, the advertiser is associating the
product with what many females wish to be. He continues this by having the lead
claim that “even [her] friends noticed”, implying that other people thought she
was more beautiful after using the product. In general, the modern day woman is
a working woman and attentive mother, creating a very full schedule. The third
person voice in the commercial lists only three steps required to use the wave
and it makes “skin [look] softer right away”. By expressing how easy and quick
the wave is to use, the advertiser appeals to assiduous women that don’t have
time to spend on extras for their appearance.
Men’s Women: Axe Commercial
The Axe
commercial aired on MTV opens with a thin brunette in a revealing red bikini
running frantically through the woods, leaping over every obstacle in her path.
In a few seconds, glimpses can be caught of other figures running through the
woods in the same manner and dressed in the same way. Finally, the cluster of
women breaks through a tree line and begins running across a beach. The viewer
can now see that there is also a group of women, all in green bikinis, running
from the other side. Eventually, there are crowds of females sprinting across
the sand from all directions, running toward a common target…a man. The man stands
in the center of the beach, flexing his muscles and spraying himself with Axe.
The women begin to stumble and fall as they desperately run to their target.
The advertiser is trying illustrate how the smell of Axe attracts women. This
ad appeals to the fantasy of most men, the fantasy of women fighting
desperately to be theirs. But because there are so many women running for him,
there isn’t a lead or a special woman. All these women appear to be just sexual
objects attracted to him because of the Axe he sprayed. The colors of the
women’s bikinis serve as archetypes to underscore how much these women want the
one man. The red bikinis make one think of passion, sexual energy, and create a
sense of danger towards the other women. Green represents jealously, envy, and
vigor. The blue can mean sadness or confidence in one’s own abilities. Each of
the women is running toward the man in the center with one of these powerful
colors. The man stands in the middle, basking in the power he holds over all
the women…basking in the dream power given to him by Axe.
Men’s Men: Honda Civic Summer Clearance Commercial
The
Honda Civic advertisement begins with a college graduate buying a Honda Civic
during the big summer clearance. He gets into the car with two other young men
and they all celebrate saying “college paid off”. They drive away and cruise
down the road and through town. One guy hangs his head out the window and his
hair blows in the wind. The advertiser wants to make young men believe that
this car will grant them a good time with their friends, and it will be a great
pay-off for suffering through college. The high-five exchanged by the three guys
underscores their excitement at having a “brand new Civic” and the fact that
they got it at a great deal. They saved money, which is a stereotypical
excitement for a male. One guy hangs his head out the window, like a dog having
a great time in the front seat of a moving vehicle, representing the freedom
and happiness that came with the new Honda Civic.
Women’s Men: Kay’s Jewelry Commercial
The
advertisement begins during a terrible storm around a house. In the window are
a man and a woman commenting on how it had never stormed like that at the house
before. A bolt of lightning suddenly streaks across the sky, startling the
woman, and she jumps back into the man’s arms. The man says that he is there,
everything is okay, and he’s got her. She smiles, and tells him to never let
go. He gives her a necklace from Kay’s and says he never will. This is the
ideal romance moment floating in the imagination of every female: a man that
says he will never leave. This commercial promises that Kay’s jewelers can make
‘forever’ happen. Women dream of many things in a man. One is security, offered
by the male when he says that he is there when she is frightened by the
lightning. Women also fantasize about ‘forever’ and being special enough to
have one man for the rest of her life and establish a secure home and family.
The male grants this by presenting her with the necklace and saying “I’m right
here, and I always will be.” The woman feels secure and loved, all because of
the necklace given to her from Kay’s.
