Describe the person in the Ad. Body image, stance, expression. etc.

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Advertising Images

Describe the person in the Ad. Body image, stance, expression. etc.

Man

The man is poised and confident. He is fully dressed in a suit and bow tie. His face expresses self-belief and self-assurance. His body image communicates that he knows what he wants and he usually gets what he wants. It illustrates that he can conquer everything. His poise oozes authority, dominance, and power. He is in control and he has the world at his fingertips. Nothing can faze or shake him. His appearance is real as there is no photo manipulation technique used.

Woman

The woman is highly sexualized. She is not fully-dressed as she is wearing a bareback dress that is only covering a quarter of her body. Her sexual features such as eyes, lips, breasts, thighs and hips are highlighted extensively in the picture. She is sitting provocatively on a staircase in a pose that is meant to focus attention on her erotic features. Her body image communicates an overt desire to look sexually attractive. She appears to be a bit unsure and insecure. Her only source of power and strength is her sexuality. Her appearance is artificial because it is apparent that photo manipulation techniques such as airbrushing and computer enhancement have been used.

b) Discuss why you think this particular image helps to sell whatever product is being advertised.

Male Image

The male image helps to sell the Dolce & Gabbana cologne being advertised by instilling a desire in men to be as confident and poised as the man used in the picture. Most men have a desire to be successful and powerful. The image implies that the power and dominance craved by a majority of men can only be achieved by using the product being used by the man in the advertisement. The sense of authority and control given by using the cologne will make men possess the irresistible charm possessed by the man in the advertisement.

Female Image

The female image helps to sell the Coco Chanel perfume being advertised by implying that highly attractive women use the product. The women who will see the image will judge themselves against it; and they will purchase the product to achieve the sexual attractiveness depicted by the woman in the image. The product is a must-have if a woman wants to look as enticing as the woman in the picture.

c) Discuss how this particular image communicates something about the culture’s notions of males and females.

Male Image

The male image communicates the cultural notion that men are powerful, dominant, and superior. Their source of power and authority is the way they present themselves to the society. They do not have to remove their clothes to demonstrate their sex appeal because they are sexually attractive even when they are fully clothed in a suit. The fact that there is no photo manipulation is evidence that when it comes to men, looks are not important. The only important thing is confidence and self-belief.

Female Image

The female image communicates the cultural notion that the source of female power in the world is sexual attractiveness. It implies that the sole purpose of women is to attract male visual attention and satisfy male sexual pressure. Focusing on the sexual and erotic features of females erodes their humanity and reduces them to objects or things. Women are portrayed as weak and inferior to men because they can only become powerful if they remove their clothes. The use of make-up and photo-manipulation reveals that society deems looks to be the most important thing when it comes to women. Women are under constant pressure to conform to a universal unachievable standard of beauty.