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 watching the video 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

They're on a trip to New York and the room is EVERYYYTHHHEEEEEEENNNNNNNGGGGGGG, so they get bossed up. Then they go out and come back to someone who's broken into their room. They strike poses for the camera. 

The heroes are Manny and the woman, who can pose so fiercely thanks to the helper (mascara). The villian is the guy trying to steal the bossing up equipment at the end. 
 
2) Cinematography: camera shots and movement

There's a lot of slow motion shots while the camera is moving, possibly relating to action movies and music videos, to give it an urban kick, transporting it into coolville. 

3) Mise-en-scene: costume & props


similar to music videos, the mascara takes the conventional place of money.
They all look basic before the mascara, then they look EXTRA TODAAY after it.
Everything takes on the colour grading of the tube and the costumes chance to a similar gold.

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

actors: they got well known people to star in the advert to suggest product endorsement from the influencers
setting: despite it being very empty at first, it's a New York hotel room. This suggests high status.
lighting: high-key lighting to begin with, before going dark and classy.
colour: White to gold, getting EXTRA TODAAY

5) Editing: pace, transitions and visual effects

The editing is very slow paced with only 15 cuts. The emphasis is really more on the post production slow motion to fast motion. The camera moves a lot, making the small space seem busier and giving the overall product more movement to catch the eye. 

6) Graphics: text/graphics on screen

There is the logo of Maybelline and the campaign logo straight away on screen. This clarifies the advert's intentions right off the bat and makes the wacky style make sense. The Maybelline logo is constantly on screen so viewers know to associate this garbage with the company.

7) Sound: dialogue, music and sound effects

The sound design is very poor, so you can barely understand what Manny is saying for all of it. They were really going for a music video vibe with the bass dropping. There are clinking sound effects throughout, relating to gold and metal, trying to make the cheap tubes appear better than they are. 

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 It’s a Huge Deal
Your Story: Cosmetics giant breaks gender stereotypes by choosing male model as a face of the brand

Complete the following questions/tasks:

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

It featured a man doing a traditionally female endeavour without ridicule.

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

It's evolving with the changing times as Gauntlett suggested. 

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

They have a more human reputation, meaning they're more likely to be relatable to fans in an enticing way.

4) Why do you think Maybelline chose to use MannyMUA and MakeUpShayla in particular?

One is a gay man and the other is a woman of colour, which shows their campaign is for everyone and not just pretty white women.

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 archive and 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?

"The advert is using female sexuality to show men they can have power: you can conquer, you will be desired."

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

"The narrative is clear: the consumer can have everything they want in the world if they buy the hair product."

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

"The brand’s personality and voice is all about masculine supremacy and self-belief, and is heavily reinforcing stereotypes of a patriarchal society."

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?

"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 (although they’re good for carrying your ammo)."

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

"sensation. The video ad touches on issues of gender representation, ethnicity and lifestyle."

6) What is the narrative of the Maybelline advert?

"The advertisement tells the story of two YouTubers, Manny Gutierrez and Shayla Mitchell checking into a New York hotel room with stunning views of the city. They open up a gold, glittery suitcase and out tumbles the
product that everyone wants, the ‘Big Shot’ mascara. 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."

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

"The ad, like its 1960s counterpart, uses an aspirational image showing two friends who do not conform to masculine and feminine ideals but are nonetheless powerful: happy in their own skin, confident

in their bodies and their sexuality."

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?

The striking difference between the two advertisements is that ‘Score’ is celebrating everything believed to be great about a patriarchal society, while Maybelline is applauding the breakdown of hyper-masculine culture.

Gender, identity and advertising: blog task

Read this extract from Media, Gender and Identity by David Gauntlett. This is another university-level piece of academic writing so it will be challenging - but there are some fascinating ideas here regarding the changing representation of men and women in the media.

1) What examples does Gauntlett provide of the "decline of tradition"?

"The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low-status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons. Meanwhile the masculine ideals of absolute toughness, stubborn self-reliance and emotional silence have been shaken by a new emphasis on men's emotions, need for advice, and the problems of masculinity."

He states gender categories have not been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have at least created space for a greater diversity of identities.

2) How does Gauntlett suggest the media influences the way we construct our own identities?


"Although gender categories have not been shattered, these alternative ideas and images have at least created space for a greater diversity of identities."

3) What does Gauntlett suggest regarding generational differences? Is it a good thing that the media seems to promote modern liberal values?

"Modern media has little time or respect for tradition. The whole idea of traditions comes to seem
quite strange. Why would we want to do the same as previous generations? What's so great about
the past? Popular media fosters the desire to create new modes of life - within the context of

capitalism."

4) Why does Gauntlett suggest that masculinity is NOT in crisis?

Masculinity is simply evolving.

5) Does advertising still reinforce the "conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-strong macho man" that Gauntlett discusses? Offer examples for both sides of the argument from the wider advertising industry.

On one hand, men are permitted to have more feminine attributes (much like Eddie Redmayne's gentle public persona), however, it is still met with large scale ridicule and adversity if men are not presented as masculine. For instance, Newt Scamander of Fantastic Beasts offers a caring, smart take on a traditional hero. Because he subverts what audiences are used to in a negative way, they are going to change the main character for someone more conventional in future films. The same can be said for Pirates of the Caribbean as Jack Sparrow must play alongside a traditionally masculine hero in order to be accepted by audiences. 

6) Gauntlett discusses the idea of 'girl power' and offers examples from music and film. Does advertising provide evidence to support the idea of 'girl power' or is the industry still reinforcing traditional representations of men and women?

"Magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be asoutrageously sassy and sexy as possible (see chapter nine)."

"women can be extremely tough and independent whilst also maintaining perfect make-up
and wearing impossible shoes"

7) Do you agree with Gauntlett's argument under 'Popular feminism, women and men' where he suggests that younger generations are not threatened by traditional gender roles and are comfortable with social changes? Does advertising provide examples either reinforcing or challenging this idea that younger generations are more comfortable with changing gender roles? 

I agree very much with this as adverts aimed towards younger people tend to be more diverse with gender, sexuality and race.

8) What examples from advertising does Gauntlett provide for the changing nature of gender in society (from the section on Judith Butler's Gender trouble)?

CK One fragrance 'for a man or a woman' - it wouldn't matter which of the attractive male or female models you chose to desire.

for Impulse deoderant and Kronenbourg lager - playfully teased heterosexual desires
only to reveal that the lust object was more interested in their own sex

9) Why is advertising such a good example of the 'contradictory elements' that Gauntlett discusses with regards to the mass media? In other words, how does advertising continue to both reinforce and challenge gender stereotypes?

Advertising is a reflection of our current values. Whilst values change, certain companies will comply with contemporary values while others remain with the more accepted ideologies. 

10) Finally, Gauntlett makes a clear case that things change and modern identities are increasingly fluid. What is your opinion on this debate - do you agree that the media reinforces the changing attitudes towards gender and sexuality in society?

I agree as the media aims to pander to audiences, therefore they must stay relevant and reflect the changes in thinking.

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 - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. 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?

"ads attempted to win over consumers with humour, candour and, above all, irony."

"Print ads took on a realistic look, relying more on photography than illustration"

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

In the UK, advertising in the post-war period was characterised by campaigns that very effectively reinforced that idea that a woman’s place was in the home.

Through advertising, women were encouraged to return to domestic life and resume their subservience to men.

3) Conduct your own semiotic analysis of the Score hair cream advert: What are the connotations of the mise-en-scene in the image?

-The jungle dressing of the set as well as the white explorer man suggests Britain's colonial past 
-The scantily clad women give sex appeal to the advert and boldly suggest users of the product will also have sexy women holding them
-The women are physically below the man as a metaphor for their place in society 

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

"identifies the man as Propp’s ‘hero’"

Meaning they suggest you can also be the hero through buying the product.

5) How might an audience have responded to the advert in 1967? What about in 2019?

The gender representation in this advert would have been hegemonic in society during 1967, therefore having little negative backlash would have been expected.

However, in 2019, gender representation has widely changed since the 60s. The reception of this ad would be increasingly negative for holding traditional views over masculinity.

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?

It uses advert conventions such as slogans and anchorage text to promise the audience a better life through purchase of the product.

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

Using Judith Butler's 'Gender as performance', it can be analysed that the women are all traditionally feminine and attractive, showing skin for the male viewers. Their gender representation has been constructed to perform what most men viewing the advert would want most: enamored woman slaves. 
8) How could Stuart Hall's theory of representation and David Gauntlett's theory regarding gender identity be applied to the Score hair cream advert?

The media constructed a hypermasculine representation of men as the legalization of homosexuality shook hetero-normative values. This evolved the idea of masculinity a great bit.

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)?

The media constructed a hypermasculine representation of men as the legalization of homosexuality shook hetero-normative values. It's very heteronormative.

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

It's a nod to Britain's true power! The advert is clearly trying to force a power dynamic into play, where the white British male is on top by using the product, much like in the good old days of the empire. 


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'"?

As we focus on empowering women, men are falling behind and their representation has not been as viciously updated over the years. 

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.

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

Campaigner 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?

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.

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?

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.

Case study: Marmite

Case study: Marmite

Marmite has a long history of unusual advertising based around the idea ‘You either love it or you hate it’. How many of the persuasive techniques can you spot in these adverts?

Advertising: Persuasive techniques blog task

Create a new blog post called 'Advertising: Persuasive techniques'. Read ‘Marketing Marmite in the Postmodern age’ in MM54  (p62). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

1) What does John Berger suggest about advertising in ‘Ways of Seeing’?

‘All publicity works on anxiety’

2) What is it psychologists refer to as referencing? Which persuasive techniques could you link this idea to?

It is the hypothetical improved self that adverts want you to believe in so that they can market to your inadequacies.

"Publicity is always about the future
buyer. It offers him an image of himself
made glamorous by the product or

opportunity it is trying to sell. The image
then makes him envious of himself as he might
be. [...] The spectator-buyer is meant to envy
herself as she will become if she buys the product.
She is meant to imagine herself transformed by

the product into an object of envy for others."

3) How was Marmite discovered?

Justus von Liebig realised brewer's yeast could be concentrated and eaten.

4) Who owns the Marmite brand now?

Unilever

5) How has Marmite marketing used intertextuality? Which of the persuasive techniques we’ve learned can this be linked to?

They make reference to pop culture and children's tv. They wanted to create nostalgia through Paddington bear and the weird fleshy looking thing called Zippy?

6) What is the difference between popular culture and high culture? How does Marmite play on this?

High culture is harder to access for regular people whereas pop culture is widely accessible. The "ma'amite" campaign spoofs the idea of higher culture with ‘By appointment to Her Majesty the Queen’

7) Why does Marmite position the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’?

Their references give an audience the pleasure of getting a joke, therefore rewarding them with a sense of knowing and enlightenment.

8) What examples does the writer provide of why Marmite advertising is a good example of postmodernism?

They make satirical commentaries on today's society.

"These advertisements deployed the iconography of political culture in a postmodern pastiche."

Narrative in advertising: blog task

Narrative in advertising: blog task

Nike has received critical acclaim for its February 2018 advert ‘Nothing beats a Londoner’. Embed the advert in your blog and answer the following questions:

 


1) How does the advert use narrative? Apply at least three narrative theories to the text, making specific reference to specific shots or key scenes in the advert.

In the advert there are many vignette narratives throughout to keep the pace of it quick and attention grabbing. This way we can explore the diversity of London through small narrative arcs with different characters. By using this, Nike is attempting to say they are for everyone.

2) Read this BBC feature on some of the people in the advert. How does the advert use celebrities and less well-known people to create stories in the advert?

They used minor celebrities with small followings and gave them a cameo in the advert to connect with Londoners to show they're adapting to modern times. 

3) Read this AdWeek feature and interview on the Nike London advert. [Note: this may now be behind a paywall - you can find the text from the article here]. How did the advert use technical codes (camerawork, mise-en-scene, editing etc.) to help create narratives that could connect with the audience?

The spot weaves together a slew of different scenes by having a character from each one slip
seamlessly into another, over and over. The talent narrates by talking directly to the camera, and
each scene features different types of camera moves and tricks—some of them as wild as anything
Nike has put on film. Furthering the playful sense of competition, even the music changes for each

scene, offering everything “from a classical​ ​score to grime to a wurlitzer organ,”

4) What representation of London does the advert offer? 

Although the characters complain over the hardships they face when attempting to master their sport, the advert regards it in a knowing way, almost creating a love-hate thingy.

5) Why might this advert appeal to an audience?

personal identification 

Blog tasks: ideology

Blog tasks: ideology

Part 1: BBC Question Time analysis

Watch this clip from BBC Question Time with Russell Brand and Nigel Farage. The BBC deliberately placed the two against each other and the episode resulted in far more people watching and tweeting than usual.

1) What examples of binary opposition can you suggest from watching this clip?

Blue haired woman vs Disabled man

Short hair vs long hair

Immigrants bad vs Immigrants good

poor vs rich

people vs government

audience vs performer 

2) What ideologies are on display in this clip?

Nigel Farage believes the UK is overcrowded and there's a strain on resources thanks to immigrants while Russel Brand believes it is the politicians who make unnecessary, selfish cuts to public resources. The difference in ideologies is that their beliefs over what the root of the problem is differ.

Embed the video into your blog (as above) and answer these two questions in full paragraphs.


Part 2: Media Magazine reading

Media Magazine issue 52 has two good articles on Ideology. You need to read those articles (our Media Magazine archive is here) and complete a few tasks linked to them. 

Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

1) Read the article and summarise it in one sentence.

The Hunger Games world is filled with propaganda and rich people with power over poor people.

2) What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?

the view is that of a negative one as there are huge divides between the rich and the poor.
3) What do the Hunger Games films suggest about the power of the media to shape and influence ideological beliefs?

The characters slowly learn to manipulate the media into favouring them, showcasing that media is simply someone's perception of events and not the ummediated truth. 

Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

1) Read the article and summarise it in one sentence.

Ideologies change rapidly due to constant conversations presented through media and people.

2) What are the four accepted ideological beliefs in western societies highlighted by the article?

-People should put their families first.
-People should work hard for their money.
-Women should behave in feminine ways, and look after their appearance.

3) What does Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggest about power and ideology in society?

His theory suggests dominant societal views benefit the rich and powerful and keep the working class in check.

4) What does French theorist Louis Althusser suggest about ideology and consumerism?

His view was that ideology is the greatest material power and dominates our day to day lives through two key forms of control:
1: Repressive state controls social behaviour through the major institutions
of society – the Government, Army, Police, Courts, etc. –which are dominated by the ruling elite.
2: ‘Ideological State Apparatuses’ that control using common sense rather than fear.

5) Do YOU agree with the idea behind They Live - that we are unthinkingly controlled by the media which is run in the interests of the economic elite? These are the big questions of A Level Media!

I, on the whole, do believe that money holds influence and as the media giants amass great wealth, they would naturally promote ideologies that keep them on top. These ideas have been so ingrained in our culture though that they must unknowingly be promoting it themselves on some level.