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This can be done through targeted informational ads in magazines, television ads during sports events, newsletters, magazine editorials, and online web sites for products. By placing an importance on physical appearance, advertisers today have molded the standard American male into the “Urban Cowboy”. Advertisers today use many modes to attract and keep the male audience. Selling products to males that are normally associated to women, advertisers today use masculine symbols, language and imagery, and sex to sell their products.
Traditionally men are not supposed to care about their appearance and kooks, but with these television shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and these men’s magazine continuing to grow in their popularity, the male role has changed quite a bit moving from being a power force to a combined gender role with the masculine and feminine modes (Breather 1 72), For example in the magazine GO there is an ad for Jones of New York. It is a full page glossy ad with a handsome man wearing a very sleek, sophisticated sharp black suit. Right next to the man there is a gorgeous woman in a beautiful bright green dress standing beside him.
This ad appeals to the man y saying that is you buy a suit from Jones of New York that you too can have this beautiful woman by your side. Not only they are using the masculine symbol of success and wealth, they are also using sex as a means of advertising. The man wearing the suit portrays a male who has achieved a great deal of wealth and status. It uses both the male and feminine role in the ad to attract the male audience. Imagery is a very important tool used by advertisers today, especially when selling skin care products for men.
In another ad in Men’s Health magazine, imagery is used to sell Clique skin supplies for men. The ad is a full black background page that had three grey bottles of shaving products for men. One a post-shave healer, another shave aloe gels, and last a face scrub, all bottles immersed in droplets of water. The ad reads at the bottom: “Simplicity X Technology + Comfort = Luxury Shave. A better routine for even for even the most sensitive skins”. The imagery that Clique is portraying is a luxurious shave when you use their products.
The contrast Of the colors in the advertisement is important too, by using a black background, and contrasting it with the color gray for their bottles, this ad is creating an elitist rot of feel for this product. In truth the ad is simply selling shaving products, but by portraying it that way they make it easier for men to purchase this product. Language is also an important tool that advertisers use to sell to their audience. By using masculine words in their advertisements for grooming products, they ease the male customer into buying this certain product.
Ad advertisement in Men’s Health magazine for Avon Face Moisturizer uses language to impress the male consumer. The ad states in bold letters: ‘ Impress Her With Your Charm, Not Your Lines. ” Language is essential to sell a reduce, especially for men. By using powerful and masculine words they appeal to the average man. This ad implies that if the consumer uses this moisturizer he can impress women with his charm, and he can achieve this charm by using this Avon Face Moisturizer. By placing this importance on physical appearance, advertisers today have created the Urban Cowboy. The American Cowboy as a cultural model was not supposed to care of or about appearances. He was what he was, hard- working, straightforward, and honest. He was authentic” (Breather 179). When we think off cowboy we think of a rugged strong masculine man. The urban Cowboy is a male who is today’s average male, who believes himself to be strong, masculine, straightforward and honest, but at the same time does care about his appearance in some way, whether its wearing designer clothes, shaving products or cologne a cosmetic product.
The Stetson commercial which stars Matthew Micromanage as the ultimate cowboy who is at a cowboy ranch walking on his way to meet his beautiful girlfriend. This commercial portrays him as this natural man in his own natural habitat, and aggressive male with an aggressive attitude. This commercial uses all the Asia advertisement modes masculine symbols, language and sex. By using the cowboy image they are portraying that ever present masculine male gender image. After the end of the commercial they have a tagging or what Breather calls a homily. A homily is a short sermon or discourse, or informal lecture, often on a moral topic and suggesting a course of conduct. ” (Breather 179). Basically a homily is a tagging that implies some advice on masculinity. As in the Stetson commercial the only tagging they use is “Live the Legend, Stetson”. They are implying that you are still able to live that cowboy legend; sing cologne a cosmetic product, you still can be masculine. Another important tool is sex- We hear the infamous phrase sex sells; the truth is that sex does sell a product.
They have this handsome man Matthew Micromanage in this very sexual type of commercial. This commercial also appeals to women, most women who watch this commercial may not even prefer the scent of Stetson, but by having this famous actor in the commercial they have appealed to the female audience. Also by having the beautiful women in the commercial, it also implies to the consumer male that they can eave this lady if they wear this cologne. A false perfection portrayed by the advertiser, but definitely helps the consumer to purchase their product.