MEDIA ESSAY

A comparison of how woman and children are represented in fragrance advertisement from the 1920s, 1990s and 2013

I have chosen to compare three advertisements than span nine decades: Evening In Paris (print 1920s), Lovestruck (print 1990s) and Dior Homme with Robert Patterson (moving image 2013).

The thing that shocked me most and stood out most was how elegant, discrete and sophisticated the women were in the 1920’s when the advert I analysed was done in paint compared to now where women are represented in 2010 as openly alluring and unsubtle with their actions.

Evening in Paris (1920 print Bourjois)

 

My first advertisement Evening in Paris was produced just after WW1 had ended and therefore it is not surprising that it depicts a handsome uniformed officer; equally, the period shapes the representation of a woman whose main aim would be to secure an eligible man to marry. The woman is positioned in a conventional way in that she is held by a man in a passionate embrace with the focus on her delicate femininity and his powerful masculinity.

The man is represented as a foil as we do not even see his face. What is important about him is that he is in military uniform which constructs him as a very masculine man, which might have been important in an advertisement made only two years after war ended. Nevertheless, however commanding he is, he is nonetheless in the lady’s power, which conveys the idea that if you wear Bourjois perfume, you would have a very attractive young man in a uniform devoted to you. This is a very good advertising idea as many people of the public see men in uniforms to be much more attractive than they actually are as they picture a masculine man who is in control.

The woman’s posture is a visual code for her femininity. She is leaning back and is pictured as the more fragile of the two as she is clasping on and depending on the males strength and masculinity. Also the male is the eager one of the two as he is coming on to her yet she seems to be clasping on. This could also hint to the period of where females had a desire to marry and have a family, therefore they would not be as defensive if a man came onto them then of the modern time where it would be seen as to forward if a man came on to a woman in the same way.

She is depicted as having porcelain white skin which is a sign of beauty and being pretty, in many nations have white skin is a sign of beauty and is pictured as very gorgeous. As with the red nails and lipstick the colours really contrast against her white and pure skin. Red is stereo-typically the sign of love which could be a sign of either her feelings towards to male character or that she is looking for love. Red is also a sign of beauty and having red nails and lipstick is stereo-typically rather sexy and attractive to the male generation. She has flowers woven into her perfect blonde hair which once again is a sign of beauty; it also tells us about the period where woman do not have jobs, so therefore they have a lot of free-time. It seems in her free time she is focusing on beautifying herself for her male partner and is going to the extent of weaving flowers into her hair which takes a long time.

The advert overall gives out the message that if you wear Bourjois perfume then when your male partner comes home he won’t be able to take his hands of you or resist you. 

Lovestruck (1990 print Vera Wang)

My second advert is ‘Love struck’ by Vera Wang. Firstly this is a traditional Romeo and Juliet based balcony scene, it features the woman standing on the balcony whilst the male is looking adoringly up at her. This can be pictured as attractive to woman because most woman desire a male who treats them right. I took a liking to this advert because it is not a stereotypical advert where the woman is attending to all the male’s needs. In this advert the man is attending to the woman, as well as the woman is positioned higher than the male which shows manners of importance. It is telling us that because she is at a higher point that she is the more respected of the two and that all attention should be on her. It is showing that in this advert the female is more important than the male.

 The female character is dressed in a beautiful purple gown; she has brown natural hair and a very pretty face. However the male is dressed in black. I feel this contrast’s against the purple and he is wearing black so that the attention is on the female. If this is a feminine perfume they do not want all the attention to be on the male. They do not want him to over-ride the female who is pictured as the dominant of the two. Secondly the adverts main theme is flowers. There is a purple flower placed on the perfume lid which is of the same colour as the dress and the brand name. As well as this the male is holding some purple/pink flowers. This tells us that the brand is feminine and directed at females. It includes a very girly theme.

The female character’s hair flows loose as well as she has her arms and shoulders on display. This shows us that she is not conservative, married or formal. It tells us that she is free, single and wanting the attraction of the male. We can tell a lot from an advert just from her hair because it could also hint at the fact that the perfume could make her feel young and free. The title ‘Lovestruck’ ties in very well with the theme of the perfume as it portrays the male who is positively ‘Lovestruck’ over this gorgeous female.

 

 (2013 Dior Homme with Robert Patterson)

For my third advert and final fragrance advertisement I chose the moving image of ‘Uncensored official director’s cuts’ by Dior Homme which aired in 2013 and is starred by Robert Patterson. I chose this advert because it is very different to the other two adverts I had chosen. Firstly it is a male perfume and this gives a very different reaction to the advert. The adverts message is along the lines of that if you wear Dior then you will become as ‘cool’ and ‘good-looking’ as Robert Patterson and will break all the rules and who attracts gorgeous blonde girls. The whole advert is filmed in black and white. This gives a retro, urban and classic effect on the advert, this really ties in with his clothing, expressions and body language which give a ‘cool’ effect.

The man in this screenshot is positioned in a very 'cool' position, as if he has no care in the world, he does not obey the rules hence him sitting on the roof with his shades on. Yet however he is in a suit, this could show that he could be quite important yet he does not obey the rules. The advert is in black and white, to add the 'cool' effect and to enhance his actions. This screenshot is the opening scene. They have straight away positioned Robert Patterson in this way because its eye capturing, boys would see this and think 'hang on I want to be like him, what I can do to be like him'. The model is presenting himself in a very 'I don't care about anything' position. His legs are not perfectly together they are spread apart and his body position is slumped, hence giving this effect. The brand is offering boys the chance to be like Robert Patterson and that if you buy this perfume you will become like him. The brands message is similar.

In this image the man is positioned dancing with a girl, they are messing around and they are falling in love. The key code is definitely that he is attracting many girls; this one in particular is the typical gorgeous blonde girl. This is giving the image that if you wear the fragrance you will attract many gorgeous girls and fall in love. The brand is promising boys that they will get many girls attracted to them with this fragrance, the message is the same.

This is one of my favourite scenes. It shows the man running on the roof and the woman below. Firstly it gives a sense of freedom and adrenalin. That this man could do anything he wanted because he was wearing Dior. Then the woman is positioned below the man. The main view is the man and this gives the effect that you are better then everyone and you are the alpha male if you were wearing Dior. This scene gives you this feeling that you want to be a part of what they are doing. You want to be in Robert Patterson's place, this may affect people’s decision on buying the product because they want to be free and be able to run on roof tops with beautiful girls. This is the message and idea of this scene in the advert. It makes people want to buy Dior fragrance for men.

In conclusion, my earliest advert shows women as refined whereas in my modern advert they go out to get what they want.