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. If you need to access this from home you can download it here if you use your Greenford login details to access Google Drive.

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 required less marketing research and more creative  themes and ideas  as seen  from the adventure esque theme the score ad advert  had.

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

Ones aiming to make women feel useful in a more domestic setting such as  their homes  contrasting  the era of WW2  Britain where they're place was in factories with the good wife being the most common representation of women taking pride and joy in housework

3) Conduct your own semiotic analysis of the Score hair cream advert: What are the connotations of the mise-en-scene in the image? You may wish to link this to relevant contexts too.

The lack of clothing on the women reflect the increasing left wing ideals that were  being created in the 1960s of the sexual revolution of the late 60s with it not being uncommon to view women as both subservient to men and as subjects of the 'male gaze" ,as proposed by Mulvey (1975) ,with the ad being tailored to a male perspective

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

It feeds into Propps character theory "hero" with the image inferring that he's rewarded as the hero of  tribe protecting these  tribal women for his masculine achievements  this will seem appealing  for an audience of more so younger males who identified with the male  idea will  find this appealing.

5) How might an audience have responded to the advert in 1967? What about in the 2020s?

In the late 60s it would be viewed as relatable whereas now  a lot of society would view this adverts as wrong and incorrect. 

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?

 The slogan suggests to the target male audience that using the Score hair cream will result in you becoming extremely attractive to women. The fact that this is 'what  you always wanted' suggests that being swarmed by  women is a fantasy males are obsessed   with 

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

The score advert takes place in the 60s which feeds in van zoonens arguement that mainstream media texts  use  narrative codes are used to objectify wome.

8) How could David Gauntlett's theory regarding gender identity be applied to the Score hair cream advert?

At the time of the production of the score hair cream advert it was a time where being labelled as gay or  having different sexual preference was  against  the idea of masculinity and in contrast as of recent years and society becomes more  woke and is Drifting away from society classes as traditionally  and changing what a man  can be or is.

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 man had his hair styled This was a different view  of masculinity where it was ok for men to start taking care of themselves and therefore encouraged this behavior. Although in society at the time still saw things like this as gay.

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

The jungle setting with the throne infer that the male has been successful in protecting  the tribe. 

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'"?

The writer suggests there's a growing boy because males' no longer  know where they fit in society  affecting boys.

2) How has the Axe/Lynx brand changed its marketing to present a different representation of masculinity?

They changed their branding  in order to give a more diverse definition in what it means to be a "successful" man in 2016

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

He try's to  push a difference in gender societal  habits such as boys being allowed to were pink.

4) How have changes in family and society altered how brands are targeting their products?

Changes in family structures and societal values have forced brands to move beyond traditional marketing strategies,

5) Why does Fernando Desouches, Axe/Lynx global brand development  "set the platform" before you explode the myth of masculinity?

Masculinty evolving is a long process and will not change other night