FREE ESSAY ON MAN ENOUGH? A LOOK AT MALE ORIENTED ADVERTISISING

MAN ENOUGH? A LOOK AT MALE ORIENTED ADVERTISISING

Rich Ceccoli Ceccoli 1
Dr. Sterling
Effective Writing
November 10, 2000
Man Enough?
Advertising plays an essential role in our society today. 
On some levels, it shapes us into the people we are by implanting in 
our minds certain ideas of what we should own. Advertising agencies 
are out to strike a nerve or hotspot in our consumer driven minds 
that will lead us to buy whatever product they may be selling. In 
recent times we can see a rather disturbing and not so subtle 
advertising strategy developing. Agencies are associating their 
products with masculine homilies such as sex appeal and the male 
competitive drive. The new trend among ads and commercials is to 
question the consumer's masculinity and align their product with 
masculinity.
Men are very concerned with their sex appeal and how women view 
them. Many new ads are sending the message that their product 
carries with it the essence of sexiness. A perfect example of this 
is a "KOOL" cigarette ad in Playboy magazine. The ad depicts an 
overly crowded bar packed with young attractive people. In the back 
of the room there is a sign that says "BE KOOL," which jumps right 
out due to its green lighting. Everyone in the bar is preoccupied 
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with conversations except one girl. She is a very beautiful twenty-
something brunette with a very seductive and hypnotic look on her 
face. She is locked in a dead stare with a man's hand holding a KOOL 
cigarette. The only part of the man showing is his hand and forearm 
and it is clearly apparent that this girl is staring at it. The add 
is basically saying that this girl singled this guy out of a packed 
crowd just because he smokes KOOLs. The fact that she is staring at 
his hand and not him is very interesting. The girl in the ad cares 
nothing about the man holding the cigarette or any other men 
surrounding her. She is simply entranced by the cigarette itself. 
The ad agency is directly aligning its product with sex appeal. Not 
only does this ad say "Smoking KOOL makes you look sexy," this ad 
says "KOOL's ARE sexy." 
Another ad that takes the exact same approach is a recent 
Levi's television commercial. The commercial is about 30-45 seconds 
long and it features numerous women that live in the same apartment 
building. Each scene displays a different woman doing something 
drastically destructive to their apartment. One woman even cuts into 
her wall with a chain saw. Each time one of the women destroy 
something the commercial cuts to the repairman (landlord, 
superintendent) who receives a beep on his pager. Throughout the 
commercial, one accident after another, this repairman goes to the 
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women's rooms to make repairs. Surprisingly enough, each room that 
he visits is inhabited by an unusually attractive young female. 
Every time the repairman enters or leaves a room to respond to a 
call the woman will look glare at his jeans. The ad ends with this 
as he receives another page and says, "God, this place is falling 
apart." This ad is absolutely ridiculous. The advertising agency is 
actually telling you that these jeans are so sexy that women will 
destroy their personal property just to look at them for a short 
while. To be adored and desired by women is something that every man 
dreams about. The man in the ad is depicted as the most desired man 
on the planet and if the ad agencies can make someone feel that 
these jeans will work the same wonders for them, well then they will 
definitely have another customer.
The masculine homily of keeping up with the competition seems 
to be a highly effective advertising method. A shining example of 
this can be seen in a very recent commercial for the new online 
brokerage firm "Ameritrade." This ad is about 45sc-Min long and it 
displays a cocky young stockbroker making his way through an 
airport. He is talking on his cell phone and from his conversations 
and the way he talks down to people the viewer assumes that he is 
very well to do and knowledgeable in his field. He takes a seat next 
to an ordinary looking gentleman. They begin discussing stocks and 
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the second man dazzles this cocky young broker with his ability to 
watch the market as it moves and his easy access and fair price for 
trading. The cocky young broker has a very defeated look on his face 
and is almost reluctant to hear the explanation of Ameritrade. It 
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can be ascertained that this young broker was outright angry and 
embarrassed that he was educated on what he thought to be his 
field of expertise. The ad is saying that Ameritrade can give even 
the average person an easy and effective way to maneuver around the 
market, and that even the likes of an experienced broker can be lost 
without it.
Another commercial that appeals to the masculine need for 
competition is a recent milk commercial. The commercial is aimed to 
reinforce the fact that milk has high nutritional value and 
strengthens bones and muscles. Strength and the ability to overpower 
ones fellow man has always been synonymous with masculinity. The 
commercial takes place in a diner where three very docile looking 
old men drinking milk with their breakfast. Sitting a few booths 
away from them are three extremely large and menacing looking men. 
The old men begin catapulting little chunks of food at them with 
their spoons. All of the men stand up and approach each other until 
they finally meet in the middle of the aisle. A short standoff 
ensues and one of the burly men looks at the old man and says 
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"What?," as if to say "what are you going to do old man?." A second 
later the old men head butt the three large men and render them 
unconscious. The idea this commercial conveys is that milk will 
increase your chances of victory in a fight despite what the odds 
may be. It is basically saying that with strength and a little 
testosterone driven fortitude a man can overcome anything. 
A man's insecurities over his masculinity can compel him to do 
anything he can to prove himself. Advertising agencies use masculine 
homilies to lead us to believe that their products are manly 
products and in buying their products we can prove ourselves as men. 
It's a little depressing to think that we have come to a point in 
marketing where our possessions define the people we are.