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Advertising, Exam Prep, Maybelline, Notes, Representation

CSP 4 – MAYBELLINE

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Manny MUA x Shayla Maybelline Ad. Iconic. | Maybelline, Boss life, Big shot mascara

By using a male make-up artist as the face of their product, Maybelline made national news for breaking the gender stereotypes present in beauty and cosmetics. This sort of radical representation is undoubtedly a positive, however, I seriously doubt Maybelline did this purely for the sake of representation. It was likely also a marketing strategy used to make headlines and raise awareness for their product. Plus, by teaming up with influencers, Maybelline is appealing to a younger audience who are active on social media. The hashtag used in the advert reinforces this strategy.

The advert is also sneaky in the way that it uses sound design and special effects to grab the viewers attention. The product is only £4, however, in this advert is treated as a luxury. The colour gold also symbolises luxury and riches, and the city of New York (where the ad is set) is a city associated with wealth and success. The mantra of the product seems to be ‘you can feel like a boss’ no matter what your budget is. Also, the advert is extremely camp and cheesy, which (despite being difficult to watch at first) actually makes the advert more memorable to viewers.

Glamour magazine- ” His inclusion in a nationwide ad especially hits home following the Internet backlash that went down this week over ASOS’ choker necklaces for men. (As writer David Yi over at Allure put it, the backlash “promotes the dangerous sentiment that men are supposed to adhere to hypermasculine culture.”) As we continue to celebrate beauty as a way for women to express themselves, it’s equally important that men have the same right—whether that’s getting the peace of mind of being able to dab a zit with concealer or the freedom to wear a full face and falsies. “

The advert is also reverse in its representation of race. A black woman called Shayla is also used in the advert, and she states that she wants to bring ‘shade inclusivity’ to the cosmetics industry, through the use of radical representation.

Exam Prep, Maybelline, Notes, Representation

CSP 4:Maybelline

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The dominant reading of the text is obviously how Maybelline’s mascara can have a transformative effect on your life. The advertisement also raises brand awareness. Since you have to study the text in terms of media language, we should look at the signs and some of the technical aspects of filmmaking used to encode this message .

The most obvious signifier is the colour gold. The producers then direct the viewer’s attention to the gold suitcase on the trolley by making it stand out among the other pastel-coloured cases and tracking the camera so it dominates the mise-en-scène.

In the advert, they have tried to relate to their target audience by having them dress quite casually and speak like young people would on social media.

He has also spoken about dealing with homophobia. “I’ve gone through all of it, I’ve literally heard every single name in the book be told to me,” he recalled. “So, don’t be discouraged by anyone, as long as you’re confident in yourself and just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Advertising, Exam Prep, Maybelline, Notes

CSP 4 – Maybelline Notes

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Maybelline have recently created new ad campaigns featuring male models, such as Manny Gutierrez. This is the first time males have been associated with makeup products in this way, and it tells us that makeup is not just for women, but for men as well. This is big because after decades of only making makeup products and depicting them as things that should be worn by women, impressionable men are being given role models to look up to who can reinforce their thinking that they can wear makeup too.

New Notes

The Maybelline advert tells a story of a man and woman checking into a hotel room, and then finding makeup products from Maybelline. After simply applying the mascara, both the wearers (male and female) are 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. 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.

The tone and attitude of the advert is one of upbeat positivity, with the people involved clearly having strong, confident personalities. This is effective because the impressionable and potentially young audience is given role models to look up to, and so they may feel more confident in themselves through watching the advert and buying the product.

Advertising, Maybelline, Notes

Csp 4: Maybelline

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Colossal Big Shot Mascara.That Boss Life Pt. 2 ft. MannyMua and Makeupshayla - on Vimeo
That Boss Life advertisement – Lash like a boss
  • The use of a male star in the advert is a progressive field in the beauty area of advertising: In this advert they have used.
  • The ad is trying to adhere to all gender, sexuality, race and social class. This can be seen as a strong social statement, but also as a clever marketing strategy to appeal to everyone, to obviously gain the biggest profit and return.
  • The ad also does use a popular influencer as their male star, another marketing strategy and fits into 2-step flow model.
  • Internet backlash that went down this week over ASOS’ choker necklaces for men;; As writer David Yi over at Allure put it, the backlash “promotes the dangerous sentiment that men are supposed to adhere to hypermasculine culture.
  • A stat gathered from 26 Aug 2021 — In 2020, an estimated 4.48 million people used Maybelline eye make-up — This clearly shows that their very expensive advertising campaigns work very well.
  • Maybelline have a very active social media status, they create a hashtag in the video to generate more sales of their product, a smart marketing strategy. They also have an active twitter account where they try to post relatable jokes to gain more interest into their company and their products.
  • The posture in their video shows a transformation from the regular casual clothing and confidence to — after use of their product, it creates a constructed reality where they are now more glamorous and more confident, a total transformation.
  • The target market are regular people with no specific high income needed, it is a relatively cheap product and like mentioned in the previous point, it transforms you — creating the idea that anyone can be glamourous if you buy Maybelline’s product.
  • The product is also in a shining gold which is trying to symbolise it’s value as a marketing strategy.
Audience, Maybelline, Notes, Revision

MAYBELLINE Notes

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This advert is very good in the sense that they’re advocating gender, sexuality, race and social class. For starters, they have 3 characters, two men and one female. The female is a person of colour (representation of race), the main male character is an openly gay white male (representation of sexuality) and the second male who is the ‘bell boy’ is also Caucasian, (this has representations of reversed gender stereotypes as usually adverts would cast a female to reinforce the Male Gaze, however, this advert’s main target are females and men who don’t identify as straight, so the male gaze wouldn’t even be an issue.

While it is amazing that there is Pride representation in this advertisement, I do feel as though they have over exaggerated the fact that he is gay. The fluidity of identity is great and many gay males who are interested in makeup are stereotypically seen as the way he has been portrayed, which is no problem, but the advert makes it seem more over the top and exaggerated than it needs to be. Almost like they are trying to show off that they are the first beauty company to include a gay male in their advert, instead of focusing on what they’re representing and what they’re selling.

By having the apartment/room in ‘New York’ it indicates that people with a higher social class are still legible to purchase the Mascara without feeling ashamed. The apartment/room has a window that you can see out of that shows the outside as a bit of a dump/not as cleaned up and gorgeous as it typically should be, which has representations of people with lower social classes are able to purchase the item too.

The is a hashtag in the bottom left corner during part of the video. This is a very good marketing move as people who see it will go on social media and use it, therefor, spreading it around and basically doing the promo for the company for free.

‘Pushing the frontiers further, a gay YouTube star has become the first male model for international cosmetic giant Maybelline.‘ Not only was this a huge step, but it was also international, meaning that people from all cultures, sexuality, gender, race and social class is available to view it.

‘Manny tweeted, “Can’t believe Maybelline posted me on Instagram. I think I’m the first boy they’ve ever posted! We’re breaking boundaries guys!”‘ This suggests that it is a major step in the right direction to some sort of equality.

‘“I’ve gone through all of it, I’ve literally heard every single name in the book be told to me,” he recalled.‘ Talking about homosexuality and homophobia, he speaks up about being called many inappropriate names. This advert allows him to feel like himself and keep confident, which is why the gender and sexuality representation is a major key as other males or people part of the LGBTQ+ Community can also feel themselves when they use the Maybelline Mascara (the product they are trying to sell)

Advertising, Maybelline, Notes

CSP – MAYBELLINE

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Maybelline has featured its first gay male, brand advocate (Manny Gutierrez), as well as selectively representing a female person of colour (Shayla Mitchell). They are both ‘influencers’ who post beauty content online.

“a gay YouTube star has become the first male model for international cosmetic giant Maybelline.”

That Boss Life Analysis | Close Study Product (CSP)

This representation was a spark for change within the beauty industry. Not only was it one of the first representation of a homosexual male in the forefront of a makeup advertisement, it included many features of diversity such a race, social class (lifestyle), gender and sexuality.

The representation of Manny’s sexuality is quite exaggerated and definitely plays to the social stereotype. Linking to Gauntlet’s theory on identity and the way in which social groups are often categorized based on a constructed reality and stereotype. The decriminalisation of homosexuality creates a contrast to representation in ‘Score’, meaning that brands now have more freedom to selectively represent those of diverse identities.

The advert itself is on the borderline of being ‘cringe’ and ‘annoying’, however, this sparks conversation on representation and Maybelline as a brand, therefore subtly promotes sales. Another advertising strategy used in the advert, is the iconic sound effect of a ‘magic wand’ which is a way of saying that using the product can transform your appearance and make you look like ‘a boss’, to quote the campaign.

Audience, Notes

audience theory notes

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 ‘Hypodermic Needle’ Theory.

 Harold Lasswell, who developed the theoretical tool of ‘content analysis’ and in 1927 wrote Propaganda Technique in the World War which highlighted the brew of ‘subtle poison, which industrious men injected into the veins of a staggering people until the smashing powers . . . knocked them into submission’ Laswell believed each government had ‘manipulated the mass media in order to justify its actions’ in World War 1.

To illustrate his hypothesis, in 1948 he developed a linear model of communication one that breaks down the line of communication from point A to point B, in which the SENDER is transferring a MESSAGE, through a MEDIUM (eg Print, radio, TV, etc) that has a direct effect on the RECEIVER. 

Or to be correct: WHO, SAYS WHAT, THROUGH WHAT CHANNEL, TO WHOM, TO WHAT EFFECT.

This approach was later adapted by Shannon and Weaver in 1949, as the Transmission model of Communication, which included other elements, such as NOISE, ERROR, ENCODING and FEEDBACK.

In other words, there is the suggestion that the process of sending and receiving a message is NOT clear-cut, predictable or reliable and is dependent on a range of other factors that need to be taken into consideration. 

Audience, Notes

audience theory notes

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  • Hypodermic model (passive consumption)- about changing behaviour
  •  Harold Lasswell wrote Propaganda Technique in the World War which highlighted the brew of ‘subtle poison, which industrious men injected into the veins of a staggering people until the smashing powers . . . knocked them into submission’ believed each government had ‘manipulated the mass media in order to justify its actions’ in World War 1
  • People can modify the behaviour by convincing/ persuading them and basically lying eg telling sister copper coins are worth more than silver

Two step model of communication

  • adapted by Shannon and Weaver in 1949, as the Transmission model of Communication, which included other elements, such as NOISE, ERROR, ENCODING and FEEDBACK.
  • model proposes a clear, linear (and perhaps unaltered) connection between message sent > message received
  • McQuail, Blumler and Katz theoriesed personal needs and social needs
  • individuals sought particular pleasures, uses and gratifications from individual media texts

Advertising, Exam Prep, Notes, Representation, Score

score

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Textual analysis– in the ad, the African/safari scene is used as the background yet there are no African people present and they all appear top be be white. although there are more woman, 5 tobe exact, the single male is still the main part of the add and is being supported and almost worshiped by the woman in the ad. There is also the strapline of “get what you’ve always wanted.”

semiotics –there are indexical and symbolic singe present such as the red flag that almost looks like a golf flag above where you score, and the fact the that woman are worshiping the male in the ad. there is also a indexical sign which is a sexual desire based in the clothing of the woman and the seductive looks.

Representation– the woman are represented as below the male and are doing what they think will please the male and doing everything they can to get his attention. the male on the other hand is represented as being above the woman in the hierarchy of the add which was very common for ads from the 1960’s.the advert creates a desire to be surrounded by women and to be worshipped by them.

Audience- the audience of this ad is most likely going to be middle age men who wish to look good and get the attention that the male in the add has.

Narrative- the sexual demeaner of the woman such as their outfits and their seductive looks on their faces shows how sex sells and targets the male audience and essentially communicates to the male that they to can be worshiped by the females if they use the product that is advertised in this instant, “score liquid hair groom”.

 historical, social and cultural contexts– The Score hair cream advert is an historical artefact from 1967, as such it can be examined productively by considering its historical, social and cultural contexts, particularly as it relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. 1967 can be seen as a period of slow transformation in western cultures with legislation about and changing attitudes to the role of women – and men – in society, something that the advert can be seen to negotiate.

Advertising, Exam Prep, Notes, Representation, Score, Semiotics

SCORE CSP 3

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Textual analysis- looks like a safari theme in Africa. With the man being help up by a leopard print platform showing he is the most important. There is a background of trees but looks very old fashioned and not edited good because it is just a white background. The strap line is quite small and the copy box is very long and repetitive also a bit confusing as it is advertising 3 products.

Semiotics- indexical sign that all the women (excluding front left) are admiring the man due to their facial reactions and body language and possibly have a sexual desire. The signified is the hair gel and the signifier is the guys hair which is trying to show the product in a real life situation. The male is the dominant signifier. Has connotations that if you buy the product you too will be able to be as popular as the guy on the advert. Positioned at the top, connoting his higher status

Representational analysis- Clear signs of voyeurism (getting joy from having all the attention of the women). It is a selective representation of both male and females: males are only depicted as being heterosexual it being a very patriarchal society . Females are represented as having to do everything for men and that their only objective in life is to provide sexual pleasure for the men following the dominant ideology which was slowly being removed during the 1960’s. Also suggests the man was not worthy before he used the product.

Narrative- The woman in the front left is making direct eye contact with the person viewing the ad giving them a more personal experience and feel like the product is meant for them. The woman is looking very seductive to the male audience so will entice them to buy Score products so they too can seek this sexual pleasure. Trying to use sex to sell their products. appeal to an audience who want to conquer their own world and look good.  brand value is look good but don’t take yourself too seriously.

Audience- aimed at middle aged men who desire to receive this attention from females that the guy is receiving in the advert. They want to look as good as the guy being help up by all the ladies and have greaseless hair like the guy. Shows the brand values as being to help men in to succeed with relationships and the brand personality is highly sexually based. In the 1960’s this type of advert would have been seen as appealing and completely acceptable and very normal however, these days advert usually only feature one model which has a more reformed outlook on the product and sexualising women and men in this way wouldn’t be condemned. There is a lack of diversity. Persuasive techniques range from reeling them in with sexual pleasure to own confidence and better self esteem specially to do with their hair.

Historical, social and cultural contexts– 1967 can be seen as a period of slow transformation in western cultures with legislation about and changing attitudes to the role of women – and men. Score advert was produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality. It was also the ending of Empire. Reference to body image and changes in what society deems acceptable and unacceptable representations has significantly changed over time.

revealing as much skin as the regulators in the 1960s might permit. Their tanned bodies, alluring black eyeliner and luscious hair also connote glamour.