Decoding/Deconstructing Advertising

Companies today will do anything to catch the public’s attention with advertising. Whether it is a commercial during the super bowl, a billboard along the highway or an ad in a magazine. If it gets attention, it’s doing the job. One company in particular has released several print ads, which many consider controversial.

Candie’s Fragrances For Men and Women chose sex to get attention. The ad depicts a female, perking her lips, sitting on a computer monitor that is on top of a desk. Not so bad right? However, on the computer screen is an image of a rocket shooting skywards, hence, towards the female’s crotch. This ad is subliminally selling sex, as it takes a few moments to notice the image on the computer screen. There is also a male model sitting down in font of the desk, smirking as he is pressing buttons on the keyboard. The male’s crotch is directly beneath the rocket; subliminally suggesting it is his penis. The ad is trying to portray that the woman is oblivious to the screen, as the male is smirking at her oblivion, like he is playing a joke on her. I believe this ad is trying to portray that women are objects, and cannot think for themselves, and that males have full control over women, which is completely false.

The female model is holding a Candie’s Female perfume bottle, and a Candie’s Male perfume bottle is seen sitting on the desk. The thing I find interesting is that the product is not the focus of the advertisement. Only when one looks at the image for a while do they notice the small fragrance bottles. The primary focus of the ad is the women and the computer screen, the smirking male is second, and finally the product is third. This ad is more focused on the sex, than on the actual product they are advertising.

The actual product would not change if the ad were just of the fragrance bottle with a white background. It is the image surrounding the product that can change one’s perspective of the product. Companies such as Candie’s should be a little more reserved if choosing to use sex to sell, because an advertisement like this may wreck a companie’s reputation permanently.

“Sex sells, yes, but only when used “in good taste.” As marketers we must think not only in getting customers’ attention for the short term, but also in building a brand reputation that will yield long-term results” – Mark Levit

Works Cited

Duffy, MacKenzie . "Gendered Images." Course Blog for Feminist Media Studies. 2007. 9 Oct. 2009. <http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/gwss3307_fall2007/3_gendered_images/>.

Levit, Mark . "Sex in Advertising: Does it Sell?." Ezine Articles. 9 Oct. 2009. <http://ezinearticles.com/?Sex-in-Advertising:-Does-it-Sell?&id=14551>.