New England Patriots quarter back
Tom Brady was recently featured in an advertisement campaign to support Stetson
Cologne. In this blog I will be analyzing one of these advertisements. Many
facets of this advertisement fit into the stereotypes of gender outlined by Aaron
Devor in Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes.
In the Stetson advertisement I selected
Tom Brady is sitting behind the wheel of a vintage convertible with red
interior gazing stoically at the camera with a woman’s arms draped around him. In
the background there are trees and what appears to be a country road although
it is hard to tell as the camera is focused in the car on Brady. In the
advertisement all that is seen of her are her arms and her smile. Brady is
wearing a black shirt with the sleeve rolled up and holding on to the steering
wheel of the car. Brady has a slight beard as if he hasn’t shaved in a day or
two which gives him a more masculine rugged look. In the lower left hand corner
the only words in the ad read Stetson Cologne Starring Tom Brady with the
Stetson logo Incorporated into it.
This advertisement makes good use of
the stereotypes outlined by Aaron Devor to emphasize the masculinity of Tom
Brady. As soon as you look at the advertisement you are immediately drawn to the
Stoic Facial expression of Tom Brady. Brady is not smiling in the advertisement
according to Devor smiling gives the appearance of femininity. The stubble on
Tom Brady’s face adds to the aura of masculinity in this advertisement. Brady’s
posture is also very masculine. He is leaning back in the driver’s seat of the
car with his arm stretched out over the steering wheel. Brady’s knee is also
propped up. Brady is taking up as much space possible which according to Devor
makes one appear more masculine. Brady’s upper body is emphasized in this
advertisement as the only part of Brady’s lower body that is visible is a small
portion of his leg. It appears in this advertisement that Tom Brady is certainly
not lacking confidence. He is behind the wheel of a car has a woman draped
around him. His facial expression exudes confidence. The dominant figure in
this advertisement is definitely Tom Brady. The woman in this advertisement is
unrecognizable because all you see of her is her lips and her arms. The fact
that Tom Brady is Professional Football player adds to the masculinity of this
advertisement. The use of color in the advertisement has a clear effect on the
manliness of this advertisement. The advertisement does not feature colors that
would be regarded as feminine colors. Brady is wearing a black shirt and
driving a car with dark red interior. It is not a coincidence that they chose
these colors for the advertisement. For example the advertisement would have a
much more feminine feel if Brady was wearing a pink shirt driving a car with a
pink interior.
The
woman in this advertisement also conforms to the stereotypes and role of gender
highlighted by Aaron Devor. The woman in this advertisement appears to be very
feminine. The viewer has no idea what the woman is wearing because all you can
see of her is her bare arms and a small portion of her face. From the small portion of her face that we
are able to see it is clear that she is smiling. The fact that she is smiling
is feminine and a sign of appeasement. The woman appears to be nurturing to Tom
Brady although not in a maternal way. She appears to just be there for whatever
need or service Brady might want from her. Her arm is draped over and down
Brady’s torso and is cut out by the bottom of the advertisement leaving the
viewer to wonder where her hand is. I found it interesting that she is in the
back seat of the car behind Brady with her arm draped over him opposed to sitting
next to him. This positioning makes her appear to be subordinate to him as
opposed to being his equal. I also believe that so little of her shown to intentionally
make her appear interchangeable. She could easily be switched with another
model and it would be difficult for anybody to tell the difference.
It is clear that this advertisement
is targeting men as there audience. Through use of stereotypes about gender
this advertisement has a very masculine feel to it. The people at Stetson
clearly want to have product associated with masculinity. I feel that Tom Brady
was a good choice to represent their product in order to achieve this goal.
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