Media Propaganda refers to a message that aims at changing people’s opinion on issues by providing only one side of an argument. Propaganda is widespread in the media especially in advertisements and magazines (Baran and Davis 76). In this paper, we will consider a poster advertisement.
This poster contains an advertisement for a body spray, Axe. In the advertisement, there is a couple walking down the street along window displays. The advertisement shows a man cut into two halves, the lower half and the upper half. The lower half of the man’s body is lagging behind, standing by a window display with a female mannequin dressed in lingerie.
On the other hand, the upper half continues walking alongside the woman. In addition, the poster contains a written message at the bottom of the page. This message reads, “Part Good. Part Bad. That’s Man’s Essence.” Further, at the lower right corner, the poster has a picture of the spray under consideration and the name of the spray: “New Axe Essence”. This message appeals to the audience to use Axe body spray.
The audience of this advertisement is men. This advertisement is simply appealing to men, especially from teenage upwards. Men relate to this idea of walking together with a woman while at the same time admiring other women. This makes them feel integrated (Bhasin 1).
The message contained in this poster appears to be appealing to men to use this body spray to get a double deal. It implies that axe gives men an advantage of attracting women who are sexually appealing and at the same time keep their girlfriends. Men have added integrated egos when they attract such beautiful women and seem to have successful relationships. This will translate to the men being content and happy.
The man in the poster looks comfortable and confident. Further, the woman in the advertisement seems impressed, happy, and relaxed. The advert makes it appear that the man is the one making the woman happy. Therefore, this implies that men who use axe appear relaxed and composed manage to impress their girlfriends.
These influence choices of men who want to impress their girlfriends and make them happy. In addition, the poster portrays the given location as luxurious with lovely shop displays without people. This implies the unique and distinct nature of Axe. Obviously, the properties given to the spray add class to it and allow the spray to select rich and classy men as prospective buyers.
This advertisement portrays Axe body spray as being appropriate for use at any time. For instance, for casual time, at work or anywhere, the casually dressed couple in the advertisement seems to be admiring shop displays’ probably on their way to a casual meeting after work.
The man used in the poster is young emphasizing that axe body spray is convenient for young men. He is young and needs to feel happy and successful. The smile of the man in the poster portrays his happiness probably because of his youth. This contentment associates with the audience’s needs and attract their attention.
Additionally, the poster uses tranquil and non-screaming colors. Advertisers use blue and grey colors on the spray and the background respectively. These colors are passionate, serene, welcoming and can accommodate diverse moods and occasions. These colors attract the audience and encourage them to use the spray.
This advertisement is exceptionally convincing and can attract many people. However, ideological analysis of this advertisement reveals the presence of unintended cultural messages dotted all over the poster (Sproule 130). Cultural aspects that come out can discourage prospective users of Axe spray if they paid deeper attention to the advertisement.
This advertisement suggests that a man who uses axe essence will have more than one woman at his disposal. It assumes that men are happy when they have multiple women. Further, the advertisement stereotypes men as being sex oriented. The lower part of the man’s body staring at the mannequin shows this stereotype.
One would wonder why the lower and not the upper half of the body was staring the mannequin considering that it is the one with eyes. What does the lower half of the man’s body use to see the mannequin? Clearly, the body part that substitutes the man’s eye is his phallus. This shows that men view women as objects for their sexual desire, which is not completely true.
The message and pictures in the advertisement pose another cultural controversy. The picture indicates that the lower half of the man remains behind while the upper half continues walking together with the woman. The girlfriend does not seem to notice that her boyfriend’s lower part is lagging behind staring at other feminine figures.
The man continues walking as if nothing is happening. This brands men as cheaters and unfaithful spouses. The advertisers seem to know this when they write that man is partly good and partly bad. However, they dismiss it referring it to as man’s essence. This is against cultural norms, which advocates for fidelity among spouses.
This advertisement for axe body spray portrays women as sex figures. The lower part of the man’s body lagging behind to admire the mannequin proves this. This act emphasizes on extreme sexuality of women and the power those feminine figures posses to the extent of splitting a man into two.
This is obvious in the lower part of the man’s body admiring a displayed mannequin wearing red lingerie. This shows that men prefer women who dress skimpily to casually dressed women. These women appear to be extra sexually appealing and attract men. Consequently, this advertisement perceives women as sexual objects and displays women in a negative way.
This advertisement is not completely true. For instance, the street appears to be vacant allowing the couple quality time alone. There are shops as shown by the displayed mannequin wearing lingerie. However, we know that shops need clients to keep them functional. The poster neglects this fact and creates an illusion that Axe body spray allows people to be completely alone in the street. The advertisers use this fallacy to create emotion and influence buyers.
In conclusion, we are justified to say that this advertisement is effective. The poster effectively uses graphic display and words to convey the intended media message (Jowett and O’ Donell 280). They achieve this by using physically attractive people, using a quiet and serene setting.
Further, the advertiser’s choice of colors and creativity help them to attract a larger audience. The advertisers capture audience’s attention well and consider their needs. They conform to the audience’s need of being happy, having integrated ego and using distinguished products. Therefore, the use of media propaganda assists the advertisers to achieve their goal.
Works Cited
Baran, Stanley and Dennis Davis. Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future 6th ed. London: Wadsworth, 2011. Print.
Bhasin, Kim. How Axe Became The Top-Selling Deodorant By Targeting Nerdy Losers. 2011. Web.
Jowett, Garth and Victoria O’ Donell. Propaganda and Persuasion 4th ed. London: Sage Publications, 2005. Print.
Sproule, Michael. Propaganda and Democracy:The American Experience of Media and Mass Persuasion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.