Advertising: Maybelline CSP case study

1) Why was this campaign such a landmark for beauty product advertising?

This campaign was such a landmark for beauty product advertising because international cosmetic giant Maybelline used a gay YouTube star to represent their brand, making Manny Gutierrez their first male model.

2) What do the articles suggest regarding the changing representation of sexuality and masculinity?
For years makeup ads were limited to women, however beauty brands are becoming more aware that makeup isn't just for girls. This challenges the hypermasculine standards that society have previously placed on men due to makeup being viewed as feminine. It is significant that both men and women are able to celebrate beauty. For this specific campaign, Manny's encouraging everyone, no matter their gender, to "lash like a boss." Meaning that regardless of how you identify makeup is for you.

3) Why do you think Maybelline chose to use MannyMUA and MakeUpShayla to feature in this campaign?
Maybelline chose to use MannyMUA and MakeUpShayla to feature in this campaign as they may be more familiar to younger audiences. Influencers are know to be more popular amongst younger audiences as they are newer than a traditional celebrities.

4) What does the WWD article suggest is the crucial factor for brands regardless of whether they use influencers or more traditional celebrities?
"The real power today is if you have somebody recognizable who is also socially effective, a celebrity that has credibility (on social media). Celebrities who live in this new world can become hugely powerful."

Maybelline 'That Boss Life' Media Factsheet

Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #181: Close Study Product - Advertising - Maybelline - That Boss Life.

1) Why was 'That Boss Life' a change from how Maybelline had traditionally advertised their products?
For 'That Boss Life' Maybelline used modern influencers instead of an ‘A’ list celebrity, as well as promoting ideas of gender fluidity. They also used a man to model their product instead of solely a women.

2) Why are digital influencers so attractive to companies?
Digital influencers are so attractive to companies because best way of reaching the millennial customer, who tend to avoid traditional advertising.

3) How does the advert use media language to construct meanings for the audience?
The setting is New York and the city skyline is the view from the hotel this is the  home of the brand along with connotations of glamour and excitement. The use of high key lighting and the repetition of the gold motif is used to reinforce the colour of the product and its connotation of wealth and luxury. The slow- motion editing shows the product in all its glory and emphasize the pair ‘rolling around’ in their wealth. Likewise, sound effects are added for emphasis – the products shine and glitter like gold. Close up shots are employed to show the product being applied to eye lashes as is the convention in both print and broadcast adverts. The use of the slogan ‘Big Shot – Lash Like a Boss’ connotes the idea of “being in charge”, suggesting that the eyeliner itself is bold and will make the wearer feel confident.

4) How does the advert use postmodern elements?

That Boss Life also incorporates a number of post-modern elements, including its use of intertextuality and hybridity. The suitcase that glows upon opening is reminiscent of the enigmatic suitcase famously used in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.

5) What narrative elements are discussed in the factsheet for 'That Boss Life'?
That Boss Life makes use of an extended narrative and also tells a story in two parts. The advert makes the assumption that the audience is already familiar with Manny and Shayla and positions the audience to view it as ‘normal’ for men to wear make-up. Given its longer length the advert also employs a more classic linear narrative structure, reminiscent of the Cinderella story. 

6) The factsheet discusses several interesting aspects of representation in the advert. Write three bullet points on aspects of representation and gender fluidity linked to the advert.

• Not only does employing males reflect the changing social context it also makes economic sense for beauty brands. Traditionally their market has been female focussed, but by ‘normalising’ the use of make-up by males allows them to expand their reach.
• Younger audiences are also more likely to be engage more with That Boss Life as they are probably already familiar with Manny and Shayla, and more likely to identify with them, as well as being more liberal minded and accepting of ‘gender fluidity.’
• That Boss Life can be seen to both influence audiences as well as it being used by them to shape their own identities. 

Media Magazine: The Changing Face of Masculinity

Our Media Magazine archive and read the feature 'The Changing Face of Masculinity' in MM63 (page 15).

1) What message does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert is trying to communicate to the 1967 audience?
The the advert is trying to show men they can have power: you can conquer, you will be desired and they use female sexuality to do this.

2) How does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert uses narrative to sell the product?
In the 1960s, print advertisements often  relied more on photography than illustration to achieve a more realistic look. The ad uses a large image of a man smiling and dressed like a hunter with a rifle resting in his arm. He is held up on a tiger skin cushion by five women dressed in sexualised hunting costume: short skirts, tied-up shirts and ammunition belts. Four women look up at him adoringly (one reaches out longingly) while the fifth, with a sultry expression, looks directly at the consumer.

3) What 1967 stereotypes does the article suggest the Score hair cream advert reinforces?
The brand’s personality and voice is all about masculine supremacy and self-belief, and is heavily reinforcing stereotypes of a patriarchal society.

4) Applying Stuart Hall's reception theory, what does the article suggest the preferred and oppositional readings could be for the Score hair cream advert?
Stuart Hall argued that audiences were not passive believers of the messages being fired at them, and that interpretation of mass media texts differed between different social groups. A dominant reading would be that heterosexual males, can have everything presented before them in the picture with better hair. An oppositional reading would be that the macho-laden ideas presented in this image are damaging to male self esteem and present women as passive and merely decorative.

5) Moving on to the Maybelline advert, how does this use narrative and what is the message of the advert?
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.