essay

A comparison of how women are represented in fragrance advertisements from the 1920’s, 1980’s and 2012

 

I have chosen to compare three advertisements that span nine decades: Babani of Paris Elizabeth Arden (print 1920s), The Senchal Woman (print 1980s) and Encounter Calvin Klein (moving image 2012).

The three advertisements provide very different representations of women: Babani presents the idea of a woman as an exotic, mysterious and distinctive creature, whilst The Senchal Woman is depicted as being powerful, independent and assertive above all.  By contrast, the woman in the Calvin Klein TV ad Encounter is the passive object of the man’s desire, the prize of a successful man.

 

Babani Elizabeth Arden (1920s, print)

 

The representation of the woman in this advert is exotic because of the clothing she is wearing.  She is holding what looks like an exotic bird.  The perfume bottle is in an arch that looks like it is from a foreign country such as India perhaps.  The name Babani of Paris is named after Babani which was a fashion house in the French capital Paris.  The woman is looking away from the viewer of the advert and is looking confident whilst looking at a bird.

 

The clothes she is wearing cover her legs and there are no sleeves on the top part.  The clothes she is wearing look exotic and from a country maybe India or a country from Asia.  The clothes in this advert are very different to the ones in the second one I choose because in this advert she is showing a lot of her body with the clothes she is wearing. 

 

The slogan “chooses for you the rare fragrances of Babani” is suggesting that the fragrance could be exotic, rare and from a different country perhaps one from somewhere in Asia.  Saying that it chooses for you could mean that it is trying to say that it is different for every person, trying to make it seem that it would be specific only to do with them.

 

I believe that this perfume advert is trying to say that if you wear this perfume you can look, act and be as confident as the exotic looking women in the advert.  This is something that women in those times would have wanted to be so that they felt better than other women.  I believe that the target audience for this one is women because it has a woman in the picture and because it is a fragrance advert not an advert for a man’s product such as cologne or deodorant.  Also because the fashion house Babani was a store that sold women’s clothing.

 

The senchal woman (1980)

 

In this picture the women is centralised and is standing in front of the Empire state building.  Which is where a lot of powerful people work and live.  So the advert could be trying to make the link that she is powerful.  Like the first advert she is looking away from the person looking at the advert.  The perfume bottle is to the right of the advert while as in the first one it is on the left.

 

The woman is looking confidently in to the distance.  Maybe at something or maybe at someone.  The slogan “she’s not going to marry the boy next door” gives the impression that this women is self reliant and doesn’t need a man to be successful.  The clothes she is wearing suggests that she might be wealthy to afford clothes like that.  The clothes are different from the first ones because in this one it covers her arms and her legs are being shown.  While as in the first one the clothes cover her legs and show her arms.  This one is also made out of animal fur while as the first one looks like it was made out of cloth.

 

The type of shot that they used for this advert in movie terms would be called a hero shot.  Where you see the main person by themselves and you can see all of them and that is what they have done here.  I think that it is trying to say that the woman in the advert doesn’t need a man to help her become someone that she can do it on her own.

 

This perfume advert I believe is trying to say if you wear this perfume you can be self reliant and not need to marry the first man you see to become somebody. Also it could be trying to say that if you where it you could be like a women who is rich and powerful.  I am guessing that the target audience for this advert is women because of the title The Senchal Woman and because in the picture it is a woman.

 

 

Calvin Kleain encounter (2012, moving image)

 

Encounter http://www.encountercalvinklein.com

masculine. intriguing. seductive.

Encounter Calvin Klein delivers a message of a modern, unapologetic masculinity. A distinctive sensual woody fragrance, Encounter combines an addictive blend of freshness, warm cognac and sensual woods.

 

Unlike the other two adverts this one features a man in it.  The woman in this advert is represented as a kind of prize for the man.  She could be called the prize for the man being able to get round the dangerous cliff road to the house sitting right of the edge of a cliff.  The whole advert is much like a Bond film in the way the man is driving then at the very end he gets the woman.  This advert, unlike other moving image adverts this one does not use celebrity endorsement and uses two people that people would only know from the Calvin Klein adverts.

 

The first main shot we see of the women is her looking out of a rain covered window as if looking and waiting for someone.  The first main shot we see of the man is at the beginning when we see him driving in his car towards the house on a cliff with the women in it.  The next one we see of the women is just after the man has arrived and gone in the house, we see the bottom of her dress, her legs and her high hells.  I think this might be used to try and attract men to the advert by using the male gaze of the camera to show parts of the women that aren’t covered by her dress.  The shot right before the end of the advert shows just how dangerous the area that the couple (now kissing) are in, with rocking cliffs and big waves right beneath the balcony they are standing on.

 

They used the name encounter for this advert and fragrance because the advert has two people who meet one another in an encounter.  The advert could be trying to say that if you use this fragrance then you can encounter someone that you like, or perhaps someone that is extravagant and exciting.  Someone who is worth a drive over a small cliff road to a small house.

 

The advert shows the man as being quite powerful and masculine.  Saying to the target audience, which could be men that if you wear this perfume you be can as powerful and masculine as the man in the advert.  The woman in the advert is being represented as a seductive force to get the man to come to her if this was a perfume which was directed at women it could be trying to say that it was trying to persuade them that if they bought the perfume they could be seductive and get every man they wanted.

 

This advert shows that woman as maybe wanting a man, while as in the second one it is saying that she doesn’t need or want a man to make her successful.  This advert is different from both of the other adverts because this one shows a love attraction between a man and a woman.  While as in the first one it just has a woman standing and the second one is saying the complete opposite of this one by saying you can be reliant by yourself.

 

The advert is quite dark and gloomy for the first few seconds of it but then it gets a little lighter as the man finds the women in the house.  With the music it uses the lighting of the advert, the rain and the setting makes the advert work really well and would make you stop and look at it say if you where fast forwarding through adverts on the TV.

 

The woman in this advert compared to the women in the other two seems to be more longing.  Unlike the other two adverts this women seems to want a man in her life where as the other two seem to be more stable without a man in their lives.  The clothes the woman wears in this advert are different to the ones in the first two adverts because in this advert she is more revealing of her figure while as in the first two the women have more of their body covered.

 

At the beginning of the advert the camera is moving quite fast and the different shots are changing quite statically.  From two second into the advert to seven seconds the shots change quite quickly showing how fast the man is going driving the car.  But then once the car has stopped and the woman has been brought into the advert the advert starts to stay on the same shot for more time.  I think this is trying to say that now that the man has gotten past all the dangers of the road he can slow down and get the girl.  Most of the camera shots in the advert are close ups of the people’s faces.