The advertisement I have chosen for this assignment is attached below.
Originally I saw this advertisement in a magazine although I was able to find the exact same image online. It is for a men's fragrance by Guess called "Dare" and it features Texan supermodel Hannah Ferguson riding on the back of a motorcycle with another extremely well looking male model. I have chosen it because I believe it represents the supreme cultural myth of our name. Namely, that of materialism, youth, and the fast and furious lifestyle. It is being shown to a male audience like myself in order to convince us to purchase the fragrance in the hopes that it will make us resemble the man in the image. That is, to be extremely and unrealistically attractive with an extremely and unrealistically attractive woman in tow, young, daring, and living out that sort of fast and furious lifestyle on a motorcycle that is reminiscent of James Dean. It is worth noting that the female model Hannah Ferguson is wearing what appears to be leather, which evokes images of the Mad Max universe, further cementing the anarchistic biker mythos surrounding this advertisement.
The female represents the sort of hyper idealized standard of Western beauty that girls in our society aspire to while the male stands for the ultimate image of the rebel action hero that boys aspire to. For both sexes this advertisement is going reinforce the idealized, gender specific standards that our society imposes upon them. More than that, it glorifies our nation's very cultural ideal itself. The United States was founded upon rebellion against the British Empire. Our national heritage was defined by the Wild West. We are the only nation in the world I am aware of where private firearms ownership is a guaranteed right via our Constitution and Hollywood fathered the action film. Each and every last one of those elements comes into play in this advertisement.
On a more negative note, it is telling that for men the primary "accomplishment" being sold through this advertisement is the idea of having an extremely attractive female partner. That is, masculinity is being defined through sex and having the most beautiful woman on the block even more than anything else in this advertisement. The inverse is also true, that for women the primary "accomplishment" being sold through this advertisement is the idea that their worth is defined through being as beautiful as a supermodel and likewise having an extremely attractive man. For both sexes this sets up unrealistic expectations both for themselves and for a partner.
The male appears to be partially Hispanic like myself and I believe that Hannah Ferguson may also be of mixed descent, so I do not think that race is really applicable to this advertisement. But again, both parties are extremely young and attractive, so older people are being excluded as well as the overweight, short, and pretty much anyone who does not conform to that standard of beauty.
James.
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