Score Case Study

Media Factsheet - Score hair cream

1) How did advertising techniques change in the 1960s and how does the Score advert reflect this change?

The 1960s heralded a new era of innovative promotional methods. According to AdAge, in the 1960s, advertising companies focused less on market analysis and more on artistic instinct while designing campaigns. “By avoiding depictions of elitism, authoritarianism, veneration towards governments, and other stereotypical ideologies, advertisements sought to win over viewers through humour.

2) What representations of women were found in post-war British advertising campaigns?

In the Uk, postwar publicity was dominated by campaigns that largely reiterated the notion that a woman's position was at home. Ironically, publicity posters during World War II persuaded people that their position was on farms and in factories while the men were fighting.

3) Conduct your own semiotic analysis of the Score hair cream advert: What are the connotations of the mise-en-scene in the image?

A male holing may imply that he has control and influence over females. After using the score hair cream, the male in the advertisement is almost portrayed as a trophy for the female gender.

4) What does the factsheet suggest in terms of a narrative analysis of the Score hair cream advert?

In this narrative, the guy is Propp's "hero," according to the Score advertisement. As the hunter-protector of his 'tribe,' he appears to be 'exulted' in the picture. His compensation for such masculine endeavours is the adoration – and availability – of the females.

5) How might an audience have responded to the advert in 1967? What about in 2019?

In 1967, the crowd must have been a neutral, not interested in delving further into the advertisement's true meaning. They may have been persuaded to purchase this commodity because of the way it was presented, which drew the attention of the opposite gender.

6) How does the Score hair cream advert use persuasive techniques (e.g. anchorage text, slogan, product information) to sell the product to an audience?

The slogan suggests that if you buy this hair cream, you'll get the feminine recognition you've been looking for. Men will receive undivided affection from females, which will raise their pride and make them feel less unattractive.

7) How might you apply feminist theory to the Score hair cream advert - such as van Zoonen, bell hooks or Judith Butler?

In advertisements such as the score hair cream, the female gender is seen to be very submissive. To maintain advertising appeal and exposure, the women are objectified through the makeup and the advertisement's key perceived theme. Despite the fact that the commodity is for adults, females appear in the advertisement.

8) How could David Gauntlett's theory regarding gender identity be applied to the Score hair cream advert?

When advertisements  started to evolve, listeners were gradually given the freedom to not simply fall into these boxes as they used to, but the majority of people are now trapped with these beliefs since they have been hammered into their minds for decades. It is related to the score advertisement that the repetition of images and views in advertisements like this slowly constructed the conventional forms we perceive gender and pressured people to fall into these categories.

9) What representation of sexuality can be found in the advert and why might this link to the 1967 decriminalisation of homosexuality (historical and cultural context)?

Homosexuality was legalised in 1967, but some people wanted to represent the concept of a "man" in advertisements to demonstrate masculinity. The advertisement has no LGBTQ+ references and instead depicts heterosexuality, which is still well represented in the mainstream. It completely denies the reality of gay men by implying that men would like to buy the hair cream in order to get feminine attention.

10) How does the advert reflect Britain's colonial past - another important historical and cultural context?

The connection to colonial traditions may also be applied to the social and cultural contexts of the British Empire's demise. The white male is typically cast as the underdog that saves the world from tragedy in Hollywood.  The Score commercial adopts a similar plot. 


Wider reading

1) Why does the writer suggest that we may face a "growing 'boy crisis"?

While the mainstream focuses on inspiring women, the male gender is under enormous scrutiny. We are far less prepared to discuss topics involving boys. There is an ingrained prejudice that males should just step up and cope with any morale crisis on their own.

2) How has the Axe/Lynx brand changed its marketing to present a different representation of masculinity?

It now applies to both genders and also helps LGBT people by producing goods for them, such as the Solidarity shower gel. In 2016, men want a more complex conception of what it means to be a successful individual, as well as relief from the unrelenting struggle to stick to suffocating, old concepts.

3) How does campaigner David Brockway, quoted in the article, suggest advertisers "totally reinvent gender constructs"?

Advertisements lift ordinary people's aspirations, which has a negative effect on the lives they choose to live. Brockway encourages the industry to be more revolutionary, especially when it comes to male body confidence, which he believes is on the verge of falling in the footsteps of its female equivalent.

4) How have changes in family and society altered how brands are targeting their products?

Advertising is not assisting in the normalisation of various situations by largely failing to reflect this new standard. There is a gradual but steady transition toward engaging markets rather than the traditional male demographics.

5) Why does Fernando Desouches, Axe/Lynx global brand development director, say you've got to "set the platform" before you explode the myth of masculinity?

Since society's perceptions towards men and women are identical, you can't simply offer the viewer a role model to emulate if they can't connect to it. “This is just the start. The smack in the face to remind you that ‘this is masculinity.' Many of the men in the advertisement are sexy. Now that we have a voice and a point of view, we will debunk the man-bashing and demonstrate that it doesn't matter who you want to be; just articulate yourself and we will help you.