Ahoy!
Context
This advertisement was torn from an issue of Maxim. It is advertising a body spray for men and there is a website containing other images from this campaign here. This site includes a rather annoying parrot and images of this woman and three others -- you can even send an 'Ahoy-Gram' to one of your friends or download a wallpaper.
Content
This is an image of a woman who is "hot" in a normative sense that is being used to sell a men's product in the pages of a men's magazine. This promotes the idea that women are objects to be used in a capitalist society.
FormThe woman in the picture is in focus and is in the center of everything. She is the instant point-of-focus in the photograph. Light that is supposed to look like sunlight is being used to draw focus to her breasts and to other areas of her body as well -- namely her flat stomach and her legs. She is wearing very little other than a bikini and is posed with one leg hoisted on a rock, which puts her in a position that is more sexually enticing. The bikini is a very bright blue, which functions to draw even more attention to her because it is a harsh contrast to the browns that comprise most of the picture. I will be perfectly blunt and say that I am not sure what to make of the props in this picture -- it appears to me that she is supposed to be scuba diving, but her outfit and the knife strapped do her leg are certainly impractical for such a purpose. I am absolutely uncertain as to just what is going on with that fish as well.
Reading
The lower corner of the advertisement addresses the viewer directly and says, "Enhance Handsomeness." I think this presents a definite idea about masculinity, because Old Spice is known to be a very "mannish" fragrance. The message is that it will enhance male handsomeness if a male smells "like a man."
The image also reinforces the idea that female bodies are objects to be used by men -- whether it is for marketing or for visual pleasure, while presenting a very normative idea about female attractiveness. She has well-defined facial features, she is white, she is skinny, etc. There is nothing in the image that challenges any conventional ideas about 'hotness' or what constitutes 'sexy.' Additionally, I think that the woman herself is part of the overall "enhance handsomeness" message -- that is, having a really hot girlfriend will enhance male handsomeness. Finally, I think that the impractical nature of the photo suggests that women are the most attractive when they are showing the potential to do something, but not actually doing anything.
The image also relies on the idea that men are free to stare at female bodies. I think the overall message of the advertisement (including where it was placed, the website, etc.) is really heteronormative because it assumes the viewer is male and that the viewer is attracted to women.