COURSE BLOG for GWSS 3307: Feminist Film/Media Studies (Fall 2007)

Context: This Tom Ford advertisement for male fragrance has the bottle moved to a slightly less provocative position, but they add a new feature; the mouth of the woman. This advertisement is obviously for the male audience. The fragrance again is supposed to represent the male’s genitalia. I found this advertisement on Google while searching under women ad’s and actually found it in a site that found the advertisement insulting along with many others.
Content: The advertisement has a beautiful female in it with a “perfectly� proportioned bust (they are double D’s). The collar bones and thin neck are also to symbolize that the woman is skinny and in shape. The only other thing in the ad is the perfume which is representing the male and the power he has over the female. The woman has her mouth open either in ecstasy or she is waiting for the bottle to travel north… regardless of what the mouth may be communicating, the woman is obviously the object of the man with her mouth frozen in a most awkward position.
Form: The first thing to be noticed is the bright crimson color of the lips and nails. This bold color contrast from the rest of the ad draws the eyes toward the breasts and mouth, the most sensual parts of the woman. Also the lighting and/or the oiling of the skin makes it appear sweaty and glistening as if after or during a certain act. The interesting thing is that they even blend the writing of the ad into the background showing that this is not as important as the picture of the bottle. The shot is framed completely around the breasts and the mouth is purposefully shown. The face is of no importance to this sexual advertisement because the face shows emotion and a real person where as this advertisement is selling an object, in woman form. The position of the hands is also sexual.
Reading Analysis: I find this advertisement slightly offending because I did the assignment after reading Laura Mulvey. She seemed a little strong-willed with her feminist opinion until I had an example of the female castration she spoke of. This is not an ad of a woman it is of an object. I am sure that many males would be attracted to this advertisement for visual pleasure and possibly buy the cologne because it is powerful and women cannot refuse the fragrance. The woman is enjoying the fragrance near her as she may feel towards the male who wears it. Overall an inappropriate and tacky way to sell anything especially male fragrance which is hardly the reason women sleep with men.