In our current society, the mass media has continued to play an enormous role in shaping the thoughts, words, and actions of the people that they affect, almost creating a world where gender is stereotyped, perfection prevails, youth is constant, and sex is inferred. For this assignment, two magazine advertisements were chosen based on the readings/film discussions in class, as well as the aforementioned observation concerning the role of the mass media on society. By using the Lance Strate article, "Beer Commercials" as well as the film "Killing Us Softly" (Kilbourne), these two magazine advertisements will be analyzed ranging from gender content to common social standards and stereotypes which the media consciously portrays. .
The first advertisement that has been chosen for analysis is for the popular liquor Jose Cuervo. The advertisement features a man and a woman (assumed to be in a bar setting), where the woman has her hands draped around the neck of a masculine looking, handsome man. The woman, obviously gorgeous, is looking down into the eyes of the man and is smiling from ear to ear. While one of the femme fatale's hands caresses the side of handsome's neck, the other hand is armed with lipstick, used not only to paint the lips of the woman, but to also come in handy when writing her number on the forehead of the dashing male. The man looks upward into the eyes of the woman in the picture and smiles with his mouth open, almost shocked (but not deterred) by the gorgeous woman's assertive advances. His face is square, his jaw-line, beard and his hair are all neatly groomed. Both parties seem equally engaged by the other. And who do they have to thank? Jose Cuervo Especial. The caption reads, "It improves your cell phone reception" in large white print at the bottom. And beneath that is the clarification which reads, "not true, but it's been known to make people speak louder" in smaller red letters.
