Gillette: the best that sexism can get?
Year 12s! Now that you’ve considered whether or not our language is inherently misogynistic, let’s have a look at some advertisements from Gillette – the UK’s number one shaving brand.
Watch the clips below, and then answer the following question in a 200-300 word comment on this post.
What assumptions do the Gillette advertisements make about men and women?
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English at Lutterworth College 
The first advertisement focuses solely on the product that is being advertised, the Gillette fusion razor. This is unlike the second advert which regards the effect of the Venus razor on the woman using it rather than the product itself. The men’s advert talks about the ‘revolutionary technology’ of the item whilst emphasising the ‘comfort of five blades, the precision of one’. This suggests that it is of high quality and makes the assumption that the men who use this razor are resourceful because they have chosen to use this particular grooming item over others on the market. On the other had the Gillette advertisements assume that women are using this item to ‘reveal the more beautiful’ side of them. This infers that they were not attractive enough before shaving and must use this tool to get rid of hair in order to be attractive. Through the use of the description of the proper noun ‘goddess’ the advertisement is suggesting that women are only beautiful once they have groomed themselves to fit society’s standards. In the advertisements Gillette use a pink razor for women and a blue and black one for the men; the use of this juxtapose is perhaps trying to promote feminism for the women’s tool but also being quite patronising in the fact that these colours are very stereotypically associated with the different genders.
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There is a clear difference between the assumptions made about men and women in the Gillette advert. Firstly, it is implied that men are focused on the quality of the product while women are only concerned about how they appear. For example, the Gillette Fusion advert focusses on the features of the razor e.g. the ‘precision trimmer’ and ‘5 blades’. This assumes that males are only concerned with the mechanics of the product and want it to fulfil its purpose with no fuss. However, the Gillette Venus advert implies that women are solely interested on the effect that the product has on them and how it makes them feel. It describes the product as revealing a ‘more beautiful you’. No such language is used in the male advert, suggesting women need the product to be seen as attractive. It is assumed that women would not be concerned with the actual workings of the razor, but the fact that the advert says it will make them ‘more beautiful’ is enough for the females to purchase it. Also, males are told that it is the ‘best shave ever’ whereas females will have a ‘silky smooth’ result. Therefore, it is presumed that males are only interested in being the ‘best’ and having dominance and superiority. However, the Gillette Venus advert is, like its ‘silky smooth’ promise, generally softer in nature and lacks the power displayed in the male advert. As a result, it is assumed that females are gentle and tentative, without the boldness of males.
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The assumptions of the two advertisements are very different. The male Gillette advert focuses on the effectiveness of the product and how well if fulfils its purpose. An example of this would be “the comfort of five blades with the precision of one” which assumes that men care about the technical aspect of the razor as from this they can judge how effective the razor is going to be. The Gillette razor for women focuses on how it makes the users look and feel after using the product. It says things like “silky smooth” and “Goddess” which assumes that the female users care about how it makes them look opposed to how well it works and the technical aspect.
The male adverts are centred on masculine things like sports and fast paced action whereas the female adverts are centred on beauty and being a goddess. The adverts make assumptions that these are the things that interest the individual genders.
The male advert is powerful and fast paced whereas the female advert is more delicate and slow. This in itself is assuming that females are delicate and males are powerful and this stereotype is demonstrated throughout society and has been throughout the ages.
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To begin with in both of the Gillette adverts they make an assumption about all men being the same and all women being the same by advertising the products at the stereotypes of each gender. Firstly, men are suggested to be aggressive, muscular and they make the assumption that men are concerned with the quality of the razor rather than how it will impact upon their appearance. This is suggested in the advert as they claim the razor ‘reduces pressure’ but in doing so imply that men apply too much pressure as they are stereotypically aggressive and strong. Plus, it also creates the impression that men are concerned with the effectiveness of the razor as the advert describes the razor as being a ‘precision trimmer’ that has the ‘comfort of five blades with the precision of one’ resulting in the ‘best shave ever’. Therefore, due to the repetition of the abstract noun ‘precision’ the advert is making the assumption that all men are focused on the mechanics of the razor rather than the end result which is a characteristic of a typical man.
Meanwhile the Venus advert also makes the assumption that all women are self conscious as they advertise the shaver as a way of women being able to enhance their appearance. This is implied in the advert as they begin with ‘inside every woman there is…’ therefore already they are making the assumption that women do not currently meet societies expectations the are advertising the razor as a way for women to bring out their inner beauty. Then a list of adjectives are given describing what is within every woman for example ‘power and passion’ thus reinforcing male dominance as they are suggesting that women are not powerful already and the advert is patronizing women as they say that the only way for women to gain power is to ‘reveal a more beautiful’ version of themselves- too then attract powerful men? Plus the Venus advert assumes that women also want to make themselves ‘more beautiful’ thus stereotyping women as being insecure but in reality a high proportion of women do feel confident.
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The Gillette advertisements make very different assumptions about men and women. Firstly, they portray men as being concerned with the technology of the razor: ‘revolutionary technology’, implying that men are intellectual and take an interest in the technological advances behind the product. Women on the other hand, are represented as being concerned with the appearance the razor gives them: ‘more beautiful you’, which suggests that women are better looking with shaven legs and so on. Furthermore, the advertisements assume that men are sporty and strong, as they are represented by sport idols, whereas the women are assumed to be feminine and passionate, getting referred to as having an inner ‘goddess’. Finally, the advertisements conform to gender stereotypes, as the razor for men is black and blue and the razor for women is pink. This again reinforces the idea of women having to be society’s view of feminine and men having to be society’s view of masculine.
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The two different advertisements produce very different images and ideas about men and women. The men’s advertisement uses words like ‘revolutionary technology’ and ‘unique idea’ to describe the razors. This is implying that men are more interested in the mechanical and technical side of shaving rather than how practical the razor is for doing the job it is meant to do. The advert on the whole for the men gives a vibe about sport and fitness, I assume that this is to try and attract men to the product. On the other hand, the women’s advertisement is set out to attract women in a different way. The commercial uses words like ‘goddess’ and ‘beautiful you’. This suggests that women can only be these things if they use the product and shave. This will persuade the viewers of the advert to go out and buy the products to become beautiful. The women’s advert attracts people by using the outcome of the product and describing how effective it would be if the user went and bought it. Finally, the overall razor also uses stereotypical features. This can be seen as the men’s razor uses dark colours and is quite large and bulky which is much different to the female razor that is using pinks and purples and is much slimmer and smaller.
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The Gillette adverts show a clear difference between assumptions made about men and those made about women. The advert suggests that men focus soley on the quality of the product whilst women focus on how the product makes them look or feel. In the male advert, features such as ‘5 blades’ and ‘soothing micropulses’ are stated in the hope men will want to buy it. In the women’s advert, the outcome of using the product is emphasised by words such as ‘silky smooth’ and ‘reveal the goddess in you’. The advert focuses on the concept of the woman becoming a ‘goddess’ after using the product which suggests an assumption that a women’s main focus is how she looks and feels. The male Gillette advert makes assumptions that men focus more on the quality of the product rather than how it makes them feel. Using phrases such as ‘reduce pressure’ and ‘less irritation’ emphasises the quality of the product. This assumes that men would only be concerned about the mechanics of a product. The Gillette Venus advert implies that women are only interested in how the product makes them feel. The product is described to reveal a ‘more beautiful you’. There is no mention of how the Gillette Fusion product makes a man feel which may suggest how men are perceived as being emotionless or emotionally ‘strong’. The advert also suggests that women need a product such as the Gillette Venus razor to be seen as beautiful or attractive.
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First off, in both of the razor adverts the producers generalise all men the same and all women the same but so not link them as one. They advertise the products by using stereotypes of male and female gender. Men as seen to be a lot more physically and mentally powerful than women; being more built, muscular and promote the razor’s quality in the advertisement. In the first few seconds of the Gillette advert, the producers claim that the razor will ‘reduce pressure’ which shows to benefit the male. This could link back to the fact that men are powerful and perhaps use too much pressure when shaving. On the whole, men are primarily bothered about the effectiveness of a razor and the advert shows the razor to be a ‘precision trimmer’ by having the ‘comfort of 5 blades’ which focuses on the actual product and not the male. The makers of the advert plan the advert to show the razor giving what men think ‘the best shave ever’.
The Gillette Venus advert assumes that the main reason women use the razor is to ‘reveal the more beautiful’ side of the woman. This is very different to the man as the male razor advert focuses on the actual product where as this does not happen to the women – more so the effect the razor has on them. In the advert, they use the proper noun ‘goddess’ which suggests that a woman is only beautiful and graceful when they have shaved and are hair free. This is very sexist as the advert for the male does not position a man to be ‘perfect’ only when they have had a shave where as in the woman’s advert this is the sole purpose.
Another aspect of the two adverts that stand out to me is the colour of the razors. The mens razor is mainly blue and black where as the female razor is pink. This may not show as an issue to many, but I feel that there is a lot of stereotyping here as it is evident that a female colour is ‘pink’ which could be patronising to some women who may like the colours blue and black and prefer to shave with a blue razor and vice versa with men – they may prefer to shave with a pink razor due to preferring the colour.
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The separate Gillette advertisements demonstrate a big difference between assumptions made about men and women. The men’s advertisement is fitness orientated and emphasises the stereotypical quality of ‘strength’ in men. This is also portrayed through the product. The men’s advertisement assumes that men are more focused on the quality of the product rather than the end result. This is shown when it says ‘the comfort of 5 blades, precision of one’ and when it refers to the product as a ‘precision trimmer’. This indicates that men are more focused on the specific mechanical details about how the razor works. Also, in this advertisement it claims the product to be ‘the best shave ever’. This makes the assumption that men want the highest and superior products with little hassle. On the other hand, the women’s advert makes the assumption that women focus on the end result and the way it makes them feel. The advertisement says that ‘power and passion’ and ‘mystery and magic’ is revealed as a result of using the razor. It also claims to ‘reveal the goddess in you’ and create a ‘more beautiful you’. This is quite patronizing to women and suggests without using the razor you would not be as beautiful. Furthermore, the women’s advert fails to mention the mechanics and how the razor works. Overall, it makes an assumption that women are a lot more focused on their overall appearance and men are focused on their dominance.
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The assumptions made in both adverts are at completely different. Fusion assumes that it is for rugged men, who are plagued by facial hair, and need a life changing hack in order to overcome this difficulty. Venus assumes that women are using razors only to feel feminine. Hair should not define gender. So what if I have hairy legs? So what if he has a fuzzy face? Just because a man uses a razor that is precise and revolutionary does not mean that it is any different from a razor that is dainty and delicate. Maybe a man wants to use a woman’s razor because he likes the silky bars around the blades and makes his face feel nice. The assumptions made by the adverts stereo genders to the extreme, meaning that low and behold the opposite gender wanted to use that gender they couldn’t because it is made specifically for a woman or a man. Venus assumes there is an INNER goddess inside every woman, and the only way to release it is to have silky smooth legs. Excuse me, but my ‘inner goddess’ is going to be open to the world no matter if I have shaved legs or not. I’m not going to waste my time in winter shaving my legs- I need the insulation, but my goddess will still be there. A man can have a baby smooth face from using a woman’s razor if he wants, or he can use the best a man can get from fusion. Assumptions don’t need to be made at all, especially when it comes to a razor.
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Firstly, Gilette make instant assumptions by the names of their products. For example, Fusion is related to an advanced field of physics, suggesting the men are intellectual and adventurous. On the other hand, Venus is the name of the roman goddess, known for love, beauty and sex. This suggests that women are only using the razor in order to be loved by men, rather than because they prefer smooth legs themselves. The colours used in the Fusion advert are black, orange and dark blue, which are stereotypically ‘manly’ and are quite intense, whereas Venus uses pastels pink, white and blue which are portrayed as feminine and weaker, further suggesting women are the weaker sex. Next, the Fusion advert focuses on comfort and purpose, talking about less pressure so as not to cause irritation and being more precise and comfortable. This suggests that Fusion is a purpose ‘no frills’ style product, portraying men as the same, clever and straight to the point. However, Venus is all about ‘power’, ‘passion’ and ‘mystery’ and the end result of being ‘silky smooth’. This suggest that women are more concerned about how the product will make them feel and the emotions that this brings, which suggests women are emotional and deep thinking, as opposed to the men. Finally, the slogan for Fusion is ‘the best a man can get’, whilst for Venus it is ‘a more beautiful you every time you shave’. This further implies men are concerned about purpose whilst women about appearance, which gives a sexist view of the products.
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The Gillette advertisements show clear juxtaposition in the representation of men and women. The adverts support the sexist stereotypes that have accumulated around the genders and manipulate them to attract the specified audiences.
The names of both of the Gillette products begin the assumptions that the brand makes about the genders. The male razor is called ‘Gillette Fusion’ whereas the female razor is called ‘Gillette Venus’. As ‘Fusion’ connotes the idea of bringing together main qualities to create something better, this assumes that the man is resourceful and purely attracted to the products manual ability. ‘Venus’ connotes the goddess of love and beauty, suggesting that this razor is being represented for the effect it can have on women, implying that women need the change from others to become better, whereas men are looking bring together all of the resources to receive the benefit. This highlights the stereotypical representation that men have more innate power and women need help from other sources to achieve it.
In the Fusion advert, the line ‘reducing pressure’ suggests that the men have an important role in society and accumulate the most pressure, implying that men have the assumed dominance in gender roles, leaving women as the inferior sex. The ‘comfort of 5 blades’ assumes that the audience is attracted to the strength of its mechanics for that is what men are stereotypically enticed by.
With the use of the lines ‘reveal the goddess in you’ and ‘a more beautiful you’ from the Venus advert, the assumption that women aren’t adequate before using this product for they aren’t a goddess or that beautiful (in a man’s eyes) without the razor’s abilities. This also supports my point of women needing assistance to become better, assuming that they are always in need of improvement, due to overwhelming insecurities.
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The Gillette advertisement aimed towards men focuses on the way the razor feels when males use it. The advertisement uses phrases such as ‘revolutionary technology’ when commenting on their razor, thoroughly focusing on the effectiveness of the razor itself. This differs from the Venus razor which comments purely on the female, rather than aspects of the product. The male advert comments on ‘comfort of five blades with the precision of one’ assuming that males care about the technical aspects of their razor. The Gillette advertisement for women bases its advert around how the razor compliment the females. The advert describes the effects of the razor as ‘silky smooth’ showing how the razor will feel when used. It also comments on the female discovering her inner ‘goddess’ which assumes the female care about how the razor will make them look rather than aspects of the actual razor. Finally, the advertisements conform to common stereotypes of males and females. The Gillette Fusion advert sees male as sporty as they use figureheads from popular sports. Whereas, the Venus advert focuses on the appearance of women.
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The two Gillette advertisements create very different assumptions about men and women. The first advert focuses purely on the product itself and how it is created. For example the advert constantly refers to how it is made through the ‘revolutionary technology’ and how it is the ‘comfort of 5 blades’. This shows that Gillette have made the assumption that men only care about the mechanical aspects of the razor and how the product is made, rather than the outcome effecting their appearance.
This contrasts with the female advertisement as Gillette only focuses on how the razor will make them become ‘more beautiful’. By using this language of ‘more beautiful’, it implies that women are only seen as this when they have used the product. There is no mention of how the male razor will impact their appearance, implying that women are more self-conscious and men are more ‘strong’ with their appearance and emotions.
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There is clear differences in the assumptions made between men and women in the two Gillette advertisements. Firstly, the male Gillette fusion advert primarily focuses on the features of the razor, for example talking about the ‘comfort of 5 blades’ and refers to it as ‘revolutionary technology’. Whereas the Gillette Venus razor for women tends to focus on the effect the product has on the user and how it makes them feel, seen through the fact the razor will apparently ‘reveal the goddess in you’ and show the ‘more beautiful you’. In the male advertisement there is no reference to the impact the razor will have on them and there is no mentioning on how it will make them feel ‘silky smooth’ like we see in the female advert. This could be trying to imply that women are generally more self-conscious and are more sensitive on the subject of their appearance as well as being seen as more sensitive in general, which in turn means the male advert is making male figures seem stronger and more powerful. We also see the Gillette fusion advert being centred around sports and action, but the Gillette Venus being much slower and taking time to focus on the women in the advert making herself attractive. This shows the adverts trying to fit in with the general stereotype of what males and females are interested in. The Gillette razors are also coloured as pink for the females and blue/black for males also focusing on the stereotype of the colours preferred by each gender.
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The two Gillette adverts differ in language and content quite a bit. The male version focuses on the technical aspects of the product, an example of this is when it says “comfort of 5 blades.” The male version is fast paced and intense whereas the woman’s version is more slow and chilled. The woman’s advert says “reveal the goddess in you” to try and promote the idea that shaving legs on women makes them into a goddess. I think it is not surprising at all that the two adverts use different themes and language, since the purpose of the adverts are to sell as many men’s razors to as many men as possible, and as many women’s razors to as many women as possible. To achieve this obviously you need a difference in language and theme, and I do not think this is sexist at all, and there is no need to over analyse something just to try and find any possible way you can to label it sexist.
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The Gillette advertisement assumes that men and women are different. In the advertisement for men, the product is advertised solely for its quality and what it should achieve. The Gillette fusion advert uses phrases like ‘less irritation, more comfort’ and ‘precision trimmer’. The products description contributes to society’s view of how men are obsessed with how something is made and his product is described as a ‘miracle of fusion’ and a ‘unique idea’. In comparison, the Gillette Venus advert, aimed at women, implies that women buy a product based on how it makes them feel. This is shown through the alliteration of ‘power and passion’ and ‘spirit and substance.’ The advertisement implies that by using the razor it will make you ‘more beautiful’ and that if you didn’t use it you wouldn’t be giving the impression that to make yourself more attractive you must rid yourself of any hair. The advertisement encourages women to ‘reveal the goddess’ within and that the only way they can become a ‘goddess’ is to shave and be well groomed.
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It can clearly be seen that there is a massive difference between the male and female interpretations that are presented in both of the Gillette advertisements. If we focus upon the contents of the adverts titles first, notice how the female product is named “Venus”, linking to the Greek goddess whose functions encompassed love, sex etc, which to some can be seen as a weakness in terms of a woman’s in-dependency as all of these factors refer back to a male accompaniment at the end of the day. The male product however is named “Fusion”, suggesting strength and dominance, something completely opposite to the female product (which overall is actually the same thing that is being used for the same purpose, indeed showing great matters of sexism). Now if we focus upon what each advert presents to the viewer, we can definitely see stereotypical aspects of both men and women being portrayed. Within the males version of Gillette, we experience 3 well known sports players, promoting a product that promises to have the “comfort of 5 blades” from its “revolutionary technology”. Within the females version, we experience a woman flaunting around in a bubble, promoting a product that promises to make your legs feel “silky smooth”, whilst revealing the “goddess of you”. Again we can see sexism in this matter, as a simple product to remove a person’s body hair for one gender (males) appears as one of the greatest inventions of mankind, whilst for the other it appears extremely sexualized and as a trait that is only really used to later on impress and attract their significant other.
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The two advertisements for practically the same product are quite different in their pitch to the certain audience. Gillette Fusion razors are advertised to the male population and focus hugely on the performance of the razor, commenting on the ‘comfort of five blades’ and how the razor ‘reduces pressure’ on the skin, as well as the inclusion of the ‘precision trimmer’. Gillette Venus razors are aimed at women and focus primarily on how the woman will be after using the product and not the product itself like the Fusion razor. The women are told that they will feel like a ‘goddess’ and ‘reveal a more beautiful’ version of themselves. Not only this but the Venus advert only mentions the razor once, and how it can be used for ‘silky smooth skin’; nothing about the amount of blades or the reduction of pressure. The adverts also play upon the stereotypes of each gender, for example the male advertisement includes gadgets, helicopters and stereotypical masculine things in contrast to the female advertisement which involves a lot of women presented as being liberated and enjoying themselves – mostly how women would like to be viewed in society. These stereotypes flag up the sexism in this particular advertising campaign in that the product is basically the same yet is pitched to the audience in completely different ways.
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The two razor advertisements differ greatly in many different ways and displays the stereotypical portrayal of both genders in modern society. Firstly the razor aimed towards men implies that the user will prioritise the effectiveness of the razor in terms of its efficiency and practicality. It is described as ‘revolutionary technology’ and emphasises that there are ‘5 blades’ to demonstrate the strength and power which are also connotations of the male stereotype. However there is a vast contrast when looking at the advert targeted at women. The advert focuses solely on the end result of using the razor claiming that it will create a ‘more beautiful you’. This could be viewed as a patronising statement which implies that women cannot be attractive if they do not shave. The advertisement is also much more emotionally based compared to the male version with words such as ‘power’ and ‘passion’ being used to demonstrate how the woman will be feeling due to the shaving whereas the male advert only specifies how shaving will help in ‘reducing pressure’ a much more broad statement. Overall the adverts attempt to seize the traditional stereotypes of men and women and use them to their advantage in order to attract customers and make money by essentially pressuring people into buying their products through their use of generalisation to segregate the two genders disregarding the blatant sexism on both sides when labelling men as dominant and intellectual and women weak, emotional and sensitive.
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The Gillette advertisement makes the assumptions that men and women want certain things. The main assumption for the men is that they want to improve their performance and they target this in the advert by suggesting the better your razor, the better the shave and the better the shave the better the performance of the man. This is shown in the language they use; for example ‘the best a man could get’. This shows that they assume men just want to be the best. The Gillette adverts also assume that women want to be beautiful by using adjectival phrases like ‘silky smooth’. This suggests that the Gillette company assumes that all women want to be pretty and ‘goddess’ like. The razors are probably the exact same model and do the same job but the Gillette advertisement have assumes that a different coloured of razors and different adverts focusing on different points for the different audiences. The assumptions they make could be classed as sexist, but it would make more sense if they were just trying to appeal to both audiences and for the different uses of the razor. In conclusion it’s obvious how the men’s and women’s adverts are different and why. The assumptions that are made are that men like technology, performance and being the best, whilst women like being beautiful, smooth and goddess like.
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The Gillette men’s advert presumes that women don’t want to know about the razor and all there interested in is what it’ll do to their appearance whereas the men’s advert talks about the razor as the first thing that’s brought up. This shows that Gillette think that women are more concerned with appearance than men as men are interested in the technical stuff on the razor as the men are seen to be more knowledgeable.
This is shown as the men’s advert is show with men in suits and lab coats showing intelligence whereas the women’s advert is jut women dancing and modelling the effects of the razor showing that women are incapable of knowing the technology.
Gillette also could believe that women are only good for looks as the advert shows nothing but women naked and showing of the effects of the razor whereas the man’s advert doesn’t show the effects of the advert on an actual man. It shows a diagram of the razor working. Suggesting that Gillette thinks men do not care about appearance and just want to know about the razor itself.
The Gillette adverts also suggest that they think that men require products that are described as “miracle” and “gentle” whereas women want products that are described as being “silky smooth”. This suggests that they believe that women and men require different products and needs but in actual fact both just want a razor that works with the same care put into each one.
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The Gillette videos given show an obvious stereotypical divide between men and women whilst encouraging an apparent social norm. Gillette are encouraging the use of the razors and so implying that to have excessive body hair whether male or female is unconventional; this immediately overlooking any sense of individuality.
The first video uses the brand name ‘Fusion’ to set an aura of industrial masculinity that potentially is to empower the male audience. Here an assumption can be made that Gillette have invested in the male viewers to certify the selling of their product. Throughout the ad superlatives are regularly used in order to support the visual effects alongside a woman being included also; thus a subliminal message can be suggested that of which women will be more attracted to the user of the product. The second video features famous sporting personalities known to the majority of society, especially men. These sportsmen promote the ‘Fusion’ razors by being shown to use them, therefore leading viewers by example “the best a man can get”. These two ads make the assumption that all men will look up to other successful members of our culture, all men will want to shave and that women will be drawn to those who do shave (which is not the case). Modern culture favours facial hair and so proves the advert to be out-dated.
The final video is to publicise Gillette’s ‘Venus’ razors, these being aimed at women. The ad uses soft pastel colours to give a gentle, feminine vibe however this may have been taken too far. The language used throughout the ad can come across to the viewer as patronising, “release your inner goddess”, and only complements the body image once the razors have been used, thus not highlighting the importance of natural, unique beauty and competence in self-image. Although the advert attempts to entice the female audience by reassuring them of their beauty when analysed can be seen as a veneer.
On the whole Gillette makes predictions of the viewers by following dominant stereotypes but does not keep to the interests of modern day living.
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The Gillette adverts clearly shows the stereotypical juxtapositions between men and women. The first Gillette ‘fusion’ advert is heavily male dominated, demonstrating that the razor is for men only. The advert concentrates on a scientific approach and talks about the ‘revolutionary technology’ which implies that men care about the technology behind a razor and that they only want the best. Only one woman appears in the advert and that is at the end when she is shown admiring the man after he has shaved. This represents the woman in a slightly negative way as she is shown to only care about his looks. In the second ‘fusion’ advert, elite sportsmen are shown to be using the razor. This demonstrating that the advert is heavily linked with sports and other masculine connotations. This would grip more men into buying the product as they would feel that they need it to be more masculine.
On the other hand, the Gillette ‘Venus’ advert focuses on beauty and how women need the razor to be able to be beautiful. This makes the stereotypical assumption that all women only care about their appearance. The advert in general sexualises women as less clothing is worn, compared to the ‘fusion’ adverts. The colour scheme is very feminine as a soft palette is used. The razor also comes in different colours which makes it seem like women care more about the appearance of the razor, than the quality of it. The adverts over all make women seem delicate and tentative compared to men who are strong and superior.
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These two Gillette advertisements are both extremely different in the fact that one is being solely advertised towards women, and one towards men. The advertisement aimed towards the men focuses on the fact that their product of the razor blade is there to give the men more power and strength. It promotes the idea of performance and assume men look for that in the products Gillette has to offer. In the first advertisement aimed at men the colours used are dark and the graphology used assumes that the men are into technology and electrical items just as much as the product itself. There is pictured a large group of men dressed in gear that scientists wear and this links back to the technology behind the product. It is assumed that the male population know what they’re doing and know how to explain the ideas that go behind the product to manufacture it as well as the performance it gives. This is a very stereotypical view point that suggests men are the gender who achieve the most success and this contrasts a huge amount to the advertisement aimed at women we see after the advert aimed at men. Not only does the advert include powerful imagery and powerful diegetic sound, it also includes scenes where the men are attractive towards women and there is a particular part in which one woman looks up to the man after he has used the product. I think Gillette has used the woman as a ‘prize’ for the ‘groomed’ and ‘attractive’ men, if they buy the razor blade product. The fact that the woman is looking up at the man shows the superior gender is the male and he is the dominant character. There is a second advert here as an example for the male advertisement and in this advert there are sportsmen used. Famous sportsmen are used to advertise the brand, because this is a god persuasive technique and stereotypically men are into sport. This again, promotes success for the male population and the use of role models is a way of making out only men can aim for the best and the highest level. This is very different in the advertisement used towards women. The final advert promoted towards women is shorter than the adverts towards males. This could indicate women are ‘easily pleased’ or maybe second best to the company of Gillette. The product for women is called ‘Gillette Venus’ and the word ‘Venus’ makes us think instantly of the Roman goddess who represented beauty, love and sex. This places women in a category not all women are happy to be in. The naming of their products sexualizes them and degraded them to the comfort for the man. In this advertisement pastel colours are used to indicate women prefer a softer and more gentle advertisement to attract them. There is softer music included and the scenes of each women promoting the product is slower and ‘sexier’, as in the girls are waving there hair around and smiling constantly. Compared the men that Gillette showed in their adverts, the women are classed as the ‘weaker’ gender who are unable to do anything other than look good. Instead of just one ‘powerful’, decent working razor advertised, there are many different option for the women – but not based on how good each product is. This is based on what colour they are. The girls are given a choice of a range of colours for their razor to be in, indicating that women are fussy and need a certain amount of choice. Indicating men prefer to have the best of the best, but women can have whatever they fancy. This is extremely stereotypical in the fact that all men and women aren’t the same and people, whatever their gender should be treated the same. The female advertisement doesn’t stop there. At the very end of the advertisement the quote; ‘Reveal the inner goddess in you’ is presented towards the audience. This obviously links back to the idea of the name (‘Gillette Venus’), but this puts pressure on the women that they should reveal the beauty inside them. They are almost forced the buy the product inn able for them to become a goddess. The company show the feel women should be perfect, but men should be successful. These advertisements are both discriminative towards the genders and they are a clear presentation of society today and how society treats ad judges each genders. The media are the blame for this as this is what influences the people’s decisions towards each gender.
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The two Gillette Razor advertisements both drastically differ to one another and are both clearly aimed at different genders. The first advertisement is focused on the male gender. This advertisement emphasises the way in which the Gillette Fusion Blade gives men a sense of control and power. Additionally, rather than the way the razor would make men look, the advertisement focuses primarily on its performance. The advertisement is themed in a Si-Fi/ Action movie style, which are two movie genres that are stereotypically enjoyed by men. The theme of power is further supported by the colour palette used for the advertisement which included strong blues and oranges as well as black. These bold colours stand out and give a sense of dominance. The second advert is based on a women’s razor call ‘Venus’. Unlike the men’s Gillette Fusion advertisement, this advert is focused with a far more gentle and calming tone. This is supported by the use of a softer colour palette with light blues and pink. These calmer colours could be used as a way to reflect the stereotypical representation of women, being far more fragile and gentle that men. The advertisement also suggests that women are focused on their beauty. This can be show by the tagline used in the advertisement ‘reveal the goddess in you’. The idea of being a goddess is represented by the razor’s name: ‘Venus’ which is named after the Roman Goddess whose functions encompassed love, beauty, sex. fertility, prosperity and desire. Similarly, the Gillette Venus advertisement also presents similar themes which they try to suggest women could gain if using their product. All these themes are fairly gender focused and stereotypically circle around the idea that women are seen objectively for their beauty and for sex. The actress that is used in the advertisement also supports this assumption. It is immediately clear that this actress was chosen to star in this advertisement based on their beauty and conforming to society’s general idea of an ideal woman, although beauty is something that can be seen as subjective by all.
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The first advert focuses on the male audience (the main target audience for the product), despite having female customers. It focuses on the experience that the razor provides, with the voice over stating “the comfort of five blades with the precision of one”, a statement that appeals to the male audience as shaving can sometimes prove to be uncomfortable and irritating. The misé en scene of the male advert shows a scientific theme within a dark room with a flash of bright orange light as the razor is shown. The connotations that this carries are that it brings a high level of quality (backed by science), as well as the contrast of the orange on the black giving an idea that light is found and this is a solution to the users shaving problems. On the other hand the female ‘Venus’ razor shows women on a beach to “reveal the more beautiful” side of women, perhaps fitting into stereotypes that women are only and only should be ‘eye candy’ for men. Another stereotype used in the advert is that females like pink (the colour of the Venus razor) whilst the males is blue and black. The second advert also focuses on the outcome of the shave with the Venus razor as it is not seen as an experience but something that must be done to make women look better, unlike the men’s razor.
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The two Gillette adverts differ in language and content quite a bit. The male version focuses on the technical aspects of the product, an example of this is when it says “comfort of 5 blades.” The male version is fast paced and intense whereas the woman’s version is more slow and chilled. The woman’s advert says “reveal the goddess in you” to try and promote the idea that shaving legs on women makes them into a goddess. I think it is not surprising at all that the two adverts use different themes and language, since the purpose of the adverts are to sell as many men’s razors to as many men as possible, and as many women’s razors to as many women as possible. To achieve this obviously you need a difference in language and theme, and I do not think this is sexist at all, and there is no need to over analyse something just to try and find any possible way you can to label it sexist.
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The assumptions of the two advertisements are very different. The male Gillette advert focuses on the effectiveness of the product and how well if fulfils its purpose. An example of this would be “the comfort of five blades with the precision of one” which assumes that men care about the technical aspect of the razor as from this they can judge how effective the razor is going to be. The Gillette razor for women focuses on how it makes the users look and feel after using the product. It says things like “silky smooth” and “Goddess” which assumes that the female users care about how it makes them look opposed to how well it works and the technical aspect.
The male adverts are centred on masculine things like sports and fast paced action whereas the female adverts are centred on beauty and being a goddess. The adverts make assumptions that these are the things that interest the individual genders.
The male advert is powerful and fast paced whereas the female advert is more delicate and slow. This in itself is assuming that females are delicate and males are powerful and this stereotype is demonstrated throughout society and has been throughout the ages.
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The first two razor advertisements are similar with how they portray a gender bias towards men, which both differ greatly in many different ways to the last advertisement and display the stereotypical portrayal of both genders differing in modern society.
The first two Gillette advertisements are both focussed around the male audience and portray a bias against women. The male advertisements aim to achieve a strong and powerful ad that appears more dominating towards the ideal target audience. The use of the male elite sportsmen connotes that men are the most successful and greatly represent power, strength and authority over women, with men being stereotypically associated with dominance and fitness. The imagery along with the graphology of the advertisements indicates it is towards men and shows how more dominant and powerful colours/themes are used to symbolise a male’s dominance over what women would have to symbolise themselves. They include scenes where the female is attracted to the male, showing that women are inferior to men. ‘Fusion’ displays the idea of bringing together a male’s main qualities to create something better, which attracts the male towards the product.
The last advertisement, ‘Gillette Venus’ is clearly favouring the female audience, using softer and lighter colours such as pink, as a stereotypical representation of women. ‘Venus’ symbolises the Roman goddess, representing love, beauty and sex. The phrases ‘Reveal the goddess in you’ and ‘a more beautiful you’ from the Venus advert, gave the assumption that women need assistance to become better with their overwhelming insecurities, and the product will ensure that they become beautiful and perfect, revealing the beauty inside them.
Overall, these advertisements represent the divide that is still existent between men and women, including stereotypes, prejudices and bias towards and against women, as men are known to be the more dominant of the two sexes. And the gender equality is still existent even though it may still not be noticed as easily as it used to be.
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There is a clear differentiation between the audiences of the first two advertisements compared to the final advertisement. The first feature that I noticed is the absence of the female presence in the first two videos, instantly indicating the audience that razor is aimed at. The first advert presents men as sophisticated scientists that have high paid jobs and are in control. The second advert features three renowned male sporting athletes and how the Gillett razor provides “confidence” and therefore increasing performance of their performance. The slogan for this advert: “The best a man can get” Fully indicating that this advert and razor has been created for the male purpose in particular. The final advisement is a complete contrast compared to the first two adverts. This advert features only women and makes women appear very feminine. “Venus” is the name of the female razor and has connotations to the Greek goddess that was known for love and sex. This could be a possible objectification toward the women and the role of a woman. “Fusion” is the name of the male razor which could suggest power which is complete juxtaposition compared to the female advert.
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The first advertisement focuses only on the product that is advertising, the Gillette fusion razor. This advert focuses around the quality and ‘engineering’ of the product, almost as if it was in some way a superior technological advancement. This implies that men are focused solely on the quality of a product and are less swayed by the aesthetics, whereas with the Venus advert it gives the impression that women are mre likely to be persuaded by the look, colour and connotations of a product. The Venus advert centres around how the product will supposedly make a woman feel, for example it shows clips of women happy, comfortable, confident and carefree. This implies the emotional nature f women and the power this has through advertising. It uses word like goddess and phrases such as ‘revealing a more beautiful you’ in order to attract the attention of women. On the other hand the Gillette fusion razor revolves more around the scientific power of the razor and how they will feel physically. Gillette uses phrases to describe the mechanics of the razor in their advertisement such as ‘precision trimmer’, ‘5 blades’ and ‘revolutionary shave’ these phrases play towards the mechanics of the razor and the interests of men. In conclusion the adverts use very specific marketing techniques depending on the gender the product is aimed towards, this can make women feel pressured into buying certain razors in order to conform to a social ideal of the woman in the adverts as women are supposed to have tanned, smooth shaven legs at all times.
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These two advertisements are symptomatic of the eternal struggle that the global society faces within the gender binary.
Advertisement one focuses mainly on the male experience, and reaches out solely to a male audience. This is proven when the camera cuts to the action of a man shaving. Furthermore, within the advert, the same man encounters a lady, who appears to be promiscuous through her actions. This highlights and accentuates perceived gender roles in society, and suggests that women are for the purpose of pleasure and property.
Advertisement two focuses entirely on a female audience. Pastel colours such as baby pink are implemented in the advertisement, which has connotations of inferiority. The not so striking shade of pink suggests that women are mundane and perhaps insignificant, which is suggestive of their gender role in society.
So, why do Gillette feel the need to divide their advertisements based on their audience being of separate gender?
Well, one could argue that in order to generate as much profit as possible, they need to reach out to as many people as possible, and this could mean introducing the gender binary. Perhaps one advert reaching out to a general audience regardless of their sex could be more problematic to the company than the way they have conducted their marketing now.While Gillette have done this, they have taken sexism to another level, with their blinded assumptions regarding men and women.
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