Draft

According to semiotic Professor Danesi, the sole purpose of all advertising is to speak to the viewer’s unconscious by arranging a hidden layer of subtext within the advertisement, to arouse a variety of connotative understandings in the viewer’s mind. The series of Axe/Lynx advertisements trades on the connotations associated with sex, and aims to associate those positive views to their products. The main myth imposed by such ads is that using the product transforms the user into an irresistible male that attracts “sexy” women - women will want you if you use the product. The advertisement reinforces current ideologies established by modern media in Western society dictating that slim is sexy, and that according to stereotypes, a slim woman with enlarged bosoms is an ideal representation of “the” attractive woman. The advertisement for the Lynx shower gel denotes the image of a slim-figured woman whose body is exposed and covered in dirt. The advertisement does not reveal her face, and only captures the portions of her body below her neck where it is revealed that she is only clothed in a bikini. One hand is placed on her hip, while the image captures her other hand in the midst of undressing her bikini bottom. A linguistic caption, strategically placed on her naked stomach, reveals two words: “wash me”. The undertone associated with this linguistic caption connotes that the woman’s body is dirty and somehow imperfect, and that the only remedy for her body to become purified lies within the LYNX shower gel. The bottom right corner of the image depicts a superimposed image of a light blue bottle of LYNX shower gel positioned against a plain background of blue shower tiles. The signifier of the color blue connotes water, and through convention signifies the act of being clean, and is culturally accepted as a symbol of purity in Western society. The advertisement positions the blue bottle of LYNX shower gel as the ideal form of purity, through which it is connoted that the shower gel transfers all the positive connotations of being clean to the user. Directly below the bottle is a slogan stating “LYNX Shower Gel. Get Dirty.” The sexual innuendo of the “Get Dirty” slogan ignores the moral and ethical connotations associated with sex, and connotes the sexual act of “getting dirty”. It somehow indirectly promotes sex as it is implied that the user can get dirty but the LYNX shower gel will make the user clean. The advertisement clearly targets male users, as the imagery of a half-naked woman in the shower is intended to appeal directly to men. The image, which is arguably offensive to many women through its objectification of the female gender, portrays the woman as a sexual object rather than a dignified woman. The consumer myth imposed within the image is that sex sells, and this notion is further emphasized as the advertisement connotes references to sex to draw attention to the shower gel. The female body portrayed within the image is a selling point of the shower gel and is intended to attract the attention of the male viewer by inducing them to look at the advertisement because of its sexually toned nature. The linguistic caption of the words ‘wash me’ relies heavily on sex appeal, and hails the male viewer in such a way that it invokes the desire to clean the woman’s body as the advertisement demands. Lévi-Strauss identifies that the task of the structural analyst is to see past or through the superficial linear structure to the "correct" or true underlying paradigmatic pattern of organization (Levi-Strauss 1955: 432; 1958:18; 1964:313). The imagery of a half-naked woman covered in dirt and loosely clothed bears no physical connection to a shower gel for men. In fact, the shower gel belongs to a paradigm set of commodity items through which it is connoted that using the product makes the user more sexually attractive. The advertisement places emphasis on sex appeal, where the actual physical product of the shower gel can be replaced by a paradigm of commodity items, and the syntagmatic relationship between the shower gel and the woman’s body is essential in hailing the male viewer’s gaze. The objectification of the female gender in the advertisement reduces the female body to a sexual object captured within the male’s gaze. The omission of the woman’s face further objectifies the woman’s body as being viewed as just an object – a piece of flesh as opposed to a unique person consisting of a face. Moreover, the symbolic sign of “wash me” possesses a paradigmatic relationship to the symbolic sign “clean me” as seen on dirty cars. The female gender is further objectified as the anatomy of the female body is compared to the body of a dirty car. The paradigmatic relationship between a dirty car and a dirty body aims to substitute the values the ideal male viewer attaches to cleaning a car, and associate those values with the connotations of washing the woman’s body. Through objectifying the female gender, the advertisement aims to appeal to what is alluded to as the ultimate desire for a male – his love for sex and cars Conclusively, the myth communicated through the advertisement is that consumption of the product transfers all the positive connotations of sex to the user – that using the product will make you more attractive and make women desire you.

ADBUSTERS:



The “Adbusters” we created for the LYNX advertisement utilized a dirty car in replacement of the female body. This was done to show the symbolic sign of “wash me” on the females body to hold a paradigmatic relationship to the symbolic sign “wash me” on dirty cars. By changing one visual image it produces a new meaning to the slogan ‘get dirty’. This change would depict the denotative meaning of using a shower gel to take care of your hygiene. By changing the image of the female body it transforms the sexual undertone of the advertisement to ultimately create a tasteful advert that does not objectify woman.