Critical Analysis

Critical Theory
“Old Spice: Scents for Gents” (2009)


Gender Lens:
This commercial talks about “being a man” with images of a white male doing various sports like skiing, lifting weights and golfing. There is also an image of the man wearing a suit, sitting a large leather chair, reading a book. The advertisement is for Old Spice deoderant, the purpose being to show the various different scents available. At first it seems as though the commercial is trying to tell you what it means to be “a man” and that it smells a certain way. But then if you listen carefully to the man’s voice, its seems as though he is mocking this idea of a “man.” He also keeps crashing into buildings, which adds an element of humor and makes you take his words less seriously. At the end of the commercial we see the man talking to what seems to be his wife. They are dressed in matching ‘preppy’ clothes and it he is all the sudden not really “manly” at all: he let his wife dress him. Overall, the commercial hilariously mocks the idea of the perfect man.

Marxist Lens:
This commercial is very obviously targeted at an upper middle class audience. The activities the man is taking part in: skiing, reading literature in an expensive leather chair, golfing, and spending leisure time at the beach, are limited to a very wealthy consumer contingent. The assumption that the customer can afford multiple varieties of deodorant is also making an assumption that they have a disposable income in which to buy expensive body care products.