Representation Analysis

Axe: The Axe ad there is a group of women of all kinds, black and white, chasing a white man spraying Axe deodorant with despair. In this commercial, the producer did a poor job in deciding how he was going to represent our reality. I am stating this because even though he represented women, who are underrepresented, he represented them in a way that wasn't so appropriate. In the commercial, women are shown as skinny and animal-like since they seem as if they were running towards their prey in the wild, in this case the man. Apart from showing a group of model-like women, their costume design consisted of revealing bathing suits. Some of the bathing suits were even red, which conveys a sensuality to the audience. This ad and the choices made when creating it may have an effect on both the female and the male audience. The female audience may feel a pressure to fit into the ideal image of women represented in the commercial. They may also feel insulted due to the lack of reality, not every women has that "perfect" image. On the contrary, men may feel positive about this ad. The man represented in the ad seems like an average guy, which many men may relate to. The normal-looking man in the commercial was able to attract all the animal-like, perfect ladies. Men may feel the urge to purchase the Axe deodorant after seeing that a normal man was able to call the attention of a large group of perfect women.

H&M: The H&M "close the loop" ad intends to break all fashion stereotypes, telling its audience to do and wear whatever they choose to. They broke the stereotypes in hair color, gender, race and sexuality by representing people of all kinds wearing what is "wrong," such as women having armpit hair, an asian man with an earring and a fashionable suit, two short-haired, black women, and a man wearing a skirt. In this commercial they used representation to encourage people who don't follow stereotypes to purchase from the large variety they have at their stores and also to recycle clothing, urging people to do whatever they choose with their clothing. The producer did a splendid job in representing our reality, people going against the norms of stereotypes. Because of that, the representation choices have a positive effect in its audience. The audience watching the ad may see themselves represented, making them want to purchase in H&M and recycle their clothing.