Masculinity in advertising and brand consumption
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:27 am
Masculinity is a socio-cultural construct. Our way of being men (and women) is determined by our social and family environment; we build our vision of gender based on (ancestral) ideas, examples and prejudices that we are fed on a daily basis through our relationships and the media. How has masculinity evolved in advertising?
It is a constant theme in market research and of utmost importance for MANDARINA, it is the way in which this gender vision affects consumption and the relationship with brands.
Models of masculinity in advertising
To address this issue, we will briefly review the models of masculinity that have been displayed through advertising, and thus try to understand what type of man they are emotionally alluding to.
The first great milestone could be Charles Atlas (1920-30`s). His story is very unique: a Sicilian immigrant who arrives in rough Brooklyn and suffers bullying (for being “skinny and weak”); admirer of an archetype of male superiority (Hercules), has a powerful insight : to strengthen and develop his muscles to project the image of a powerful and respectable man. Thus begins the creation of his method, which even Baby Boomers can see advertised in print media.
In the 1970s, a whisky brand stood out for the masculine model it imposed peru phone number to distinguish itself, ad hoc to its selective category: an arrogant magnate , surrounded by women unconditionally attached to his power, like luxury accessories on his yacht. His masculinity was cold, distant, egocentric and dominant, but dazzling for its economic power and conservative and conventional elegance. The communication of this brand was so encryptedly masculine, that even the pubescent boys of the time were secretly enthralled by the model of its commercial, whose success reached its zenith when it appeared in Playboy magazine, consolidating the prototypical vision of that masculine world.
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Perhaps the closest example to this vision of masculinity in advertising was the singer Luis Miguel, who later, and already with signs of wear and tear and decadence, gave rise to the Mirey, who is a caricature of his predecessor (the magnate), because all he has left is the pure airs to show off the wealth he no longer has.
At the same time, a well-known beer brand, very popular in the north (initially associated with low socio-economic status), was nourished by a model of a tough, rural and adventurous man; with a casual, playful and utilitarian contact with women. Any current grupero could have been its image.
It is a constant theme in market research and of utmost importance for MANDARINA, it is the way in which this gender vision affects consumption and the relationship with brands.
Models of masculinity in advertising
To address this issue, we will briefly review the models of masculinity that have been displayed through advertising, and thus try to understand what type of man they are emotionally alluding to.
The first great milestone could be Charles Atlas (1920-30`s). His story is very unique: a Sicilian immigrant who arrives in rough Brooklyn and suffers bullying (for being “skinny and weak”); admirer of an archetype of male superiority (Hercules), has a powerful insight : to strengthen and develop his muscles to project the image of a powerful and respectable man. Thus begins the creation of his method, which even Baby Boomers can see advertised in print media.
In the 1970s, a whisky brand stood out for the masculine model it imposed peru phone number to distinguish itself, ad hoc to its selective category: an arrogant magnate , surrounded by women unconditionally attached to his power, like luxury accessories on his yacht. His masculinity was cold, distant, egocentric and dominant, but dazzling for its economic power and conservative and conventional elegance. The communication of this brand was so encryptedly masculine, that even the pubescent boys of the time were secretly enthralled by the model of its commercial, whose success reached its zenith when it appeared in Playboy magazine, consolidating the prototypical vision of that masculine world.
You may be interested in: Single dad: Anthropological research on assumed paternity
Perhaps the closest example to this vision of masculinity in advertising was the singer Luis Miguel, who later, and already with signs of wear and tear and decadence, gave rise to the Mirey, who is a caricature of his predecessor (the magnate), because all he has left is the pure airs to show off the wealth he no longer has.
At the same time, a well-known beer brand, very popular in the north (initially associated with low socio-economic status), was nourished by a model of a tough, rural and adventurous man; with a casual, playful and utilitarian contact with women. Any current grupero could have been its image.