This is a video ad for Herbal Essences Shampoo with Nicole Scherzinger.

Sex Role Perspective

Nicole is in a plane and goes to use the bathroom. She begins to use the shampoo and literally moans while using it. She accidentally hits the speaker button so the whole plane hears her. The ad shows three men reacting to her over the speaker, looking intrigued. Then one elderly woman who is knitting. As she walks out with beautiful hair, everyone pushes a button from their seat signaling they all want the shampoo. As she walks out of the bathroom, the narrator says “it’s an experience that everyone will be asking for”. The ad then asks people to share their first time using Herbal Essences with #firsttime.

This ad showcases a woman in a public setting as the main character, but in quite a provocative way. The ad DEFINITELY reinforces feminine stereotypes in the media as being sexual objects for pleasure. This is also seen feminine touch she uses in her hair, as well as the withdrawal she uses to invite people to look at her while rubbing the shampoo in her hair.

This ad shows women that this shampoo will make them sexy and attractive to men, which is a stereotypical role women are told in the media.

Gaze Theory

This advertisement is 100% aimed at male gaze. As a woman, seeing this ad which should be targeted towards me, made me quite uncomfortable. There were so many camera shots of her body without her face in it, which objectified her. Also, when she applied the product in her hair, she was looking away with closed eyes, inviting people to look at her. Then there is the huge factor that she was literally moaning and the whole plane could hear.

The ad also showed three men reacting to hearing Nicole over the speaker, looking intrigued. One of them was even shown putting his ear against the bathroom door to hear her better! This showed the audience that it was ok to objectify Nicole. As she finishes using the product, she says “Yes!” and her words are echoed, eluding sexual things which made me uncomfortable.

The sheer fact that she was on a plane eludes to the mile high club, and adds to the sexual meaning.

Shared by: Megan Jasen
Image Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUtS5QKfpRk&ab_channel=miroslavdjordjevic