This is an ad for Nivea’s Smooth Skin lotion.

Sex Role Perspective

The ad shows a man and woman in a close embrace with simple clothing to show off their skin. What is interesting in this ad, is that it resists and reinforces female characteristics at the same time.

Resisting Stereotypical female characteristics:

  • The ad made the woman the center of attention. She takes up more space with her body and is in front of the man.
  • She also looks straight at the audience, while the man shows withdrawal in his face with his eyes shut and head down, and his body is closed off. These roles are usually reversed in advertising.

Reinforcing Stereotypical female characteristics:

  • The woman is beautifully but naturally groomed with flawless skin that looks airbrushed.
  • The woman is softly touching the man’s arm, but he is doing the same back.
  • This ad in particular shows the typical characteristic of fairer skin on women. This ad used a Bollywood actress with a fairer complexion than most women in India to reinforce their society’s standard of fair skin being more beautiful.

Gaze Theory

The ad presents aspects that fall straight into the male gaze. Though the roles are reversed with the woman being the center of attention, the man still shows some territorial behavior towards her. He does this with the way he holds her close and his facial expression. He is not looking at the camera, but his eyes are on her, which invites others to look at her and see how beautiful she looks after using the product. It is interesting that even when traditional roles are reversed in body positions, the impression still comes out the same.

The ad has a statement that is front and center that states, “For visibly smooth and touchably soft skin”. This paired with the territorial image shows consumers that women must have soft skin that can be touched. The choice of the specific Bollywood actress feeds into the male gaze of fair skin and skin lightening in India as what is beautiful and pleasurable to look at.

Shared by: Megan Jasen
Image Credit: http://danaalsuwaidi.blogspot.com/2015/11/print-ad-analysis.html