On the Audience of Old Spice
This past year I was in an honors comp class with a teacher that wasn't wholly liked by the student body. I didn't mind her that much. I enjoyed her public speaking exercises, and she had a cool style. She was as good as any other English teacher I had experienced. I only really had one moment in her class that bothered me.
As with most base level English classes, we had a short unit going over the Aristotelian appeals in commercials. She chose three commercials for us to analyze: A Dove commercial about girls body image, a commercial talking about the sexualization of women in the media, and an Old Spice commercial. I was assigned to the Old Spice commercial with four other girls.
We were supposed to take notes on Audience, Images, Aristotelian appeals, Purpose, and any other things we noticed. My notes read as such:
Audience: guys (straight guys)
does your man smell like an old spice man
Hyper-masculine images. Stereotypes ect. Rugged
Images-places that would actually smell good
Gives guys the thought that they'll be perfect and will be desireable
All Pathos. Twisted logic (cause/effect?)
Flowery descriptive language
Fast pace keeps the audience's attention
Ideal world. Picturesque
Ethos: Muscles
Purpose: Sell Old Spice
All five of us agreed that the Old Spice man wasn't a realistic portrayal of what women want in a romantic partner. It wasn't what any of us wanted, so it must have been some man's understanding of what women want.
About half way through our discussion, our teacher wandered over to see how we were doing. When presented with our understanding of the audience, she said, "Well, I wouldn't say that." She went on to describe a situation in which a woman was buying her boyfriend deodorant. The woman may choose Old Spice, so that at least her boyfriend will smell like the Old Spice man. We talked a bit more and she went on to the next group.
When we went up to present, it was my job to present the Audience. Despite the fact that none of my group agreed, I was a good little student and announced that the audience was men and women. After all, if a girl can't actually date the Old Spice Man, she can at least date someone who smells like him. We got a good grade and went on with our lives.
More or less.
That experience still doesn't sit right with me. I can't think of a single female role model of mine who I could honestly see wanting to date the Old Spice Man. He doesn't seem...real.
The Old Spice Man is hot and intense. He's the very picture of media's portrayal of the perfect male. Always going, always moving, always pampering and showing how epic he is. Who needs to peacefully watch that sunset when he can make out with you passionately and then dive off the cliff into the roaring ocean below. He'll fight a shark and make you a dress with it's teeth. He'll drive a speedboat into the sunset and return in a week with champagne and caviar before whisking you away to a jungle tree home he built with his bare hands.
Where's the time for cuddling and honest conversation in all this? I can only imagine trying to cuddle him only for him to pose and look dramatically into a camera you can't see. Who needs to listen to you talk about your day when he can just give you yet another homemade cake? There would be no soft moments, only adrenaline and absence.
What I and, I assume, the other girls in my group want in a relationship is something real. Actual people to share our lives with. Granted most of the girls in the group were some level of gay.
The Old Spice Man is such an absurd display of hyper-masculine shows of manliness, I could only imagine only lonely boys with no idea what they're doing wrong would buy into it.
Apparently I was wrong.
~Samantha Williams
3/4 Spinster
As with most base level English classes, we had a short unit going over the Aristotelian appeals in commercials. She chose three commercials for us to analyze: A Dove commercial about girls body image, a commercial talking about the sexualization of women in the media, and an Old Spice commercial. I was assigned to the Old Spice commercial with four other girls.
We were supposed to take notes on Audience, Images, Aristotelian appeals, Purpose, and any other things we noticed. My notes read as such:
Audience: guys (straight guys)
does your man smell like an old spice man
Hyper-masculine images. Stereotypes ect. Rugged
Images-places that would actually smell good
Gives guys the thought that they'll be perfect and will be desireable
All Pathos. Twisted logic (cause/effect?)
Flowery descriptive language
Fast pace keeps the audience's attention
Ideal world. Picturesque
Ethos: Muscles
Purpose: Sell Old Spice
All five of us agreed that the Old Spice man wasn't a realistic portrayal of what women want in a romantic partner. It wasn't what any of us wanted, so it must have been some man's understanding of what women want.
About half way through our discussion, our teacher wandered over to see how we were doing. When presented with our understanding of the audience, she said, "Well, I wouldn't say that." She went on to describe a situation in which a woman was buying her boyfriend deodorant. The woman may choose Old Spice, so that at least her boyfriend will smell like the Old Spice man. We talked a bit more and she went on to the next group.
When we went up to present, it was my job to present the Audience. Despite the fact that none of my group agreed, I was a good little student and announced that the audience was men and women. After all, if a girl can't actually date the Old Spice Man, she can at least date someone who smells like him. We got a good grade and went on with our lives.
More or less.
That experience still doesn't sit right with me. I can't think of a single female role model of mine who I could honestly see wanting to date the Old Spice Man. He doesn't seem...real.
The Old Spice Man is hot and intense. He's the very picture of media's portrayal of the perfect male. Always going, always moving, always pampering and showing how epic he is. Who needs to peacefully watch that sunset when he can make out with you passionately and then dive off the cliff into the roaring ocean below. He'll fight a shark and make you a dress with it's teeth. He'll drive a speedboat into the sunset and return in a week with champagne and caviar before whisking you away to a jungle tree home he built with his bare hands.
Where's the time for cuddling and honest conversation in all this? I can only imagine trying to cuddle him only for him to pose and look dramatically into a camera you can't see. Who needs to listen to you talk about your day when he can just give you yet another homemade cake? There would be no soft moments, only adrenaline and absence.
What I and, I assume, the other girls in my group want in a relationship is something real. Actual people to share our lives with. Granted most of the girls in the group were some level of gay.
The Old Spice Man is such an absurd display of hyper-masculine shows of manliness, I could only imagine only lonely boys with no idea what they're doing wrong would buy into it.
Apparently I was wrong.
~Samantha Williams
3/4 Spinster
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