Frith Analysis - Old Spice

As consumers, advertising in a blast of text, sounds, movies bombards us everyday, All of it along with influence knits up in a convenient little care package for the masses. However, behind advertisements, behind all the glitz, humor, and controversy there is an underlying message(s) that all people should be aware of. By taking ads that we see, even our favorite ads, we can see how they affect us. We can be aware if they are manipulating us, or we can centralize and make generalizations about our society in general. Ads can directly identify a population of they are marketed correctly, and advertisers have a pretty good idea of how to get consumers to purchase products. Though this may be, it is still wise to see an advertisement for what it is. For analysis of my ad today, I used the Frith method for basic ad analysis as specified by the class instructions. Frith’s analysis analyzes ads on 3 different levels, its basic (or face-value) level, its advertisement level, and its cultural level or how we interpret how it shapes and projects the society in which it is a part of.

Last week, I blogged that my favorite advertising campaign was the *new * Old Spice ads, also known as “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, more specifically the one used at the Superbowl.

Using Frith analysis, this ad on the surface level has a man with a deep voice talking to the female audience about their love interest. The man at first is seen in the shower wearing a towel, and then his clothes change and he is on a luxury sailboat holding and showing off the product, from then the product changes and an oyster appears in his hand. The oyster opens and it has tickets inside, after a second the tickets disappear and a cascade of gemstones flows from the oyster. The oyster then disappears along with the boat, revealing the man sitting on a white horse. For additional dialogue and details of the ad, you can watch the orginal video here.

The advertiser, going along with Frith’s analysis is making the statement that by using their product men will feel manlier and feel better about themselves in the eyes of women. This product is beneficial to men.

A photo from the "Smell Like A Man. Man" campaign.

In a cultural or ideological sense, returning to the third and final aspect of Frith’s analysis, Old Spice’s tag line for these commercials, “Smell Like A Man, Man” enforces the idea of specific and total gender roles.  Their attitude states that you have to be more masculine and that men should not settle for who they or be comfortable in perhaps a more feminine gender role.  The idea of sexual identity and gender orientation are not new, however as of recent these issues are becoming more and more relevant to a our expanding society.