History 120

In 1969, Old Spice, another large competitor in current body spray production, released this ad, in Playboy magazine. The ad portrays a black and white photo of Maggie Perkins in a field, with the quote “Maggie Perkins thinks guys who wear Old Spice understand what women like.” This alone presents the assumption that by wearing Old Spice, Maggie Perkins will automatically think you understand what women like and in turn be more desirable by women. In small print after that statement it states “Girls like it. Is there a better reason to wear Old Spice?” Here the assumption is that since Maggie Perkins likes it, all girls do, so you should wear it, so that girls like you. Hai Karate, another Cologne / After Shave of the 60’s and 70’s chose the ‘Danger’ tactic typically found in product marketing today. The ad pictures a bottle of Hai Karate after shave and a disclaimer next to it bearing the warning “Don’t dare use Hai Karate… without memorizing this.” The disclaimer goes on to explain how to fend off and immobilize an advancing female that may have fallen in to a trance through your use of this intense scent. “Be careful how you use it,” the products main catch phrase, is printed at the bottom of the ad in an eye catching larger font. Through the use of outlets like Playboy Magazine, this type of advertisement was mainly directed at single heterosexual young men, especially those that just passed through puberty and were ready to start mingling with girls. If you wanted to get girls, this is what you wanted to be wearing. Recently the trend of sexual advertising has hit an all time high with ads like this, from Gillette. This particular ad depicts what seems to be a normal Christmas Dinner, with the exception that the son of the family is being mounted by a girl who is intoxicated by his scent of Tag Body Spray. In the background you can see that it is accepted by the father, seen decorating the tree, yet has a large grin on his face from what is happening. Accompanied next to the father is the mother, with a surprised / disgusted face, and in the foreground by grandma, who seems to be having a slight heart attack from what she is witnessing. We see the classic use of the ‘WARNING’ sign and disclaimer that was seen on the Hai Karate Ad from the past. Similarly this other Tag Ad, also uses the same classic tactic, but with a little twist. This Ad depicts a young man being tackled by an entire womens volleyball team. The warning claims that the company has no responsibility for the actions of women around you when you use their product. It also has a witty little cut out card that the ad advises you to carry around if you are a user of the body spray. The card states “If I am clinically injured in a TAG related pile-on, please notify my buddy ________ @ (___)____-______. (He’ll find it hilarious).” The general consensus of the four ads is pretty similar. If you wear the product, girls will like you and you will in turn probably get laid. Who doesn’t want to get laid?

Overall the marketing strategy of sex is one that has played a active role in advertising. It seemed to work well in the past and it continues to work equally now. Not only is sex a part of life that everyone knows about, but its an issue that manifests itself earlier and earlier in the lives of teens in todays society. Sex sells, it always has and it probably always will. Even though everyone knows that just because you use these products you won’t have the same results as the commercial, it still puts the product on a pedestal in your mind. The next time you go to the store are you going to buy a boring can of baby powder to keep you dry and fresh or are you going to pick up that ‘whoosh whoosh’ can of TAG that is advertised oh so well? The choice is easy.

Ads are used to sell a product to the masses, hopefully, it will tell them what it does and/or how it works. Sometimes the ads need help in convincing people. So companies get someone else to sell for them. Companies use celebrities to help sell a product because they have more prestige than the company themselves.

In two ads, (both from 1925) a person that is more famous than the “Average Joe” is used to push a product. The people are quoted liking the product. In Pond’s Extract ad, a Queen says “beauty can be thoroughly guarded bye Pond’s Two Creams.” Someone that wants to be as beautiful as this queen want to use the products she uses to try to be like a queen.  In the Lux soap ad, the “Cabinet babies,” (children of the Secertay of Labor in 1925) are deemed as “Lux babies” because all of their clothes are washed in Lux soap. Also, Mark Twain is quoted that his suits are “as white, and clean, and pure, and soft as swan’s down.” People of the time want to use what products celebrities use so they can be like them. All that is really different today is that “celebrity” has a broader definition.

Unfortunately for ad agencies of today, some people are wise to the fact that they hire celebrities to say whatever they are paid to say. Sometimes, they choose a “real life customer” to advocate a service, though some people suspect that these are no name actors doing this for money. In this Geico ad, they choose to blend the best of both worlds and have both a celebrity and a normal person, the normal person speaking normal English, while the celebrity elaborates in some weird exaggeration. Sometimes, ads will stick with the traditional celebrity angle, like this ad for Cup Noodles, run only in Japan.  As opposed, to stating that they use this product, which would obviously be scripted, the celebrity now appears in commercials to just be there because a normal person might not give the right “image” for an item. What if it was some no name American lifting the huge tea kettles in the Cup Noodle commercial? Then the consumer may not be able to identify with what is being sold.