Group 3: Jordan Jurgensmier, Michael LeNevue, Xiaoxin Sun,
Abby Huelskamp
Take a minute to analyze this photo and determine what his
body suggests to you…
This image uses rhetoric of the body to sell Cell-Tech’s
creatine (a powerful workout supplement).
The man depicted represents the extremes of the human body. The man
seems nearly inhuman and, from what we saw last week, he may partially be. His
detailed, popping veins and intense face give the viewer not only a sense of
his abnormal muscle, but also his extreme power and determination. To some he would be seen as beautiful and
well-disciplined but to others the extreme muscle and visible veins are just
too much. The advertisers are playing the average male’s want to be a
successful, attractive person. Advertising companies have created an idea that
men are supposed to have big muscles and a toned body. Cell-Tech is hoping that
men will buy this product in order to make them bigger and hopefully more
attractive to the women in their lives, thus playing on the insecurities that
the general population has been dealing with since “fake” people have been used
in advertisements and became prevalent in the public eye. With that being said,
we would like to pose a few questions for discussion: Is this ad effective at selling its product
to its audience? Do all people who are
willing to take supplements in order to get in shape really strive to look like
this? How do you feel about the cosmetic and supplement industries manufacturing
the perfect male or female and presenting it to the public?
Linking
back to previous discussions about beauty, and from what is very well proven in
our source, is a reoccurring question. Isn’t beauty subjective? Isn’t it truly
in the eye of the beholder? If so, how can such a term be exactly defined?
