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?
I think that this ad is effective in selling the product because most people know that is not what a man is going to look like if he takes the supplement at his own pace. I think this ad is an extremity, but the man looks drawn, so it is not realistic. Some men or women would want to look like this, but at the same time I think they know that it is going to take some time to get there. I honestly feel that people take ads way too seriously. Ads are a personal choice of what you think about the product. If you believe in the product you will buy it, if you don't you won't. Everyone knows that ads are airbrushed and photoshopped. It's not like this technique started a week ago and because of the consumers still buying the products, it only makes technological enhancement, while it may be wrong, all the more accepted.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the average person who works out strives to look like this. Personally, I think of exercise as a means of self improvement and when I look at this picture I do not see this man's physique as an improvement. This advertisement is definitely aimed at the male audience, but I think that it has a different message than the Dove Commercial. The Dove commercial emphasizes the fact that the woman was completely transformed by makeup and computer imaging Since this is a "supplement" I take that to mean that the consumer should understand that, along with the supplement, it will take a lot of work to look even somewhat as big as this guy. Personally, I don't have a problem with perfect people being advertised on nutrition ads, because those things are supposed to make us healthier. Like they stated, true beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and if one tries their best to be healthy, then they should feel beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think this ad is ineffective in some ways and effective in others. The extreme way in which the man is portrayed is effective in the sense that a guy could see this add and think "I should take this because I just want to be half as strong as him" sort of giving an unrealistic portrayal of the possible realistic goals someone might have such as wanting to be fit, which for guys that generally means being strong with defined muscles. However, I don't think that the majority of the people that would consider buying the product are trying to look exactly like this picture.
ReplyDeleteA way that the ad is ineffective is that as a female, this is very intimidating for me, this makes me feel insecure, because how do come off or carry myself as a woman compared to the portrayal of this man, this extreme demonstration of "manhood" or "manly strength" or whatever makes me insecure about my role as a female in comparison to this sort of super man. Another element that makes this ad ineffective for me personally, is that I have no desire to date someone who is even half of this guy's size, or even a fourth of this guy's size, I'm personally not attracted to what I consider are overbearing amounts of muscle. And I agree with Alyssa, that this image was probably enhanced because that is part of the advertising convention in our society, and with that possibility that the picture was enhanced in mind, I'm still not interested in or attracted to this image.
So yes the idea of male attractiveness or male beauty may have certain conventions (chiefly strength and stature) but beauty can still be subjective despite those generally accepted or expected conventions, because it does depend on the individual..and I'm about to get super cheesy and say that sometimes Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, because some people might look at the ad think, "wow! That's what I call a man!" or "I want to be that kind of a man" etc
Thinking about beauty, I believe we can look at surface and inner beauty - the one we contemplates when looking at someone we consider beautiful, and the other that we learn to appreciate getting to know a person. I can not say that the man of the ad is beautiful, because to me, it seems an exaggeration, a person who is trying to overcome, I would even think that someone who wants to look like this is because this person wants to look in the mirror and contemplates himself or herself, some kind of narcissism. However, I think we can consider that there is a great competition among companies in the market, what means they are creating new ideas all the time trying to sell their products, and each one has to be better than the others, having to sell more and guarantee their profits. So, as we also saw in Dove Evolution, I think who creates this kind of advertising knows that they are creating an illusion most of the time, but the point is: they are delivering what consumers want. And we really consider the advertisements, even knowing that in many cases they are not totally real. I believe this ad of supplements is effective, because it shows what we want to see - how powerful the product can be, so even if someone does not want to look like that, he or she would still buy the product because if the ad shows that kind of result, you could get at least half of it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this ad is somewhat effective and ineffective as well. This ad focuses on male audiences who are working out or want to work to be fit and who want to look like this. Personally the man in the image looks more like a monster, his bulging muscles and popping veins and the facial expressions. The people buying this product would already know that they will not become just like the man in the image but probably do hope to get more toned and muscular and in shape. A lot of people strive to be fit and healthy and look for different ways to do so, but this ad overly exaggerates a picture of a fit and healthy man and luring the audiences to use this product and be fit as soon as possible as if its very easy and in matter of days a person will be muscular like this man.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe the target audience for this advertisement strives for this physical appearance. Like most commercials and advertisements, this is exaggerated. Do we really believe that if we use Pantene shampoo and conditioner our hair will look like the model's all the time? No. And, relating back to class, not every man who wears Axe products will "get more" (in the context of male or female partners). Like those examples, this workout supplement advertisement knows people do not believe they will look like this. But somehow, these advertisements are effective. Why do we continue to fall for the same phony and false print ads and commercials? I'm not saying that i go against the grain and do not fall into the trap, I most definitely do. It interests me why we continue to fall for the same pranks these companies are doing. The producers of this advertisement are experts in what works and what doesn't work; and somehow this advertisement is doing its job. The exaggeration of his veins obviously attracted our attention and made us look at the product for more than five seconds. The attention grabber then made us wonder what's so special about this product and then we read the text. In many ways this, and many, advertisements are very effective, specifically in getting out attention and keeping it.
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ReplyDeleteEffective wise I believe this ad is for males who live for things like this. A male who constantly work out to become strong and fit. Although they know that they aren't going to look like this they feel that this is just help, a stepping stool to make them look half as he does in the ad. Therefore they buy it anyway. Women wise or even males that don't like this kind of stuff would find this disturbing(Me in particular). I think this is disgusting and I'm with me Mia on the dating tip. I would never date anyone that looks like this it's just too much and looks unhealthy. At the same time I'm not the intended audience, so I feel like this company did their job in attracting its audience by once again exaggerating the picture. Society painted this ideal picture of the perfect male or female. Companies are just feeding off of it, giving the people what they want. Can you blame them?
ReplyDeleteThis ad is effective to selling to men because many men now think that women care and think muscles are attractive. In a way muscles are attractive, but to a certain point. I don't know why guys always think that girls ONLY care about muscles. The muscles don't make us want to go out with you. This ad certainly does show that those taking this supplement will help build muscles. What I don't get is why they had to change the picture to where the man doesn't even look real. Wouldn't you want the man to look somewhat real so the consumers would have something to relate too? If the ad would have shown a skinny/scrawny man and then a fit, athletic man afterwards, I think that would have helped to sell more. The ad is unrealistic and from a woman's perspective, having a guy look that big is not attractive. I'd be afraid of him. Many people have their opinions on what's beautiful. Maybe men do feel beautiful being that big, but to me I don't think it's beautiful at all.
ReplyDeleteThis ad is certainly effective to a very distinct audience, but how big is that audience (no pun intended)? The vast majority of people involved in weight lifting don't strive to look like this and even fewer actually do. So, in my opinion, toning this ad down a bit to show a more usual man would really serve as more effective to a broader audience, but I'm sure the advertisers know more than me. Aside from that, I don't actually find this ad that unrealistic. Knowing a professional body builder personally, I understand the crazy things these guys do. From two hour workouts, sometimes twice daily, to spray tans and dieting, they are extremely disciplined, and a little odd. Before a shoot like this even more extreme actions are taken. They go as far as consuming high proof alcohol in order to dehydrate their skin and get that "vein popping" look. With that being said, I do think this ad is very deceptive, and almost offensive. It suggests taking this supplement can have the depicted effect on a man, but really it plays a very minimal role.
ReplyDeleteAs far as beauty goes, I wouldn't feel that way looking like this. That kind of body is just excessive and, quite frankly, weird. However, I do respect his discipline and to me that quality he possesses is "beautiful".
I think that this ad is only meant for the body builders that jordan mentioned. Think about where these ads are found, workout magazines, mens bodybuilding, etc. Those are magazines you wouldn't find me or most other men with an average sized body. This ad is meant to show that its product can get you to look like this and thats what body builders want. Like Jordan said they want to be tan, vascular, and completely huge and they'll do anything to do it. I chose to focus more on the claim it is making in the ad. The ad says that it "shatters the belief on creatine pills." This tells me that the maker of this ad is trying to get people to read the article about how that happens. This is a good marketing technique I believe because most of the time they get me. I don't know how many times I have found myself halfway through an article that I don't even care about just because of the title I saw and I wanted to see how they are allowed to say that. That is one of the things I don't like, they can virtually say anything as long as they have some sort of 2pt sized font on the bottom explaining it.
ReplyDeleteNo matter whether this man’s image is too strong for the audience to accept or not, we cannot deny that this ad is impressive. People who think they are good will buy the product and those who do not think so absolutely remember this brand and product for that’s overhead expression. Thus, this ad and Dove Revolution, both choose to use exaggerated rhetoric way to promote products. Beauty is subjective. However, it is like a cycle. When majority agree with some specific rules to define the beauty, a stereotype of beauty comes up, becoming the mainstream in the society. Under media’s speeding the spread of the beauty definition, people start then change their original opinion towards the beauty. And that is the reason why the definition of beauty changes every year.
ReplyDeleteMany ads of this nature use a two-pronged tactic to sell their products; the most obvious being the display of this bodybuilder and the second through the use of "facts" and "statistics" from studies on the effects of the product. As far as its rhetoric, the message is clear, "take our creatine, get massive". We have to recognize that this is designed for a male audience, probably with disposable income or aspiring bodybuilders; the ad communicates the message via the first visual draw-in, the man working out. The second way the message is communicated is through the "scientific" presentation of the data obtained from so-called studies. For some in the audience, the ad is inspiring, for others it is an example of "progressive excess"; that is, too much of a perceivable "good" thing. My thought regarding this ad is the contradictory nature of the methods used to communicate its message; the ad tries to affirm these unrealistic results using a scientific study. Can the use of science really produce something like this? The most common answer, probably not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what's being discussed. Beauty is definitely subjective. I personally think the man in this image looks disgusting, and I would never want to look like that. However I feel like most people could say that and that the ad is more of something to strive for, while at the same time knowing that you fall short of what is depicted and still end up looking better than what you started at. That being said, I feel like this ad is just the male version of the Dove ad that we discussed last week. The image of "beauty" that the media portrays is for males to be fit, strong, and masculine while females are supposed to be skinny and beautiful. This just skews the public opinion of beauty, but does not rule out subjective opinion, at least from my experience. This advertisement has obviously been edited just like the Dove ad was, which is what modern advertising is forced to do to keep up with competitors. The real question is if advertising influences public opinions and views or if the public's opinions, views, and desire to be perfect forces advertising into this sort of strategy.
ReplyDeleteI know most of the discussion so far has been about beauty but for guys this also calls out to the competitive side that takes control of them in the gym. Whether consciously or subconsciously guys will compare themselves to the people around them. "Oh, I can totally lift more than him", "Wow how is that guy doing that much weight?". This product is playing to these attitudes that their target market employs. This type of super competitive person wants to be the biggest and strongest guy in the gym. The one that everyone looks at and says "wow, that guy is crazy strong". So when they see this product that is showing an image of the guy that would "own" the gym, they think that taking this supplement will help them get to this point and feed their competitive edge.
ReplyDeleteFocusing on the image, my eyes directly go to the words"SHATTERING the BELIEFS on CREATINE PILLS" along side a man who is lifting an intense amount of weights in one arm. His arm is bulging, with the line creases of veins, muscles are emphasized, and his facial expression strong. The headlines, 20 grams of creatine and over 1 inch of muscle, on the right of the image have some dramatic affect with the influence of numbers. This advertisement, no doubt, is intended for a male audience. The advertisement plays a role with the stereotype that males are strong, touch and take control. I feel the numbers enhance the idea that if you take this creatine, you can look and feel as if he does. This ad can be said to be a shapeshifter in the way he transformed his body to look this way. It makes me wonder though, do guys really want to look like this? I feel that this is going over board, yes he is strong but is there a limit to how strong one should be? What if a woman took this creatine, in an attempt to get strong and tough, would she be judged differently? Would it be acceptable for a woman to look like this?
ReplyDeleteIt is my belief that the majority of the people that take this supplement do not really strive to look like that. On the other hand, the man's appearance is used to exemplify the extent of this product. Or so they say. Most of the people taking this substance do indeed want to get "ripped", but only to an extent. As for the state of this advertisement, and the whole advertising industry as a whole for that matter, it is ridiculous that this is the kind of image that sells products. I understand that they are selling a muscle building product, but on the other hand, one would think that they would use something realistic to sell the product. But in today's market, people have lost sight of what is the real deal. People have almost accepted these industry exaggerations as normal.
ReplyDeleteAs for what Chelsea asked, once again it relates back to the issue of the subjectivity of beauty. In the eyes of one person, it would be acceptable for a woman to look like this. On the other hand, one person may think that it is not acceptable for a woman to look like this. Overall, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to beauty.
I believe that this ad only advertises to a certain group of people that desire this kind of power or musculature. I don't think most people are willing to take supplements to achieve this body type. It is a very extreme solution that many people aren't desperate enough to do. The idea of what the "perfect male" is is physically impossible. These men are 100% touched up to enhance their features. Not everybody finds this body type appealing so to the subjective viewer this could be unattractive. These ads could be a turnoff to many people.
ReplyDeleteIt’s true, society does in a way tend to want guys to be big, strong and muscular in order to impress women. However, the amount of muscle that this man has (or is computerized to have) is almost inhuman or possibly unhealthy. It is always good to have muscle, but to take it to an excessive amount is almost undesirable. I do think that there are some guys who like to consume the artificial supplements in order to build beef on themselves to cover up their own insecurities. They may want to prove to the rest of society that they are tough, when in reality they could be weak people inside. Steroids and other drugs like these do make you big and strong, but they can also be very addicting and harmful. They have the ability to make men have enhanced egos since it builds lots of body mass, which is very intimidating to men who don’t have that look. I do believe women like men who are in shape and strong (even though personality plays into the equation too), but taking these supplements are almost like cheating to reach this goal. Personally, I don’t think that the size of the man’s muscles in the picture are attainable without the steroids and for that reason I believe that these kinds of muscles are undesirable because they are not natural. On the other hand, if a guy wants to take the supplements, then more power to them. It is just my personally preference to do things naturally and not artificially.
ReplyDeleteI think this ad is pretty successful, it shows how perfect a human's muscle can be. Although this picture of the muscling man is kind of exaggerate yet it presents the power and strength of a man very well. However, almost all the ads and commercials have unrealistic partials like slogans , photo shopped figures or even cartoon images in them. So showing the fake figure of the beauty of men's muscle is nothing but a success in this ad to convince the audience to purchase the product. People have common sense and I don't think there are people who would believe their body is going to be as the man in the ad. And this abnormal muscling figure conveys the message in a vivid and direct way that man are going to be stronger by taking this pill.
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