Advertising Assessment: Learner Response :)

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW: Mostly secure knowledge of social, cultural and historical contexts which link to Ad 

EBI: Not enough textual analysis referenced in responses or depth and detail 

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

• Q1: Monochrome (black and white) – stylish, sophisticated, reinforces traditional heterosexual meanings; consistent with aspirational branding. Low-key lighting, ‘chiaroscuro’, backlighting visible in shot – suggests stage lights/spotlights, perhaps a fashion show 

• Q2: Representation of gender reinforces Judith Butler’s idea of gender as performance – dominant/submissive gender roles clearly reinforced in construction of advert 

3) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 1 (Diamonds advert unseen text). List three examples of media terminology or theory that you could have included in your answer. 

• Promise of irresistible appeal – ‘sex sells’ (common narrative in men’s grooming; Barthes’ action code) 
• Man as the hunted, looked-at object; objectification of men (Gill – female gaze) 
• Black tie as a phallic object (Mulvey) – being grabbed by female model 

4) Look at your answer and the mark scheme for Question 2. What aspects of the cultural and historical context for the Score hair cream advert do you need to revise or develop in future?

Cultural: 

• Hypermasculine, heterosexual image does not seem to reflect the significant social and cultural changes of last 50 years in terms of gender roles. Reinforces hegemonic masculinity 

• The representation of the male as hunter in a foreign jungle setting suggests a reference to the British Empire and the colonial dominance of the 19th century 

Historical: 

• Armani advert arguably reflects the ‘crisis of masculinity’ some refer to – assertively heterosexual, perhaps reflecting the struggle men face to find their place/role in the 21st century. Armani captures the way men wish to see the world 

• Aggressively heterosexual representation perhaps shows male insecurity in light of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967 

5) Now look over your mark, teacher comments and the mark scheme for Question 3 - the 20-mark essay question on David Gauntlett and whether identities are becoming more fluid. Find two arguments in favour and two arguments against the statement from the anticipated content in the mark scheme.

In favour: 

• Gauntlett argues that gender representation and identity is constantly changing (a “moving target”) and suggests masculinity is not in crisis. Instead finds that men are finding their place in a changing world – Manny Gutierrez provides a compelling example of this 

• The explicitly heterosexual, hypermasculine representations of the Score hair cream advert demonstrate how much things have changed in 50 years – “Get what you’ve always wanted”. A company would likely face a social media backlash for a similar campaign today 

Against: 

• Identity is now a ‘culture war’ issue divided on partisan lines (left v right or in America Republican v Democrat). Therefore, it could be argued that an acceptance of liberal and fluid identities is still some way off (recent elections in the UK arguably reinforce this view) 

• Van Zoonen argues that media language constructs gender and that this largely reinforces traditional gender stereotypes. This would suggest gender identities are still largely restrictive and not as liberal as Gauntlett may suggest