Are females constructed in an unrealistic manner in order to help boost sales? Playing particular attention to the J'adore Dior perfume campaign and the Daisy Perfume by Marc Jacobs.


The representation of women is constructed with in advertising products, specifically perfume campaigns, and within this women's representation differs within this element of the media. I intend to prove this with examples of J'adore Dior and Daisy Perfume by Marc Jacobs perfume campaigns. My aim is to see what ideologies brands attach to their products, as through brands attaching specific images and aspirations to their products this therefore help sell their products. In J’adore Dior’s advert Charlize Theron very sexualised and objectified, as well as selling aspirations of her being powerful, sexy and womanly, which is appealing to bother women and men. However Marc Jacobs, Daisy Perfume advert represents young, youthful women and sells the aspirations of being young, cute, pure and innocent, which influences majority of teenage girls age 15-19 to buy this product, however it may also appeal to older women who aspire to once again be young. I will also analyse whether females are always objectified and if this appeals not only to the women who buy the product, but also the men, which the Dior campaign as well as how successful the campaigns were, in terms of how well the campaigns were received and sold. To do this I will investigate how successful the sales of the perfumes were,  as well as the successes of the adverts alone. I will also apply specific theories, which will be, Laura Mulvey's theory on the 'male gaze', and how the objectification of women is therefore appealing to men, as well as women, who may view this as aspiring. Another theory i will apply is uses in gratifications, where i will explain and analyse the reasons people are engaged in these adverts and therefore what gratifications they gain from this, plus the hyper reality strand of post modernism, in which these adverts give a sense of false reality.     

Ideology is a where a set of beliefs and values, that are shared within society, are used to construct a character to a typical representation of certain people in society. The representation of these characters in the media are not always a realistic representation. In the Dior advert the ideology of Charlize Theron is that she is a powerful, sexy woman, which is shown through the advert, through the powerful strut, gold accessories which she crushes and the naked silhouette of her at the end. However it is a unrealistic representation of most women in society, therefore it is aspirational for many women who watch the advert, therefore meaning this perfume sells, as it leads women to believe that by purchasing the J’adore Dior perfume, they too will become powerful, and sexy, and also appear more attractive to men, as through the ideology the campaign is also appealing to men, as through Charlize Theron being sexualized and objectified, men are able to gain gratifications from this, such as entertainment, as through this entertainment they main gain sexual arousal, however women would gain gratifications through personal identity, such as finding models of behavior.