Secret Antiperspirant Ad
Original Ad
Secret is a well-known deodorant company whose products are presently available in stores all over North America. The advertisement above appeared in their 1972 marketing campaign as a way to appeal to women in hopes of raising sales. Before tackling the ad’s tagline, it’s important to note that this company operates on one big gender norm. The name of the brand itself “Secret” suggests that women’s sweat is a fact that should be hidden from society. The danger of products being marketed through gender norms is that it can strengthen the concept of gender performativity. Sweat is a natural bodily response for all humans, and instead of accepting that this is how the body operates, Secret suggests that women should hide their sweat. This company’s gender normed name and their 1972 ad sets a difference between women and men’s hygiene products, even though deodorant serves the same purpose for all bodies.
The advertisement’s tag line, “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman” instantly establishes a difference between the two bodies. The word “strong” is associated with the man and isn’t directly attached to the word “woman”. This implies that a product can’t be strong for a woman and that the female body is associated with frailness over strength. Moreover, the tagline ignores people that identify as non-binary. Deodorant is a hygiene product made to protect the human body from the negative aspect of sweating which is the odor. Therefore, there is no reason why this product must be gendered.
It can be argued that in 1972 the concept of gender equality was less practiced and that North America valued more stereotypical gender norms. However, this ad was found in Secret’s current website where they pride themselves on how the tagline remains as “one of the most famous advertising lines of all time” (Proctor & Gamble, 2020). The problem that will be addressed in the jammed version of this ad is how gender norms are applied to hygiene products that serve a common function to all human bodies.
Jammed Ad
The jamming philosophy behind the edited advertisement is to highlight how this antiperspirant company frowns upon the idea of women’s sweat. The tagline has been changed to “strong enough for a man, but made for the weak” to mock the comparison of women to weakness rather than women to men. By removing the word “woman” it also ridicules the idea that sweat and the female body shouldn’t be associated with one another. Moreover, a bubble was added that speaks to how women’s sweat is considered “gross” and that the company’s product will help keep this biological fact a secret. In addition, the bubble is a play on words with the company’s name. If “jamming” wasn’t about highlighting the absurdity of an ad, I’d change the brand name to “secrete” as sweating is the secretion of water to the skin’s surface. The brand name “secret” however, is absurd enough.
The edited advertisement further surrenders to the idea of gender performativity. Secret gives in to how women should be feminine and smelling bad isn’t appropriate for the female body. If Secret were to see this altered advertisement, I’d hope that it would invoke how a common hygiene product shouldn’t be gendered. Moreover, how the commodification of genders can affect social processes. Women shouldn’t feel ashamed of the natural function of their body and if a product is being marketed to women, perhaps stating how they too are strong will be better for sales. Secret also needs to divert from the idea of male and female to include non-binary people. When a product is specifically targeting women or men, it alienates all others who do not want to conform to these categories. Just like how sweating is non-gendered, the future of deodorant should be as well.
Source:
Proctor & Gamble. (2020). About. Retrieved February 27, 2020, from https://secret.com/en-us/about