Analysis of the Original Advertisement
The issue with this Nivea advertisement is that it insinuates a man with an afro and facial hair as being uncivilized. The man in the image has clearly transformed from having an afro to having a clean cut haircut, as depicted by him throwing away what is interpreted to be his old haircut. Furthermore, caption of “look like you give a damn” implies that men with longer hair don’t care about their appearance. The fact that the man in the picture is black, and the afro has been known to be part of black culture shows that this advertisement reflects a cultural and racial discrimination. Black people should not be subjected to the Western beauty standard, because they naturally have a different hair type than many people in western culture. It is these cultural differences that our society should embrace instead of cast in shame. This advertisement could be interpreted as that a black man’s culture isn’t civilized, which is just a subjective way to look at the differences in the two cultures. This ad also reflects a fundamental issue of discrimination for judging behaviour based on looks. Men are often judged in their appearance, and it is known that many workplaces have policies against men having hair past a certain length. Even if workplaces don’t have a policy, many men cut their hair prior to an interview, in order to seem more professional. This discrimination and mindset stems from no apparent reason, as there is no evidence that having longer hair makes you any less of a hard worker. It is a purely looks based way to judge men that has developed over the course of history. People have learned to make associations of long or facial hair with sloppiness and unprofessionalism. This may have led higher class working men to portray themselves in a different manner, but it is not based on logic. If there was a convincing reason that having a clean cut hairstyle enhanced one’s ability to work, then that could be the line of reasoning behind this advertisement. Nevertheless, as it stands, this advertisement lacks rationality and is discriminatory.
Analysis of the Jammed Version of the Ad
For my jammed version of the Nivea advertisement, I highlighted the underlying meanings in the original ad. The caption of “throw away your culture” has a metaphorical and literal meaning, since the man appears to be actually throwing his old hairstyle away. This illustrates how Nivea is telling people to conform to a standard, instead of embracing their individual nature. When put in frank terms, more people may find this message to be absurd. The sub-caption of “follow the Western beauty standard” shows that this is a prevalent issue. Many people may think that the Western beauty standard is primarily aimed at woman, however this advertisement shows that even men are confronted with an idealized way to look and act. It is quite possible that when stated in these terms, men may object to following this standard. It is provocative to get people thinking: Why am I changing my appearance to please others? The purpose of adding “If you have long unruly hair, you are lazy” is to highlight how ridiculous the fundamental message of the advertisement is. I think most people can agree that when laid out in this explicit manner, it is very unreasonable to make this assumption. However, this is what we need to think about every time we come across a stereotype. If every stereotype could be exposed to what it truly means, people could make better decisions about how they choose to label others and even themselves. By breaking down the meaning behind the advertisement, I attempt to expose Nivea for their discriminatory message. It is my goal behind this assignment to highlight the message that everyone should be able to look, dress, and act in the manner that most reflects their individuality.
