Advertising Essay

The Urban Cowboy

Ever flip through a men's magazine such as Gentlemen's Quarterly or Maxim and wonder if their advertisements are the same as a women's fashion magazine? Do their ads focus on health, fashion and beauty as much as a women's magazine? The ads today relate to every type of man whether you are a family man, a playboy, gentlemen, an average Joe, a playful youth, a metro sexual or a man's man such as the cowboy. Many men have never been exposed to more than the basic clothing and grooming products. The trick is to let them know the new genre of products is beneficial to their image. This can be done through targeted informational ads in magazines, television ads during sports events, newsletters, magazine editorials, and online web sites for products. By placing an importance on physical appearance, advertisers today have molded the standard American male into the "Urban Cowboy". Advertisers today use many modes to attract and keep the male audience. Selling products to males that are normally associated to women, advertisers today use masculine symbols, language and imagery, and sex to sell their products.

Traditionally men are not supposed to care about their appearance and looks, but with these television shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and these men's magazine continuing to grow in their popularity, the male role has changed quite a bit moving from being a power force to a combined gender role with the masculine and feminine modes (Barthel 172), For example in the magazine GQ there is an ad for Jones of New York. It is a full page glossy ad with a handsome man wearing a very sleek, sophisticated sharp black suit. Right next to the man there is a gorgeous woman in a beautiful bright green dress standing beside him. This ad appeals to the man by saying that is you buy a suit from Jones of New York that you too can have this beautiful woman by your side. Not only they are using the masculine symbol of success and wealth, they are also using sex as a means of advertising. The man wearing the suit portrays a male who has achieved a great deal of wealth and status. It uses both the male and feminine role in the ad to attract the male audience.

Imagery is a very important tool used by advertisers today, especially when selling skin care products for men. In another ad in Men's Health magazine, imagery is used to sell Clinique skin supplies for men. The ad is a full black background page that had three grey bottles of shaving products for men. One a post-shave healer, another shave aloe gels, and last a face scrub, all bottles immersed in droplets of water. The ad reads at the bottom: "Simplicity X Technology + Comfort = Luxury Shave. A better routine for even for even the most sensitive skins". The imagery that Clinique is portraying is a luxurious shave when you use their products. The contrast of the colors in the advertisement is important too, by using a black background, and contrasting it with the color gray for their bottles, this ad is creating an elitist sort of feel for this product. In truth the ad is simply selling shaving products, but by protraying it that way they make it easier for men to purchase this product.

Language is also an important tool that advertisers use to sell to their audience. By using masculine words in their advertisements for grooming products, they ease the male customer into buying this certain product. Ad advertisement in Men's Health magazine for Avon Face Moisturizer uses language to impress the male consumer. The ad states in bold letters: " Impress Her With Your Charm, Not Your Lines." Language is essential to sell a product, especially for men. By using powerful and masculine words they appeal to the average man. This ad implies that if the consumer uses this moisturizer he can impress women with his charm, and he can achieve this charm by using this Avon Face Moisturizer.

By placing this importance on physical appearance, advertisers today have created the Urban Cowboy. "The American Cowboy as a cultural model was not supposed to care of or about appearances. He was what he was, hard-working, straightforward, and honest. He was authentic" (Barthel 179). When we think of a cowboy we think of a rugged strong masculine man. The Urban Cowboy is a male who is today's average male, who believes himself to be strong, masculine, straightforward and honest, but at the same time does care about his appearance