https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-7702-NEA-GUIDE.PDF
Introduction
This investigation will analyse how advertisements directly targeted to men have shaped and reshaped the idea of masculinity from the 1970s to the present day. While many view advertisements as a way to sell products, the images and ideals they create often have a very real effect on the people who they are targeted to and therefore often carry strong emotive and persuasive connotations. The idea of being able to influence people just through words and language has been a fascination in popular culture, and while it is widely viewed as a form of comedic relief, the success of advertising campaigns around the world while doing just that is very intriguing. This prompted me to conduct this investigation, wanting to find out how these advertisements have managed to shape influence views globally through a few words and a picture over time. Due to the prevalence of advertising in our lives, it is difficult to pick and choose specific advertising campaigns to solely focus on, so this investigation will feature a double pronged approach, focusing both on the wider view of advertising in general, and a few more in-depth case studies of specific brands over the years.
Methodology
In order to appreciate the breadth of advertising, I decided to collate 20 taglines from advertisements found on the internet in each decade that the investigation would cover, thus creating 60 in total. These were then separated into two-decade periods (e.g. the 1970s and the 80s) and then made into a word cloud that could subsequently be referred to. This was done so that the ‘broad strokes’ in shifts in advertising could be measured, allowing for the investigation to have greater scope and be able to measure both macro and micro trends across time. I then chose Gillette, Old Spice and Axe/Lynx to study in more depth, analysing individual advertisements and contrasting them over time, taking into consideration key contextual factors that may have influenced stylistic choices and decisions. The wider view also allows for minimal individual bias affecting the data and therefore makes the investigation more holistic in its conclusions.
Given the shift in values in western society in over the last 60 years, I think it would be fair to assume that language in advertising has softened drastically, preferring more androgynous, gender-neutral forms instead of direct references to traditional ‘rugged’ masculinity and other, more stereotypical language. Given that not every advertisement over the years has been recorded on the internet, let alone made into the data being analysed in this investigation, there is bound to be some gaps in analysing trends and change over the years, but by sourcing advertisements from different industries, this is minimised and thus the investigation retains as much authority as possible.
Need to do data collection, analysis, conclusion and evaluation following the marsk scheme and info above