Analysis 2: Dolce and Gabanna Light Blue Commercial

When focusing on the television commercial for his and hers perfume Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue it is evident that the theory of ‘the new man’ could be applied to the tall dark and handsome male that we are faced with. The idea of ‘the new man’ comes from the essay ‘The Great Pretender’ by Rowena Chapman, who deeply analysis the fact that ‘In order to sell products, advertising had to sell men’ (Chapman, 1988) enabling them to become the recipient of the gaze which is female. This is exactly what this commercial does, despite the advertisement being aimed at both men and women, which is specified at the end of the commercial.

Womans point of view shot:
Whole male body in foucs
(we do not get this fom the woman)

Firstly, the fact that the commercial opens with a shot of the woman appearing to be gazing at an ‘object’ opposite her on the boat suggests that she is fixated with whatever is on the other side, leading the consumer to believe that there is something admirable opposite her immediately taking the focus away from the woman. It could be argued that her fixated facial expression leads the consumer to trust that there is something more sexually desirable waiting to be revealed.

This becomes apparent when the camera portrays a point of view shot, so that we see the typical ‘new man’, being an attractive tall dark and handsome Italian looking male, through the woman’s eyes. This shows how the roles have been reversed in terms of Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’ theory which suggests that women are objects and are ‘gazed’ upon by men by using the technique of the point of view shot in films for example. This technique has been applied here but it is the female that is doing the gazing therefore emphasising Rowena Chapman’s statement that the ‘new man’ has become the recipient of the gaze.

Female body covered up, male body in full focus.

However, the male does not initially seem interested in the woman as he is not gazing at her. This could be emphasising the fact that it is not the woman whom the audience should be focusing on and that the female consumers should be sexually drawn to the male in order to sell the product. It could also be argued that the male knows that he is being gazed at as he appears to be holding a pose and focusing into the distance, as though he is fully aware and is enjoying being admired by the woman, and the female consumer giving that sense of ‘you can look but you can’t touch’ making the female more eager to see the man as a sexual object rather than a person.

Male viewed from womans side of the boat so that we can
get the full focus of his face (womans back turned to camera
showing that the male is the main focus).

Secondly, although it is made clear that the commercial is advertising for a product aimed at both men and women, the camera mainly focuses on the torso of the male as we are faced with an extreme close up of the males oily, toned body as he clambers on top of the woman in a sexual manner. This technique could have been used in order to objectify the man in a way that he is no longer a person but a sexual image, in the same way that women were objectified in commercials for more than thirty years. The idea of the male body being seen as a sexual object again reiterates the fact that he is the recipient of the female gaze as the female consumer may fantasise about the mans flawless body. In addition to this, it is interesting how it is the male who is wearing the least clothing. The woman could have easily been dressed in only a skimpy bikini, yet most of her chest is covered up by a less than skin tight blouse, yet the male bares all, only wearing petite white trunks. This could emphasise the idea of the ‘new man’ as the product will sell if women believe that their partner will miraculously turn into the male in the commercial if they buy it for them, or they will manage to find someone like the man in the commercial if they buy the female fragrance for themselves.  It could also be argued that it promotes word of mouth such as, ‘have you seen that man in the Dolce and Gabanna advert’, which allows the brand and product to become an even more popular buy. 

Overall, It is apparent that this commercial solely focuses on the typically attractive ‘new man’ and it is evident that he is the recipient of the female gaze as his body is objectified and turned into an image. The only time that we see the actual product, being the perfume bottles for him and her, is at the end of the commercial, which is hardly visible as the images are that small. This emphasises the fact that the ‘new man’ technique has been applied in terms of using the male body to win over an audience in order to sell a product. It could also be argued that it is not only the female consumer that will be persuaded by the commercial as men may think that they will become as attractive as the man if they buy the product, again reiterating the fact that the ‘new man’ is a unique selling point and essential to 21^st century commercials.