THE WOMAN'S WOMAN 
' Skinnygirl Cocktail | Drink Like A Lady? '

 Surface Meaning : A heavily made-up woman in an ankle-length, powder blue "50s housewife" getup (complete with a lipstick-colored wig) primly characterizes to the audience dated notions of what makes a woman a lady. She and what she describes as the marks of a lady -- "sensible shoes, poise, good posture" -- are consecutively juxtaposed against a trio of young, cackling women receiving pedicures, dancing by a jukebox at a bar, and lounging lakeside (always with a long-stemmed martini glass in hand). The series of contrasting scenes end with a neckline-to-waistline shot of a separate woman serving drinks in her home, her house guests blurred indistinctly. A voice-over describes the Skinnygirl line of cocktails as "all of the wine, vodka, and ready-to-serve options you need, without the extra calories you don't." The slogan is said, and the commercial cuts.

Advertiser's Intended Meaning : The ad's employment of the overused 'proper and outdated' versus 'young and modern' can be distinguished from the hundreds of other similar ads only by its conclusion. The ad is trying to point out that women can now have both -- Skinnygirl Cocktails promise to allow women to maintain their thinness and therefore attractiveness, while also presenting them with the staple of a good, libertine time -- a drink.

Cultural Meaning : The group of women who embodied the young and modern side of the coin were shown doing things that men typically do in commercials that are directed at men. They were outside of the home, pictured among their friends and obviously enjoying themselves on their night out, with no evidence given that they were tied down in a relationship. The music that played during their scenes was a lively drumming and single-beat clapping. In contrast, the 1950s woman was always shown being seated (with princess-esque posture) inside an entirely pink home, no part of her body really moving except for her white-gloved hands and her beguiling face as she narrated the commercial, sans music. It was as though she was functioning as a piece of furniture inside that dollhouse of a residence. The young and modern represent traditional masculinity (inhibition, drinking, adventure) while the proper and outdated represent traditional femininity (reservation, beauty, housebondage). The faceless anonymity of the final woman seen in the commercial is meant to suggest that this woman is neither the epitome of propriety like the lady in the strawberry wig, nor a liberated club-goer like the group of 20s-somethings. She is meant to represent the audience herself -- 21st century Jane Q. Everywoman. Skinnygirl's version of Jane Q. Everywoman is the marriage of a good time and conservative, careful calorie-counting. She is used to suggest to a female audience that they, too, can have it all; that the highlights of both polar lifestyles are available to them through the usage of this product.

 THE WOMAN'S MAN 
' Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like '

Surface Meaning : A broad-shouldered, well-built black man (Isaiah Mustafa) is standing in a bathroom, wearing nothing but five o'clock shadow and a towel wrapped around his trim waist. Pinning the camera with a look of both confidence and intensity, he greets the audience with a suave, " Hello, ladies." In this deep, smooth, and authoritative voice, he instructs the viewer to compare her man with himself and see the regrettable world of difference between the two. He goes onto to reassure her in the fact that while her man may not be him, he can at least smelllike he's him. The bathroom background falls away (as does the bath towel) so that Isaiah Mustafa is now standing on a yacht with a navy pinstripe scarf and white pants. He holds up an oyster, which then opens to reveal "Two tickets to that thing you love!", which then turn into a pile of diamonds that continuously shower through his fingers ("Look again, the tickets are now diamonds!"). A bottle of Old Spice Body Wash rises from the miniature waterfall of diamonds in his palm. "Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady. I'm on a horse." And the shot moves out to reveal him now on a white horse. The audience hears the whistled Old Spice jingle, and the commercial cuts.

Advertiser's Intended Meaning : Even though the product is obviously manufactured for men, this commercial made a point of addressing women, only. This creative twist, besides increasing the comedic effect, is based on the nature of the product. It can pretty much be said that men use scented body washes for the express purpose of appearing more attractive to women. The ad is going on the statistically-backed assumption that women do most of the household shopping and, because it is their preference, have more control over what scent their man is wearing. While using this marketing tactic, the ad says through exaggerated humor that Old Spice is by far the most masculine-smelling of body washes.

 Cultural Meaning : The ad uses over-the-top archetypes of what makes men manly -- money, assertiveness, an impressive physique -- to illustrate its comedic rendering of the "ideal man" ("A romantic millionaire jet-fighter pilot.") Throughout the entire duration of the ad, this "ideal man" never once breaks eye contact with the camera and thus the viewer. He speaks in second person, the pronouns "you" and "your" coupled with the thirty-three seconds of solid eye contact serving to create the impression that the viewer is the center of his attention, his top priority. This goes along with archaic notions of gender roles and attraction -- he has power and success, therefore he can provide protection and security.

 THE MAN'S MAN
' Dos Equis | The Most Interesting Man in the World '

 Surface Meaning : "His charisma can be seen from space." , "The Police often question him, just because they find him interesting." , "His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body." , "His blood smells like cologne." , "Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear." , "He lives vicariously through himself." , "He has one the lifetime achievement award... twice." , "He is the most interesting man in the world." "I don't always drink beer, but when I do... I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends."

Advertiser's Intended Meaning : The advertiser creates the persona of a suave, worldly, Chuck Norris-esque Spanish muchacho ("The Most Interesting Man In the World") to endorse & promote their brand of beer. The ad is suggesting that a certain caliber of men drink Dos Equis, and that if the viewer wants to be like men of that caliber, he should also drink Dos Equis.

Cultural Meaning : The Most Interesting Man in the World, played by actor Jonathon Goldsmith, is a man rich in stories and experiences. When watching the commercial, the viewer is supposed to see [an inflated and romanticized version of] who they hope to be in the future: someone who is rich in stories in experiences. Commercials that are directed at men often use themes of adventure and abandon, and this ad features a caricature of that idealistic lifestyle. Towards in the end of the ad, Jonathon Goldsmith, rugged and graying, is pictured seated comfortably at a table with young, beautiful women. Even at his age, he is depicted as a single. Women are still available to him because he is charming and worldly, even though his looks have passed their prime. The ad is saying that Dos Equis beer is the drink of choice for men who wish to live life "interestingly", free of commitment, full of adventure.

 THE MAN'S WOMAN 
' AXE Body Spray | The AXE Effect - Women, Billions '

 Surface Meaning : The commercial opens with loud nature sounds and the image of a pair of bare feet sprinting over leafy, matted earth. Suddenly, a dark-headed, buxom yet very slim-figured woman springs into view in semi-slowed motion, wearing nothing but a string bikini. She surveys the forest briefly, lips pursed in concentration and chin raised with the imperiousness of a predator. Fast-paced, crashing classical music builds in volume as she catches "the scent" and then charges through the wilderness, preforming athletic leaps over logs and fallen branches on her way. As the crescendo builds, more bikini-clad women of the same body type and relative age appear and join the hunt, their numbers climbing to the hundreds and then the thousands. They surge, undeterred, across all types of terrain, more or less shoving each other out of the way. Finally they appear to close in on the object of the journey -- one average-looking male standing on a beach. His bare, pale chest is surrounded in a fog of AXE. The scene zooms far out just as the tsunami of females reach him, leaving the nature of his fate undisclosed (but heavily implied). A woman's husky, disembodied voice reads the slogan "AXE Body Spray -- Spray more, get more", and the commercial cuts. 

Advertiser's Intended Meaning : The ad is correlating the amount of AXE body spray worn with the amount of women who are attracted to the wearer. Just like the Woman's Man commercial, the Man's Woman commercial uses hyperbolic "idealism" to suggest the superiority of its product: In this case, it says that AXE Body Spray is the brand of cologne that is the most attractive to women.

 Cultural Meaning : The women in this commercial are uniform in their appearance -- their hair is long and undone, their expressions are glowering and lustful, and they wear tiny scraps of clothing that leave nothing to the imagination. (So essentially what we have here is a horde of Victoria's Secret Angels.) Unlike Isaiah Mustafa in the Woman's Man commercial (who is talking continuously throughout his entire ad) these idealistic babes say nothing, absolutely nothing at all. They are serving their purpose by just being there, jiggling their boobs. They are not feminine in a traditional sense, not really women, but are more of something along the lines of sex animals. They are pictured running barefoot through the wilderness because they are supposed to represent sex, raw and primal with no commitment. The only line in the entire commercial says it all -- get more. This line is not referring to women, but to sex; to getting more female ass, so to speak. Despite the fact that these women are clearly metaphors for sexual intercourse, the commercial itself is not offensive simply because it is so ludicrous. The idea of billions of bikini-clad women congregating onto one spot because they were driven by the scent of AXE Body Wash is ridiculous, unreal, even laughable -- just like the Woman's Man ad, this ad walks a tight-rope between fantasy/sexual appeal and exaggeration to the point of humor.

The Book Bucket List

1. The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini

This book was very popular when I was in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. A few of my friends can recall reading it around that time, but remembered few of the details and even less of the plot-line. From what I gathered, it is about a boy who commits a deep betrayal, with the story exploring the possibility of redemption — set in past and present Afghanistan. I never picked it up before because the war in Afghanistan felt too real and immediate to me, a current event that put headlines in the news I watched. Looking at the dim grittiness of the cover, which quoted critic’s words like “HEARTBREAKING” — the thought of reading a first person account, even if crafted as a work of fiction, was daunting to me. But the book has been acclaimed as “timely” and “unforgettable”, and eventually the praise it received outweighed my dread of an unhappy ending.

2. The Red Tent
Anita Diamant

As The Kite Runner has a prevalent theme of fathers and sons, The Red Tent is about mothers and daughters. I had heard of the book only once before, and that was reading it described as “a perennial book-club favorite”. So naturally my mom had a copy. Reading the back cover, I discerned that the book was an intimate portrait of a mere footnote of a character mentioned in the bible. A woman, whose ancient story, summarized into one line in a book written by men, is fleshed out into a novel over four hundred pages in length. The idea appealed to me greatly — myself being raised in a religion whose sacred book largely overlooks my gender.

3. Tamar
Mal Peet

Tamar is a family favorite, and it has frequently been said in our book-loving household that I must read it. The book itself is a jacket-less hardback, dark brown in color with gold lettering on the spine, which gives the title and author and nothing else. From reading the first few pages, the title is a namesake given to someone’s daughter — which is intriguing, as I adore names and their stories.

4. Life of Pi
Yann Martel

Yet another story that has been exalted by my mother and brother, as well as by the world of contemporary literature. I can remember my mother reading this book when I was much younger, and I can remember listening to her discuss it with my father while she cooked (even though I wasn’t supposed to listen, because she said I was too young). What I know was that as a child, I was attracted to the vividly colored, glossy cover of the paperback — the aquatic sapphire of the ocean, vast and blue around a boy’s small and lonely boat, which he shared with a brilliantly striped tiger. He and the tiger were the survivors of a shipwreck, I was told when I asked. I was also told that one day, I should read it.

5. Like Water for Chocolate
Laura Esquivel

I liked the sound of this book whenever it was presented as an example — I love fictional books written about the Spanish culture, and the romance the story seems to promise was another attractive factor. Knowing that the book had also been made into a movie — and popular one at that — was a testimony to the appeal of the story, and I believe that I would enjoy it.

6. Les Miserables
Victor Hugo

 Les Miserables was loaned to me just this past summer, by someone who considered it to be his favorite book of all time. Les Mis is a story that I came to be familiar with as a child, in the form of a soundtrack composed of heartrending ballads. The play, it seems, is more famous than the book itself, but my friend assured me of its worthiness as a read. Even though the paperback’s breadth and tiny, tedious print seems formidable, I intend to see it to the end, even if I have to plod through its grueling forty-seven-billion pages without pleasure.

7. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
J. R. R. Tolkien

I’ve seen the LOtR movies several times over, which I have loved, and have read The Hobbit, which I found to be mildly enjoyable. One thing that always displeased me about the movies, however, was Elijah Wood’s wide-eyed, wienerish performance as Frodo, the protagonist. I was told that this was a fault of the movie’s creation, and that the Frodo of the book was much worthier. I also know that the full scope of the epic would have been impossible to portray in the allotted time Hollywood gave, and that a substantial amount of the detail was lost in the transition from page to screen. I have decided that since I am a fan of the movie franchise, it is my duty as a reader to also take on Tolkien’s verbosity and legendary penchant for description and experience the epic tale as it was originally intended: in book form.

8. The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson

A mystery, based on true events. I once tried to start reading this little black book while I was sunbathing, but made the mistake of also bringing along the Da Vinci Code, and beginning it on the same day. I was distracted and dropped The Devil In the White City in favor of the fast-paced bestseller. Now once again retrieved from the shelf and dusted off for another go, the novel smells slightly of banana sun lotion. From what I remember, the story is set around the time — and in the midst of, I do believe — the event of the World’s Fair, something I know little about.

9. Water for Elephants
Sarah Gruen

Another novel suggested by a friend, and one of the few books my father has ever read in his adult life. I watched the film adaptation this past summer, and was enchanted with the story and characters. I was also informed that, while the movie version was entertaining and Robert Pattinson is a fine piece of tush, the film did not completely capture the wonder and charm of the book itself. It tells the story of a young man who falls in love with being a part of a depression-era traveling circus — and also with the Ringmaster’s beautiful young wife, Marlena.

10. The Book Thief
Markus Zusak

We already own a copy of The Book Thief, and it has been recommended to me many times over the course of my reading career. Just the word ‘thief’ in the title, I find intriguing, though perhaps it is slightly explained with the knowledge that the book is set in Nazi Germany. I’d imagine many books would be forbidden to the public, or burned, or banned entirely. Another thing that I drew me to the book was that when I was looking up Life of Pi, The Book Thief came up many times under “people who searched for Life of Pi also searched for” — so apparently book is more widely recognized than what I had thought.