Advertising can an effect on the male body image as well as females. Males see advertisements daily that influence how they feel about their bodies. In most cases ads that target males are different from the ads that target females, because instead of just showing a man with a ton of muscles, they show males attracting attention from the opposite sex.
Advertisers show women that are interested in men not to deliver the message that a certain product makes you look better, but the product will attract the attention of others. Even though the message is not that the product will effect how you look, by showing men with six pack and huge muscles, a males body image is affected. Most ads that feature this type of behavior, are not promoting a product that will help a male become stronger or look like the man they are seeing on television. However seeing a man that looks so built, receive positive attention sends a message that implies that males need to be strong and built for women to be attracted to them.
I think the recent Old Spice commercials do a good job of showing the product instead of just the speaker, who is Isaiah Mustafa, a former NFL football player ("Old spice videos," 2010). This commercial point out the fact that most men do not look like a football player, but lets males know that by buying the Old Spice body wash they can smell like him. This commercial can have a positive affect on body image simply by reinforcing that males are men, and they do not have to look a certain way to smell like a man. The commercial has been viewed over thirty million times, on YouTube alone. Could the commercials positive message to body image be a contributor to its success?
("Old spice videos," 2010)
Old spice videos.
(2010, February 5). Retrieved from
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