Scoundrel Musk, Revlon (1980s print)

Scoundrel Musk, Revlon (1980s print)

 Firstly I will analyse the representation of the woman in Scoundrel Musk by Revlon which depicts a sensual woman with the tagline “Never met a scoundrel I didn’t like”. This brand message is key to 

understanding how the representation is constructed.  This means that she is something of a sexual predator and the kind of men that she likes are ‘scoundrels’, that is, men who like a good time and who are sexually adventurous. They are rule breakers, they take risks and are ‘the bad boys’ in society. 

In fact, the woman’s body language also reinforces the concept as she exudes confidence and sexuality by the stance and the placement of the hand on the hip. Also the hand that is supporting herself contrasts the earlier representations of women that I have studies from this time period in which women are more demure and dependent, such those I have observed from VivauDou’s  Mavis range.

Gesture and posture are important in unlocking the meaning of this representation.

The woman is looking straight at the viewer which is accompanied with a smirk as almost to say you can have me when you can catch me. Which is challenging the reader but this again contrasts with the representation of women in her time period.   

The third technique I will analyse is the use of is celebrity endorsement. The way the designers have used this technique is by hiring Joan Collins to appear on the poster therefore making the viewer sub-consciously connect the fragrance with fame as she is a famous actor.     

The woman in the advertisement is wearing a robe, a tight black dress, black leather gloves and black stockings which is making her body and features stand out from the grey background therefore sexualising her further tying in with the representation of women then. The reason that the sexualisation of the women is important is that it shows that in this time period women were seen as an object that men could achieve. But this contradicts the point in the second paragraph I made about how she could be supporting herself.    

There is small print under the tag line which says “Unmistakably female, unbelievably provocative.” This can be broken down into the two statements. Firstly “Unmistakably female” The word “Unmistakably” Could mean that this brand is unmistakable, no other is like it. The word “Female” implies that women should always look like the woman in the advertisement therefore showing that women were represented as a sexual object in that time.