The mass media have the ability to influence the way their audiences see people and objects. Any person or object is seen from an oblique perspective, the sender's view. Often the public is unaware of this unbalanced portrayal and will see it as "the real thing", the current thing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "The media gives us ways of imagining particular identities and groups that can have material effects on how people experience the world, and how they are understood, or legislated for, or perhaps beaten up in the street by others. To bring it full circle, this it is partly due to the fact that the mass media have the power to re-present, again and again, some identities, some imaginations, and to exclude others, thus making them unknown or even threatening." I decided to look at how men are portrayed in two particular television commercials. Women are also featured in advertisements and I looked at their roles as well. The first advertisement I will look at is the Barclays one. The advertisement is the monologue of a businessman aged between the late fifties and early sixties. He is bald, but has a trendy short haircut. He is dressed in a jacket and tie and is sitting at a table having breakfast. The room is very large with some selected expensive looking furniture. It leads the audience to assume that the entire house is large and has a similar minimalist style. In one shot you can see the view outside the window, which is the large expanse of gardens and in another you can see the dirt road leading towards the street and away from the front door. There is a maid present in the first room which allows us to understand that this man is very rich and successful in what he does. The monologue was very cleverly written with the excessive use of the word "great". The monologue is made up of lots of short, quick sentences filled with powerful “b” sounds. There are many questions that remain unanswered but they all make us think. It's written as if the character is parsing the word "big" out loud. He expresses his thoughts as quickly as they all come and go from the last point. There are many plays on the word "big". The listener immediately picks up on the "big" theme of the commercial, as it is very difficult not to notice. The ad opens with the question, “What does big mean?” At this point, immediately to his left is his maid. The shot shows the businessman sitting at the table and right next to him is the back of the waitress. She is a very large woman and this sentence seems to come from her thinking of looking at the wide width of her maid's butt. He continues talking, emphasizing his success. His big house is mentioned along with his big chauffeur-driven car, the big meeting he's going to, the big movie he's working on, and the big fee he'll ask for it. The character of the businessman is one that most male audiences can understand. relate, as he is the number of people they would like to be when they grow up. He is successful, rich, and has all the material things that come with money. He also has his young girlfriend, from whom he likes to hear the appreciation, "Good morning Big Boy!". The final slogan of the advertisement "A big world needs a great bank" is very memorable and remains in the theme of the advertisement. Everyone who watches the commercial will remember the word "big". Although remembering which bank he was advertising is a slightly more difficult challenge. To make it easier they chose the word "big" which starts with the same letter as the bank, whichI think it refreshes people's memories. The second commercial is the sixteen sixty-four beer commercial. The main character is a man between the ages of twenty and early thirties. He is shown in the shower with water running down his slightly hairy chest. He comes out and puts a white towel around his lower body. The scene seems like something out of a very provocative sex film. The summer of 1986 also saw the launch of a print and poster campaign by Gray Advertising for Beecham's Brylcreem. the "look" of neat, respectable masculinity of the early 1960s (in turn associated with the Brylcreem advertisements of this period). The images have been updated slightly, however, showing the models' highly manicured hair and skin and - in the case of the two of). the images: the developed muscles of the arms and upper body." Since 1986 people have become accustomed to seeing the bodies of men and women on television. Men often feel uncomfortable looking at such a naked man, but this advertising is an exception. He stands in front of the mirror and flexes his muscles. It's all done in a very sarcastic way. It's fun to watch, since he obviously thinks he's the greatest sex god on earth and turns a photo of himself and his wife/girlfriend. On top of all this is a singer French speaker singing the melody of a song called "She". French music is often associated with seduction and sensuality. The song is very powerful and adds humor to the advertisement a very comical moment. Here the audience realizes that they are very excited and passionate for a larger audience. Seductively lick the foam off the top of each pint. The music stops very quickly when the wife/girlfriend enters. This man is a character I think men would want to be. He just had a "manage a trois" with his favorite beer. Both adverts feature women playing minor roles. The Barclays advertisement contains two very stereotypical roles of women. “A stereotype is a label that involves a process of categorization and evaluation. Although it can refer to situations or places, it is often used in conjunction with representations of social groups. In its simplest terms, an easily understood characteristic (usually negative) is assumed belongs to an entire group." The first woman is a waitress. She is a very overweight lady. He wears a blue and white striped uniform with a large white frilly apron. She has short, curly blonde hair and wears a lace scarf. He is between forty and fifty years old. This is a very stereotypical "maid" character. The second woman is the businessman's girlfriend. She is between twenty-five and thirty-five years old, so she is noticeably younger than her boyfriend. She is dressed very sexy in a short, skimpy black nightgown and an open silk kimono. Her hair is held back messily by a small clip with a few strands falling into her face. As indicated by her appearance, she just woke up and just got out of bed to go downstairs for breakfast and to take her boyfriend to work. She is the object of the male gaze in this advertisement." In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, the pleasure of sight has been divided between active/masculine and passive/feminine. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is designed accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed,.