Gucci Guilty Advertisement Analysis

Gucci’s 2011 advertisement for their Guilty cologne will have viewers never looking at Captain America the same way again. The ad features Chris Evans and Evan Rachel Wood. The two are naked and standing together against a black background. A picture of the bottle of cologne is in the bottom right corner, along with a caption reading “The new fragrance for men.” The title is across the top of the image in big bold letters and reads, “Gucci Guilty: Pour Homme.” The advertiser is targeting a male audience with this ad, and convincing them that using this cologne will make them more attractive. They do this by using a series of visual rhetorical strategies, common societal biases, the placement of objects around the image, and by appealing to ethos and pathos. The first place that the viewer's gaze falls is to Evans’ eyes. They are deep, blue and piercing. His eyes are also the only non-neutral toned aspect of the image and so they stick out more then the rest of the image. Most importantly he is staring right into the camera, right into the viewer. He exudes the confidence that so many men wish they …show more content…
Evans is placed higher up in the image then wood. His muscles loom over her making him appear even bigger and stronger and making her appear even more petite. Wood is looks is clinging to Evans and looking up at him longingly, he's the only thing that she can think about, but Evans is looking past her, almost as if he is already ready to move on from her and towards the next woman. This makes Wood appear very submissive and Evans very dominant, a common balance of powers in society, the male being stronger than the female. On top of that a submissive woman is considered to be another ideal trait in a woman. This all connects back to the point that men will want to be more like Evans, they’ll want to appear more dominant and they will want to have a woman like