The+Wonderbra+Case


 * __Female Objectification As Power –The Wonderbra Case __**

 In the late twentieth century many women discarded their bras to demonstrate a revolt demanding they be valued for their intelligence not as physical objects. Companies attempt to show comfort, freedom, and enjoyment of the lingerie for women. However, this self-expression of feeling sexy is accompanied by the need to please the male gaze. Commercials and advertisements tease men by taunting them with phrases such as “Hello Boys” which “positively invit[es]”(Chinn,158) them into the male gaze. It provides women control of the situation as proactive player who dominate men by objectifying themselves.

 The Wonderbra “Hello Boys” campaign in 1994 (Figure 1) uses various techniques to capture the customer. In the print ad model Eva Herzigová is seen as a universal sex symbol; she stares down at her breast while wearing a bra and underwear with a text block on the side with the caption “Hello Boys.” Her eyes are focused on her chest so it is implying she is referring to her breast however could be taken as a type of seduction method addressing male admirers. Her hair is tousled and her mouth is opened, as if she is excited and ready for the “boys”. This portrays her “sexual availability” ( Goffman, 41), to her readers. The ad is printed in a black and white, while the tag with the text “The One and Only Wonderbra” is off coloured in their signature yellow, the tag that appears to have been thrown off the garment in a hurry as it is tilted. Eva is using her body to sell the product and reinforcing the ideology that women can utilize their bodies as assets to attain what they desire. It gives women the impression that purchasing Wonderbra not only helps them get support but also increases their sex appeal to men. Eva is withdrawn, not staring directly at the audience but down as if she is out of breath and bracing on the doorway to catch it or admiring herself; this hyper sexualized gaze is that of an orgasmic ecstasy. This ad allows the viewer to assume in a connotative chain that sex, lust, desire, and naked beauty are the results and are associated with the use of this undergarment. In addition it clearly shows her as a sex symbol, and is inadvertently telling the target audience that they can become sexy and alluring by using Wonderbra.

 Later, in 1999, Wonderbra’s new campaign used cheeky slogans such as "not everything is going to collapse next millennium" (Print Ads, 2000).Adriana Sklenarikova was the spokes model for this campaign, the most famous ad from the campaign was the “I can’t cook – who cares” (Figure 2). This ad is in colour and is cropped under Adriana’s breast, which almost enhances them. She is holding her bra straps as if they are suspender and has messy hair; her mouth open and she stares alluringly though glazed eyes out to the audience, with the slogan printed above her cleavage. Her glassy eyes are focused upward as if she is looking up at the viewer which subordinates her. The comparison of bra straps to suspenders gives the notion of corporate power however this ad implicates Adriana only has power when using it for a sexual manner. The wonder bra tag is again in the ad this time on the upper right; it seems as if they have tagged her as if she is a commodity. The text on her chest is white and requires the viewer to focus on her cleavage to read it. The slogan implies that pushing-up your breast will change your life and make you break away from the stereotype that “women are cocooned in the domestic arena” (Bordo, 1998, 21) this is because the man, who is in charge, will be too distracted to care. Therefore if women distract a man from their domestic flaws, using physical sexuality, he will not notice, and though sex women can control their views.

 Underwear is a difficult item to advertise without the implication of sexual innuendo as it is the last thing removed before a full physical sexual encounter. John Berger (1990), an English author states “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. . . . The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object”. Wonderbra capitalizes on this by making sex power; women objectify themselves to capture the male gaze which is reminiscent of the old media stereotype that men regard women as sex objects. However in this century women are using reverse psychology in order to exploit and gain; they grasp the male attention with looks of availability and sexuality which captures the male interest. When the man approaches, the women can manipulate his mindset allowing her to gain what she wants by utilizing her body. Overall, Wonderbra makes female customers believe the bra can make them have this unattainable ideal of a perfect body and a seductress distracting from the gender roles, allowing females domination. While male viewers see these ads as a fantasy and believe that their significant other can look that way, and if they did they also would not care if she could cook.


 * __BIBLIOGRAPHY: __**

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 1990. Print.

Bordo, S. (1998). Hunger as Ideology. In R. Scapp, & B. Seitz, //The Consumer Society Reader// (pp. 11-36). Albany: State University of New York Press.

CHINN, DEE AMY. "This is Just for Me(n)." //Journal of Consumer Culture// 6.2 (2006): 155-75. Print.

Goffman, Erving (1979). Gender Advertisements. Harper Torchbacks: New York, pp. 24 – 83.

"Print Ads for Wonderbra." //Adverts Archive with Unlimited Downloads Option //. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. 

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 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Figure One: __**

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 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Figure Two: __**