First draft, introduction.

The representation of woman changes drastically when advertising a product to different genders. Through selling aspirations, companies are able to sell products. I will prove this with examples of Tom Ford and Chanel No.5s’ perfume campaigns. My aim is see whether sex sells and the effect these campaigns have on their audiences. Tom Fords’ campaign is very sexualised and objectifies woman in order to attract men. However, in the Chanel No.5 campaign, Nicole Kidman is portrayed as being very glamorous and sells aspirations of love and romance, which influences women to buy the product. To prove this I will look at what the companies are selling apart from the perfume, whether that be sex, ideology or escapism. I will also research whether this advertising was successful and whether the perfume products sold. To do this I will apply specific theories, one being Laura Mulvey’s theory of 'the male gaze' and how woman are objectified to meet male aspirations, another being the mirror stage and how this makes woman aspirer to be like the woman they see in advertising campaigns such as Chanel.