Men Against Water



In advertising men treat water as:

A rival
An obstacle to be overcome
A site of test or challenge
An element to be controlled


4 Typical Examples
Product
Setting
Action
Interpretation
Vitamin drink
Swimming pool
Match race
Water is milieu of challenge
success, failure
Wrist watch
Open sea
Yacht race
Test of: skill, courage, power
Vitamin drink
Rocky shoreline
Escape from waves
Water is a threat to safety
Energy drink
Canal city
Escape from crocodiles
In water lurks sudden danger


Generally, Men and Water don't Mix
For instance, there was the ad in which a man ran through the rain and got sopping wet...
A woman calmly waiting out the rain looks on in disapproval
The accompanying song exhorts: "even if it rains, don't let it bother you..."
After he sprints to the subway, a a group of young women laugh at him
The song intones: "Even if they laugh, don't let it bother you..."
After exiting, he looks up at the sky
The song reassures: "even if you don't know, don't let it bother you."


No different in a recent ad for hair spray:
A man wakes up in the morning, his hair out of whack...
He reaches for the faucet, turns it on
Suddenly, he is transported beneath a waterfall, its torrent gushing over his head
As he screams in horror, a "prohibited" sign flashes overhead


Some Rules of Thumb:
  1. Remain on dry land

  2. If that is not possible, keep a vessel between body and water

  3. Try to control it

    • Often by controlling women, who appear to hold a special power over water



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