This advertisement (inset) is a parody of Calvin Klein’s Obsession line of cologne, which typically sells the “ideal image” of what a successful man should look like. Here it plays on the insecurity American males have with their penis size as what the true target of their obsession is, something that cannot be altered or helped and only create concern. The chapter “Advertising, Consumer Culture, and Desire” from Politics of Looking argues that the line between advertisements and their joking parodies is becoming less and less evident because of instant media such as the internet. Sometimes a spoof of an ad will sell more of the product that the original, less economically stimulating, advertisement. Additionally, spoofs draw more attention to the primary ad because it solidifies the original as a publically well-known piece that people can talk about openly as it has now become part of pop-culture. The actual ad is a simple picture of a publically established man of wonder who is subliminally speaking, this cologne makes me the man I want to be. The new ad is targeting the consumer and explaining that if this spectrum of marketing works on you, you are insecure and you can think of those who use these products as small-penised men.
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