E - PAPER

CURRENT ISSUE

LAST ISSUE

VIEW ALL
    • Login
  • HOME
  • COVER STORY
  • CMO INTERVIEWS
  • LATEST NEWS
  • CREATIVE ZONE
  • SPOTLIGHT
  • INTERVIEWS
  • BACKBEAT
  • VIDEOS
  • HAPPENINGS
  • E-PAPER
  • THE TEAM
  • EVENTS
search
  1. Home
  2. Backbeat

THE AGE OF HUNKVERTISING

Amit Sethiya, Chief Marketing Officer, Syska Group talks about how advertising today objectifies men and how consumers are reacting to it

BY AMIT SETHIYA
31st December 2018
THE AGE OF HUNKVERTISING
In all honesty, can men really be the subject of objectification? The general public views men as ‘handsome’ or ‘smart’, but let’s look deeper.

We have all viewed the stars of the screen with a little desire. IMDB rates men on their sex appeal, starting out with the impeccable Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Tom Cruise; the men portraying James Bond have always been the epitome of suave and sexy. In Bollywood, we’ve grown from the demure Rajesh Khanna and Vinod Khanna, to the Khans and Kapoors, and the recent chocolate boys. In advertising, models have always relied on the ‘handsome’ or hotness quotient – Milind Soman still reigns.

Where faces sold earlier, it is sculpted bodies that sell now. The new term is Distraction Ads, where the subject is so alluring that it could possibly pose a threat to safety. These ads all rely on the ‘wow’ factor that leads to stronger recall, and hopefully higher sales. The share-of-mindspace should be higher than the share-of-voice. Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai - the hope and direction of every advertiser.

The traditional thought of every marketer had been to use women as objects of desire. The public wanted to see pleasant faces (and bodies). Male products had women as their ad’s subject, commanding SOV.

With men being the new norm in ads, would they be shown as dumb and pasty, or as the new term goes, is this the age of ‘hunkvertising’? Old Spice now has men leading the desire and on horseback! But it is time to stop putting emotionless men in our ads. The average man in Indian commercials is either shown in the garb of the provider or portrayed as dumb – think Amazon Alexa, in the ‘Capital of Australia’ commercial. So are men okay with being objectified?

The Telegraph report survey of 998 men aged over 16, found that 26% of men think men are sexualised as much as women in ads, whilst 22% say men are ‘too stereotyped’.

India does not have any statistics. We want to see familiar faces as the main stars in ads for just about every product, from state tourism advertising and retail stores, to air conditioners, FMCG and more.

Form-defined chiselled looks are the future. Fitness rules! Designers at Fashion Weeks want square jaws and sharp lines on their male models. Male models are more often made to walk the ramp in outfits that show off sculpted abs. And while we are on the case of bare chests, the grooming trend is for men to shave off hair - chest, back, pits, even legs. Beards are making up for the lack of hair elsewhere on the body. Google Akshay Kumar’s overgrown chest hair, to now the clean, smooth, sculpted chest. Body hair is out!

With men taking care of themselves and being more body-conscious, the view that women will try and gain the man’s attention is leading the case of objectification. The tables are being turned with men being the object of desire.

Is it healthy? Is it true? Is advertising and marketing just portraying our innermost quests? Are we accept this? Or is it just that we are men! We need attention! And we don’t want to work hard for it.
  • TAGS :
  • Backbeat

RELATED STORY VIEW MORE

‘Meditation - The Magic It Holds’
Improv And Creativity: Lessons from the Unscripted Stage
Reverse Sweep or Straight Drive? It’s all about Self-Belief and Conviction

TOP STORY

Eclectic and Electric

Anika Agarwal, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Orient Electric, delves into ‘Fatt Se Garam Campaign’, their evolving media mix and the goals that the brand has set for this year


Ads In Focus


Speaking the Consumer’s Language: The Power of Regional Storytelling


NEWS LETTER

Subscribe for our news letter


E - PAPER


  • CURRENT

  • LAST WEEK

Subscribe To Impact Online

BUY IMPACT ONLINE



IMPACT SPECIAL ISSUES


  • Suniel shetty takes the Spotlight

  • Miked Up for Goafest

  • Get Set Goaaa!

  • Anupriya Acharya Tops the IMPACT 50 Most Influenti

  • Advertising Turbocharged

  • A Toast to creativity

  • GOAing towards tech-lead creativity

  • REDISCOVERING ONESELF

  • 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN LIST 2022

  • BACK WITH A BANG!

  • Your Best Coffee Ever

  • PR Commune Magazine June-July 2022

  • 13th-ANNIVERSARY-SPECIAL

  • PR Commune Magazine April 2022

VIDEO GALLERY VIEW MORE

"Retirement should feel like a second debut, not a full stop."

Use your existing account to sign in

I forgot my password

or sign in using apps you love:

New user? Sign up

Get connected with us on social networks!
ABOUT IMPACT

IMPACT was set up in year 2000 with the aim of publishing niche, relevant and quality publications for the marketing, advertising and media professionals.

Useful links

COVER-STORY-60.HTML

CMO-INTERVIEW-5.HTML

JUST-IN.HTML

CREATIVE-ZONE-56.HTML

SPOTLIGHT-8.HTML

INTERVIEW-7.HTML

BACKBEAT-1.HTML

VIDEOS

ALL/HAPPENINGS

HTTP://DIGITAL.IMPACTONNET.COM

HTTPS://WWW.IMPACTONNET.COM/AUTHORS.HTML

HTTPS://E4MEVENTS.COM/

OTHER LINKS

REFUND POLICY

GDPR-COMPLIANCE

COOKIE-POLICY

SITEMAP

PRIVACY-POLICY

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Contact

ADSERT WEB SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. 3'rd Floor, D-40, Sector-2, Noida (Uttar Pradesh), Pincode - 201301

Connect With Us !


Copyright © 2025 impactonnet.com