Lynx Apollo (television commercial, 2013)

Lynx Apollo as a brand is aimed at men and the representations in this commercial are built around a set of gender stereotypes. The men are strong and the women are prizes to be won. The central representation in the Lynx Apollo television advertisement is of man as hero, fulfilling the stereotypical role of rescuer, first as a lifeguard and then as an astronaut. The representations of men in this campaign are part of a wider strategy that Lynx developed further, supporting the general assumption that an astronaut has the advantage when it comes to getting the girl; an astronaut embodies manly qualities like…… and is depicted as even more of a catch than a lifeguard, who in the advert is depicted as….. The strap-line is “An astronaut never has to….” unlike other men who might struggle to attract girls.

The general message of the advert is that if you wear the new deodorant, Lynx Apollo, it will make you just as good as an astronaut.

Lynx went further, setting up an international competition in which 22 lucky (male) winners would sign up for the chance to go into space with the Lynx Space Academy. The competition, Facebook presence and television as well as online advertisements drive male audiences to buy Lynx Apollo.

The representations in this advertisement are built around gender stereotypes. The central male figure is a big, bold strapping man and he looks like the sort of super hero you could find in disguise.

The design of the advert showcases an exotic location, an Australian beach on a sunny, peaceful afternoon, but then the dramatic narrative kicks in as peace turns to chaos when the lifeguard spots a shark circling a swimmer. The lifeguard

The relationship between all the characters represents the lifeguard as a strong, bold and good looking.  Then the girl is the ‘damsel in distress’, which shows a sign of sexism because it is showing the woman as a weak feeble character and the man as a brave and bold figure, because he doesn’t hesitate to act when there is a girl who is in danger.

The landscape around shows it is very hot as there are hardly any clouds in the sky and the surrounding land is a very hot looking area. This shows that there is an exotic location. As he swims through the water it almost seems he is a superhero as he ploughs through the water with a great amount of strength. It shows a great amount of contrast effect between the damsel in distress and the hero.

When he looks through the binoculars it shows the advert producers are using a camera technique, which is a point of view angle. As he jumps down from his high seat is shows him as majestic and higher class than the rest of the people thrown into the scene. The sudden change of pace happens when he spots the girl, the music changes from being silent to slowly morphing into being a fast situation.

The message of the Lynx Apollo lifeguard ad, is that if you wear the new Lynx Apollo you are the hero of all heroes and just as awesome as an Astronaut. The main message that it says at the end of the advert is: “Nothing Beats an Astronaut”