Perfume advertising has always been in a special place in modern marketing culture, especially in terms of the gendered elements it displays. As a luxury product, perfume advertising is not just about promoting a scent, but more about conveying a certain lifestyle, a gender role, or even a latent desire. The appeal of perfume advertisements often relies on a visual language that skillfully shapes the viewer’s fantasies and expectations through the camera, light and shadow, clothing and character poses. Underneath it all, perfume advertisements often objectify and sexualize women through the lens of the Male Gaze, where women are often portrayed as objects of male desire.
The term “male gaze” was first coined by feminist scholar Laura Mulvey in her famous essay “Visual Pleasure and Film Narrative”. She argues that film and television productions and advertisements often portray female characters through a male perspective, and that women are often objectified in these presentations as projections of male desire. Perfume advertisements are a prime example of this, as these advertisements capture the attention of male viewers by showing women as sexy, soft and mysterious.
At the heart of perfume advertisements is often seduction, not only in the perfume itself, but also in the space of desire created by the advertisement. Women are usually portrayed in these ads as an unapproachable ideal, both mysterious and sexy. Their very existence seems to evoke desire in the viewer. These women are usually portrayed with perfect looks, slender figures, and often provocative eyes, all of which convey the message that women exist, especially in perfume advertisements, to be “gazed at” and “possessed” by men. and to be “gazed at” and “possessed” by men, especially in perfume advertising.
