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Title
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An invisible product and its visible ideology: Gender, semiotics & the visual construction of scent in advertising, 1950-2000
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Creator
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Malesi, Elisavet
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Abstract
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Perfume advertising sells an invinsible product and in doing so, reveals how commercial images construct ideas about gender.This research study analyses 200 advertisements from the US Vogue and Esquire, spaning from the 1950s to the early 2000s, through quantitative content analysis, drawing mainly on Goffman, Barthes and Butler. The main ask is whether the depiction of male and female figures in perfume advertising has changed in a meaningful way over the period examined. Through content analysis and gender visual theory, the most crucial finding is that whilst the surface has shifted, the underlying message has not. Perfume advertising seems to have updated its language, not its logic.
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Keywords
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advertising
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semiotics
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gender representations
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Date Available
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May 28, 2026
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Type
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Oral presentation
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Course
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CN6489A1 - Thesis in Advertising
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Session
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Oral presentation
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Location
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Art Center Auditorium
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Event
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Year 2026 | 10th Annual Student Research and Creative Arts Symposium
