“The situation into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated.” (Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Section II)
The Mona Lisa (Leonardo Da Vinci, circa 1503) (and its circulation in popular culture) is illustrative of Benjamin’s argument regarding the status of the artwork in the age of mechanical reproduction. I’ve posted an image of the original painting along with one of its more recent cultural manifestations.* Describe one way the meanings associated with the original painting effect the product being sold. Provide one example of how the ad’s use of digital technology changes the meaning of the original (for instance, in this ad, how do we interpret her famous smile?) Comparing this advertisement to the Mona Lisas made by modern artists of the Dada and Surrealist movements (Below Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q., 1919), what does the ad suggest about our society’s ideas and beliefs about beauty?
*The text at the bottom of the ad reads: “Pantene Time Renewal. Restores age-damaged hair.”
Andrew Britton - Lab 802
ReplyDeleteThe cultural manifestations simply have the effect on the product being sold because they are using an incredibly famous piece of art that is not only iconic but worldly renown. The re-creations of this painting is simply what attracts people to whether it is the Pantene ad or just an alteration on the painting itself in the bottom illustration. As stated that "the presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity."
The use of digital technology allows for a complete alteration and makeover (pun) for the possibility to attract consumers to buying the "Pantene Time Renewal" product. Completely altering the look of her hair to appear as if she has been using the product and if looked closely enough will notice the heightening of her skin tone to give her a golden like look. Adding onto the point of bringing out the beauty in someone that while you should have beautiful hair by using this shampoo also having the bronze tan to go with it. Just by the look of her voluptuous hair her smirk suggests she is confident with who she is and has no problem in flaunting herself.
In suggesting ideas about our society's is that we have a light hearted sense of humor in taking something that at one time and to some still is considered a serious work of art and adding a comical view to it.
Since the Mona Lisa is a very iconic and popular picture, Pantene decided to beautify and modernize this painting to create a very captivating advertisement. The original picture, when placed next to the new and improved version, seems dull and outdated. The most powerful aspect of the advertisement is the long and thick hair created by the shampoo, which is only enhanced by the text at the bottom of the picture.
ReplyDeleteThe use of digital technology changes the picture in many ways. The original picture looks old, outdated, and simply dulled down when put next to the advertisement. The smile of the new and improved painting is suggesting that the Mona Lisa is much more confident with her new look, while the old painting's smile seems to be more of a forced smile - something that she was told to do, rather than what she feels like.
The advertisement is suggesting that our society is all about makeovers, and always improving our appearance rather than being stuck in the same old fashion look that we have always seen in ad's.
The hair product chose this painting because the meaning from the original is beauty already. Then they changed the picture to reflect their product. The smile is interpreted as a humble smile in the original and almost a smirk in the recreation.
ReplyDeleteThis reflects how much our society now relies on products to show true beauty, without products a person just looks bland. She seems to be enjoying herself much more when she has the product.
Pantene is capitalizing on the feelings and history associated with the original Mona Lisa. It is a popular painting that evokes familiarity and feelings of expertise because it is revered as a famous classic. Introducing a product with the iconic image makes the viewer feel acquainted with the “high-end” shampoo, which relieves any hesitation about purchasing Pantene.
ReplyDeleteThrough digital technology a timeless painting is brought into the 21st Century. By adding color and volume to the hair of the Mona Lisa we view her famous smile not as a sign of overall happiness, but as an indication that she is satisfied with her new hairdo.
The advertisement suggests that our ideas and beliefs about beauty revolve around never being satisfied with what one was given. It is assumed that you can always improve your looks, whether it is your hair or clothes. There is an emphasis on being made-over to become better and prettier.
Without a doubt, the Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable and respected artworks of all time. It coincides with terms like genius, and remarkable. Because age has affected this painting, causing it to become faded and discolored, Pantene saw it as a great advertising opportunity to take this very familiar painting and modernize it. They vamped up the old painting by added bolder colors and a full, thick head of long, flowing hair. Mona Lisa now seems to be smiling for an entirely different reason; she’s made-over and attractive.
ReplyDeleteThis idea of ‘revamping your style to be beautiful’ is in full swing these days; with TV shows like “What Not To Wear” and “The Swan”, people can’t help but think that they’re not doing all that they can to make themselves beautiful. And how can they do that? -By buying tons of products (like Pantene) and shopping at the right stores. It seems as if they want people to be constantly reassessing themselves, and making sure every square inch of their body is taken care of. And if not, then YOU WILL BE MISERABLE! AAH!
The advertisment doesn't neccessarily comment on beauty. Rather, it aims to appeal to potential customers with the irony of placing stereotypical hair commerical hair on the Mona Lisa.
ReplyDeleteThe Mona Lisa is so reknowned in the world of famous portraits, it is a cliche. Naturally, the eye scans over it. That is, until something is changed, such as a beard on the previously clean shaven subject or shiny wavy computer generated hair where there had been modest locks that blened well with the rest of the visage. If anything, this reinvigorates the original interest in the work of art. It causes the interested indvidual to look at the first work and evaluate what was to be appreciated in the first place.
The advertisement for Pantine was successful in that it got potential buyers to look at it long enough. It has generated enough interest so that this entire class (all potential buyers) are looking at it. Whatever Pantine paid the advertisers who came up with this image is definately not enough.
The digital change caused the change of intent in the work. The original was a work of art, the enhancement was a work of marketing. The major difference between the two is that when the individual looks at the first they ask "What do I get out of this?" and when they look at the latter they ask themselves "Do I want to buy this product now?"
The mustachioed Mona Lisa puts in to question whether the orginal subject was beautiful at all or if the perceived beauty was merely a product of it's cult status. Does the goatee ruin the woman? This causes us to examine our conception of her beauty further. Is she beautiful? What is beautiful about her? What is not?
These adjustments to the original work should be an artist's dream (although to say so would seem counter-intuitive) because it forces the public to readjust their view of the work rather than just acknowledging it as a masterpiece without looking at it at all. When this happens, the work is given a second life.
The original is generally considered beautiful and associated with antiquity, lending the add somewhat of a message of "Here's this pretty gal who used to have old worn hair, but we made her hair look as great as it did on the lady when it was first painted".
ReplyDeleteThe alteration of the painting alters the meaning of its famous smile, which is generally considered enigmatic, to mean something more blatent: "Dang I got good hair"
Comparing the Ad with the Surrealist version, I'd have to say that they suggest that our society considers women with 'good hair' like in the add beautiful, and mustaches and gotees on women not.
Pantene has picked an image for their ad that everyone has seen hundreds of times before. We already know a lot about this work. We know why its famous and what makes it unique. When we see the Mona Lisa, we think back to what we have been taught about it. Because of its exposure, we are conditioned to look at a print of the original and feel nothing. So when someone like Pantene manipulates an image that has been ingrained in all of our minds such as this, we can't help but to stop and take notice. The image is still recognizable but there are obvious changes. Pantene spruced up a faded old painting to give the perception that the product they are selling will do the same for you.
ReplyDeleteThe smile on the Mona Lisa has taken on new life in the Pantene version. Her smirk is no longer a mystery. Pantene is the reason for her happiness. Her skin is a healthier color, her hair is shinier and thicker, and her surroundings are more vibrant and warm.
The ad is trying to say that if a woman's hair is rich and full, she will automatically be happier and the world around her will be brightened as a result. In other words, rejuvenated hair is the secret to true happiness.
Walter Benjamin, in his article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" talked about "the adjustment of reality to the masses and of the masses to reality." This describes what this Pantene ad is doing pretty well. They digitally tweaked Da Vinci's work of art to make it more appealing to a shallow public. In turn, they are only intensifying an appearance driven culture.
Megan Linner - 802
ReplyDeleteDa Vinci’s Mona Lisa is ubiquitous in today’s society. People around the world recognize this famous portrait of a plain woman. She’s dressed simply, in drab attire, and the entire painting is done in a subdued color palate. Because of her plainness, especially in her choice of hairdo, she’s a perfect target for a makeover (Photoshop style). Pantene takes advantage of the fact that everyone knows this 500 year old painting in order to convey the purpose of their product.
However, the advertisement adds insight into the original because, “We construct the meaning of things through the process of representing them,”(S&C 12) especially when it comes to her smile. In the original we see a hint of a smile but in the ad it definitely looks like she’s smiling about her beautiful hair. This makes us contemplate the purpose for her smile in the original. The colors are also brought out in the ad to be richer and it makes me wonder how the painting looked when it was just completed, were the colors richer and significantly less faded or washed out?
Some surrealist painters had another way of exposing her plainness. She is not especially feminine; she has no eyelashes, no pink lips, no delicate features, or rosy cheeks. Marcel Duchamp flaunts her lack of femininity by adding facial hair. These two interpretations of the Mona Lisa demonstrate our society’s belief that femininity supplements beauty and androgyny is something to be corrected or mocked.
I believe this is a smart advertisement that works well to sell this hair product. Mainly, because Pantene took something that is obviously well known by the majority of people. Then, they used this famous painting as an example to demonstrate how there product can restore your hair.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I do enjoy this advertisement; it definitely takes away the feelings I have towards the original painting. This comes from seeing the replicated version of the Mona Lisa over, and over. Reproducing copies of this painting takes away the “wow” factor people have after seeing this legendary painting. If you can go anywhere to see a close copy of it, then people start to forget why it’s such a big deal. Also, in todays world; you can even get an image of this painting on anything you can dream of. Whether it be on a mouse pad, credit card, coffee mug, etc. I believe the more this image gets replicated, the more that is being taken away from the original Mona Lisa.
Most people may not agree, but I think this ad suggests negative ideas about our society’s idea on beauty. Along with most beauty product advertisements today, it seems as if you don’t look like this; you won’t fit in with the majorities idea of beauty. People need to start being more original, and not caring so much about what our society thinks is beautiful.
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ReplyDeleteSince the Mona Lisa is such a famous painting, there is little to question as to why this painting is often times recreated, even for promotional purposes. However, when viewing a well renowned image in a new fashion, such as the re-creation of the Mona Lisa for the Pantene ad, the meaning and emotion that lies behind that delicate work of art is desensitized. However, since this well known work of art holds such fame and delicacy, it calls for recreations and for other artists to tamper with something to make it "modern" or to sell something.
ReplyDeleteWith the Pantene ad, the image was recreated in order to look as if the "Mona Lisa", herself, was done up and beautified with a more modern look. The hair is completely revamped in order to sell the product, Pantene, and make her look more "glamorous", or what beautiful means in today's society, then she does in the original painting. Her awkward smirk in the original painting is soon turned into a confident and flaunting smirk all with a couple adjustments with the hair, and overall color of the painting, to make it more golden and appealing. With this said, beauty, as suggested by this Ad, is something that is timeless, much like the painting itself. The Mona Lisas made by modern artists of the Dada and Surrealist movements seem to make fun of what "beauty" is, suggesting that beauty truly does lie in the eye of the beholder and there is no one person who can embody all that is considered truly beautiful in today's society.
The original Mona Lisa was of a woman whose smile was the focal point of both the painting and the ongoing artistic interest. The woman's smile conveys a certain mysteriousness that has evoked a feeling of classic beauty since its inception during the Renaissance. Pantene has taken the idea of "classic beauty" and digitally manipulated it to now convey a sense of modern beauty through use of their product.
ReplyDeleteThe alteration of the hair of the subject changes the feeling of the painting to that of a woman who has strived to make herself beautiful. This helps sell hair products, as it shows the link between hair products and beauty.
This advertisement is very reflective of modern society's view on beauty. In the commercialized beauty industry, it pays to sell as many products as possible, so it makes sense that the advertisements would try to make their product seem as essential as possible. The perception of beauty in a world awash with media, then, is an increasingly artificial one. This advertisements update on the Mona Lisa is a reflection of that.
The mystery behind the Mona Lisa and the guess work involved in it's true original meaning suggests mystery in the product. The secret of the shampoo is unknown, just as knowledge of the sitter for the Mona Lisa is vague. The shampoo is marketed as a brand new technology with superior time reversing qualities...hence the image being used is hundreds of years old.
ReplyDeleteThe iconic half smile the subject is wearing suggests that she has some sort of secret. This is a good selling point for Pantene. With the use of digital technologies Pantene has made the subject of this old painting appear young with flowing dark hair and smooth skin. The Mona Lisa now portrays a modern woman. After all these years we finally have an answer to that puzzling question; her secret, of course, is Pantene Time Renewal shampoo.
Duchamp was making a cynical joke about society's reverence of masterful art, not necessarily about our standards for beauty. Todays modern society finds extreme importance in preserving youth, making the Mona Lisa a good marketing tool for Pantene's Time Renewal shampoo.
The one way that describe the meetings assoicated with the orignal painting effect the product being sold is the signifient style, basic and the color of the picture. It was looking more like a recent picture then a old picture which the painting is the painting is clearly different. One of the examples of how the ad's use of digital technology changes the meaning of the original style. Such as the texture of the painting and how the fromat of the recentproduct. Her smile always be calm and happy. The society's beauty ad says that there's not really no respect and that how pictures look different from bak in the day.
ReplyDelete