Are Brands Losing Testosterone?
If there’s one quintessential symbol of masculinity in America, it’s the cowboy. Steady, sure, tough, a bit gruff rough, he is a powerful cultural archetype — and brand. From selling millions of cigarettes, country songs, and SUVs to electing at least two presidents, his selling power cannot be underestimated. But is the love affair over?
America’s obsession with the cowboy as a masculine ideal has been waning for some time. Let’s mark a few of the mile stones:
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The Marlboro Man dies of lung cancer.
Under the reign of a cowboy-branded president, America is lead into a foreign policy nightmare and an economic depression.
A film comes out about gay cowboys and is widely accepted.
The cowboy’s image has transformed from one of venerated idol of male strength to a fraud, or impostor of sorts. But it’s more than the cowboy. It’s the broader brand — the American masculine ideal. And it is fading. This is a huge cultural paradigm shift.
Enter Obama, the Anti-Cowboy
As the child of a single mother and an absent father, Obama is a fitting symbol of a post-masculine society. In a column last year, NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd emphasized the contrast between Obama and the cowboy: “Obama proved that he was not a cowboy in overdrive like W. when he demurred at throwing a spiral because his pass might not be as good as the Longhorn stars’.” What about Hillary, you might ask?
In her column, Dowd argued that “Hillary was so busy trying to prove she could be one of the boys .. that she only belatedly realized that many Democratic and independent voters, especially women, were eager to move from hard-power locker-room tactics to a soft-power sewing circle approach.”
As the Obama/Hillary example illustrates, the male vs. female dichotomy less central then the actual expression characteristics of masculine vs. feminine. It is not so much that masculinity is going away – it is that femininity has become the more dominant cultural force.
Implications for brands
The recent TV series Mad Men aptly characterized the male-centric world that gave birth to the advertising industry. The legendary Leo Burnett is one of the most influential of these agencies, having shaped many of the brands that you grew up with. In addition to the hyper-masculine Marlboro Man, they have developed other male-centric figures including “Charlie the Tuna”, “Pillsbury Doughboy”, 7UP’s “Spot”, and Tony the tiger.
But even more important than the fact these brands symbols are of male gender, is the masculine way they are communicated. Their top-down, one-way approach of talking to consumers is very much a masculine “don’t-talk-back-to-me” style. The feminine approach, by contrast, is not about telling, it’s about conversation.
The rise of social, cause-centric, conversation-based media
The green movement, social media, good-cause marketing are all central to the feminization of brands. Tending to be feeling-centric, brands are now asking you to chat with them on platforms ranging from Facebook to Twitter. In the masculine world of brands, this would have been unheard of. As technology gives greater voice to the average citizen, it allows us to communicate more collectively. And it’s the feminine conversation ability that is emerging as most effective way to navigate in the world.
Now we see once exclusively macho brands are now exploring their feminine side. Look at this General Motors magazine ad from the 1970s, emphasizing the truck’s inner strength and robustness. Nothing could be more macho.
Now take a look at a recent online ad. Instead of emphasizing its source of power, this ad does the opposite. It says we use less power. And we are friendly. The feminine curling leaves invite the viewer into an entirely different brand experience.
The cowboy has faded into the sunset. But don’t count him out. Culture ebbs and flows. Brands that focus on the underling archetypal themes, both dormant and expressed, rather than the popular flavors of the day, will enjoy the greatest long-term success.
