Jessica

Reyer
Van Heusen has become a well-established clothing company since it began
with a man lugging around a wooden cart with mens shirts on it. They have
changed from only selling mens clothing to selling womens clothing as well, but
their methods of advertising have not really changed. In two of Van Heusens ads,
one from 1957 and another from 2007, there is a large emphasis on gender roles.
These ads empower people through wearing Van Heusen clothing and to take
charge. Although these two ads may target different roles of genders, both ads use
imagery, word choice, and other rhetorical devices in order to drive across their
messages. Even though they are quite different in nature, the civic in these two Van
Heusen posters explicates the idea of gender equality and the shifting focus over
time.
The imagery of both of these Van Heusen ads inspires emotions of confidence
and responsibility. The man is lounging in bed in his dress shirt and tie, looking off
into the distance. It seems as if he does not have a care in the world except for how
lucky he is. This image of him gives off the idea of professionalism and pride for
being the big man of the house so to speak. His Van Heusen tie gives him the
confidence to exert his power over his wife. His look of pride evokes the want to be
in the same position as him with the power of being in charge of his house. Van
Heusen uses the image of the wife on her knees to show the inferiority of women
and how they should serve their husbands. The images on this ad directly call to the
civic of people in that time period to follow the norms of society where the men
were in charge, and the women were there to take care of them and the house. Even

the differences in the clothing worn by both the husband and wife show their
different statuses and civic duties. The apparent focus on gender roles through
these images distinctly identifies what the ad is asking of the civic. It appeals to the
pride within men; and through this appeal to pathos, convinces men to be the one
who is in charge and supports his family.
Along with the old ad, the imagery of this new ad plays on equally extreme
roles of women in todays society. In this ad, only one woman is pictured in the
middle dressed in jeans and a blazer. Rather than focusing on the way the woman
helped the man to look superior, this ad focuses on the strength of one woman. The
clothes she wears in this ad play also give her the power to take charge similarly to
the ad from 1957. Her disinterested look exemplifies the idea that women do not
need to turn to anyone else for approval now. This calls upon women to step out by
them selves and take a stand on their own. The look and attitude of the woman
pictured inspire confidence and a similar idea of power to that in the old Van
Heusen ad. The simplicity of this ad helps to create a strong focus on the targeted
audience, while having both a man and woman in the old ad calls to both men and
women to do their civic duty. Clearly these two ads are from different time periods
though the type of images used, but they both have a large impact on calling upon
the civic.

In addition to imagery, these two ads use language in order to target specific

genders to take charge. The main slogan of the old Van Heusen ad is Show her its a
mans world. This is quite a statement to make; however, it is powerful. It directly
asks men to take charge and show women how strong they are. Men are called upon

to be the leaders of the world while women should stand by and let men run the
world. In addition to this slogan boldly printed on this ad, the descriptions of the
ties includes For men only and man-talking, power-packed patterns. This
further established the ethos of Van Heusen as a manly company that can relate to
all the strong and powerful men. It plays on boosting mens egos and their
masculinity in order to get them to do their civic duty through wearing Van Heusen
ties. It is explicitly talking to men and placing an extremely large importance on
gender. Everything about the ad appeals to pathos in the sense of pride and
responsibility of men to do their duty and be superior.
The new Van Heusen ad has similar language to that of the old ad; however, it
is calling for women to take charge. On the top there is a small paragraph about
everything a look can do. It says how much it can affect the person who has the look
while also affecting everyone around him or her. Also at the end, it says, Lead,
Lady. This simple two-word phrase is powerful in calling upon the civic to do its
duty. Similar to the older advertisement, this slogan calls upon people to take
charge, however in this case it is calling for women. The comma within this phrase
also has importance in the message behind it. If they had used Lead Lady instead,
this could have had so many different meanings. With the comma, Van Heusen is
demanding that women step up and take charge. It is not asking women to do their
civic duty but rather stating that they must take what is theirs and do what they
were made to do. This demand is very similar to that of the older ad in the sense
that it is calling upon the people to take charge with a very strong focus on gender.

The clever use of language on these ads is clearly important in the goal of calling
upon the civic to do their societal roles.
The newer Van Heusen ad also makes use of anaphora in the top paragraph
to further empower women. By repeating, A look can, the audience is able to
grasp the urgency of understanding how looks empower but also how women need
to start taking charge now. Because of the importance of gender equality in todays
society, Van Heusen is saying how women must stand up for themselves and take
charge sooner rather than later. Although the old ad doesnt use a similar rhetorical
device to show the urgency of its own message, the repetition of ideas does show
Van Heusens emphasis of a man being in charge. They both emphasize the
importance for each gender to take charge and do their own duty.
With the changing times and ideologies of these two ads, there is still an
extreme focus on gender in both. Through analyzing both ads, it is clear that society
has changed so much because of the values expressed in two ads by the same
company from 50 years apart. The idea that men were always in charge and
superior has switched to the idea that women are just as strong and able as men. It
has gone from the idea of empowering men to empowering women to be their own
person and take hold of their own lives. However, it has gone from extreme support
for men to extreme support for women. The imagery and the language of these ads
are indicators as to how much change has occurred with the ideologies. Society has
come a long way since the 1950s with the ideologies of gender equality; however, it
should eventually get to a point where companies should not have to try to
empower women. They should look to everyone with equal power and

responsibility in the world. This ideal society of equality many not happen for a
long time; but when it does, it would be amazing to see if Van Heusen would have
another ad that would have a entirely new appeal to the civic.

Works Cited
Lead, Lady. Digital image. La Princessa World. N.p., June 2007. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
<http://laprincessaworld.blogspot.com/2013/12/van-heusen-lead-
lady.html>.
Show Her It's A Man's World. Digital image. BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed Inc., 18 Oct. 2010.
Web. 2 Oct. 2015. <http://www.buzzfeed.com/mathieus/13-vintage-ads-
that-would-be-banned-today-8q4>.