The Age Of Hunkvertising

In all honesty, can men really be the subject of objectification? The general public views men as ‘handsome’ or ‘smart’, but let’s look deeper.

- Amit Sethiya

We have all viewed the stars of the screen with a little desire. IMDB rates men on their sex appeal, starting out with the impeccable Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Tom Cruise; the men portraying James Bond have always been the epitome of suave and sexy. In Bollywood, we’ve grown from the demure Rajesh Khanna and Vinod Khanna, to the Khans and Kapoors, and the recent chocolate boys. In advertising, models have always relied on the ‘handsome’ or hotness quotient – Milind Soman still reigns.

Where faces sold earlier, it is sculpted bodies that sell now. The new term is Distraction Ads, where the subject is so alluring that it could possibly pose a threat to safety. These ads all rely on the ‘wow’ factor that leads to stronger recall, and hopefully higher sales. The share-of-mindspace should be higher than the share-of-voice. Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai - the hope and direction of every advertiser.