COP Practical: Reviewing Adidas

In order to develop an understanding of the representation of women with Adidas's football branding and online content I've explored their football specific ads (see figure 1) which are nearly all focused on male footballers with little representation of women. Furthermore the football section (see figures 2-6) of the website is mainly targeted at men as all of the boots featured are named after/influenced by male footballers with a heavy masculine (see figures 2-6) presence throughout this section. Despite selling clothing and football boots for women there is still a heavily male dominated presence within the website as imagery relating to women only appears when you specifically click on the women's section and even then the only imagery is of the models showcasing the clothing, it fails to showcase women in football the same way they showcase male footballers (see figures 2-5)  such as Lionel Messi.

Masculinity in Marketing/Advertising:

The majority of Adidas adverts I discovered had an overtly masculine aesthetic due to the use of colour, layout and male professionals. The common use of dark colours and shadows to portray power and control speaks to the strength of the athletes used within the adverts. This showcasing of strength and dominance are characteristics commonly associated with masculinity which are heightened by the facial expressions and poses of the athletes which commonly showcase the power, strength and skill of the athletes. Therefor allowing Adidas to portray the image of the perfect footballer, giving consumers the impression that if they shop with Adidas they could be as skilled and as powerful as the professional footballers they admire. Furthermore the use of top professionals make the brand more trustworthy as the consumer trusts the endorsement made by professionals they admire. Furthermore the use of red with the Adidas website further speaks to the masculine aesthetic as red is closing associated with energy, strength and power all characteristics displayed within the imagery, all of which features male professionals. 

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