The Now Infamous Head and Shoulders Shampoo Bottle (Edited)

*Edited with picture of old bottle and my comments on the new one*

Here is the new shampoo bottle:

 

Here is the old shampoo bottle:

 

Here are the points that drove me mad about the new one that are not present in the old:

She is young; she does not reflect any other age group. This is an issue on two levels. I am pretty sure young people do not get dandruff and use Head and Shoulders to treat it to a larger degree than older people; so, why should she be representing the Head and Shoulders user? To this people might say, “An image of a young person is more appealing to consumers.” While there are certain things that, independent of outside influences, people find naturally appealing, most of what we find appealing, however, has been learned. We have learned to find youth appealing; our culture values the qualities of youth over age. We desire them; we wish to have them back. As such older people are rarely used in advertising to a ‘general’ audience. They are primarily used for advertising to their own or an older age group; whereas, young people are used to advertise any product that is not specifically intended for a certain age group. Head and Shoulders is one of those general consumer products. As people age, they see themselves represented less and less. The continued use of young people for advertising to a general audience continues to reinforce the desire for youth.

These same issues apply to her being thin. Does she really need to be thin? Do we not have enough images out in the world of and products being sold by thin people? Is dandruff a “thin person” problem? I can only assume that she is thin because thin is the most “appealing.” The female body considered to be most appealing has changed a lot over history and continues to change. The preference for thin is learned. It is learned by seeing images of thin people in a positive and appealing light – we will get to the appeal of this woman shortly.

She is white. Why white? Do we not have enough images out in the world of and products being sold by white people? I know that dandruff is not only a “white person problem.” Couldn’t she be a young, thin person of color? The artist could very easily have drawn a young, thin person of color; but no, they went with white.

The use of a young, thin, white woman is problematic because exposure leads to empathy. The more you see, connect to, and relate to a particular group, the more empathetic you are to that group. Young, thin, white women do not need any more empathy, we are good! You know who could use more empathy? Old women, fat women, women of color, fat women of color, old fat women of color! When was the last time you saw a positive image of an old fat woman of color, a fat woman of color shown as beautiful? Yeah, they exist. Dove. Dove is that last time I have seen a larger woman of color being shown as beautiful and in a positive light but even then she was not fat nor was she old, more middle aged. If we are not exposed to images of people outside of the young, thin, white woman category it is difficult for us to develop empathy for them.

Now you might say, “But if we used an image of a person with all or some of the alternatives you suggested couldn’t it be criticized for portraying something negative with images of media marginalized people?” YES! But, I retort, dandruff is apparently sexy (I will discuss this shortly). The point of all this is to keep us critiquing, to keep us thinking and growing. To be made aware of the issues and our blind complacency. You might say “But that is a lot of effort.” Yes, yes it is, as it should be! The image, however, is not of your own direct creation; it is the creation of advertisers. I want to point out that advertisers put in a lot of time and effort to create their images, at least they should. This is an example of a lazy advertiser who is relying on tropes not creativity at the expense of people who are not represented in this image.

Finally, she is a she. I have news for you, men have dandruff too. Now, you can say, “What man would want to smell like green apple?” That question suggests that green apple is not how men should smell. Why not? I was unaware that green apple was gendered. The gendering of things is learned. Pink used to be a male color. High heeled shoes and leggings were originally male fashion. Furthermore, what if a man did want to smell like green apple? Is there something wrong with that? Also, what if there is a little boy, or a teenage boy who likes the smell of green apple, or whose parent bought him green apple fragrance shampoo, and who now feels ‘wrong’ for liking it, or using it because the person on the bottle does not represent him. And in our society, a man is shunned if he willingly or unwilling associates himself with anything ‘feminine.’ The use of a woman reinforces the notion that green apple is a feminine fragrance not to be used by men.

She is attractive. She is attractive by the standards that we have established. Why does she have to be attractive? Because she needs to sell the shampoo? To make the person who is buying the shampoo feel better? Ok, maybe an unattractive person would not be the right choice for advertising. We do need to recognize, however, that by putting an attractive young, thin, white woman on the bottle perpetuate the culturally agreed upon idea of what attractive is and is not. This is damaging.

Let us now discuss what makes her attractive, aside from her age, ethnicity, and symmetry. She has voluptuous hair. She looks like she is standing in front of a wind tunnel. I know of only one person who looks like this without a wind tunnel and she spends a LOT of time and professional help on her hair. And Head and Shoulders cannot be credited for her amazing locks. I can also attest that your hair will not look like this by using this product without the help of genetics or other products, tools, and primping. My hair is a flat as can be. You might say, “But it is a shampoo, so it is entirely appropriate for her to have fabulous hair.” To that I respond, “yes, yes it is.” But I would like to note that this product is not a volumizer… Also, why did it need to be long? Couldn’t it have been short? Consider how the limp short haired woman with dandruff might feel looking at this woman, less than? I think so. But that is the point of advertising right? I digress... That is not what this post is about. This post is about how the woman on my shampoo bottle represents a very slim section of the Head and Shoulders consumer population. Odd considering it is a general consumer product…

She is attractive because of her seductive look. Her head is titled slightly down, she counters it by looking up, she partially obscures her face with the green apple. These are all social cues of seduction. This woman has done the impossible, she has made dandruff sexy!! Let me tell you people, dandruff is not sexy, unless you have a dandruff fetish (no judgment). Ok, yes, the advertising motto is “Sex sells.” Ok, fair enough. I am not going to argue that point. What I am going to point out is that this is reinforcing the notion that young, thin, white women are sexy. Has there been a lack of representation of young thin, white women as sexy? No, there has not been. You know what has been lacking? A sexy old, fat, woman of color. Yes! They do exist! I can understand your incredulity as you may not have seen one. That is the point!! The use of a sexy young, thin, white woman on this bottle is continuing the association of sexy with this type of person.

Hopefully you can now understand why this is problematic for the people (and all of us, let’s be honest) who do not find themselves represented in this image. Now let’s understand why it is also problematic for those who are able to relate to the image on one of the attributes of this image, women; because that is who this product is for, right? Apparently men should not smell like green apple. The way in which this woman is represented perpetuates women as commodities. We are not buying the product; we are buying HER, which is what the advertisers want. I repeat. We. Are. Buying. Her. Women are constantly seen as being commodities in our society and this is reinforced over and over and over again, and in the most absurd places, like a dandruff shampoo bottle! You may say “But men are also shown as being commodities.” Yes, men are also used in advertising, and people buy them, not the product. However, they are not use as such at the same frequency as women. Additionally, the commodification of men in advertising does not supplement a commodification of them outside of advertising. In every aspect of our lives, women are made to feel like a commodity. This results in many treating us like a commodity and many of us believing that that is what we are, that is our worth and role. This bottle is participating in that damaging cycle.

There is one more point to which I want to draw your attention, the biblical references. This woman is positioned as a modern day Eve. She seductively holds the apple up, enticing us, just as Eve has been represented in Western Art since the Renaissance. She is a femme fatale. She will draw you in with her appeal, she will make you buy this product, she presents a false promise of long voluptuous hair free of dandruff that smells like a fall fruit. You will be duped (though to be fair, the product does do an excellent job at controlling my dandruff situation, though it doesn’t rid me of it completely, and the apple fragrance is quite refreshing but alas it does not last). Women are sirens. It was woman who enticed Adam, it was woman who caused the fall of man, it is women who continue to do so. She deserves to be commodified, consumed, to be treated like an object of lust. She is “asking for it.” At least this is the message perpetuated by this bottle. This is a dangerous message. It is messages like this that encourage the leering, the catcalls, the uncomfortable and threatening comments, the invasion of personal space, the unsolicited touching, the physical assaults, the rape, the murder. This also connects to the commodification of women’s bodies.

Now you might say, “Woah, aren’t you reading too much into this? Aren’t you placing too much power on this single bottle?” No. No I am not. If this was just one bottle then it would not be a problem. But this bottle is just one of billions. The image on these billions of bottles is not singular; it is part of the larger body of images out in our world. Time and time again, youth, thinness, whiteness are seen as not just the norm but the goal, the ideal. That means those outside of these categories need to strive to become that which they are not, by buying the products these women sell. These images do not provide the exposure of people who are not young, thin, white women which is needed for the creation of empathy. These images further the notion that young, thin, white women (but really all women) are commodities, sex objects, evil temptresses, images that are everywhere! It is also perpetuating harmful gender stereotypes that impact people along the entirety of the gender spectrum. It is not just about this bottle, it is that this bottle is just one of an enumerable amount that contribute to and reinforce the poisonous and divisiveness that permeates our culture, that dehumanizes, and prevents empathy.

At this point you might be thinking, “Head and Shoulders is damned if they do, damned if they don’t.” No, no they are not. There is an alternative. They did not have to put an image of a person on the bottle in the first place. The image does not provide us with any necessary information about the product. She could just as easily be selling an apple, or a BMW for that matter. Well it’s in a bottle, so obviously not those two… But that is exactly my point, the bottle itself is enough; its location in the store is enough. And for the literate, the words are enough. “What would you suggest instead?” I suggest they go back to the old bottle design. What was wrong with that? NOTHING! It in no way contributed to systemic and cultural biases, stereotyping, whitewashing, gender conforming, or erasure.

In summary, I loathe this bottle so much.