Aged bodies: a case study from the advertising discourse

Abstract

The present study aims to problematize the corporality in the aging process. To do this, in the first place, current conceptions about the body and its relationship with frailty in old age are treated. Secondly, the virtues of advertising as a symbolic production capable of recreating meanings around the aging body are highlighted. Then, following the guidelines of case study and content analysis, aspects which connote the aged body are analyzed through two campaigns that oppose anti-age versus pro-age. In the case of advertising campaigns studied, which appeal to women as the recipient, the meanings about old age are divided into two perspectives. The first one proposes a struggle not to age and the second, accepts this process relativizing the age as indicator. However, the female body which is shown continues hiding the distinctive signs of physical aging (wrinkles and gray hair), confirming that old woman is not a desirable image or appropriate to the needs of sales that require the majority of products of beauty, body care and cosmetics. Although aging is now a topic that cannot be ignored due to the advance in life expectancy, representations that advertising discourse offers are still far from characterizing aging as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon.