This excerpt from the chapter caught my attention for two reasons. First, it seems that students in this age group (freshmen in high school, 14 or 15 years old) have a lot to say about issues such as self-esteem and how that can be affected by perceptions of personal appearance, grooming, and what they and others consider beautiful. In my personal opinion, this is the perfect time to use such issues to engage students, because for many it's the first time in their lives that these things have held such value for them. Second, I found myself once again reassured that if students are interested in the topic being discussed, they will be more engaged and more likely to participate in class discussions and assignments.
This commercial for AXE hair products features Eric Decker, a wide receiver for the New York Jets. Other than being a football player in the NFL, Eric Decker is probably best known for his role in the reality show Eric & Jessie: Game On, which he starred in with his wife, country singer Jessie James Decker. To many, Eric Decker is seen as just another famous athlete with a pretty face and good hair, and this ad perpetuates that belief. Decker is portrayed as someone whose unfortunate childhood hairstyles held him back from his full potential to be the "cool guy" we see in this ad today. Now, thanks to AXE hair products, he is able to live a lifestyle complete with flashing lights, upbeat music, and fancy clothing. The purpose of this ad is to show you how you too can achieve cool hair like Decker's (and even get beautiful women to want to do your hair for you) simply by using AXE products. The target audience is men, probably aimed more specifically at young men aged 15-30. Decker's actions in the commercial, such as smiling, winking at the camera, and raking his hands through his hair, are used to make him appear even more attractive and cool. The way he speaks, however, makes him seem daft and unintelligent ("Hey, that was almost a haiku!" *wink*). His use of the phrase "I was hopeless" in reference to his younger self gives the impression that good hair, and more importantly, good looks in general, are of utmost importance in a man's life, and it wasn't until he discovered AXE hair products that he was able to find happiness and contentment in his life.
This photo of Eric Decker and the accompanying caption were included in a slideshow on NewYorkJets.com titled "10 Interesting Facts About Eric Decker". Given what we've seen and discussed so far, it might surprise you to discover that Decker is in fact quite intelligent. Incase the text is too small for you to see clearly, the caption under this photo reads, "Smarter than the Rest: No one could match Eric Decker's 43 on the Wonderlic test in 2010, designed to measure intelligence and problem-solving skills." According to Wikipedia.org, "The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test (formerly known as the Wonderlic Personnel Test) is a popular group intelligence test used to assess the aptitude of prospective employees for learning and problem-solving in a range of occupations. It consists of 50 multiple choice questions to be answered in 12 minutes. A score of 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence, corresponding to an IQ of 100." The highest one can score on the test is a 50. Given this information, a score of 43 is extremely impressive. There is an excerpt from Chapter 3 that reads, "Stereotype alert offers a warning when people, events, or characters are presented in ways that are so typical that they seem ordinary or even banal, as when we see politicians represented in ways that make them seem phony, or blondes and athletes that are depicted as dumb." The AXE commercial lends credibility to his stereotype. However, this slide proves that stereotypes hold no merit when it comes to what a person is truly capable of.
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