Redefining Masculinity

Advertising plays a powerful role in shaping and reflecting cultural ideals of gender. In recent years, representations of masculinity have shifted from toughness and authority to depictions emphasizing care and emotional intelligence. While gender identity reflects individual self-perception, advertising often relies on stereotypes that reduce men to narrow roles. Global brands like Gillette have begun challenging these conventions, promoting more responsible and inclusive masculinities. In India, where advertising has long reflected patriarchal ideals, modernization and feminist discourse are gradually reshaping male representation. However, research on this shift, especially within the male grooming sector and across digital platforms, remains limited. Addressing this gap, this study employs Roland Barthes’s semiotic theory of denotation, connotation, and myth to analyze Gillette India’s “Get Your MACH On,” one of the country’s most-viewed grooming advertisements. The analysis reveals how visual metaphors, color symbolism, and celebrity endorsements reframe grooming from a utilitarian task into an empowering act of self-expression. Featuring cricket icons who are embedded in Indian popular culture, the campaign legitimizes modern masculinity as both emotionally aware and performance-driven. The study identifies a new myth of the groomed Indian man, blending traditional strength with contemporary sensitivity, and highlights how advertising functions not only as a mirror of cultural change, but also as an active site where gender identities are negotiated and redefined. This study advances visual communication and gender studies by demonstrating the role of semiotic analysis in revealing how design and media reshape masculinity, offering insights for advertisers, designers, and researchers, seeking more inclusive portrayals of male identity.