The Male Gaze of Tanduay Calendar Girls

Tanduay is a famous alcoholic brand in the Philippines and one of their marketing strategies is

introducing their “Tanduay Girls” who will be their current model for the brand. One significant thing

that a Tanduay Girl does is to be the cover girl of calendars given as a freebie for the consumers. This has

been a traditional move from Tanduay and is anticipated by the general public, which is a good

marketing technique for their brand. Ivana Alawi, a YouTuber turned actress, became the Tanduay Girl,

and with her photoshoots, it is evident how the male gaze on her is the main strategy to sell the brand.

Based on her photos above, the male gaze occurs through the following processes:

(1)   Seductive Parts of the Body as the Centerpiece. Since the target audience is the

top consumers of alcoholic drinks, who are adult males, the main attraction of the posters are

the “parts” of Ivana that make her “attractive” and “charismatic.” In the first photo is her

buttocks and in the second one is her cleavage and lower parts. This greatly caters to men’s

satisfaction and thus, a depiction of the male gaze.

(2)   Camera Positioning and Angle. The angle of the camera makes Ivana “lower” or

“below” in the perspective of the audience. In the first photo, she is almost lying down in the

tub and in the second one, she is kneeling. This falls under the male gaze because the

perspective of the target audience, who are males, makes them higher and in control over

Ivana.

(3)   The Sultry Look and Sexy Clothes. The look Ivana is giving to the camera is what to

be considered as sultry and sexy and adding with her provocative clothing, this makes the selling

point to “tempt” the audience into buying the product.

References:

Loreck, J. 2016). “Explainer: what does the ‘male gaze’ mean, and what about a female gaze?” The
Conversation. Accessed June 14, 2021. http://bit.ly/37TA9Ui.
Mulvey, L. (975. “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.” Accessed June 14, 2021.
https://www.asu.edu/courses/fms504/total-readings/mulvey-visualpleasure.pdf.