Werk/Gegenstand/Objekt
Titel
Titel/Objekt
Lux Toilet Soap: The Beauty Soap of the Film Stars
Klassifikation (GND)
Klassifikation (normiert)
Gattung:
advertisements, pages
Inschrift/Wasserzeichen
Inschrift/Wappen/Marken
Transkription
The Times of India Annual, 1937
Transkription
LUX
TOILET SOAP
Transkription
The Beauty Soap of the
FILM STARS
Aufbewahrung/Standort
Aufbewahrungsort/Standort (normiert)
Delhi / The Priya Paul Collection of Popular Art
Objektbeschreibung
Objektbeschreibung
A blonde woman wearing red lipstick, poses with a soap bar in front of her chest. One sleeve of her blouse has slipped off one of her shoulders. The ad presents Lux as "The Beauty Soap of the Film Stars". She stands against a black and grey background. (gs/sp)
Colour information: Colour
Erhaltungszustand
good
Kommentar
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
Early Lux adverts in India featured painted portraits of Hollywood stars. Some of these were printed in English newspapers and magazines. Of course the westernized and elite movie-going Indian audience reading these newspapers would have been able to identify known faces. This image for instance featured in the Times of India Annual of 1937. While her face may appear vaguely familiar, it does not seem to belong to any recognizable star. Perhaps some of the women depicted were just generic images of "glamorous women," the presumed visual iconography of stars. (Sabeena Gadihoke)(gs)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
It is hard to imagine that an Indian Women could be depicted on an advertisement in such a seductive way back then, not even if the woman could have been identified as a movie star. (gs)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
One of the longest running campaigns the world over, Lux, an international venture of Levers Brothers, featured Hollywood stars in most parts of the world. This is not surprising since Hollywood was the only global film industry at the time. Lux entered India in 1929 and while its early advertisements would feature Hollywood actresses, they would eventually be replaced almost completely by local stars. (Sabeena Gadihoke)(gs)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
Marked by its use of the portraiture of known faces, Lux can be seen as one of the earliest forms of celebrity endorsements. As an extra cinematic site that showcased female stardom for its consumers, the repetitive advertisement could also be situated within practices of cinephilia. (Sabeena Gadihoke)(gs)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
This image is part of the "TheTimes of India Annual", released in 1937. (gs)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
Many Indian actresses, too, were featured in later Indian advertisements for Lux Soap. From Madhuri Dixit and Hema Malini to Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. It seems as if Lux had and still has a big share of the Indian soap market. A nice overview of Lux vintage ads featuring Indian actresses can be found under http://8ate.blogspot.com/2009/09/vintage-lux-ads-beauty-soap-of-film.html .(la)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
An interesting citation from the website of Unilever UK sheds light on their advertising rhetoric and why they have chosen this particular brand name: “Since the 1930s, over 400 of the world’s most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Demi Moore and, more recently, our own Catherine Zeta-Jones, have all been part of the Lux glamour story. (…) The name Lux means ‘light’ in Latin, however the name was chosen for its play on the word ‘luxury’”. Retrieved from http://www.unilever.co.uk/brands/personalcarebrands/lux.aspx, last accessed 2011-08-21 (la)
##explanatory comments/crosstagging:
Blonde hair is a distinctive visual marker on advertising images for being Western and therefore an exclusive marker for whiteness. (la)
##related hyperlinks:
http://8ate.blogspot.com/2009/09/vintage-lux-ads-beauty-soap-of-film.html. last accessed 2011-08-21 (la)
Maß-/Formatangaben
Format/Maße/Umfang/Dauer
H 30 cm, W 20 cm, portrait
Auflage/Druckzustand
Werktitel/Werkverzeichnis
Herstellung/Entstehung
Entstehungsdatum (normiert)
1937 - 1937
Epoche/Periode/Phase
1930s
Material/Technik
paper (fiber product), prints (visual works)
Auftrag
Publikation
Fund/Ausgrabung
Provenienz
Restaurierung
Sammlung Eingang
Ausstellung
Bearbeitung/Umgestaltung
Thema/Bildinhalt
Thema/Bildinhalt (GND)
Thema/Bildinhalt (normiert)
blonde hair
Times of India
Lux toilet soap (product)
soap advertisings
recheck-Medialab
soap (organic material)
advertisements
Abu-Er-Rub, Laila
white people
recheck
red lipstick
Times of India Yearbook
Literaturangabe
Literaturangabe
Dyer, Richard and Christine Gledhill 2009. "Wanted: Cultured ladies Only! Female Stardom and Cinema in India 1930s-1950s". Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. (gs)
Gadihoke, Sabika 2010. "Selling Soap and Stardom: The Story of Lux" http://www.tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/essay/104/index.html (09.12.2010)(gs)
McClintock, Anne 2001. “Soft Soaping Empire: Commodity Racism and Imperial Advertising” in Double Crossings: Madness, Sexuality and Imperialism. Vancouver, Canada: Ronsdale. (gs)
Sivulka, Julianne 1998. "Soap, Sex and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of Advertising". Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co. (gs)
Loyo, Hilaria 2007. "Blinding Blondes: Whiteness, Femininity, and Stardom." In W.Everett (Ed.): Questions of Colour in Cinema, Frankfurt/M etc.: Peter Lang: 179-196. (la)
Rechte am Objekt
Externe Bezüge
Aufnahmen/Reproduktionen
Rechtsstatus
In Copyright (InC) / Urheberrechtsschutz
Creditline
The Priya Paul Collection. Reproduced with kind permission of the collector.
Copyrighted. Copyright with the original artists and publishers.
