The squeaky clean image of soap in advertising

L'image en propre du savon dans la publicité

Jean-Jacques Boutaud (1)

1 CIMEOS - Communications, Médiations, Organisations, Savoirs

Go and wash your hands; give them a good scrub and a good rinse… " We can all remember that little chorus of parental discourse before dinner or any other time one has to look immaculate. Our first symbolic relationship with soap is perhaps something of this nature: hands first, followed by the sink and the simple act of washing. But this relationship with soap and its derivatives, which has now become every day, both functional and intimate, involves all manner of shapes, colours, materials and affective nuances affecting our choice of the right soap for us. Our criteria: its composition, its fragrance or scent and mouth-watering notes, its presentation, its shelf-life? Its designation, too, comes into play. Our familiar soap is seen requalified as or converted into a gel, a cream, a butter, in various liquid or solid versions. Profoundly ordinary and familiar in everyday life, soap is nonetheless capable of drawing attention and creating experiences. This labile, proteiform object is able to fulfil apparently diverse desires: hygiene, skincare, pleasure, seduction, well-being and self-esteem. Concepts dreamt up through and for advertising discourse, whose imaginativeness has never ceased to reinvent soap's image. Let us consider Ponge's " dossier, " as he liked to call it, on soap, that sincere yet elusive object, an " objoie (ob-joy) " (Le Savon, 1967).

Mots clés: représentations; discours; publicité; image; savon; signes

Domaines: Sciences de l'information et de la communication

Jean-Jacques Boutaud. L'image en propre du savon dans la publicité. 2014, pp.94-104. ⟨halshs-01139525⟩