The New Reeboks commercial for the Easytone shoe, which supposedly “helps you get better legs and a better butt with every single step” has a very strong male gaze.  The commercial revolves around a woman pacing around a room in short-shorts and describing the changes with which these shoes provide the wearer.  However the camera constantly zooms in on the woman’s butt region while she is speaking.  Hence the commercial does not shy away from what it is really promoting.  The camera physical forces the viewers gaze onto the woman’s buttocks region, inhibiting the viewer to look anywhere else.  While the short-shorts are enough to draw the attention to that region of the woman’s body, the actual manipulation of the frame through which the viewer is looking disregards everything else going on in the commercial and places all focus on the females butt.

When I went to the Reeboks website there was another commercial that is a dialog between a woman’s breasts.  The camera is zoomed-in to a woman’s chest region and implies that the dialog is coming from her breasts.  It discusses how the woman’s breasts are now jealous because her butt is getting all the attention from spectators due to her use of the Easytone shoes.  This insinuates that theses are the two regions that get the most attention on the female body and that the female physical appearance is all that matters.

Finally the main page image that goes along with the shoes is a naked female figure that is only covered in her lower region with a pair of Easytone sneakers.  The body is very thin but there is a major emphasis on its curves near the buttocks.

Is it just me or is Reeboks trying to change its “image” and clientele?  It is apparent that the company is attempting to appeal to a younger age group by promoting sex appeal.  The entire website and commercial revolved around a certain body type that is deemed sexually appealing by the woman’s male counterpart.  The camera in the commercial is clearly held and controlled by a man who manipulates the screen to just focus on the woman’s buttocks.  The woman’s breasts are “jealous” because the woman’s buttock’s region is getting more attention from men.   Thus Reeboks Easytone shoe inevitably was created for the male enjoyment.

It is also interesting to note that when I went to get a photo of the Reeboks image (the larger image attached at the top of this post), I also found another version of the image with the woman wearing underwear (the smaller image at the top).  

http://www.reebok.com/microsites/easytone_reebok/