AXA Equitable's Compassionate Gorilla of Death

Lightning flashes and reveals a commercial aircraft voyaging through an unrelenting thunderstorm. The focus turns to the inside of the large plane where the notions of fear are personified by a tense looking businesswoman. A gentle yet cautionary voice begins advising the woman. The voice, which turns out to be coming from a large gorilla, empathetically warns the silent woman about the instabilities of today’s market. The gorilla links the predicament of the plane and the likely instability of the woman’s assets metaphorically. He then relieves the presented anxiety by suggesting AXA Equitable Insurance can help protect her assets so she can feel secure about retirement.

The advertisement uses several methods to grab the attention of unsuspecting bystanders. To start, ideas of femininity and masculinity are clearly at play. Secondly, the commercial is saturated with layered imagery of fear.

The woman’s helplessness is the first sign of gender use. She is not only vulnerable to the precarious fate of the plane, but she is also at risk of having an unsecure retirement fund. The feminine figure is shown as unable to act and not in control of the formidable omens hanging overhead. This is most clearly visible in the imagery of the airplane. The outcome of the flight is two steps removed from the woman. It is first filtered through the pilots, whom she must blindly trust, and to whom she has no communication with. And even more than the pilots, the fate of the plane is heavily influenced by the weather, a phenomena that no man can control. Her inability to act represents a passivity that directly points to femininity.

A woman in this situation represents the classic damsel in distress. Where as a man in the same situation would not exemplify this notion with the same level of effectiveness. While the circumstances presented suggest a genderless level of limited control, the power of imagery overpowers the practicality of the situation. This idea is embodied a number of ways throughout the ad, the solidifying agent of image over reality would be the large gorilla talking on the plane. The slightly less apparent, but equally important image that speaks for femininity would be the woman. 

There is even a third depiction of feminine vulnerability and that is between the relationship of the woman and the gorilla sharing the row of seats with her on the plane. The talking beast is not the trusting or handsome prince charming that so often rescues a distressed maiden while capturing her hearts in the process. The savior in this advertisement comes in the form of an 800-pound gorilla. This exotic creature is large, strong, and often seen as a very aggressive animal. The refined qualities of the gorilla are of a purely masculine nature, ironically a more pure image of masculinity that any male human could present. Its ability to speak gives it a uniquely human quality that offsets the distinctive animal nature of the beast.

While the gorilla embodies many quintessential ideas of masculinity, he also helps compliment the passive femininity of his seatmate. In fact, it is through the contrast of masculinity and femininity that these representations are so easily recognizable. The gorilla’s exuberant masculinity more than offsets any ideas of masculinity that may be presented in the image of a businesswoman. This contrast is so strong it leaves the otherwise quite masculine woman looking like a delicate princess.

Like the shaky plane and uncertain retirement, the gorilla is also analogous to the presentation of fear used in the advertisement. An unstable plane, an insecure retirement fund, and a gorilla are all very fearful topics. To experience all three at once would undoubtedly cause a level of fear capable of producing a state of paralysis. This idea is shown in the state of the woman. She is scared to the point of not having any voice. The businesswoman also shows signs of confusion, and rightly so based on the plethora of fear producing agents that make up her situation.

It is the implementation of fear that makes this commercial powerful. The ad likens the uncertainty of a retirement fund with images of tremendous fear, and even death, which is perhaps the most fearful image of all. With nowhere to turn, and clearly in need of comfort, the woman appears a she needs a helping. The voice of reason comes from an unsuspecting source: the gorilla. The gorilla, reprehensive of AXA Equitable, not only mitigates the fear of the woman, but also literally extends his hand as an act of comfort.

This final interaction metaphorically shows AXA Equitable as a source of security in a very frightening and unstable world. Powerful imagery of fear and gender are used to deliver this message. The company is portrayed as a personable and compassionate tool that one can use to reduce the fears of life. The ultimate effect makes the company appear as a necessity in today’s world.

View the advertisement on Adweek and see what they have to say about it.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/ad-of-the-day/article_display.jsp?creativeId=269976