Gold’s critique and prism

  MORE than sparkle: A bell hooks Reflection on Glo’s “ Feliz Navidad” Ad.   When I first saw the Feliz Navidad Glo ad , I smiled. Its colorful, vibrant, and full of that joy holiday energy. It is the kind of advert you would expect this time of year- smiling faces, music, dancing and a message about staying connected during the festive season. On the surface, it feels warm and harmless. But when we take a closer look- really slow down and see it through the eyes of someone like bell hooks, the late feminist thinker and cultural critic -it becomes something deeper. It becomes a window into what we celebrate, who see, and who we often forget. Bell hooks always asked us to question what we take for granted in the media. Her work wasn’t about attacking joy or celebration. It was about making sure everyone gets to be part of the story-and that we stop measuring worth by how closely someone fits a narrow standard for beauty in ads still leans toward lighter skin, straight hair, s...

  Imagine this Glo holiday commercial rolling during your favorite festive playlist. There is a cozy living room, modern décor, maybe a fireplace cracking softly. A woman- lets call her Ana – unpacks a Glo device under the twinkling lights. She is smiling, dressed up but relaxed, exuding a kind of polished ease. There is maybe an upbeat Latin jingle in the background. The vibe is cheerful, warm, aspirational – like a holiday you wish you were at. It’s the kind of ad designed to make you feel like Glo is more than a product. It’s a piece of holiday magic, something that helps you live that moment; stylish, fun, and sharable. Pretty benign, right? But here is where Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze – from her 1975 essay Visual pleasure and narrative cinema – comes in. she would say this is not just “selling” Glo. Its showing you a version of femininity, packed for someone else’s pleasure. Mulvey would first ask; who ask the power to look in this ad , and who is the object of the...

This critique deliberately adopts an oppositional position, as defined in Stuart Hall’s encoding \decoding model. Rather than passively accepting the message Gucci encodes in its promotional video , I choose to actively reject it , deconstructing the corporate narrative it presents. While aims to communicate progress, inclusion, and corporate redemption through its collaboration with Dapper Dan, this reading exposes the video as a calculated attempted to whitewash exploitation through symbolic gestures. As an oppositional reader, I see through the brand’s glossy portrayal and uncover the deeper structures of capitalist appropriation, racial commodification, and hegemonic manipulation that lie beneath. The video is encoded with a dominant reading; Gucci is righting past wrongs by uplifting a previously excluded black designer , suggesting that fashion is evolving. The intention is to frame this partnership as a sign of social progress and brand accountability. But from my oppositional p...

Dapper Dan, born in 1944 in Harlem, entered the fashion industry in 1982 when he opened his boutique. He became famous in the 80s for using luxurious brand logos like Gucci and Louis Vuitton in bold custom street wears designs, especially for rappers and athletes. His boutique as then shut down in 1992 due to copyright issues, but he made a major comeback in 2017 after Gucci was criticized for coping his style. Then in 2018, he officially partnered with Gucci and opened a new boutique in Harlem. Dapper Dan is now seen as a pioneer of hip hop fashion and streetwear.  The Gucci and Dapper Dan collaboration video, filmed in Harlem, presents a powerful story of recognition, transformation and cultural celebration. However, when viewed through a Marxist lens, the video reveals deeper tensions rooted in class struggle, commodification, and the way capitalism absorbs resistance for profit. What appears to be a triumphant return of a Black designer to the fashion world is also a reflection...