Looking at the Glo Ad with bell hooks’ Oppositional gaze Lens

 

As I continue learning about feminist theory, I’ve become really interested in the ideas of bell hooks, especially how she talks about race, gender, capitalism, and representation. For this essay, I decided to apply her ideas to the Glo Christmas ad called “Feliz Navidad Nigeria!” The ad is lively and full of African culture: dancing, music, fashion, and happiness. Hooks often wrote about how Black culture is often used in media in ways that make it appealing to consumers, but without fully respecting or representing the people behind it. I tried to use that lens to break down the ad—not just for what’s on screen, but for what might be missing underneath the surface.

   One thing that stood out to me immediately was how the ad celebrates Nigerian culture through color, dancing, and traditional clothing. It feels positive and proud. But then I remembered hooks’s warning about how companies sometimes use culture to sell products without actually empowering the people that culture belongs to. In the Glo ad, the culture becomes a setting/a backdrop for selling mobile data or network plans. According to bell hooks, this kind of surface-level representation can feel empowering, but it often hides deeper power imbalances. Even though the ad seems to honor Nigerian culture, it also reduces it to entertainment. The people in the ad don’t get to speak or share stories, they just perform.

The women in the ad are joyful and energetic. They dance with confidence and grace. At first, this seemed empowering to me. But hooks taught me to look deeper: Are these women shown as whole people, or just as performers? They don’t talk, and they’re not shown doing anything other than dancing. Their role is to be beautiful, stylish, and cheerful. hooks would call this a kind of false empowerment, where women are seen, but not fully heard or understood. They’re performing joy, but we don’t know why. It’s as if their happiness exists mainly to make the viewer feel good, not to show their real lives.

   Another thing bell hooks often talks about is how class and money affect representation. In this ad, everyone looks well-dressed, happy, and comfortable. The spaces are clean, modern, and upper-class. But in reality, many Nigerians face economic challenges, especially during the holidays. There are people who can’t afford data or airtime, and who may not feel this kind of joy during Christmas. By only showing a middle- or upper-class version of Nigeria, the ad avoids showing those struggles. hooks would say this is a way that capitalism erases inequality to sell a dream. The idea of “Unlimited Joy” sounds nice, but it’s really targeted at those who can afford the product but Hooks reminds us that identity isn’t just one thing. People are shaped by many overlapping factors: gender, race, age, ability, region, and so on. But in the ad, Nigerian culture is presented as a single image: happy, fashionable, urban women dancing in sync. It feels like a simplified version of a much more complicated story.

    After studying hooks, I now see how the Glo ad turns tradition into a product. The music and clothes might be authentic, but they’re used in a way that feels commercial, not personal. There’s no reflection, no dialogue, just a bright celebration that helps the company build a fun, exciting brand. Hooks would say that when culture is used this way, it becomes a commodity. It’s not about honoring real people or stories, it’s about selling something. And that’s a problem, because it means the culture is being used, not supported.

    Watching “Feliz Navidad Nigeria!” through bell hooks’s perspective made me realize how complex media representation really is. Even something as colorful and joyful as a Christmas ad can carry deeper issues about identity, capitalism, and power. hooks taught me that real empowerment means more than just showing happy faces, it means giving people voice, complexity, and truth.