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Communication research and gender advertising
Essays on the portrayal of genders in advertising
Essays on the portrayal of genders in advertising
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The Garnier Fructis advertisement, found in “Seventeen” magazine, promotes their new line of “Grow Strong” shampoo, conditioner, and treatments. The Ad features a young, attractive couple that seem to be happy. The first aspect of the ad that is noticed is the man, as he is the center of the page. The first thoughts that come to mind are that he is happy, attractive, and his girlfriend is caressing his head with her fingers through his hair. Next, you notice the woman who is beside him, the one caressing the man’s head. It is quite noticeable that her hair is long, shiny, and wavy. Also, the people in the ad are wearing fancy attire as if they are going to a formal event, which shows they are well-liked in society and are powerful. The product …show more content…
The man has a devilish smirk that shows he is content with his partner’s long hair. Additionally, the ad wants the audience to believe the product will attract men and help women get into a loving relationship. The ad glorifies the idea of women having long, wavy hair and shows that men prefer women with long hair. Garnier advertises that the product will give consumers “stronger hair” which creates a “stronger you”. The key words on the advertisement promise consumers speedy hair growth that will make their current hair strong. Specifically, the ad convinces the viewers to purchase the product by promoting the product’s ingredients that will help “reinforce” strong hair growth “from root to tip”. Garnier want the audience to believe that strong, long hair will make consumers stronger, happier …show more content…
Curry and Clarke’s article believe in a strategy called “visual literacy” which develops women and men’s roles in advertisements (1983: 365). Advertisements are considered a part of mass media and communications, which influence an audience and impact society as a whole. Audiences quickly begin to rely on messages sent through advertisements and can create ideologies of women and men. These messages not only are extremely persuasive, but they additionally are effective in product consumption in the media (Curry and Clarke 1983:
Though Old Spice targets and appeals to females, they do sell men’s hygiene products, thus, also attracting males and running an ad campaign that males can enjoy. The constant lack of shirts is just enough sexual appeal to catch the audiences’ attention, without driving them away. The caricature of the perfect man, easily enacting a variety of roles, is entertaining for females and males. Additionally, the commercial uses quick transitions and repetition to keep the audiences’ attention and to reinforce the association of Old Spice with the ideal man. Old Spice sells their image as representing the perfect man, and hey if you can’t be him, well you can at least smell like him.
The statement underneath Jepsen is defining the product and how beneficial it is. When describing the GUD product, the name itself draws attention to a reader. The pop of red helps to catch the audience’s attention and it also labels the product. Hence the name Red Ruby Groovy nourishing shampoo and conditioner. The ad defines the Red Ruby Groovy product as being a “natural” product. Using the word natural can intrigue a reader to stop and look at the ad. The word natural can also make a reader believe the product is healthy. The ad also describe a few ingredients that are used in this product underneath Jepsen. It states that the shampoo and conditioner are scented with grapefruit and thyme. These two ingredients are both refreshing and fragrant. Not only do these ingredients leave a person’s hair smelling great, it is “designed to leave your hair soft nourished, and ready to sign a record
Men and women both drive cars, it’s a simple necessity to be able go to work for most people, however, from the commercials on television, one would assume that men are the primary purchasers of cars. In Steve Craig’s essay, Men’s Men and Women’s Women, he analyzes four commercials to illustrate how advertisers strategically targets the viewers. Craig argues that advertisers will grasp the attention of the viewer by the gender ideals that both men and women have of each other. Not only do advertisers pick a target audience demographic, but they also will target the audience at specific time to air their commercials. By analyzing an Audi and Bud Light commercial, one can see that Craig arguments are true to an extent but it appears that commercials have gone from an idealized world to a more realistic and relatable stance. for are still [true, however it seems that commercials may have altered to appear more realistic.] [relevant to an extent. This is to say, it appears that advertisers may have altered their commercial tactics. ]
The next part of the ad, and as equally important as the first, is on the second page. Large, in bold, is the word ‘naturally’. Beneath it are the words “If citrus sheen fell on shimmering braids and soothing mist caressed short twists. How lovely would that be?” It has the feel of a poem, and the different shades of brown add to the artistic feel of the page. The artistic feel is important, because it adds the idea of a woman with natural hair as being both bohemian and sophisticated.
Advertising, whether criticized or celebrated, is undeniably a strong force in American society. Portrayals and Images of women have long been used to sell in published advertisements. However, how they have been used has changed enormously throughout the decades. Women have fought to find a lasting and prominent position in their society. Only in the span of twenty years, between 1900’s and 1920’s, the roles of women changed dramatically here in United States.
Beginning a long time ago, many companies started using sex in their advertisements; however, contemporary advertisements are beginning to use different aspects of nature to sell their products. For years, sex appeal was perhaps the most important attribute of a product. Companies would show young, half-naked bodies in their TV commercials and magazine advertisements. The producers sought to force the public audience to take pleasure by looking at these beautiful ladies, while also making viewers feel naughty at the same time. Advertisers thought the audience would not be able to avoid looking at these well-endowed women. And to consumers, the women were appealing, and that made the product itself appealing. In some recent commercials, however, the concentration has changed from sinful desires to the more healthy approach to life. Everyone wants to appear healthy and in good shape. To achieve this, many people are eating better, working out more often and using healthier products on their skin. To demonstrate the idea about natural products, I have chosen three advertisements to show how these companies use nature to sell their products .
The documentary Killing Us Softly 4 discusses and examines the role of women in advertisements and the effects of the ads throughout history. The film begins by inspecting a variety of old ads. The speaker, Jean Kilbourne, then discusses and dissects each ad describing the messages of the advertisements and the subliminal meanings they evoke. The commercials from the past and now differ in some respects but they still suggest the same messages. These messages include but are not limited to the following: women are sexual objects, physical appearance is everything, and women are naturally inferior then men. Kilbourne discusses that because individuals are surrounded by media and advertisements everywhere they go, that these messages become real attitudes and mindsets in men and women. Women believe they must achieve a level of beauty similar to models they see in magazines and television commercials. On the other hand, men expect real women to have the same characteristics and look as beautiful as the women pictured in ads. However, even though women may diet and exercise, the reality...
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
Jean Kilbourne’s “Two Way a Woman Can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence” is a section of a book titled: “Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising” that was originally published in 1999. It is about the images of women that advertisements illustrate. The central claim or thesis of the document is that: “advertising helps to create a climate in which certain attitudes and values flourish and it plays a role in shaping people’s ideas” (paraphrase). The author wants people by all genders and young children to acknowledge a right attitude towards what is shown in the advertisements so that the standards of behavior will not be influenced. As a result, it enables the negative contribution from the advertisements to be limited or eliminated.
Dove is a personal care trademark that has continually been linked with beauty and building up confidence and self-assurance amongst women. Now, it has taken steps further by impending with a new advertising strategy; fighting adverse advertising. And by that it means contesting all the ads that in some way proliferate the bodily insufficiencies which exits inside women. Launched by Dove, the campaign spins round an application called the Dove Ad Makeover which is part of the global Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” what has been continuing ever since 2004 and times print, television, digital and outdoor advertising. As Leech (1996) believed,” commercial consumer advertising seems to be the most frequently used way of advertising.” In which way the seller’s chief goal is to sway their possible spectators and attempt and change their opinions, ideals and interests in the drive of resounding them that the produce they are posing has a touch that customer wants that will also be in their advantage, therefore generating false desires in the user’s mind. Dove is vexing to influence their viewers to purchase products they wouldn’t usually buy by “creating desires that previously did not exist.”(Dyer, 1982:6)
The media control all mass communication all over the world, its existence is integral to today’s twenty-four hour society. All media is highly influential, from on television to radio, newspapers to magazines, but especially the £19billion advertising industry. Although many people refuse to admit it we are easily manipulated into buying particular products subconsciously, a well-produced and marketed advert can increase sales revenue for any product. Schwarzkopf hair care & dyes is well known as an alternative to the mainstream hair companies. Hans Schwarzkopf whose first formula in 1903 was an instant hit with his female customers established Schwarzkopf in 1868. The water-soluble powder shampoo, “The Shampoo with the Black Head”, offered an easy-to-use and value-for-money alternative to the expensive oils and harsh soaps of the time. Since then the brand has continued to grow and is famous for providing striking colours for women with a more adventurous style at an affordable price.
Advertising in American culture has taken on the very interesting character of representing our culture as a whole. Take this Calvin Klein ad for example. It shows the sexualization of not only the Calvin Klein clothing, but the female gender overall. It displays the socially constructed body, or the ideal body for women and girls in America. Using celebrities in the upper class to sell clothing, this advertisement makes owning a product an indication of your class in the American class system. In addition to this, feminism, and how that impacts potential consumer’s perception of the product, is also implicated. Advertisements are powerful things that can convey specific messages without using words or printed text, and can be conveyed in the split-second that it takes to see the image. In this way, the public underestimates how much they are influenced by what they see on television, in magazines, or online.
Advertising surrounds the world every second of the day. This form of influence has had the power to influence how society views gender roles ever since men and women began to appear in advertisements. Through the exposure to many different gender portrayals in advertising, gender roles become developed by society. This stems from how men and women are depicted, which forms stereotypes regarding the individual roles of men and women. People often shift their definition of an ideal image towards what they see in advertisements. From this, they tend to make comparisons between themselves and the advertisement models. Advertisements tend to be brief, but impactful. The different portrayals of men and women in advertising show that advertisements
To sum up, it is often said that advertising is shaping women gender identity, and some have been argued that the statement is true, because of the higher amount of sexual references of women that advertisement show and the damages that occur on women’s personality and the public negative opinions of those women. As well, the negative effects that those kinds of advertisements cause to young generations and make them feel like they should simulate such things and are proud of what they are doing because famous actors are posting their pictures that way. Others deem this case as a personal freedom and absolutely unrelated to shaping women gender identity. On the contrast, they believe that, those sorts of advertisements are seriously teaching women how to stay healthy and be attractive, so they might have self-satisfaction after all.
Axe advertisements works and appeals to its target audience through rhetorical strategies from pathos, logos, to ethos. Pathos is used in the ad to target the audience through its emotions which is evident to the viewer. It’s the ideals of “boy meets girl” that is instilled in young men, if they use this product you will get the girls. Axe created new Axe Dark Temptation that is as irresistible as chocolate. Women ranked chocolate as more irresistible than shopping, jewelry or even sex. The ad shows women licking chocolate off the guy because chocolate is irresistible to woman thus wearing the fragrance makes you irresistible. The ad tells young men that using the...