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The over sexualization of women in advertising
The over sexualization of women in advertising
The over sexualization of women in advertising
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Kraft released several advertisements in early April to launch their Zesty Salad Dressing (Nudd). One in particular displays a very attractive man.. who just-so-happens to be naked. He is having a picnic, with the bottle of Kraft Zesty Salad Dressing casually laying close by (see fig. 1). The ad is addressing women, from young adult to the elderly. Scantily-clad women are often used in ads to spark the attention of men. Yet, you rarely see a hunky, half-naked man with a body chiseled by the Greek Gods themselves in advertisements. Kraft has embraced the science of sex appeal in their Zesty Salad Dressing ad. But, is this type of advertisement effective in luring its intended audience?
Using a steamy image as an adverting tool is nothing new. In 1871 Pearl Tobacco was the first to cast the sex appeal stone by flaunting a sexy, topless woman on its packaging (Beigelman). Since then many companies have utilized the play on sex in their ads. Victoria's Secret is notorious for its sexy ads (see fig. 2), which launched the company “from three boutiques in San Francisco to the most successful and recognized intimates brand in the United States, if not the world” (Daye). Companies like Axe, Tag, and Old Spice have capitalized on its target audience of young to middle-aged men by displaying their products as “sexual-attractment enhancers” (Daye). With noted revenue gain, many companies continue with the “sex sells” trend.
Sex appeal advertisements aimed towards women are scarce compared to those targeting men. The idea of a woman being aroused by looking at an attractive man is often frowned upon, and deteriorating to her lady-like persona. While women have been fighting for equality, the use of men as sexual objects in adve...
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...Zesty Dressing Ad Offends 'One Million Moms,' Sparks Debate." The Huffington Post. n.p., 14 June 2013. web. 17 October 2013.
Beigelman, Victor. "Column: Why Sex Sells." The California Aggie. Creative Media, 9 February 2012. Web. 17 October 2013.
Daye, Derrick. "Does Sex In Advertising Work?" Branding Strategy Insider. The Blake Project, 22 March 2008. Web. 17 October 2013.
Kalb, Ira. "Do You Think Sex Sells? Think Again." Business Insider. n.p., 16 April 2012. Web. 17 October 2013.
"Kate Upton for Hardee's." Image. Modelinia.com. N.d. Web. 2 December 2013.
"Kraft Zesty Picnic." Image. Get Me Zesty: Kraft Foods. N.d. Web. 29 November 2013.
Nudd, Tim. "Kraft Salad Dressing Ad Gets Best Present Ever: A Slap From One Million Moms." Adweek. n.p., 17 June 2013. Web. 17 October 2013.
"Victoria's Secret 1980's Ad" Image. Lingerie-Alley.com. N.d. Web. 2 Decenber 2013.
In a consumer-driven society, advertisements invade the minds of every person who owns any piece of technology that can connect to the internet. Killbourne observes that “sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women,” (271). Advertising takes the societal ideology of women and stereotypes most kids grow up learning and play on the nerves of everyone trying to evoke a reaction out of potential customers, one that results in them buying products. Another point made
Have you ever wondered where the saying, ‘a picture says a thousand words’, come from? Well, I do not know who came up with this fantastic phrase, but nonetheless, I will be describing and analyzing two different magazine advertisements, trying to put in words what I think the advertisers wanted consumers to receive when those potential buyers viewed their ads. The two advertisements that I chose, Caress and Secret, try to encourage female consumers of all ages to purchase their hygiene products. Although both ads, Caress and Secret, appeal to the same gender with hygiene goods, they differ in design, text, and message. They attempt to please the female buyer with color, texture, and sexuality. This makes it prevalent, that the agents must grab the attention of possible buyers in order to sell their product. The advertisers must choose a variety of marketing strategies to the reach their targeted consumers.
Other aspects strengthen the advertisement design's sexual appeal. The foreground woman's strapless swimming suit, highlighted in red, is the most notable example. Her chest prominently resides above horizontal boxes in both th...
Advertisements are all over the place. Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that you can escape them. They all have their target audience who they have specifically designed the ad for. And of course they are selling their product. This is a multi billion dollar industry and the advertiser’s study all the ways that they can attract the person’s attention. One way that is used the most and is in some ways very controversial is use of sex to sell products. For me to analyze this advertisement I used the rhetorical triangle, as well as ethos, pathos, and logos.
Breazeale claims that society’s view of women has everything to do with how consumerism has been viewed primarily as a feminine attribute, and describes how men believe women are just poor consumers. Additionally, Breazeale describes how showing women in erotic, sexual ways made men feel that women were solely objects of their desire and nothing more. Breazeale effectively convinces the audience that society’s perception of women today has been significantly swayed by their constant portrayal as consumers through an in-depth look at Esquire Magazine and how it not only portrayed women as lavish, silly spenders, but simply as objects of the male
We see the ways that the popular media uses gender tensions everywhere. The truth is that sex sells, we know that. The challenge that advertisers face is: How to use it best. Some advertisers do this better than others and the ones that truly have an understanding of gender tensions will, in the end, sell the most. In my last paper, I explored how the company Abercrombie and Fitch uses gender tensions to sell their clothes. They have become among the masters in advertising and the business in booming. They cater to young adults and young adults only for one powerful reason: It is at this age in which the sexual tensions between male and female are greatest. Abercrombie and Fitch has found their niche.
Cebrzynski, G. (2000, March 13). Sex or sexy? The difference is that one sells, and the other
Stephey, M. J. (2009, May 21). Sex sells. here's why we buy. Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1900032,00.html
Sex is one of the most controversial and enticing subjects in today’s media. No wonder it has become a dominant marketing strategy, it appeals to a basic human interest in sex and uses it to persuade an audience. Sex, as a marketing tool, has become extremely pervasive in the United States today. An individual living in America will certainly be exposed to this marketing tool. Music industries, television commercials, magazines and other advertising media have given in to this marketing technique. The fact that companies use people’s natural interest in sex to sell their products is upsetting. The way advertisers use sex appeal to sell their products reflects poorly on and undermines our society’s morals.
You can see in the media in almost all occasions women being sexualized. From beer to burger commercials women in the media are portrayed as sexual beings. If they are thin and meet society’s standards of beautiful they are considered marketable. Over the...
There are many companies that use sex appeal in their ads today. For instance Victoria Secrets is one of the top sellers in lingerie. They show skin in every one of their ads. All of their models put on the sex appeal for all commercials and magazines. That is what helps them sell. Women look at those ads and see those girls floating on clouds like angels and feel they could feel the same if they wore that purple bra or red underwear. By showing these girls constantly looking sexy in their ads make women feel sexy just wearing them. That is the whole point of using sex in your ads. It?s amazing what a little skin can do. "In advertising, sex sells. But only if you're selling sex (Richards).
The portrayals of men in advertising began shifting towards a focus on sexual appeal in the 1980s, which is around the same that women in advertising were making this shift as well. According to Amy-Chinn, advertisements from 1985 conveyed the message that “men no longer just looked, they were also to be looked at” as seen in advertisements with men who were stripped down to their briefs (2). Additionally, advertisements like these were influencing society to view the male body “as an objectified commodity” (Mager and Helgeson 240). This shows how advertisements made an impact on societal views towards gender roles by portraying men as sex objects, similarly to women. By showcasing men and women in little clothing and provocative poses, advertisements influenced society to perceive men and women with more sexual
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.
The objectification of women is a huge issue in society and is often led by advertising. However, many men still believe that the adverts depicting women in a sexual and often passive posture are not very offensive, but rather very funny or sexy. However, how would they feel if it were their daughter or sister being advertised throughout the world as a sexual object? The Tiger Beer advertisement shown in the appendix is a clear example of the objectification of women in advertising. The Tiger Beer advert was made to appeal to men from the age of 20 to 60.
In this selection by author, Jean Kilbourne the constant escalation in the media advertisements is displayed. She begins the text by explaining the vast blanket that sexualized ads now cover. Kilbourne states that this incredibly out-of-control practice “dehumanizes and objectifies people” (456). She presents the idea that these dangerous ads are so commonplace that it creates a toxic environment in which we base our judgements on staged, indecent ads.