Published: 02
February 2012
Last Updated: 12
April 2016
Written by Angela Eward-Mangione, Emma Brown, and Susan Gail
Taylor
We
need to be aware of how advertisers appeal to us, and we should think
critically about the persuasive messages we encounter to ensure we are savvy,
not passive, consumers. Because consumers purchase products with which they
identify, it is important to examine the subtexts of advertisements as well as
the role those subtexts play in determining what products men and women choose
to associate with their personal identities.
The
subtexts of a visual argument are closely associated with both intended
audience and meaning. For example, a simple message such as, “You should buy
this product,” means nothing without a subtext to clarify who “you” is,
particularly in relationship to the product. Is “you” a 21st-century American
woman? A 20th-century American woman? An American woman of the 1930s is a very
a different “you” than one of, for example, the 2010s. The power of
subtexts should not be underestimated: they reflect and influence the ways that
men and women think about themselves and the ways that subliminal messages
function in advertising.
This
ad has generated much controversy because of its clearly delineated audience.
Why might advertisers restrict their audience to one gender? How is masculinity
defined in this commercial? Also, see questions in the checklist below, and try
to critically (not necessarily negatively, but thoughtfully)
approach this ad.
Gender Subtexts in Ads: One Example—“The
Homemaker Myth”
That
Susie Sunshine belongs in the home instead of the workplace and that Johnny
Sunshine isn’t and could never be a homemaker are ideas based on stereotypes.
Consider laundry detergent advertisements: men are rarely shown doing the
laundry. In most laundry detergent commercials, a mother is depicted as the
official domestic caretaker, who lovingly rids her family’s clothes of grass
and food stains. For some families, this may be typical. However, there are
issues of gender role expectations at play in such advertisements.
Considering the Contexts of
ADS: Male and Female Consumers then and Now
When
analyzing an ad in terms of gender, it is certainly important to identify the
ad's intended audience. It is equally important to consider the ad's publishing
context. As definitions of femininity have evolved, commercials trying to sell
products to women have changed—and the same goes for commercials advertising
products for men. Consider the following sets of commercials: given what you
know about the era in which each ad appeared, analyze the ad's depiction of and
appeals to male and female consumers.
Examples: Ads promoting Products for Men
- 2010 Old Spice "Questions" commercial: CLICK HERE
- 1971 Old Spice commercial: CLICK HERE
Examples: Ads promoting products for women
- 2012 Secret Outlast commercial: CLICK HERE
- 1950s Camay Deodorant Soap commercial: CLICK HERE
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