For my last Ad Review, I decided to dive further into stereotypes.
Cleaning ads in the past have often portrayed women as the only ones who do the
cleaning in the household. I have seen media in the past where women look so
happy to be cleaning their entire houses, while their husbands begrudgingly
join in. While some women do like to clean, this generalization is not very
realistic. Silverman and Rader (2012) explain that ads like this influence how
we read gender roles (p. 390).
However, there seems to be a change in this stereotype
trend, as more and more cleaning companies are incorporating men into their
commercials. For example, we can compare these two Mr. Clean commercials below.
One is from 2002, and the other is from 2017. They are drastically different in
how they send the message that their products do a good job getting things
clean.
In the most recent commercial, we see that the woman does
not look excited about the cleaning tasks that are awaiting her. When she
realizes that her husband is eagerly ready and willing to help, she can’t
contain her excitement. Mr. Clean has made an attempt to move away from the idea
that only women are motivated to get the cleaning done.
I also came across an interesting article, which explains
how the U.K. is working to put a stop to advertisements that have
"damaging gender stereotypes." I think this is a good idea, as many
of these advertising stereotypes are outdated and irrelevant in today's
society.
Silverman, J., & Rader, D. (2012). The World is a Text:
Writing, Reading, and Thinking About Visual and Popular Culture (4th ed.).
Boston: Prentice Hall.
Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.insider.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-trailer-video-redesign-after-fans-hated-original-2019-11)
During Module 4, we have discussed how fans can have an
impact on the media. In many cases, fan groups tend to have a certain ‘power’
over media conglomerates, because they are able to share ideas, observations,
and knowledge so quickly. The internet has helped play a big role in this, as
Jenkins (2006) notes that fandoms were already knowledge cultures before the
internet, and now the new use of technology only makes them stronger (p. 141).
Jenkins goes on to explain that media conglomerates may have a love-hate
relationship with fandoms because of this. Today, I will be sharing a positive
example of this fan-media relationship.
(Video Source: Entertainment Access- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gy-XaZaA78)
Above there is a video that compares both the old and the new trailers that were released to promote a new Sonic
the Hedgehog movie. The original trailer immediately received a lot of
backlash online from fans. There was a lot of criticism from fans about the appearance
of animated Sonic. “…After fans reacted to the ‘horrific’ appearance of Sonic
in the first trailer, the movie's director, Jeff Fowler, responded with a vow
to change Sonic's look, which meant delaying the release until 2020” (Murray, 2019,
para. 2). This surprising response was happily accepted by fans, and a new
trailer was soon released. This example
backs up the idea that…“Fans can quickly mobilize grassroots efforts to save
programs or protest unpopular developments” (Jenkins, 2006, p. 141). While some
media companies may not respond as well to unsolicited feedback from fans, I
believe this was a good move for the film to make. It seems that fans are
willing to wait longer for the film now, since the director is willing to
listen to them and has taken their criticism seriously.
References:
Jenkins, H. (2006). Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring
Participatory Culture. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Murray, T. (2019, November 12). “The New 'Sonic the
Hedgehog' Trailer…” Insider. Retrieved December 2019, from https://www.insider.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-trailer-video-redesign-after-fans-hated-original-2019-11
“When we use ‘gender’, we refer to socially constructed
behaviors and identity tags, such as ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’” (Silverman,
Rader, 2012, p. 385). When thinking of the topic of gender, one ad that comes to
mind is a State Farm commercial. In this commercial, A couple are standing outside
in their backyard as their shed seems to be burning down. The woman, who is on
the phone with State Farm, knows that someone (her husband) has set her shed on
fire. The man claims that it was struck by lightning. The idea of the commercial
is that the woman has created her “she shed” to be very feminine, as a girl
version of a “man cave.” The husband is obviously not happy with this, as he
planned to get rid of the she shed. To the woman’s delight, she is informed that
her she shed was covered by insurance, and she will be able to replace it, with
a whole new-more girly-shed.
(Video Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffs4gSJjjV4)
One reason why this commercial works so well is because of
how we understand gender stereotypes in the media. Understanding basic gender
stereotypes can help us follow along with the plot of a movie, a television
show, or even a commercial. “One influencing factor in defining and redefining
gender and gender role stereotypes among individuals is the influence from
media” (Krahn et al., 2015, p. 6). This means that we have an idea of common
gender stereotypes based on what have seen through media in the past. We
understand why the man is annoyed by the she-shed, and we understand why the
woman is unphased and persistent in getting a new one. It is a whole new spin
on women being annoyed with their husbands always being in the garage or
basement.
References:
Krahn, K., Shen, T., Patrick, D., & Tew, M. (2015). Reel
Women: Gender Stereotypes in Film (ProQuest Dissertations Publishing).
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1768254780/
Silverman, J., & Rader, D. (2012). The World is a Text:
Writing, Reading, and Thinking About Visual and Popular Culture (4th ed.).
Boston: Prentice Hall.
The company behind Doritos chips have launched an
interesting new ad campaign that I noticed recently. “Logos are designs that
are used to stand for and help reinforce the identity of a corporation or other
entity” (Berger, 2012, p. 54) However, the idea behind these new Dorito ads is
to use ‘no logos,’ and instead display plain chip bags with the iconic Doritos
colors of red and blue. “Even though the ad claims to be logo-free, it does use
the Doritos triangle shape at the same angle it is found on packets. Toward the
end of the ad is a shot of a billboard with the words “Logo Goes Here”
superimposed on to the familiar three-sided shape” (Handley, 2019, para 4).
There is more information about this campaign and how Doritos is using it in
By seeing these colors on chip bags, along with the overall
style of the advertisement, the audience can guess that this is a commercial
for Doritos. The company is able to use these colors and shape as an indexical sign. “An
indexical sign is logically connected to what it represents” (Berger, 2012, p.
23). Technically, with these colors and the triangle shape being used, the company
is still using symbols to promote their brand. This is a great example of how
color can play a very important role in advertising. These ads also still seem
to have a sense of unity, which according to Berger (2012), refers to the way
all of the elements relate to one another and produce a sense of completeness (p.
116). Just because the brand’s name is missing, the rest of the commercial and
the visuals don’t really feel like they are lacking anything, except that logo.
The point is still able to be made.
References:
Berger, A. A. (2012) Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to
Visual Communication (4th edition). McGraw-Hill Education.
Handley, L. (2019, August 27). Gen Z Doesn’t Like Branding, So
Doritos Tries a New Approach. CNBC. Retrieved October 2019, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/27/doritos-launches-ads-with-no-logo-and-no-brand-name-to-attract-gen-z.html
In these blog posts, I will be
sharing and reviewing ads that I love, as well as ads that I am not too fond of.
We see ads all over the place; on tv, in magazines, through billboards, and on
the internet. Personally, social media is one source of most of the ads that I
am exposed to on a daily basis. When I am scrolling through my timelines, it
seems like every other post is trying to get my attention and sell me something.
While this can get annoying, sometimes it is a pleasant surprise. This was the
case with this first particular ad campaign that I will be sharing.
Ad #1: Aerie Real
The #AerieRealLife campaign was launched by Aerie in 2014. Aerie
is a women’s clothing store affiliated with America Eagle, and they specialize in
bras and swimsuits. The goal of the campaign was to use models that represented
real women in society, as well as to use ad images of women’s bodies that had
not been photoshopped or touched up. Since the launch, Aerie has gone on to
make their ads even more real and relatable. They have included models with
illnesses and disabilities. Pearl (2018) notes that these ads got a lot of
attention on social media, with “…users praising the brand for its inclusivity.
A few even noted that it was one of the first times they had seen someone with
their disability or disease featured in such a public way…” (para. 6).
Here is the article, which highlights some other really great aspects of the newer ads.
(Image source: 2018,
July 12. Aerie Continues Its ‘Real’ Streak, Casting Models with Illnesses and
Disabilities. AdWeek. Retrieved September 2019, from https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/aerie-continues-its-real-streak-casting-models-with-illnesses-and-disabilities/)
I was familiar with this campaign when it first launched,
but I admit that after a poor experience, I had not been a fan of the quality
of Aerie’s clothing back then. However, seeing that they have kept this
campaign going strong for 5 years, and have no indication of stopping, made me
really respect the brand and want to give their products a second chance. “Ads
make promises to people all the time, but they tend to be implied or suggested
promises.” (Silverman, Rader, 2012, p. 118). It is common for clothing companies
to imply that their clothes will make you feel and look good. However, the
'promise' that Aerie now seems to be making is that you can feel beautiful in
the body that you are already in, and they offer clothes to fit all of these
body types. This went from a campaign that could have just been a trend, to
becoming an entire movement and mission for the brand. This is definitely a
movement that I support, and I hope to see more brands embracing body
positivity and inclusivity like this!
Pearl, D. (2018, July 12). Aerie Continues Its ‘Real’
Streak, Casting Models with Illnesses and Disabilities. AdWeek. Retrieved
September 2019, from https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/aerie-continues-its-real-streak-casting-models-with-illnesses-and-disabilities/
Silverman, J., & Rader, D. (2012). The World is a Text:
Writing, Reading, and Thinking About Visual and Popular Culture (4th ed.).
Boston: Prentice Hall.
