Advertising Stereotype Essay

Media stereotypes be inevitable, especi all(prenominal)y in the announce, entertain existencepowert and countersign industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to rapidly understand information. Stereotypes act same codes that give audiences a quick, common pinch of a person or group of massesusually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social consumption or occupation.But stereotypes can be problematic. They can reduce a wide range of differences in heap to simplistic categorizations transform assumptions c retreat particular groups of people into realities be apply to justify the position of those in power perpetuate social disfavour and inequality More often than non, the groups being stereotyped carry brusk to say about how they argon correspond.Any wholeness who examines North American entertain custodyt and word media will nonice that members of ethnic and visible minorities atomic number 18 inadequately represen ted in entertain homopowert and news media, and that portrayals of minorities ar often stereotypical and demeaning. This angle of dip is particularly problematic in a multicultural country, where whatever of the cosmos is immigrants and some is visible minorities, along with larger urban centers.Visual representation of reality is influential in shaping peoples views of the world, where fooling realities ar articulated mostly by what we propose in the media. The sh be of publicize in this interpretation of reality is crucial. The target audiences self-identification with the run acrosss being a basic prerequisite for an advertisements tellingness, makes advertise one of the most important factors in the building of behavior models and set systems. The way a certain notion is managed at a opthalmic level determines how people will perceive this notion and whether they will localise with it or not.Meaning is encoded in the structure of the images, which thus become b lotto cultural symbols for human behavior. The framing and composition of the image, the setting, the emblematical attri scarcelyes and every new(prenominal) element in its structure, all be engaged in the effective presentation of the underlying notion. Gender Stereotypes in Advertising Dominant discourses adjoin gender encourage us to accept that the human race is by nature divided in to male and female, each gender realistically classifiable by a set of immutable component partistics.In Foucaults terms, askings of difference are social constructs belonging to social orders that contain hierarchies of power, defined, pass waterd and define by institutional discourses, to produce social practices. Gender differences are symbolic categories (Saco, 199225). These categories are used to ascribe certain eventistics to men and women. The representation of those characteristics determines how men and women are presented in cultural forms, and really whether an individual is i dentified as mascu debate or feminine.It is important to understand the big role that media, in general, and specifically advertisement plays in maintaining an ingrained gender hierarchy. The snuggled study of mens and womens images as presented in advertising should result in unc everyplaceing the messages about their identity and role in society. Until youthfully, maleness in the media was not considered problematic since in that location was the notion that masculinity is not constructed. Masculinity remains the untouched and untouchable against which femininity underframes as the repressed and/or unspoken (Holmlund, 1993214).The role advertisements play in the ontogeny and perpetuation of gender-role stereotypes whitethorn include Women Stereotypes in Advertising Advertising is an oer 100 million dollar a year industry and affects all of us throughout our lives. We are each exposed to over 2000 ads a day, constituting perhaps the most powerful educational force in society . The ordinary American will spend one and one-half years of his or her deportment watching television commercials. The ads sell a great deal more than products.They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love and sexuality, popularity and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be. Sometimes they sell addictions. Advertising is the foundation and economic lifeblood of the mass media. The simple purpose of the mass media is to deliver an audience to advertisers, just as the patriarchal purpose of television programs is to deliver an audience for commercials. Adolescents are particularly defenceless because they are new and inexperienced consumers and are the prime targets of umpteen advertisements.They are in the process of withdrawing their values and roles and developing their self-concepts. Most teenagers are sensitive to peer pressure and find it difficult to resist or even question the dominant cultural messages perpetuated and reinforced by the media. masses communication has made possible a kind of national peer pressure that erodes cloak-and-dagger and individual values and standards. But what do people, particularly teenagers, learn from the advertising messages? On the most obvious level they learn the stereotypes.Advertising creates a mythical, mostly white world in which people are rarely ugly, overweight, poor, struggling or disabled, either physically or mentally (unless you count the housewives who talk to little men in can buoy bowls). In this world, people talk scarcely about products. The aspect of advertising most in need of analysis and assortment is the portrayal of women. scientific studies and the most casual viewing yield the same conclusion women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects.The housewife, pathologically preoccupy by cleanliness, debates the virtues of cleaning products with herself and worries about ring around the collar ( just now no one ever asks why he doesnt wash his neck). She feels sin for not being more beautiful, for not being a collapse wife and mother. Very unrealistic goals for exalted luggage compartment shapes, which lead to spunky rates of anorexia nervosa and bulimia Make women believe they are valued establish on their body, therefore their self-esteem is also based on how their body founts compared to others.Give messages to women that changing their appearance, they will have a better life * manpower* Stereotypes in Advertising It is interesting to see that now, when things have admittedly changed for women, we still see much of the same themes in modern mens advertisements. In the ads from Mens Journal, we generally see a handsome, strong, successful and somewhat rugged man. The camera angles are almost incessantly from the bottom up, giving us a view of the man as though we, the viewer are below him, looking up at him. All of them are young, just none are teen-aged looking. All tho one have, or show remnants o f facial hair.None of these ads show the man in the work place, solely their depiction of unfilled is that of mature success, not youthful excess. Because of the camera angles, the strong stances, the rugged good looks, and the depictions of success, these ads reinforce the stereotypes of men as strong, powerful, aggressive providers. An ad for Tommy Hilfiger shows the man with his arm around a girl who is leaning into his chest. This ad depicts a man as shielder and as a heterosexual. The one ad that stands out from the group in this collection of ads from Mens Journal is the one from ESPNs genetic mutations Center.This ad shows a man finishing up a piece of cake at a diner and watching vaunts center from across the bar. This is a different depiction of leisure which seems directly related to the product it is selling. The rest of the ads are selling some form of apparel. They are designed to show clothes as satisfactory and stylish and show that a man who wears those clothes can be the aggressive, dominant male. The Sports Center ad is selling a product that isnt consumed as part of public image, but of private pleasure. The clothes worn by the models are assertively masculine, and often evince a broad shouldered and solid body shape.The models display a highly masculine independence and assurance, as substantially as the code of narcissistic self-absorption. The choice of lighting and film stock emphasizes the surface qualities of skin, hair, eye and the texture of clothing. Finally the cropping of the images works to produce intensity in many of the images. This stereotyped presentation of a gender role, certainly tells us that there is still a part of society that believes that men should be of course related to power, aggression and authority. In recent years however, other aspects of masculinity have become acceptable in ads.This can be seen in the difference between the ads in Mens Journal and those in axiom. The ads from Maxim are similar to those from Mens Journal but definitely appeal to a younger audience. It is therefore interesting to look at what advertisers feel is more appealing to younger men. There is one ad for Ralph Lauren Cologne that shows a young successful looking man in a shirt and tie looking over the hand of the head of the women cuddling in his chest. She is looking into the camera seductively and he looks as though his mind is elsewhere. He is dominant, even arrogant in this position and once again appears successful and confident.Another ad from Maxim is for a DVD special edition of Rocky. The ad shows rocky trounce and worn but continuing to fight. The copy reads at least David had a slingshot. This ad depicts the ultimate American sports hero, appealing men, both young and old. In-short, disadvantages with Men Stereotyping, are Show ideal for body type, also which can be unrealistic Show men as aggressive and in adjudge of things, including women Womens problems are fixable, you either fit t he part of the masculine ideal or you do not Negative Stereotypes in Advertisingaunt Jemima, darky toothpaste, Uncle Ben and the infamous Waaaaaz up crew from the people at Budweiser are some blatantly stereotypical roles that have had many conscious blacks bilk during the past century. darkey toothpaste may be unfamiliar to many Americans now because it was marketed in Hong Kong until March 1990. The toothpaste package featured a minstrel character with a wide smile. The character appeared to have placed black vulgarism on his well-rounded face and red lipstick around his let out while smiling large with gleaming white teeth.To make the character completely minstrel-like, the character added a large brimmed top hat to dramatize his head. According to Jamieson and Campbell, the authors of News, Advertising, Politics and the Mass Media the Interplay of Influence, Darkie toothpaste was removed because of its negative connotation of the word Darkie and not so much the image on the box. The regional commercial director for Hawley and Hazel (the makers of Darkie toothpaste) said, We want the name of our toothpaste to be internationally acceptable. However, some people consider the word Darkie racially unsavoury, particularly in America. Its not that the name is not offensive, but the image was not even discussed. Associating the name with such an offensive image makes the toothpastes image just a bit more offensive. If Darkie toothpaste were associated with an image of dark yellow teeth with a contradictory image of a bright smile shown next to the crude picture, it would have shown a whole new connotation to the brand name. The frightening thing about this image is it was only removed from circulation 13 years ago, well aft(prenominal) the Civil Rights Movement. Aunt Jemima has been a character that has shown a dramatic change throughout the years.Aunt Jemima wore a red and white scarf over her head. Now Aunt Jemima has a well-groomed coif and a slimmer face that graces the boxes of pancake, flutter and syrup bottles across the world. The changing images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are representative of the changes in American culture today. Although we do not see blacks as cooks, maids and servants anymore, we may see a new stereotype arising. The Waaaz up crew from the recent Budweiser commercials is an example of this theory. This campaign was very effective and catchy. It had people black, white and every race in between making it a staple in our ever-changing language.Budweiser did not only stereotype blacks in America but also other often-stereotyped groups. The Italian mobsters constantly repeating How you doin? and the yuppie stereotype stating, How are yooooooou doing. The only people that spoke proper English in these advertisements were the pep pill class white men. The images of blacks have increased by number but not by quality. According to the Journal of Advertising, blacks spend more than $279 billion a year on consumer goods, yet the advertisers are only disbursement approximately $865 million a year to reach them.This disproportionate figure reveals why many advertisements misrepresent blacks across America. Only a atomic percentage of the black population is professional athletes, yet they are the absolute majority of endorsers for black products. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and women must demand a wider variety of roles in advertisements for it may negatively affect the children of tomorrow. If we are only being shown in peg roles, our future generation may not aspire to be anything but rappers and athletes, instead of politicians, doctors or lawyers. Ask the advertisers, Waaaz up wit dat? seek supports that mass stereotyping groups of people does not work in the development and merchandising of origin ideas. Although many corporations still try to capitalize on stereotypes, this line of guessing merely does not work as effectively as the old mom and pop country store approac h to business Getting to know your customers as intimately as possible. If grouping populations like cattle into selling niches worked, why would major corporations still continue to enclothe so heavily into studying consumer habits and demographics?If this type of marketing philosophy worked well then anyone with a great business idea could make it exactly by targeting. Obviously, this is not so. *Stereotypin*g Myths For example, stereotype marketing ideologies might stress too much on one group and ignore some other equally, or even more important. For example, target only kids for (non-PC) video plot of grounds and lose access to millions of customers. Nearly a quarter of all video games are purchased by consumers aged 40 and older, and 38% of all video game sales are made by women.Another case in point Senior citizens have become the fastest-growing population in the united States. however, mass marketing to olds has remained somewhat elusive. Several pioneers in the se nior marketing industry note that age alone has little to do with the interests of senior consumers. Those who have attempted to cash in on the senior population, simply lumping retirees together by age, have failed, and miserably so. When it comes to advertising, marketing studies that offer only cold statistics may play less of a role than you think in developing successful marketing strategies and advertising campaigns.Customers can be your best or worst source of advertising. Word of mouth referrals, specially in the age of the Internet, should not be undervalued. And, since consumers are more apparent to complain than to compliment, it pays to have customer-friendly and trustworthy complaint resolution practices in place. It pays to see your customers as individuals, with common needs, but not as groups who, because of stereotype images, have lemming-like behaviors when it comes to making purchases.