representations of women in advertising

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... aB2b1w52yE

Video won't load, do you maybe have another source for it?

I don't remember where I read this, but you know the type of commercial that has a couple of women talking about dish soap or paper towels or some BS like that? In the advertising industry those are referred to as "Two C's in a K." The K stands for kitchen, I'm sure you can imagine what the C stands for.

Just shows the level of contempt the people making those ads have for their audience.

try this one: http://youtu.be/HaB2b1w52yE

Most of those advertisements are fashion ones geared to women/gay men which intentionally seek to be provocative, they don't portray men in these advertisements much differently. This is what the consumer wants I suppose. Watching TV, you'd probably see just as many if not more "buffoon husband and all knowing wife/mom" and the like.

I still remember when JIF peanut butter ran an ad that featured a DAD making his kid's lunch.
TV commercials are so 1950s.

That was good. I enjoyed the role-reversal ads.

Anyone still find Popeye's commercials stereotypical?

On the note of provocativeness in some commercials, it has actually been proven that sexual references in advertisements is detrimental to the advertisement, distracting the audience and making them less likely to buy the advertised product.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAk_trm0eI0[/youtube]

Thank you, that one worked for some reason. Odd, because it linked to the exact same place.

I do get and agree with the point the video makes but, like Jacoby points out, it only really looks at one type of advertising.

Still, these are the kinds of ads found in women's fashion magazines. I think it's a fairly safe assumption that most women who pick up those magazines are in a "how can I make myself more attractive?" mindset at that moment. To then be bombarded with that kind of imagery, it's got to give a pretty warped view of how women are meant to look and behave.

As pointed out by Jacoby (again), those ads do purposefully seek to be provocative. The creators want the advertisement and, by extension, the brand to stick in the readers mind. Being driven purely by profit, they are unlikely to change their methods unless they can find a more effective means of selling their products.

LKL, do you have any suggestions on how they might be able to do that? The best I can come up with is to lessen the effectiveness of that sort of advertising by encouraging boycotts of the brands that use it, but convincing enough people to participate in such a boycott seems like a Herculean task.

Petitioning the company might be a better route. Get a few thousand signitures, and they might do something. Emphasis on might. At least, that is a plausible task.

Well, are people stupid because advertising makes them stupid? Or, are people stupid, and advertisers have figured out how to capitalize on that stupidity?

No problemo: I'm already boycotting those brands (unless I happen to find a good deal in a thrift shop)

But, lots of women like to shop in Victoria's Secret. Those brassieres that are supposed to make your jugglies stick out and appear larger seem silly to me, but, meh, to each his/her own. I don't need other people to approve of what I do, and no-one else needs my approval for whatever he or she chooses to do.

Some of those adverts look disturbing. Don't you have an advertising standards authority or something where people can complain?

Actually, our advertising is much less sexy than what you would find in Europe.

In that video, some of the advertisements were from 50 years ago.

Like, this one




No-one would dare use an image like that in advertising any more.

I wouldn't call violence against women sexy. The one shown where a woman was pinned to the floor and having her hair pulled looked disturbing to me.

I would.
If it made me laugh (it did) it's bound to have the same effect on all the millions of other sickos out there.
The rage it will bring out in the femi-nazis will be even better.

I watched the video and only have this to say: So what?
The purpose of commercial advertising is to sell a product.
If you don't like the theme of their advertising the best way to protest it is to not buy any of the company's products.

Call me what you want but no advertisement since my early teen years has shaped the way I think and even then it was minimal.