Women's Role in Advertisements

Women are in advertisements for all different types of products and services. A big role that women play in advertisements is to influence the consumer on many different levels, needs, and wants. ABC news said, “Woman's domesticity was implicit in the whole genre of 1950s ads.” In the 1950s, women were wanted by society to be kept at home and be housewives and mothers. It was not uncommon to see women in advertisements for cleaning products during that time, because women were being influenced to be happy housewives. As time progressed the social revolution if the 1960s made women step out of the house and start to fight for what they wanted to pursue. Advertisements during this time showed women with an outgoing and fun attitude or personality. Some common uses of women in advertising that can still be seen is ads to day for example could be an advertisement for a women’s beauty product will show an attractive women looking flawless, happy, and sexy to make the women who are looking at those advertisements want to be that women, which influences the purchase of the product, which is called “femalecommunicating to female.” Women are also used in advertisements that are targeting men, for example an ad for beer may feature a sexy woman along side the guy drinking, to make the men who are seeing the ad think if they drink that beer they can have beautiful women. Today the use of women in advertisements where the women is playing the role of a housewife or mother are not quite as popular as they were but “Traditional sex role model, however,still dominate the pages of most women’s magazines.” A good example of a sex role model influence in women and advertisement would be Victoria’s Secret. If you think about it they are selling sexy not just undergarments.

Thank You For Smoking

Determine the scenario: What happens in this frame?

This scenario in the Camel brand cigarette advertisement shoes Joe Camel being a ladies man because he is so smooth. In the ad it looks like Joe Camel and his date are going to cruise around town all night in his nice yellow car and smoke cigarettes.

What is the setting? What are the conditions?

This advertisement is probably from around the 1980s based on the Miami style scene, which was popular from the television show Miami Vice. The weather looks nice and the sun is setting giving the scene of the ad a nice array of color.

Who are the people or groups?

Joe Camel, who is known for being smooth and full of character and a good looking brunette in the back ground.

What is their point of view around this specific experience?

That smoking smooth Camel brand cigarettes will give you character and make you cool like Camel Joe in Miami.

What are their goals?

Their goals are to try to get people who smoke or even don’t smoke to start smoking camel brand cigarettes.

What are their assumptions? What are their perceptions?

The Camel brand is using Joe Camel smoking a smooth Camel cigarette and then showing that these cigarettes make him look so cool that he can get a cute girl and cool car. They are using this imagery assuming that’s what men want.

Are there conflicts? Is there cooperation?

In my opinion there is conflict in this advertisement. First they are saying if you want to be cool like Joe Camel, you need to smoke Camel brand cigarettes. Second they are using a cartoon camel to promote their product. The cartoon can have a big affect on a market way too young to even consider the decision to smoke; I’m talking about children.

What are the outcomes?

The outcome of this advertisement is that they are advertising a life style along with the cigarette, which can be a let down to the consumer when they find that buying camels wont attract pretty brunettes. Another outcome could be influencing under age smoking by minors who were attracted to the cartoon spokes figure Joe Camel.

Questionable Ethics

This first advertisement I found I felt was so inappropriate I almost didn’t post it. It’s a Bryers creamsicle ice cream ad featuring two very young girls in gymnastics leotards bending over in a stretching position, with their back ends facing the cameras. The ad then had in large bright orange colored letters “Lickable.” I don’t know who thought this advertisement was acceptable with the poses used and the word lickable. There is such a high rate of child molestation and rapes I find it disgusting that the key inappropriate points that I mentioned weren’t carefully considered. Its almost like they are provoking the idea. 

The second advertisement I came across that I thought was inappropriate and un ethical was an ad on preventing the abortion of African American babies. Myself have certain views on abortion and I think in some situations abortion is acceptable. The advertisement I found is going against abortion but they used African Americans to exploit the situation. The ad says “Black children are an endangered species” and the web site is names TooManyAborted.com. In my opinion this advertisement is targeting African American women and saying that they have un protected sex and have abortions if they get pregnant. This as is discriminating against black women and is unethical to target the one race when every other ethnicity of women are having abortions too.

Another advertisement I found that was displaying questionable ethics was from Burger King. The ad was for a new sandwich called the “BK super seven incher". In the ad there is a side profile picture of a women wearing red lipstick with her mouth wide open and a picture of the sandwich placed an inch or so in front of her mouth. The phrase Burger King used in the advertisement in hug letters says “IT’LL BLOW YOUR MIND AWAY.” This advertisement in my opinion is using questionable ethics because it is using sex to sell their food. Burger King is supposed to be a family restaurant they even have the kids club for children.

About Me

Born Nicole Beverly Stephenson and raised in Traverse City Michigan I have always wanted something more exciting in my life, something more like fashion. I eventually moved to Las Vegas Nevada to pursue my dream and Graduated from the Art Institute with a Bachelors Degree in Fashion Retail and Management. Today I am a fashion illustrator and creative designer. Some of my specialties are retail store designing and merchandising, drawing fashion designs, creating graphic designs for advertisements and art, and anything else I put my mind to. My current projects are designing clothing for a large department store for their women’s wear department. I’m also working on designs for my own store I plan to open with in two years, if the financial support continues according to plan. My favorite things include uniqueness, loud colors, ambition, glitter, and when everything comes together as a whole. One of my favorite quotes is “Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess.” - By Edna Woolman Chase. I feel that this quote is true because one must have the personality to wear certain fashions and be able to pull it off, otherwise they are just clothes. Another one of my favorite quotes is by Henry David Thoreau and he said, “Every generation laughs at the old fashions but religiously follows the new.” This quote is funny because all new fashion designs stem from a previous fashion trend. 

Volkswagen Lemon

Honesty is a great way to promote and sell a product. It can give the consumer a sense of comfort as well as show them that the retailer or manufacturer isn’t hiding anything and showing their imperfections. That is exactly what Doyle Dane Bernbach displayed in an advertisement for Volkswagen automobiles in the 1960s. The advertisement was titles “Lemon” in large bold letters and beneath was written the following:

The Volkswagen missed the boat.

The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn't have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did.

There are 3,389 men of our Wolfsburg factory with only one job; to inspect Volkswagens at each stage of production. (3,00 Volkswagens are produced daily; there are more inspectors than cars.)

Every shock absorber is tested (spot checking won't do), every windshield is scanned. VWs have been rejected for surface scratches barely visible to the eye.

Final inspection is really something! VW inspectors run each car off the line onto the Funktionsprüfstand (car test stand), tote up 189 check points, gun ahead to the automatic brake stand and say "no" to one VW out of fifty.

This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. (It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.)

We pluck the lemons; you get the plums.

I’m a big fan of honest selling my self and I think that Doyle Dane Bernbach did a great job utilizing this technique. It was a great way to separate Volkswagen from other automobile makers of the decade. Instead of using persuading words to attract the attention of a consumer they used a word to be wary of in the automobile industry. The word lemon attracted the attention of the reader and got them reading the small print, which is the seller of the ad.