Typical, typical, typical - the word stated previously has become almost synonymous with United State culture. Typical has become a “typical” word and certainly has become a harsh and heavy one in today’s society and culture. We use typical objects and devices, we do typical activities, and we watch typical phenomena. Our society today seems to lack creativity and is stuck in a rut of sameness and stereotypes. Steven Craig writes, in his published essay Men’s Men and Women’s Women, about exactly how and why American culture has become “typical” in regards to the television commercial industry. He brings to light the gender roles and stereotypes these commercials are promoting and the new American culture they are fostering. Craig’s main purpose is to highlight the conundrums seen on an American’s television, more specifically commercials, as they promote trite gender roles and are “created to appeal, respectively, to male and female consumers” (Craig 182). Craig is concise with his argument and addresses his audience directly. Craig’s tone is critical yet contemplative at the same time. Craig is able to appeal to an audience because he is able to relate to an important part of American culture: television. With his tone, a reader is able to feel more relaxed as there is not a certain “call to action” produced by Craig. Craig even begins his essay by talking about beer, for example, “Men and women both drink beer. But you wouldn’t guess that from the television ads that pitch
A woman is portrayed with a desire to attain and maintain her physical attractiveness in order to maintain her family’s unity and security as she is always portrayed with a husband, small children and a house.
Steve Craig, in his article Men’s Men and Women’s Women especially define how different sexes in advertisement can influence a particular audience towards a product; one stereotypical method he describes is “Men’s Women” (Craig).One such ad using sex appeal, and a basic structure of “Men’s Women” to bring in customer was made by BMW in 2008 to sell their used cars. BMW, which is a world-renowned company known for its performance heavy automobiles, targets a male audience by comparing a gorgeous woman to their cars.This ad by BMW, who no doubt make amazing cars, degrade women through its message, and it enforces Steve Craig’s “Men’s women” tactic, but this ad also goes a step further and displays the ever-present patriarchy in advertisement overtly.
For example, State Farm’s, “Dropping Dimes”, commercial uses basketball players and the rap genre, to apply to men by using the masculine sport of basketball, and the masculine version of music, rap. The advertisement starts out by showing Kevin Love and Damian Lillard in expensive golden jewelry, Damien Lillard then starts rapping about all the dimes they are dropping, the commercial then shows the two NBA stars in an expensive boat in a sea of dimes, and then it finishes by showing all the money they have saved because they use State Farm. This advertisement uses the need for attention, which is the need to be looked at, by putting Kevin Love and Damian Lillard in a bunch of expensive jewelry, and riding around in a sea of dimes. This commercial also uses the need for prominence, the need to be admired or respected, by showing that you can have expensive jewelry and a nice boat because you have saved so much money using State
What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be aimed toward certain age, race, along with certain gender groups. Pop culture has influenced minority groups and shed light on women 's rights or so it may seem. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards male and female audiences. Interestingly enough these tv ads deliver a false image of the opposite sex to the audience catering to their preferences. It is the image of what the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows how commercials bring gender norms that produce the stigmas of a man’s man and a woman’s woman, which makes it apparent that he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.
In the short article by Steve Craig, Men’s Men and Women’s Womens, the author gives an important special to how television commercials portray gender to different audiences. He describes how an advertisers creates their attractive advertisement to appeal either male or females consumers.An advertisement that targets a specific gender to give interest to the gender to consume their product. Secondly, specific advertisement are played at select times to be seen by a specific set of people. But most importantly television programming is gendered by creating advertisements with considering their target audience needs and to give pleasure to their fantasies. I agree with this type of method to attract society to make money.
Stereotypes are found throughout society today. Many of these stereotypes are propagated by the prejudice and false assumptions prevalent in the American advertising industry. In her article About Men, Gretel Ehrlich exposes a variety of these fallacies--in particular, those associated with the representation of the cowboy--and questions the burden of gender roles that are imposed upon men. In an effort to differentiate between reality and these fanciful stereotypes, Ehrlich employs strong syntax, powerful imagery, and logical arguments--as well as shocking revelations about the true nature of the cowboy.
Have you ever looked deeper into an ad than just what they are selling? Pick a brand and look up their different ads. You will probably notice they are stereotypical whether that be dealing with gender race or wealth. If you look at products that are trying to grab children's attention they will probably be the colors pink or purple for girls and blue and green for boys. If the advertisement is trying to attract men, they will probably have an attractive woman in the add. If the advertisement is trying to attract women, they will probably have an attractive man or a beautiful, perfect looking woman. Some ads could even be considered degrading. DJ Trotters, Sex on the Beach advertisement is stereotypical towards gender. A bottle of this alcohol sells for about seven dollars (DJ Trotters Sex-On…). This low price aligns with the ad in the fact that the two people in the ad do not look upper class. The look like two average people. The DJ Trotters ad is stereotypical in the way it portrays the man and the woman, the advertisement is selling off of sex appeal, and is degrading in the way they are showing the woman as someone who needs to be at the man's service.
Picture a long, stressful day where an avalanche of work completely exhausted your energy. The only thing worth looking forward to is coming home to relax while tuning into your favorite television show. In between the show, a commercial comes on to propose an energy drink built to help overcome those prolonged and demanding days at work. Advertisers are known for creating the most influential and effective way to launch their products to the general public. In the article “Men’s Men and Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig suggests that advertisements rely on stereotypes in order to manipulate consumers. Likewise James Twitchell, author of “What We are to Advertisers” strengthens Craig's reasoning by discussing the methods of persuasion that capture their respective audience’s attention to create a good commercial and sell a product. Both authors focus on the different techniques used by the advertising industry. Through their supporting demographic and psychographic evidence, they utilize advertising to show a strong correlation between each other. By using subtitles both authors explain the distinctive stereotypic profiles that are formed just from advertisers constantly examining the target audiences in order to create a connection with the product and the consumer. Twitchell reinforces Craig's position by introducing the different types of profiles advertisers target and be recognizing the effects of the method pathos and logos has
The use of sexualization also reinforces a pattern of gender roles that are currently circulating throughout advertisements. More often than not, women who are used as ploys in ads are seen doing household chores like vacuuming, changing the toilet paper, or making coffee. Females are rarely ever seen in a work place, and definitely not in a powerful position. In fact, the directors of most of these ads place women below or behind the man to show who has the power in actuality. Women are seen as skinny, fragile, and immobile in high heels, while men are strong and powerful. By setting up such a strong binary between the two different groups, it is obvious that the majority of the American society will not be able to fit into these roles, and it leaves a sense of rejection for the average person. This rejection, accepted by the viewers, manifests
Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be
From TV commercials and product placement to billboards and posters, thousands of advertisements bombard the average American every day. To be effective, an ad must attract the consumer’s attention, maintain the public’s interest, create or stimulate desire, and create a call for action. These advertisements can be small enough to fit on a three-inch screen or large enough to cover the side of a building. But no matter what the size, in this world of ever-shrinking attention spans and patience levels, ads have to be efficient in portraying their ideas. In order to successfully depict certain ideas, advertisements rely on shortcuts. These shortcuts usually involve stereotypes. In the media, stereotypes are inevitable because the audience
Contemporary visual media contributes to the social construction of gender in that the way that men and women are portrayed in advertising is vastly different.
On television commercials, billboards, the radio, public transportation advertisements, planes, the internet, and almost everywhere people go there is always directed broadcasting of advertisements for companies to sell their product; a product that is never promoted for all of the general public to use, but instead to emphasize on specific categories of consumption . Whether it may be categorized in the decadent, the money saving, health, cleaning, cooking, automotive, or whatever sub category it may be; and bigger roles that play in to commercialism are gender roles . Men and women have very different lifestyles, what they buy, do, consume, and produce. As stated in Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes, “Popular conceptions of femininity
The roles of males and females in society have significantly changed, as opposed to the predominant roles in our history. In the modern culture of today, women have begun to break out of the mold that which society has placed her in. This much can’t be said when it comes to modern gender representation in mass media advertising. It can be safe to state that woman are seen as sexual, fragile, exotic—whereas men are portrayed as tough, in control, and aggressive. This trend can be one seen as an inhibitor to the advancement of our culture, because especially for women, it is hard to pull away from the stereotypes that are continuously represented. As examples of the given trend, the following
There are several different forms of stereotyping that media commonly attends to. First, one of the most popular forms of stereotyping involves being male or female. During a Sunday during the fall and winter, most sports fanatics like to watch the National Football League and root for their favorite team. During this time, most commercials are geared towards men with products such as men’s razor blades, body wash, or vehicle advertisements. For example, in the Chevrolet truck ad, “My Truck”, several men are interviewed about how their Chevrolet truck is useful to them. The majority of these men are portrayed as being rough and tumble outdoorsmen who need a reliable truck to get them through the work week. None of the people interviewed were women. A man who earned a living as a cowboy, Ronnie Lee Osterholt, said, “Hot, cold, blizzards- the only thing that has ever outlasted this truck is the license