For
some reason psychology could probably explain, people tend to follow the crowd.
Once something is commoditized everyone seems to want it to be able to fit in.
In a capitalist society this is where advertisement comes in. To know what the
next big commodity is you need some sort of information to tell you all about
it and why you should buy it. For some people these forms of information need
to provide motivation for them to spend their money. Eventually advertisers
realized manipulating the public with images could serve as that motivation.
The purpose of these images are to manipulate the viewers in many different
ways into associating a certain product with a certain ideal or lifestyle. In
Gloria Steinem’s “Sex, Lies, and Advertising” she mentions how a toy train is
subjected in an advertisement to manipulate consumers. She says about an
advertiser, “They fear that,
if trains are associated with girls, they will be devalued in the minds of
boys.” What literal aspect about a train is masculine and disassociative to femininity?
There are none that the eye can see. These advertisers targeting a male
demographic are just suggesting that boys should not, and don’t want to play
with toys that girls play with.
The
unintended affects that could come from these kinds of advertising are the
promotion of a patriarchal mentality. This may not concern advertisers who are
making these ads to make themselves money but advertisers could also be shutting
away the female consumers who could have potentially been interested in train
toys to. The bigger issue out of the two is the reinforcing of stereotypes that
counter the intelligence of our society. These ads support the idea that the
stereotypes that are upheld in our society are ok. In Bell Hooks’
“Understanding Patriarchy” she talks about a title that accurately describes
our society and how people tend to react to it. She says “Often in my lectures when I use the phrase
‘imperialistic white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’ to describe our nations
political system, audiences laugh.” This suggests that people are so used to
these stereotypes that are supported through advertising and media that they
don’t even take it seriously. Does that mean that they are so used to it that
they are not affected by it or that they understand that they are just made up
stereotypes? Does it mean that these ads are just presenting new ideas people naturally
think are funny or entertaining?
I think that these ideas are learned through interaction in our society
and that the media reinforcing them turns them into popular culture. While some
ads that portray these stereotypes are solely criticizing them; others are just
playing off of them to entertain their audiences that they have conditioned to
enjoy these ads. Below are two contrasting ads, one seeming to be a critique
while the other playing off of a stereotype to manipulate.
Alternatives
to these demeaning advertisements are ads that still entertain without falling
to the feet of sexism and racism. An ad can still be funny and stimulating
without playing off of racial and sexual associations. Advertisers should be
challenging themselves to make entertaining ads that captivate audiences
without taking the easy way out. We all know stereotypes so something new could
really turn things around for the advertisement industry. People are getting
smarter and more educated and will eventually not accept the idiotic ads that
are popular today. An
advertising strategy that could reinforce anti-patriarchy and anti-stereotype
are to release more ads like the NBA ad I attached above. People can relate to
the harm that stereotypical ads do to the psyche of our society. If ads that
expose the horrors of patriarchy or denounce them were more present in the
media the audiences would be equally stimulated if not more. Once people know
what’s wrong with these types of advertisement they will champion ads and media
that go against it.
At
the end of the day advertisement companies just want to make money and sell
their products. Once more companies take the leap and abandon stereotypical
advertisements it will prove that they are not necessary. It will prove that
companies can still make profits and sell products without them. It will also expose
that people no longer want ads like that. We are smarter than that and we want
to create and consume smarter media than that.
Below are links to the
photo and video above that I pulled from You Tube and Google.
Sexist Ad:
Critique Ad
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