Is stereotyping in advertisements acceptable ?

This week the topic of discussion was stereotyping in the media, mainly with advertisements.  Stereotyping is an oversimplified image or representation of a general members of a community or racial group. Some negatives about this form of advertisement involve placing members of that group as having one or few characteristics which often unifies a cultural group or race but offers no individuality. This  may mislead or offend viewers  of this racial group if advertisers are not careful in their choices. However stereotyping can have its positive outcomes by emphasizing valued traits of a culture such as family oriented or nurturing.

Here we have a advertisement for baked potatoes which says, "so easy a husband could do it" Here the company is trying to show how easy their product is to make by saying anyone, targeted mainly to husbands who stay out of the kitchen, that they could make this with ease. Some men who can relate to this product might buy it. However, perhaps it might offend men who cook on a regular basis. The message may not be received as clearly because it may be  telling men that they are not capable of cooking when in reality they are equally capable.

I believe it's alright to racially stereotype as long as you use some sort of comedy in it which is received in a non offensive manner or emphasize strong characteristics of a culture which they take great pride in flaunting.

From the Doritos video commercial we can clearly see that racism in advertisements is very current and is used in both positive and negative ways. Here actor Aston Kutcher poses for a pop chip commercial as a Indian with the slogan saying they are Bombay! Clearly racist and this could absolutely offend people of Indian cultural background. Absolutely, the fact that he is a white man painted brown  and wearing Indian clothes this is definitely something that could cause a stir.

And in conclusion I believe that advertisers definitely have a huge responsibility to uphold because they are dealing with mass media which is seen by millions of people. If you put something out there for the public to see you want to be professional because that advertisement not only reflects the standards of your company but it also says a lot about your public relations with society.

3 types of ads using semiotics

1. My first ad is a print advertisement for the 2013 Lexus LS F-Sport.

Denotation: I see a white man and woman walking out of a building. They appear to be in there late 20'a and are dressed up, the man is in business attire and the woman has a nice modern style  dress on. He is looking to the left getting ready to hop in the drivers side and she is looking at him standing by the passengers side. There are silhouettes of a crowd in the back ground which can be seem through the glass doors on the building. The Lexus car is facing front first and looking directly at the viewer. The advertisement reads, the world is your stage, make it a memorable performance". The words "memorable performance are in bold lettering.

Connotation: Judging from the way these two are dressed I would have to say they are pushing for the sophisticated look. The color scheme of this advertisement coordinates well with the Lexus preferred colors. They seem to always go for silver, blacks, and metallic grays. The colors seem to reflect their message which is memorable modern performance. Both models in this piece have a very stern and cool look on their face. No one is smiling, which gives the feeling that this is a car for mature sophisticated but also young drivers.

2. The second ad is a travel advertisement for Little Cesar's Hot-N-Ready pizza


Denotation: a pepperoni pizza on a school bus. Once slice is being pulled apart from the pizza and cheese is being shown as its pulled away. The sign says they have pizza that is hot and ready for 5$

Connotation: because they chose to stick it on a school bus this could mean that they area riveting towards children so when the parents pick up their kids they can be reminded how succulent and hot the pizza is and that it's only for 5$. The price tag sells itself really but the juicy cheese makes you want to take a bite!

3. The video commercial I chose was for the new Axe shower gel.

Denotation: A teenage boy is on a public beach and begins to wash himself. As he washes himself women around him begin to uncontrollably move their hands and rub their body the way he is. When he pours water on his hair they do it. When he shakes his head, they do it. Finally he begins to scrub his back which makes the women behind him unhook their bikini tops. Somehow his hands land on his chest covering his nipples and he turns around to find that the women have their tips untied and are covering their breast. He tries to take his hands off his chest in hopes that the ladies will do the same. Instead they shake their heads and he smiles and strugs his shoulders as to say "it was worth a try anyways ". Then the commercial ends by saying "the cleaner you are, the dirtier you get"

Connotation: I feel like there are some subliminal sexual connotations in this advertisement. I think they are trying to tell people that the shower gel can spark wild things to happen and women will notice you. It's also playing with the viewers mind by leading up to the cliff hanger when you think that the women are going to get naked but then reality kicks in and they don't. It draws you in with curiosity by wanting to try the product for yourself to see what happens.

History of advertisement video

I have to say I really enjoyed watching the video in class about how advertisement came to be. At first I thought to myself, "oh man not another boring video", but it proved me wrong. It managed to grab my attention within the first couple minutes when it talked about how America was trying to enforce a complete opposite type of society by shunning communism with mass consumerism. During this time America was going through the red scare, I believe, and so it was intreging to see that Americans delt with this by encouraging people to be more materialistic and individualistic.

It was also fascinating to look at some of the old methods of advertisement and see some of the obsard tactics in which they used to sell everyday products. It's crazy to me how it appeared that they really didn't care about the long term effects of some of the things they were selling like Coke-A-Cola and Mallburo and even looking at the gender roles of society in that decade you can really notice how times have changed. By doing some research I was able to find some old ads which cracked me up..

Favorite Ad Agency

The ad agency I chose and researched was Grey Advertising. They are a giant agency that assist with many communication disciples such as direct marketing, public relations, public affairs, brand development, interactive marketing, and customer relationship management. They were voted one of the top agencies of 2012 with familiar work such as the E-Trade Baby and the Charlie Sheen commercial for Direct TV. I think that they are a successful ad agency because they use humor in their commercials which sells itself because I believe that it can be used on many different types of demographics and people of all ages.


I enjoyed the Charlie Sheen direct tv commecial because it told a story in small segments like a domino effect. This drew me into the ad and I started to gain a sense of curiosity and I had a good laugh out of it. Finally the ending was goofy, however it answered why you should buy their product without marketing direct tv in a boring way.

Here's a YouTube link for anyone who wants to check it out!

Enjoy..

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TFJAe9snWDg

Brand Gender Preferences

Through out the years, as I've started to pay more attention to brands, I have come to realize that a brand's main objective is to connect with their customer for life. If you ask people what their favorite brand was, in any product, it normally tends to be the one that has been around the longest since they were children. For example choosing Samsung over Apple, Nike over New Balance, or even Toyota over Scion. This has made me question whether they just like the brand because its been around the longest, caters best to their needs, or whether they are just going with the consumerism flow. Furthermore, brand choice is also catered to either men or women. 



Article author, Laura Heller best answers this question in her online article titled," Most Desired Brands by Gender: Women Are From Amazon, Men Are From Geico. She says that brands loyalty normally originates from the brands choice of strategic marketing, "it's empowering for consumers to know they can expect more from a brand than just the best price or being on sale." Women enjoy shopping at Amazon.com because they enjoy the personal way of the brand's marketing. When women shop online its up close and personal. This explains why of the most favored brands by women is Johnson & Johnson. I think that its because they market to women by tapping into their emotions with soft and warm baby advertisements. Men favor brands like BMW because they market a message that shouts life long luxury, dependability, ambition, and masculinity. I think its because color choices like warm grays, blacks, and silver relate better to males. Those colors associate with metals or stability, they represent strength and history. These may be characteristics that the average male would expect and want from a car. 



 think that this way of marketing to men or women is good because it creates a general market for advertisers to focus on because in the real world men and women have completely opposite wants and needs. 

here is the article link, for anyone that wants to check it out..

 http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/02/02/women-are-from-amazon-men-are-from-geico-worlds-most-desired/
By Nickles and Dimes, spend them wisely!