Female Stereotypes In Advertising-I M Not Buying It

Female Stereotypes in Advertising – I’m not Buying It. We have all seen the ads in magazines and on television for new and improved goods, but most consumers never take the time to look into the different schemes that advertisers often exploit. One example of this trickery is stereotyping. Because stereotyping is unconsciously overlooked time after time by the consumer, companies use this scheme to effectively place their product in “acceptable” circumstances. While stereotypes are found in nearly every demographic, women are particularly exploited in the advertisements I selected. Therefore, in this essay, I will explain how advertisers use female stereotypes such as their desire to be thin, the demand for them to be beautiful, and the perception that women should perform household chores. One of the most common female stereotypes is that all women desire to be thin. The media suggests that women are only beautiful when they are thin, and they imply this at a young age. For example, the physically-perfect Barbie doll has been an illustration of beauty since its creation decades ago.
Furthermore, most young girls grow up admiring Hollywood actresses and models, nearly all of whom are unattainably thin. When these girls grow up, it is no wonder some of them have unhealthy self-images and poor self esteem about their bodies. This is evident in my first advertisement. In the ad, a plump, unattractive woman is transformed into a beautiful and slender in only nine weeks. While this ad claims that the consumer can lose thirty-five pounds in only a couple of months, it never describes how the customer will lose the weight, or if the product is even safe to use. By emphasizing and dwelling on the stereotype that women have a poor outlook on their bodies, the advertiser is hoping that women will look beyond the unreachable target and buy their product. Another stereotype that women are given is found in their expectation to be fashionable. Women are told that if they want to be popular, they must wear designer clothes, get the newest haircuts, and keep up with all the latest fads. While the desire to be fashionable is something nearly everyone shows to an extent, it is definitely found, and therefore exploited, more in younger to middle-aged women. As long as the advertisers can establish the need for girls to be fashionable, they will be able to sell them merchandise and gain profit from them. In my second advertisement, a young, thin, pretty girl is shown at the beach with her cute outfit and brand new car. Coke is trying to play off the female desire to be attractive by implying that successful women drink diet coke. I feel this is a direct play to a female stereotype. Again, if a man were in the same advertisement, quite a bit would have to change before it would be believable. This advertisement proves that advertisers establish the stereotype that women should be fashionable and successful in order to sell products. When we think of a mother, we think of her as the caregiver of the home.
This implies that she is responsible for all of the cleaning, cooking, and childcare responsibilities while the father goes to work. While this was frequently the case many years ago, it is much less common today. Even though times have changed, Clorox uses its ad to fit this stereotype. The photograph portrays a middle-age woman cleaning the house while a policeman looks on. Because we are accustomed to seeing the woman cleaning, and the officer being a man, this advertisement never strikes us as odd. But again, if the genders were switched, and the cop was female and the man was cleaning, the ad would seem awkward. Because Clorox advertisers understand that the public is accustomed to the fact that women should clean the house, the Clorox Company exploits this in order to sell its
products. In conclusion, nearly every company uses a stereotype of some sort when it comes to selling their product; however, very few people notice this because the ads play to stereotypes already established in their minds. Though this may not be completely ethical, it is something very effective for the advertisers, because they continue to do it. By using stereotypes, companies are able to create a productive advertisement that is believable to the public. Furthermore, even though there are advertisements directed to male stereotypes, as well as different ethnicities, women seem to be the most used targets. This would make it seem that corporations feel that women are easily influenced when it comes to ad persuasion. With the ads I have explained, I found that companies used female stereotypes such as the desire to be thing, the demand for fashion, and the apparent responsibility of household chores in order to sell their products.