Whose Ad Is It Anyway?

Content Analysis of Representations of Women in

Advertising on Television

By: Alex Jaime

INTRODUCTIONWhen doing my analysis, my main focus was

to compare if and how women are portrayed differently in certain ads based on whom the ad is intended for. I believe this is important for communication and media studies so that we, as a society, can make educated decisions about what we’re being told instead of simply accepting it all at face value.

That being said, the question is:Are women portrayed differently in ads geared

toward male viewers vs. female viewers?

PREVIOUS FINDINGS

It was extremely difficult to find any previous research done on my specific question. Many studies have been conducted on how men are portrayed differently than women in the media. However, my question is asking something completely different, which is why I chose to further investigate.

EXPECTATIONS

I expect to find that women are portrayed differently in ads geared toward male vs. female viewers. I am curious to research how this is done. I would expect that women in “men’s” ads are more promiscuous than in “women’s” ads. I am also guessing that the woman is more of a prop in a man’s ad. (For example: I don’t think the woman would be the “hero” of the ad.) Although I expect to find differences, I also expect to find society’s definition of “beautiful” women in both types of ads along with some other similarities.

METHOD

I chose to do a content analysis because of my research topic. In order to do some quality research, I knew I was going to have to look at the content of television ads just like we had to do for class. I chose ten commercials to analyze (5 geared toward male viewers and 5 geared toward female viewers). Then, I coded these commercials in two separate charts and analyzed them in my conclusion.

Here are the links to the 10 commercials I chose to analyze:MEN’S ADS1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paYE628HkHQ&feature=plcp 2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DnQypXp54Q (0:03-0:22) 3)http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice?v=dOFj9toF4Ho 4)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvau8bNwu04&feature=related 5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvIzHgWtwTU&feature=fvwrel

WOMEN’S ADS1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac8Kr6NQm3A&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL3A6D41CA0F01F7D4 2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00AkiTghwJM 3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFbeP6YqHzg 4)http://www.youtube.com/user/gillettevenus?v=QrLSdHy-pzE 5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvZFGdcSlQU

Men’s AdsCommercial#1

Commercial#2

Commercial#3

Commercial#4

Commercial#5

Product Being Sold Speed Stick Digiorno Pizza Old Spice Bud Light Axe (Touch)

Main Characters & Their Relationships

Man & Woman,Co-workers

3 Men & 1 Woman, Husband & Wife and the man’s 2 friends

Man & Multiple Women, No relationship

Man & Multiple Women, No relationship

Man & Multiple Women, No relationship

Location Office (Public) Home (Private) Home (Private) and Public areas

Backstage (Public)

Vacant Building (Private)

Sound/Image Representation

Sound- Character’s voices and a voiceoverImage- Professional

Sound-Character’s voices and a voiceover.Image-Casual

Sound- Character’s voices and a voiceover.Image-Sensual

Sound- Character’s voices and a voiceover.Image-Sensual

Sound-VoiceoverImage-Sexual

Purpose/Message To impress a woman

To impress friends & control a woman

“I am the best” Overly self-confident; To impress women

To be smooth with the ladies

To impress & “touch” a woman

Women’s AdsCommercial#1

Commercial#2

Commercial#3

Commercial#4

Commercial#5

Product Being Sold Gucci Perfume Affresh washer cleaner

Swiffer Gillette Venus Weight Watchers

Characters &Their Relationships

Man &Woman, In sexual relationship

Woman 2 Women, No relationship

Multiple Women and Men

Woman

Location Abandoned city and Bedroom (Private)

Home (Private) Grocery Store (Public)

Bed (Private) and Party (Public)

On a set

Sound/Image Representation

Sound-MusicImage-Sporty & Sexual

Sound-Character’s voices and a voiceover. Image- Casual

Sound-Character’s voices and a voiceover. Image- Casual

Sound- VoiceoverImage- Glamorous

Sound- Character’s voices and a voiceover. Image- Casual & Fit

Purpose/Message To be in control Woman cleans it all

Women clean it all Anything can happen!

Self-confidence,“I can!”

ResultsThe first commercial targeted for men was selling a deodorant called

“Speed Stick”. The commercial had a total of two main characters, a man and a woman. It was set in an office and they were donating blood. The man was clearly afraid of the needle in the beginning of the commercial (which would lead him to sweat), but tried to play it cool because he was in front of the woman. At the end of the commercial, the man stated, “Guess I’m a giver” and the woman replied with, “I love giving!” Obviously, the purpose of this ad was to sell the deodorant. However, in my research I am looking at how the women are portrayed. In this commercial, the woman was easily impressed and even stated that she loved giving. This is something, in modern day life, could be taken very sexually. Therefore, in this commercial, the woman was portrayed as gullible and “easy” which in turn helps sells the product.

The second commercial targeted for men was selling Digiorno Pizza. The commercial had a total of four main characters, a man and his wife along with his two friends. It was set at the household of the husband and wife. The husband was in the backyard with his two friends and they all wanted to order pizza. To do this, he called his wife, who was inside their house. This made the assumption that the wife would drop everything she was doing to make him and his friends the pizza. He even said the words, “Make it snappy!” The woman in this commercial was portrayed to be completely controlled by her husband.

Results Continued

The third commercial targeted for men was selling Old Spice. The commercial had numerous characters, but one main man. In the entire commercial he was repeating phrases of self-confidence (for example, “I am the best”). This gave off the message that if you wear Old Spice, you too would have confidence and success. When the women appeared in the commercial, he was talking about having the best car. Again, the women were impressed which in turn sells the product.

The fourth commercial targeted for men was selling Bud Light. The commercial had numerous women, but one main man. It was set backstage of a concert. The man was instantly greeted by half-dressed, promiscuous women because they all thought he was a part of the band. After they asked him to sign their stomachs, they found out he was, “just here for the Bud Light.” Up until they knew that, the women were all over him. This portrayed the women to be judgmental and promiscuous.

The fifth commercial targeted for men was selling Axe (Touch scent). The commercial had numerous characters, but one main man. The commercial had no words the entire time, and instead showed very sexual scenes. The man used Axe and had various women’s clothes falling off. This clearly sent out the message that if you wore Axe, women would be ripping their clothes off to “touch” you. This portrayed women to again, be promiscuous and “easy”.

Results ContinuedThe first commercial targeted for women was selling Gucci perfume.

The commercial had two main characters, a man and a woman. In the beginning of the commercial, the woman was driving a sporty car at a fast pace. After she stopped the car, she had a vision of a sexual encounter with a man. The woman in this commercial was portrayed as beautifully promiscuous, however, she was in control. She was in control of the car and she initiated the sexual encounter.

The second commercial targeted for women was selling Affresh washer cleaner. The only character in this commercial was one woman. She was scrubbing the shower clean when the washing machine appeared in the bathroom. It was angry that it hadn’t been cleaned yet, and the woman responded with “I’ll clean you next.” The product was intended to help the hassle of cleaning washing machines. The woman was portrayed as a very competent human being with a mindset of “I will do it all.”

The third commercial targeted for women was selling Swiffer. The commercial had two main characters, both women. One woman was shopping in the grocery store and the other woman worked there. The worker recommended the Swiffer product to the other woman and claimed it would work better than anything she’s tried before. This instantly portrayed both women to be the “cleaners” of their households. Again. the woman was portrayed as a very competent human being and in-charge.

Results ContinuedThe fourth commercial targeted for women was selling the razor,

Gillette Venus. There were multiple men and women in this commercial, but the point was very straightforward. With this razor, romance, confidence, and just about anything can happen! The women were portrayed to be very beautiful, glamorous and self confident.

The fifth commercial targeted for women was selling Weight Watchers. The commercial had one character; singer Jennifer Hudson. She talked about how being on Weight Watchers made her believe in herself. Now she is able to say “I can!” Therefore, the woman in this commercial was portrayed to be strong, self confident, and beautiful.

ConclusionAfter conducting a content analysis on representations of women in

advertising on television, I have found that I was both right and wrong with my expectations. To make it easier, I compiled sets of words for the two types of ads I analyzed.

HOW WOMEN ARE PORTRAYED IN:Men’s ads - easy, gullible, controlled, judgmental, promiscuousWomen’s ads- in control, competent, glamorous, self confident, strong

These findings mean that there is definitely a difference in how women are portrayed in ads geared toward male viewers vs. female viewers. In most of the men’s ads, the women were used as props/tools to help sell the product, whereas in the women’s ads, they were selling the product themselves. However, I thought that the “promiscuous woman” would only be found in men’s ads. I was surprised when I really watched just how promiscuous the woman in the Gucci ad was. The only difference was that she was viewed as “in control”.

I believe that my findings were for the most part similar to my expectations, which is because of the way women are portrayed in the media everyday.