Corporate America Can Be Pretty Sexist
The primary goal of every advertisement is to sell us something. Be it soap or toys or cereal, that photo, design, content, and font were all meticulously chosen with the wallets of the masses in mind. Ours is a consumer-centered culture. It only makes sense, then, that advertising is one of the most powerful mediums we encounter. With great power comes great responsibility, though; some sources estimate that the average adult American sees roughly 5,000 ads each day (Johnson). Because every advertisement is trying to persuade us though, through analysis we can gain a unique look at what corporate America believes is most important and appealing to its demographic. A lot of these analyses are disheartening …show more content…
Sex sells, and the big wigs at every marketing firm know it. This is most obvious in the advertisement of alcoholic beverages, but sexualization has spread to encompass ads about things that would never otherwise be affiliated with sex. A perfect example can be seen in a 2009 Arby's advertisement selling their burgers (Herman). The ad depicts the top view of two burgers, but most of the product is actually completely concealed by a woman's arms grabbing the burgers as though they're her breasts. Beneath the photo is the tag line: "We're about to reveal something you'll really drool over" (italics added for …show more content…
To demonstrate this, let’s look at a particularly current and widely infamous ad made by the clothing company, Bloomingdale’s (Stevens). The advertisement, pictured at the left, shows a man and a woman wearing upscale Bloomingdale’s clothes, presumably at a holiday party. The man is staring at the woman, who is looking off and not noticing him. Alone, this photo, though mildly creepy, could have been a part of a decent ad, but Bloomingdale’s adding a shocking and tasteless tagline: “SPIKE YOUR BEST FRIEND’S EGGNOG WHEN THEY’RE NOT
The primary goal of every advertisement is to sell us something. Be it soap or toys or cereal, that photo, design, content, and font were all meticulously chosen with the wallets of the masses in mind. Ours is a consumer-centered culture. It only makes sense, then, that advertising is one of the most powerful mediums we encounter. With great power comes great responsibility, though; some sources estimate that the average adult American sees roughly 5,000 ads each day (Johnson). Because every advertisement is trying to persuade us though, through analysis we can gain a unique look at what corporate America believes is most important and appealing to its demographic. A lot of these analyses are disheartening …show more content…
Sex sells, and the big wigs at every marketing firm know it. This is most obvious in the advertisement of alcoholic beverages, but sexualization has spread to encompass ads about things that would never otherwise be affiliated with sex. A perfect example can be seen in a 2009 Arby's advertisement selling their burgers (Herman). The ad depicts the top view of two burgers, but most of the product is actually completely concealed by a woman's arms grabbing the burgers as though they're her breasts. Beneath the photo is the tag line: "We're about to reveal something you'll really drool over" (italics added for …show more content…
To demonstrate this, let’s look at a particularly current and widely infamous ad made by the clothing company, Bloomingdale’s (Stevens). The advertisement, pictured at the left, shows a man and a woman wearing upscale Bloomingdale’s clothes, presumably at a holiday party. The man is staring at the woman, who is looking off and not noticing him. Alone, this photo, though mildly creepy, could have been a part of a decent ad, but Bloomingdale’s adding a shocking and tasteless tagline: “SPIKE YOUR BEST FRIEND’S EGGNOG WHEN THEY’RE NOT