White Women In Advertising Essay

Throughout our daily lives, we are bombarded by advertisements trying to sell their products. Although one may think that these commercials are harmless, some products, such as hormonal birth control pills, may have serious health effects that go unaddressed by the ad. A prime example of the manipulation of consumers by drug companies is an advertisement printed by Nexplanon for a birth control implant. The advertisement exemplifies how drug companies utilize racial stereotypes, medicalize menstruation, and present misleading information in order to sell their product, despite the consequences and efficacy of the medication. Foremost, Nexplanon employs long-standing racial stereotypes towards black women by featuring two women, one of which is black. Historically, women of color have often been steered towards birth control methods that last longer. According to Popkin (2009), this promotion of longer lasting methods is based on the stereotype that women of color “cannot be relied upon to use contraceptives that …show more content…
One of the main points in the ad are the lines, “Your life. Your way.” It may seem like the advertisement is suggesting the implant will provide women with empowerment, however this statement is rooted in a deep misunderstanding of menstruation; experiencing menstruation is not, in fact, something that women need to be freed from, nor is it something that prevents women from living their lives the way they want to. Like many drug companies have done in the past, such as the problematization of premenstrual syndrome (Eagan, 1983, pp. 26-30), this advertisement over-medicalizes menstruation in order to convince consumers to buy their product. The problematization of menstruation by Nexplanon not only implies that one of the body’s natural processes is hindering, but may also contribute to a lack of comfortability that young women may have towards their