#6 Gender

Blog #6

Gender stereotypes tend to target women most of the time. They are seen as seductive, sexual symbols or housewives, someone who do not have much power and need to be protected and looked after. Women have always seen to be weak. At least, those are the few qualities I have seen in advertising for women. You barely see women wearing business clothes and working, but you see women in lounge wear and taking care of their homes. Nissan's #withdad commercial is an example of the housewife version of a woman. The woman stays home and look after her child while her NASCAR driver husband goes to work. The commercial shows that he bare goes home and the wife takes care of the child. It is referring to the idea that males go to work while females stay home and take care of the family. However, I do not think it is fair to women to always be seen with this kind of qualities. There are female NASCAR drivers out there but there are barely any commercials about them, and here, Nissan shows a male NASCAR driver and a stay-home wife. This clearly shows the role in the household and depicts the wife as weak and cannot work. However, we are not in that time when women need to obey their husbands and work as housewives. We are in the twentieth century. Today, women have their own jobs, they no longer take care of their children and husbands. They are independent, more specifically, they are financially independent. They are as smart as men and work as hard as men. They are able to do the things that men can do disregarding the biological difference. So, why should women be a symbol of sex or housewives? Why can't men be a symbol of sex or stay-home husbands?

We have to promote better understandings to people in today's society that women are strong and independent figures. We have to show and prove to ourselves that we are not as outdated and uneducated enough as we were in the old days, to think that women are still the stay-home moms and sex symbol. We are educated people, we have to promote equality for both female and male. Advertising has an advantage to change how people view and treat females, thus it also has huge responsibility to motivate how people think about gender. We have to take advantage of advertising to promote positive and strong qualities of women and grant them the respect that they deserve.

#5 Race

Blog #5

1.
The first show that came in mind when I thought of gender and race diversity was American's Next Top Model. This is a reality show and features women as its focus. It is a fact that today's model industry is dominated by females, males only represent a minority. Even though there are some very successful male supermodels like Tyson Beckford and David Grandy, American's Next Top Model continues the "female-model" trend. However, males are entered into the few most recent seasons of the show. I think it is a very good idea to have males in the show. Not only does it make the show more interesting and the contest more intense, it adds more attention to the show because males are modeling in the show. I think this will attract males to watch to the show because males can finally see someone with the same gender as them in a show that has been dominated by females. It shows hopes and opportunities in the shows and the modeling industry for both females and males. I am happy that the show considered adding males to the contest. I think gender diversity is very important in the show because it changes people's thoughts and comment about the difference between genders. I think this show will change how people think of male modeling and be more open-minded about it. Generally speaking, gender diversity is very important in today's society. It is important because it changes how the society and media will portray certain gender. It affects the way people think and treat you. It also affects what kind of job you will get.

I personally think this show is somewhat racially diverse. Their contestants contains white, Asians, African Americans and etc. However, I think personally think they do not have many Asians throughout this show. I also think the result of each season is not diverse because it is usually a white female who wins. Even though this contest involves multiple votes from judges and fans, fan vote can be bias. People who vote could be biased because they like or dislike a certain race, or they have strong opinions on certain matter. Even though they have many diverse contestants, the progress of determining the winner does not seem racially fair to me. Furthermore, racial diversity is just as important as gender diversity for the same reasons.

2.
I personally do not think there are any racial stereotypes, but I do think there is gender stereotype. I remember in cycle 20 of the show there was a gay male who was always told by photographers and the judges that he needed to be more masculine. It was obvious that the expectation they had for male models was masculinity. I thought that was very gender stereotypical because males are always expected to be masculine and females are always to be feminine. However, I do not think they should have expectations like that because how they model depends on the product or company they are modeling for. Sometimes males models have to be a little feminine when they are modeling for someone or something that requires this quality. I think this show should not narrow their male requirement to only masculinity. I think something they could try to do in order to avoid gender stereotypes is to let opposite sex play opposite roles. Females could try to dress in male clothes and model, while males could model for cosmetics such as nail polish and facial products.

#4 Stereotypes: Race

Blog #4

I personally think it is never right to racially stereotype anything, even for advertising purposes. Racial stereotype is not only disrespectful to a person, but it is also disrespectful to the entire race that person belongs to. When ads racially stereotype a certain race, people unconsciously do that same thing. Thus, it is not acceptable to racially stereotype even for advertising purposes because it will affect how people think of that certain race even if it is unintentional. I often want to question the creators behind some racially stereotypical ads, what is their purpose? Is it really advertising the product or is it mocking certain kind of people to promote their product? I really do hope they are just simply advertising their product but I know sometimes that isn't the ultimate purpose. Ads creators must know that every race is equal and even if you have the right to say what you want, you have to respect each individual's race.

Racism is definitely not a thing of the past because we still see ads, every now and then, that racially target a group of people. The Mountain Dew ad we discussed in class is an example of racism that is happening today. A line of black males was controversial because African Americans have always been viewed as criminal suspects. Even though African Americans have been suspected the most, there were never many images or clips that confirms this judgment. However, the Mountain Dew commercial made it clear for the viewers that African Americans are an icon for criminal.

Advertisers have ethical responsibilities because it is the advertisers' job to send out convincing messages to promote the product rather than degrading someone or something. However, everyone in the society has ethical responsibility because they are the one who decides and judge commercials. Ads are created to target everyone in the society. Hence, advertisers make ads according to what people think. Everyone has to have ethical value in order to change how ads will be interpret.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s8gLSldKM0

#3 Semiotic Analysis

Blog #3

Magazine:

Denotation:

• French Fries
• Fries on fire
• Black background
• Red fires container
• Product (coffee bean) is in white
• Description of product (coffee bean)
• "burn fat"
• Smoke

Connotation:

• Selling coffee bean
• You can eat all the junk food you want and will not get fat if you buy coffee bean
• The fires in the black background represents the "devil", and the coffee bean in the white background represents the "angel"
• burning calories/fat

Outdoor:

Denotation:

• Red background
• Empty coca cola bottle
• A straw in the bottle
• Straw faces directly to the top of the ladder
• Quote

Connotation:

• Drink coke will make you feel good
• Makes you have desire because the bottle is empty so you would want to purchase a bottle
• Coca Cola is easy to access because there is an actual ladder
• Coca cola cease thirst or make you feel refreshed because someone finish the bottle after climbing up the ladder (excising)

TV:

Denotation:

• A guy with wig
• Hair blow dryer
• Swimming pool
• Curling iron
• Comb
• Mirror
• Hair tie
• Aussie hair products
• Girl with perfectly curled blond hair
• Beach

Connotation:

• Dealing with hair takes a LONG time
• Girls' problem
• Getting perfect curls is hard
• Hair problem restricts many activites
• Aussie can help you perfect hair in just a a few minutes
• #DitchHairProblem

#2 Super Bowl 2015 Commercials

Blog #2

My favorite Super Bowl commercial is McDonald's "Pay With Love" because I think this story really brings back the primary meaning of McDonald, and that is love. In the commercial, I see family hugs; I see a mother telling her son what she loves about him; I see individuals calling their mothers and telling them that they love them; I see people dancing and enjoying the moment. All these actions make people realize or recall McDonald's most original purpose, love. After watching this ad, I got a little bit emotion because it brought me back to my childhood time when my grandma used to take me to McDonald. It makes me realize that it is not just a place for fast food, but also a place for family, friends, and love. I personally think the brand story is very successfully delivered through this storytelling because it shows happy and loving moments or memory that people might have been through in the past.

Even though I am not a football fan and don’t watch football, I think Super Bowl is a very important advertising medium. As to what I know, most of my friends watch football, and they do pay attention to the commercials because they look forward to the humor and all sorts of strange and new things. Some of my friends who don’t watch the Super Bowl still watch the ads because they find it very interesting. Super Bowl is a very good and important advertising medium because many people watch it for the commercials. According to an article on USA Today, about 70 percent watch the commercials before the game.

Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq2Sm2XGv_s

Article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ad-meter/super-bowl/buzz-meter/2014/01/14/ad-meter-story-this-just-in-people-still-mostly-watch-super-bowl-for-ads/4458163/

#1 Favorite ad and why

Blog #1

My favorite ad agency is the Leo Burnett Company, also known as Leo Burnett Worldwide. This agency caught my attention because of one of the advertisements I saw, #LikeAGirl by Always. This ad really inspired me, so I decided to do a little research about this agency. I found out that I have watched many of the ads that are produced by this agency, but I never knew the creator behind those ads. I feel that their ads are always trying to teach people something, have them reflect on their daily life and ponder upon their needs, hopes and problems. For instance, the ad, #LikeAGirl makes me think about my meaning of telling someone that he or she does something like a girl. Unconsciously, I insult girls. After watching this ad I took some time to think about what it is like to be "like a girl", and realized there is nothing wrong with being "like a girl" because I am a girl. However, I am not aware that I am hurting myself and other girls. Furthermore, I admire how this agency creates ads that relate to people's lifestyle which brings attention to the actual purpose of the ads. In order to have more positive messages sent out, Leo Burnett works with many big companies. Their clients are big companies such as Samsung, Allstate, Kellogg's, McDonald, Coca Cola and etc. To their clients, Leo Burnett offers a full set of services ,which brings more business to the agency and makes it convenient for their clients.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs