After viewing the magazine, Us Weekly, it is obvious that the magazine is predominately read by white women. The demographics of this magazine include women between the ages of eighteen and forty-nine. According to the Us Weekly Reader Profile, their audience is typically a college student or a working women. A large number of these women are married and have children. Based on the ad being reviewed from the brand Oscar Mayer, the company feeds off the young student or mother audience. Oscar Mayer uses their ad to assume that although parents may have to worry about the hormones of their growing teen, they do not have to worry about an unhealthy product. The audience being targeted is based on Oscar Mayer’s assumption that their buyers have …show more content…
children and are financially well to buy their products. The Oscar Mayer product being portrayed is “Natural turkey breast”. The ad features two horizontal images, the first containing a white couple kissing in a movie theater. In large letters below the image the ad states, “Some things are full of hormones”. As these letters jump off the page, it is also clear that each movie goer is white. There are only heterosexual couples in the theater as well. Oscar Mayer begins to assume already who reads this magazine and is most likely to buy their product after viewing this ad. The couple kissing in the photo are well dressed showing that they may come from middle class homes.
Even though the ad says nothing about money, it can be easily assumed the teens have money. They could afford movie tickets and popcorn, so they must be able to buy Oscar Mayer products. Oscar Mayer has assumed that any person who reads Us Weekly has enough money to support themselves and buy their meat. Besides the teens having enough money, the parents of the teens could have paid for their movie tickets as well. Either way the image portrays this action, the company believes that whoever views this ad, will have enough money for entertainment (movie theater) and healthy …show more content…
foods. Parents who read Us Weekly, may have children at the dating stage or could remember when their child was. Viewing these teens in the photo could have parents relate to this ad more than if they just stated the case of the meat and hormones without the picture of the couple. Oscar Mayer is telling parents if they have to deal with this situation, at least they get a healthy option for sandwich meat. These parents are pressured to feel a sort of comfort, the fact that they only have to deal with the teens and not the food that they purchase. Being placed in Us Weekly, has many assumptions based on the magazines readership containing young adults and adults with children. Oscar Mayer can assume many “facts” about the two groups, even though they have complete different lives. The two groups can relate to the kissing couple in a myriad of ways. Parents in this case could still be packing lunches for their children or buying this brand for the entire family. Either way it goes Oscar Mayer is assuming that a culturally “good” parent would want this product as a healthy alternative to any other brand. Knowing that their kids are dealing with all types of hormones, the good mom would make sure that the food they eat does not contain hormones. Oscar Mayer focuses on the fact that every parent wants to be a good one and do the right thing. The teens kissing in the movie is a way to bring their ad back to real life. Not only is it a reality for parents, but also they young adults who could relate to movie theater kissing. Kissing in the movies has become a cultural norm for young adults. Seeing this action in an ad is just another way Oscar Mayer assumes what type of people will look at their ad. The horizontal photo below the teens is a large package of their lunch meat. In all caps as well the ad states, “We’re Not [full of hormones]”. Oscar Mayer uses interpellation with their large lettering, assuming that teen consumers would not read a more informational ad (Iftkhar, S. [PowerPoint Slides]). The large image of their package will make it easy for consumers to remember when shopping. Oscar Mayer plays on the fact that many of the readers of this magazine are in college. Many of which have just began grocery shopping. By placing their package clearly at the bottom of the ad, having nothing to do with the couple kissing, they are assuming that these readers will remember their product while shopping. Even though the image of packaged meat has nothing to do with couple kissing, Oscar Mayer uses product-information format.
They clearly state what their product does and does not include (Iftkhar, S. [PDF]). This could be the brands way of assuming that today’s audience likes fast information. All of this information is clear right on ad and package, this could also be a way of fitting into a college or working women’s life. These women typically would not have time to study what goes into their food.
Playing off the busy life aspect of the audience reading this magazine, these fast pace women also want to be healthy. Being in Us Weekly where many of the articles include celebrities working out or eating right. These consumers wish for the same thing; Oscar Mayer makes their product look as it is the healthiest option going back to the large text of “We’re Not [full of hormones]”. Instead of selling any of their other products in this particularly magazine, they decide to use a “Natural” product. Assuming that everyone who views this ad loves eating a healthier diet or wish they ate a healthier
diet. This company can assume that whenever their consumers see words such as “natural” they automatically think it is a better option. For those in college looking to buy groceries, this could usually be the case. Oscar Mayer knows that the image of the teens kissing would pull in other teens, while the word natural would get college students to believe they are eating better. The assumption that everyone wants to eat “right” plays a large role in this ad. There is not much in the ad to tell us that the product is in fact healthy. Yet, the culture assumption that natural means better for our bodies is evident in young shoppers who may not actually look into a products content. Oscar Mayer has created an ad that may appeal to young adults in college and adult women with children. In this case Oscar Mayer creates the belief that they know who will most likely purchase their products. Culturally, they have assumed that only white adults who are teens with hormones or have teens with hormones will be appealed when viewing this ad. Being able to target two groups had made it easy for Oscar Mayer to assume the way that these groups may act regardless of which group they identify (young adult or mom). By strategically placing the two horizontal images with bold lettering, Oscar Mayer has delivered fast facts to their audience, who they assume need fast information, as a part of their busy lives. Oscar Mayer has
As a group, we believe that popular culture does in fact perpetuates stereotypes. Television is a main source of information of popular culture. Television has forever changed how humans have interacted with another and introduce a world of diversity and knowledge. But with this profit, television has also harbored negative aspects. As a group, we studied how racial stereotypes are portrayed in television. In the history of television, different racial and ethnic groups have been widely underrepresented and television itself has been overwhelming represented by white figures. And when racial groups are presented on TV, the characters are often played in limited roles based on stereotypes. A stereotype isn’t necessarily untrue, but it is an assumption based on an incomplete and complex ideas that are oversimplified into something that isn’t what it meant to be, and it’s usually negative. For example, African Americans are often depicted as violent or involved in some kind of criminal activity. Their characters often portrays a person who is always sassy and angry or that isn’t intelligent and won’t succeed in life and inferior to whites in some manner. Asian characters are
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
The top is two teenagers showing their “love” with a sub text stating “Some things are full of hormones.” and the bottom with the lunch meat with a seal that says natural. It also has a sub text saying “We’re not.” What can be concluded from this ad is the first appeal is “attention” due to grabbing your attention with imagery and text. The second is safety because the ad says that Oscar Mayer meat is safe with no additives. And the last appeal is physiological need of food due to the product being food for
The audiences of the commercial are both men and women. Teens are also a highly targeted audience because they are the main demographic of the line and are the most likely consumers of the product. The commercial is focused from a male’s point of view; this is seen by the way the models are provocatively positioned to face the camera and their poses through the ad. The commercial
Bordo’s essay shows the way that women are constantly being bombarded with commercials. Advertisements portray the idea that you are what society envisions you being, if you don’t make a certain choice regarding to the kinds of food you eat, and the amount of food you eat. They say that if you don’t eat a certain kind of cereal, that you will be fat, or that you look unattractive eating that thick, burger, and instead, you should have some
The Ugly Truth, a film which was released in 2009, displays many particular stereotypes and gender issues which we find within American society. Gender is made up of socially constructed ideas which are reinforced by society in regards to what it means to be masculine or feminine. We first learn gender from our parents; however they too had to first learn it from their families and society. Within the American society, the media takes on a large role in creating gender norms. The media is made up of films, magazines, television programs, and news papers. The Ugly Truth, although a funny film, perpetuates these stereotypes and ideas of gender provided by our society.
“Bringing Down the House” featuring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah is a clever comedy that creatively showcases the sociolinguistic phenomena covered in this course. The film is about a tax attorney named Peter, played by Martin, who stumbles into an online lawyer chat room and meets Charlene, played by Latifah. The two chat frequently, mostly about court cases, and eventually decide to meet in person. When the day finally comes, Peter is greeted at the door with who he thought would be a middle-aged Caucasian woman, but happened to be Charlene, a black woman who just escaped from prison. Thinking this was a mistake, Peter tries to kick out Charlene but is later convinced she is the one who he was speaking with in the chat room. Charlene was able to successfully impersonate a lawyer through speech, and along with a deceiving picture, able to convince Peter she was a petite blonde. During these chats, the two talked about court cases that happened to relate to Charlene’s predicament with the law. In attempt to clear her name from a crime she did not commit, Charlene researched the judicial system and similar court cases to hers while in prison. Now that she is out, she seeks personal assistance from Peter who has already through the internet, given her support. All throughout the movie the characters contrast in viewpoints, culture, and most importantly for our studies, language. Charlene and Peter represent different language backgrounds which we can analyze as the root of their character development and actions throughout the film.
The Carl Jr “All Natural Burger” commercial advertisement depicts a woman walking through a farmers market with enhanced assets. The woman has blonde hair, blue eyes and perfect skin with every indication that she is seen as the perfect woman. Her main goal is to sell an all-natural that has no antibiotics, no hormones and no steroids.
Imagine that you are of Arab decent you being screened more thoroughly than others at the airport. The only way the airport staff can identify that you are of Arab decent is based on your family name, Najjar. The airport staff constantly takes extra measures to confirm that you are not a terrorist. Stereotypes have existed in American culture for centuries. Early in American history stereotypes of Negroes and Mexicans predominately associate them with lower-class attributes (Campbell, 1967).
To sum up, it is often said that advertising is shaping women gender identity, and some have been argued that the statement is true, because of the higher amount of sexual references of women that advertisement show and the damages that occur on women’s personality and the public negative opinions of those women. As well, the negative effects that those kinds of advertisements cause to young generations and make them feel like they should simulate such things and are proud of what they are doing because famous actors are posting their pictures that way. Others deem this case as a personal freedom and absolutely unrelated to shaping women gender identity. On the contrast, they believe that, those sorts of advertisements are seriously teaching women how to stay healthy and be attractive, so they might have self-satisfaction after all.
Advertising in American culture has taken on the very interesting character of representing our culture as a whole. Take this Calvin Klein ad for example. It shows the sexualization of not only the Calvin Klein clothing, but the female gender overall. It displays the socially constructed body, or the ideal body for women and girls in America. Using celebrities in the upper class to sell clothing, this advertisement makes owning a product an indication of your class in the American class system. In addition to this, feminism, and how that impacts potential consumer’s perception of the product, is also implicated. Advertisements are powerful things that can convey specific messages without using words or printed text, and can be conveyed in the split-second that it takes to see the image. In this way, the public underestimates how much they are influenced by what they see on television, in magazines, or online.
Stereotypes In the Media Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary, stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, held by a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere in the world. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways, it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes.
The average American is exposed to hundreds of advertisements per day. Advertisements targeted toward females have an enormous effect on women's thoughts, attitudes, perceptions, and actions. Most of the time, women don't even realize these advertisements are formulating self-image issues. These ideals surround them daily and they become naturalized to the ads. Advertising creates an entire worldview persuading women to emulate the images they see all around them. In order to create a market for their products, companies constantly prey upon women's self esteem, to feel like they aren't good enough just the way they are. This makes women constantly feel stressed out about their appearance (Moore). Advertising has a negative effect on women's body image, health, and self-esteem.
The Shape of America As marketing strategies have evolved, they have enhanced the ability of advertisers to communicate to the "masses" more effectively than ever before. This ability has allowed advertisers to not only reach more markets, but to be more influential in the decision making process of the audience. American society, especially young women, is being influenced more by advertisers now than in previous generations. It is not by accident that teenagers and young adults are targeted by advertisers, especially since their purchasing power as a group exceeds that of any other consumer group. Not only have advertisers learned to identify specific products that appeal to men and women, but they have also found that the "want" of the consumer can be turned into a "need" for the advertised product.
There are a lots and lots of advertises that contains a bit of exaggeration, sex and a message to make the consumer feel an association going on by using or buying that product. For example, Coors light beer commercial contains a lot of stuff that might get people to feel an association going on if he or she drinks that Coors light beer. On one of the Coors light beer commercial, there's a commercial that shows couple of young man and woman drinking Coors light beer and playing volleyball up on the Rocky mountains. A lot of people especially the people around their 20's would be convinced that if he or she drinks Coors light beer, then they could enjoy the coolness of being young and active. Since the commercial contains both sex, it would refer to the people aroun...