The Objectification of Women in Advertisements

The objectification of women is a huge issue in society and is often led by advertising. However many men still believe that the adverts depicting women in a sexual and often passive posture are not very offensive but rather very funny or sexy. However how would they feel if it were their daughter or sister being advertised throughout the world as a sex object?

The Tiger Beer advertisement shown in the appendix is a clear example of the objectification of women in advertising. The Tiger Beer advert was made to appeal to men from the age of 20 to 60. The advert seeks to get a cheap laugh from the target audience with the image of the woman in a sexual pose and the picture of the beer. The ad promotes the idea that beer is the most desirable thing in the ‘Far East’ and that beer is much more important than women. It also openly laughs at the South East Asian sex trade by putting a prostitute in the middle of the ad. The ad also implies that women in the ‘Far East’ are only good for sex (dressing in revealing, sexual clothes designed to make the woman in the ad seem more desirable).

From a technical point of view the ad works very well. There are four main signifiers, the woman, the beer the copy and the first and third place awards. The advert draws the attention of the reader with the large picture of the woman the reader would then view the picture of the beer and quickly read the copy and then move on to the first and third place awards. It also follows the Z formation of many effective ads. The ad clearly excels at a technical level.

However this advert was banned after it was deemed too offensive by advertising watchdogs when they received complains for offensive material. Clearly the ad is offensive to women and degr...

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...oke curiosity as to what it tastes like. For current consumers of Tiger Beer the logo on the bottle would remind them of when they last had a Tiger Beer and create a feeling of longing for Tiger Beer. This advert is very unlikely to cause offence like the previous one. It should also be able to reach its target market as long as it is advertised in the appropriate forums.

The objectification of women in advertising is far too common. Advertising has become so concentrated with images of passive woman wearing little clothing that it is now accepted to laugh at these sexist ads. The reason why some men find this ad funny is because within Australian society there are so many similar ads that it gives the impression that women in adverts are something to laugh at. The new ad is not offensive and should sell Tiger Beers without having to further promote sexism.