Ads

Part One: First Advertisement--This Arby's commercial is obviously advertising Arby's roast beef sandwiches. The 'hidden' but obvious message is a women holding her breasts, which are the sandwiches. I feel like this advertisement would make a man desire an Arby's sandwich just a tad bit more. Under the picture in red it states, "We're about to reveal something you'll really drool over", meaning she might possibly lift her hands... that's the vibe I got from that message. I don't feel like this ad would draw most women into Arby's to drool over a sandwich. Gender roles for sexual ads are mainly exploiting women. Why can't this ad be a man?

Second Advertisement--This ad, in my opinion, is terrible. He is more interested in the car than he is her. He should be genuinely aroused by her but isn't. This act is crude and he is not interested in her looks at all. Yes, BMWs are nice but what this man is doing is very degrading to her and all women. I feel like this ad is saying that buying a red BMW is better than than sex. "The ultimate attraction" would make any girl feel bad about herself.

Part Two: I like this ad a whole lot. It's saying "yeah my thighs may not be stick thin like a supermodel's but they are strong and 'cheered on in marathons'". She is embracing her strength and isn't afraid of being muscular. She thinks it's a good thing, which it is. Not all women are made size 2, and she's proud that she is toned and showing everyone she's looking hot. If I was to create an advertisement to show a strong woman I would use a well-known, well liked celebrity maybe. Someone that most people look up to or admire. It would help the popularity of the advertisement and the celebrity.

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PART TWO:

In this ad, it is advertising beer. The advertisement is clearly giving off the vibe that what could be better than anything that is skinny and blonde. I wonder how much the company would make by having a large, dark haired woman on there? Probably half as much as portraying a happy, perky blonde who in today's society seems to be the "ideal woman". This advertisement is just proving the point that people's outlook on women is extremely skewed.


PART ONE:

In this Durex Advertisement, it shows a woman with the sides of her mouth bandaged due to what we can only guess what. This obvious sexual ad is vulgar. I will give it that it is for a condom, but the "Really Big" in the bottom left hand corner is enough to tell a story in its own. One, how is this supposed to sell in the first place? Is it supposed to give guys the notion that "Buy the Durex condom and get THAT much bigger"? Sorry guys, doesn't work that way. This ad is unnecessary and explicit.

The Second ad on the right is advertising "shoes", really? Since when do shoes and sex go together? Puma is advertising the wrong thing in this ad, unless there is a 1-800 number written somewhere that I can't see that you can call for a "good time". One could wonder why the woman is even wearing shoes, because she clearly isn't the one reeking the benefits from the magical puma Gods.

Both of these ads are advertising the same thing for two completely different products. Who ever knew that condoms and shoes would have so much in common! They are both perfect examples of the saying that sex sells! Both are directed to make the man feel powerful when using either of these products.

Part 2: This photograph is advertising a Pontiac. The car company put a woman in the back seat and it looks like the man in the window is telling her to "spread her legs." I get the reason advertisers pick the lines they do to put in ads. Yes, it catches your attention but in the process you are degrading people, and most of the time its women. This personally doesn't offend me but it might some women. I don't really have any suggestions on what I would do differently because I find most of the ads humorous... that is part of their purpose.

Part 1:


This advertisement on the left is for a Nintendo PSP, which is a game device. It says on the ad that they are coming out with a new version which is apparently going to be white. The first generation of this device was black. This ad is implying that the new white one will be better than the old black one, and that it will basically DOMINATE the old one. There are so many things wrong with this advertisement. I can't really tell if the skinny white woman is grabbing the face of a woman or a man but she looks pissed. They have made the white woman stand out in the photo while the you can barely see the black person.

The photograph on the right is advertising for a drink. Unlike the other ad the people are smiling but it seems so fake. Also, the white people are sitting down, looking up at the black server, which is rare to see. Usually the white people are taller or on a different level than the black. But here, the degrading part is that the white couple have a black servant handing them the drink. This ad is old and might have been some what acceptable back then, but today it would be considered outrageous.

In this week's readings race was the main focus. A black woman spoke about how white women are always portrayed as being superior in society. Most ads are with white skinny women because that is considered beautiful to "everyone". I have watched America's Next Top Model for many seasons and there are gorgeous women on that show. Many black women have actually won the contest in numerous seasons. One year even a plus size girl won.

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     Where should I begin with this ad? It is extremely vulgar. It is obviously relating to the length of a man's penis. The fine print states " Fill your desire with something long, juicy, and flame grilled.... Yearn for more after you taste the mind blowing...." This burger king ad is relating to sex and sexual acts to try to sell a sandwich. The woman pictured is blond and has on bright red lipstick, which is a sort of sexual fantasy for men, this is only heightened because her mouth is wide open. This blatantly obvious sex ad is extreme and there are much better ways the sandwich could be advertised.

     This is a famous poster that was placed all around our country during WWII. It was meant to keep men from getting STD's so they would be able to fight for our country healthy. (At the bottom it says "You can't beat the Axis if you get VD." And while all of this is true, why does it have to be a woman that is spreading the disease? Men spread the disease just as fast as women do. It makes men think that women are the only one's with this disease, and while it was for a good cause it is still presented in a way that puts women down.

     I think that advertisements, whether new or old, still do not represent women in a way that they should be represented. It is not right that women are put in positions that make them look like sexual deviants, such as both of the ads above. They both make present women in a way that shows that all they are concerned with is having sex. This is not something that should still be happening in our country.

     This ad is very empowering to women. It is one of many that Nike is currently showing. Some of the others show wide shoulders, tomboy knees, and thunder thighs. The text says things like "My butt is big and round like the letter C and ten thousand lunges have made it rounder not smaller...And those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it. Just do it." I really like all of these advertisements because they show women, and even men, that women are built a certain way. And no amount of exercise can change their build. Exercise will tone their body, but not change it. I like that it makes women be proud of what they have, and helps them to embrace it.

Magazine Advertisements

Part One:

These two images were advertisements that I thought are good representations of what we have been reading and what we have been talking about in class. The message in the Mcdonalds advertisement is to get people to buy their fries. However, they do not say anything about fries. To me this is the less obvious message being communicated since all they have is a picture of fries. The advertisement says "Tall, blonde and gorgeous". This message is obviously portraying a beautiful female, maybe even the desired female. It seems as if they are making you desire to have these fries by relating them to a tall, blonde, gorgeous woman.

Another advertisement I thought definitely represented the issues in class was the Dolce & Gabbana ad. They are known for their racy ads. When I first looked at this advertisement, I have no idea what they are trying to sell. All I see is a woman being held down by a man and a few other men standing around watching, possibly waiting their turn to be with her. After I did some researching, this ad is for a fragrance. A fragrance??? Didn't see that one. Women in Spain, Italy, and the United States thought the ad was demeaning and portrayed a man raping a woman. An article about this image stated that in 2008 Dolce and Gabbana won a prize for its "continuing depiction of women under a sexist angle over the years". Congrats?

Both of these advertisements relate to "The Beauty Myth". The Dolce and Gabanna advertisement shows men controlling a woman and being the dominant force. The ad reinforces that men have the power in relation to the women. They also reinforce the beauty myth by having a woman that is stunning and very skinny and men that are are ripped and good looking. The beauty myth in the Mcdonalds advertisement reinforces the want to have "something" tall, blonde, and gorgeous.

Part Two:

Dove's *Real* Beauty advertisement works against reinforcing dominant myths of what constitutes beauty. Usually women in magazines are tall, emaciated, and have no clothes on or are wearing some kind or sexy lingerie. The Dove advertisement shows what people would define as real women in society. These women are proud of their bodies and I like that Dove gave these women a feeling of empowerment. It proved to women around the world that you should love and embrace your body and men should too! If I was creating my own advertisement I would use a man for a masculine product and a women for a feminine product without undermining women in either one.

Week 4 Wallwisher Link

Hey folks! There is a new Wallwisher up! Please go to it and respond to the article, "The mean girls of Morehouse" or the Naomi Wolf video on the beauty myth.

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/Ws200-3-4
http://www.vibe.com/content/mean-girls-morehouse

LEARNING MODULE 3

For this week, please POST a NEW blog vs. COMMENT under this blog posting.

PART ONE:
Search the web and find TWO magazine advertisements that you think are representative of the issues being raised in your readings and class this week.  Now attach these to your blog posting.  Then, in 3 paragraphs analyze the content in the selected images.  What are both explicit and implicit (obvious and less obvious) messages being communicated through the advertisements (re: gender, sexuality, class, race, etc.). How do they reinforce particular beauty myths? (use your readings)  How do they reinforce (or not) dominant “scripts” about gender identities and relationships.


PART TWO:
Now find one advertisement (and attach it) that you think works against reinforcing dominant myths of what constitutes beauty, and against dominant messages about normative gender and sexuality.  Then, in 1 paragraph, tell us why?  If you were creating your own advertisement what might you include or feature in order to empower women and men?

The advertisements shown here are for visual interest only and cannot be used in your responses for this Learning Module.