Roles. Roles. Roles.

Perplexed is probably an understatement for me in terms of my previous post. It seems that I am again on the issue of stereotyping utilized in advertising. What I want to do is try to be a little more definitive, meaning that I do not end up with an underlying issue that leaves me confused (if that's possible).

Roles. We all have roles in society don't we? Men work and women stay at home. Men mow the lawn, fix the house, and do the dirty work. Women keep the house clean and take care of the kids. But is all of this true? Why do we think this? Well, let's face it, advertising could be part of the reason for why roles are played this way. Let's say it is. Because in advertising, we can see the conspicuous (or inconspicuous for those who do not notice it) gender stereotypes that are played for the public to see.

Let's begin with an Easy Bake commercial in 2011. Obviously, the company targets young girls. How do they though? Well for one, there are young girls in the commercial. The music is sang by girls. The dominant colors are pink, purple, and white. Not to mention that they are doing their "job" as a female would, which is hinted by their mother working in the kitchen (clearly this is a connotation, but come on, does it not look like that?). Now this may not be the intention of the advertiser's, but it can definitely be construed as so.

Here's another one that's presented by AXE, a men's deodorant brand. Here, women are being objectified. In this commercial, there's an average looking man (not the one with large muscles and a protruding chin) who gets in bed with a woman because he used AXE. Throughout the commercial, the woman doesn't let go and he ends up using something called a "morning after pillow" to escape her. This commercial definitely doesn't give women the respect they deserve. It's implications are very harmful even if the intent wasn't meant to be.

Although women are given gender roles, so are men. For example, the man in this commercial for KRAFT has a deep voice, is muscular and defined, wears a v-neck t shirt, and speaks with a soothing voice. Essentially this man represents men women wish they had. And with this, they objectify him the same way advertisement's objectify women portraying them in a "sexy" manner. Therefore, it is implying that women should think of all men this way (it's a stretch, but hey, that's all I can think of for now). Although I am not offended in the least, there may be men who do dislike this type of depiction of man.

So I'm just providing a couple issues here. Is there a solution to at least balance the roles men and women play? I would like to think so. Most definitely for the first commercial that I showed (Easy Bake), there is a solution. What I would I do is add an even amount of boys and girls (1 boy and 1 girl). They would cooperatively bake together, dance together, and be in the kitchen baking with mother and father. Instead of a song sang by a girl, the song could have a male and female duet. The colors involved in the commercial could also be balanced. Such that there is an even amount of light and dark colors. I feel that this would be a proper solution to alter the gender role stereotype depicted in the original commercial. Now the AXE commercial is a hard issue to tackle. But maybe two brands can make a commercial together. For example, Dove and AXE could collaborate. Dove could make the exact same commercial as AXE, except the roles switch. That means that there would be a man stuck on a woman who uses Dove deodorant. They could also then use hash tags in their commercial in order to help increase social media popularity. For instance, "Dove Vs. AXE" (Battle of the Sexes). That would then even out the playing field. Yes, it may still be gender role stereotyping, but at least it's even. Now, the last commercial, I have no solution for. Take it out. Or leave it and make more commercials like that. For all I know, women are objectified so much in commercials. They are given this role to look extremely skinny and have massive sex appeal. It's unrealistic. Men depicted in the KRAFT commercial; that's also unrealistic. I really do not have a solution for it, except for take it down. What do you think?

Lost In Translation.

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It is 2013, does stereotyping have a place in marketing anymore? Throughout the past years, marketing agencies have integrated stereotyping in their advertisements in order to target a specific population of consumers. This includes portraying certain races in advertisements in a manner that seem offensive to different people. Whether the agencies' intent was meant to harm other races or not is beyond me. All I know is that as time progressed, more people began to show great disapproval towards these types of advertisements. As a person who believes that stereotyping is no longer necessary, I can still see why it is needed in the eyes of a marketing agency.

Obviously, the objective of a marketing agency is to help sell a product through the use of many advertising tools. Economically speaking, the purpose of a company is to maximize profit. Here is where the issue lies. How does a company maximize profit through marketing? Well, we have the different types of advertising tools (commercials, magazine ads, etc.) and its mass production (by this, meaning maximizing the amount of tools to send the message to the public). Next, we have the content. How can a marketing agency maximize profit through marketing in an ad itself? The best way I can think of is to target a large population. How? Through developing an ad that can make (or close to make anyways) that population relate to it. This is where stereotyping comes into play. This is how and why I can see marketing agencies still find stereotyping necessary. However, do marketing agencies take it too far sometimes?

The stereotypes marketing agencies depict are sometimes taken too far. What is meant by "taken too far" is that these advertisements have made an implicit and/or explicit offensive statement to a distinct group of people. The idea of being "taken too far" comes from the public that perceives and gives meaning to these advertisements. The issue is that we do not entirely know the true intent behind stereotypes that are presented in these advertisements. In addition, there is the problem of how the public perceives these presentations and how the public gives meaning to them. Therefore, we do not truly know if what we see and believe is what presenter actually intended. Also, we do not know if the one perceiving is misinterpreting the message given to them. Moving forward, although some people may say there's a problem, it doesn't entirely mean that there actually is one. In terms of the problem of racism found in advertisements with stereotypes, I feel that this is not the case.

 

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There are advertisements that may seem innocuous, but may be harmful when examined closely. Innocuous meaning that it is not perceived as a group of people are being targeted in an offensive manner. Harmful as in the message is targeting a group of people in an offensive manner. It can be found in many advertisements. In a magazine ad by L'Oreal in 2009, the whitening of skin was implied to be better. This ad consisted of four photographs of Beyonce's (an African-American singer) face progressively whiten. In the first picture, her face is dark. By the fourth picture, her face is lighter and virtually white. Essentially, the message implied (whether it was intended or not) is use L'Oreal and your skin will get whiter, which is synonymous with better. Another example can be found in the Dr. Pepper Ten commercial. It explicitly states that Dr. Pepper Ten is for men only. Simultaneously, showing a muscular man in a tight shirt doing action scenes in a film. Then again, when I think about it, it is not saying men are better than women. It simply states that it's not a drink women would like. Coincidentally, some people were still offended by it. The effects of these ads have given the some people (if not many) a negative outlook on the commercial and company. In addition, does this even help a company help maximize profit? Would someone want to buy from a company that has advertisements that could be perceived as harmful? I would like to think not. Moreover, I feel that advertisements should no longer use stereotypes due to the backlash they receive afterwards.

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Why advertise something could potentially harm how the public perceives a company? I feel that at
this day an age, this generation is moving towards coexistence. People are still racists and people are always stereotyped. Consequently, advertising should push for a more positive image. For example, an advertising piece from Oliviero Toscani's "United Colors of Benetton." Not all of his pieces of course, but one's that show people of all sorts coexisting (not sure about criminals and innocent people and other drastic ones). An example of this would be the ad where a Caucasian woman and African woman hold an Asian infant together. Then again, I realize that people will make claims of it being racist. Now that I take a step back and think about this issue. I find that anything can be considered racist, stereotypical, or harmful based on how people perceive things. I am truly lost and I cannot see a way for marketing agencies to not receive criticism for their ads. I truly do not know what to say or what to believe anymore.

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What Do You See? And What Does It Mean?

=Formula 1.

 

What we see here in the NBC Sports Network commercial is an advertisement for Formula 1's "Rolex Australian Grand Prix." We see scenes from the events that are a part of Formula 1 as the commercial plays. The advertisement begins with Ferrari's famous signature, their emblem and color. Then a man with a tranquil voice smoothly comes in and says, "Formula 1." And as he says this, the word "Formula 1" with a semi colon in front of it appears on the screen. Next, as he begins to talk, certain adjectives he lists after the "Formula 1:" scene appears. These words are shown on the screen with an addition sign on the top left corner of them. These words are action, mystery, drama, and thriller (note that these words are all capitalized). Also, as these words are shown, shots from Formula 1 races appear. The word "+ACTION" appears on a track in front of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren F1 car. The word "+MYSTERY" is shown on a McLaren pit crew member's face mask. The word "+DRAMA" appears in front of a scene in 2003 when Kimi Raikkonen pushes a race marshal. And the word "+THRILLER" is shown behind Fernando Alonso's Scuderia Ferrari F1 car burning out. As the narrator progresses in his speech, the scenes that take place or are associated with Formula 1 are shown. In addition, the process (such as the one described earlier) repeats itself with other categories and listings. It then ends with the man saying, "Man plus machine plus the world shaken and stirred. Formula 1 begins on Saturday March 16th on the NBC Sports Network." The key focus is that there is an equal sign after the text"Man plus machine plus the world shaken and stirred" is shown. In the end, we can the message this commercial is conveying.

Although there is a lot going on in the commercial, I feel that "a lot going on" was a message it was also trying to portray about Formula 1. I feel that it was trying to state that Formula 1 is not just a bunch of fast cars and skilled race car drivers racing. It seems as if the objective of this advertisement was to convey that Formula 1 is racing, but a lot more than that. This includes the adjectives he listed (action, mystery, drama, and thriller), the things associated with glamor (thrill seekers, the rock stars, and super models [shown in the video and not mentioned above due to boring repetition]), and the countries and continents these Formula 1 events take place in. In conclusion, the message is saying that all of the things they included in this commercial is Formula 1.

Doux, Super Doux.

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This billboard is an advertisement for Ariel. It stands out by not being the standard rectangle billboard. The top of this billboard is folded or gives the illusion that it is. It is pink with patterns and has text spells out "Super doux" on the bottom left of the billboard. Doux is translated as soft in French. On the very bottom left of the billboard is the laundry detergent box by the company Ariel.

The message in this billboard is exactly what the text says; it's "Super doux." The billboard makes it so that I think that I can feel it (that it's super soft). The folds at the top of the billboard emphasizes the message. The billboard is supposed to look like a blanket or some sort of cloth with folds. This company is saying that if you use their product, your laundry won't just be soft; it will be super soft. I think that Ariel wants the consumer to think that they give soft a new definition.

We Go Where You Go.

(Picture provided by Men's Health Magazine Oct. 2013 issue)

This is magazine advertisement is for the University of Utah Health Care. It consists of a long paved straight road that diminishes the farther you look up the page. There is grass that lies next to the pavement and patches of dirt found around the grass. You can also see the water that lies beside the grass and mountains in the background. The light that shines in the picture looks as if it is trying to depict sunlight. Aside from the setting, there are two males that look below 50 years old that are on recumbent bikes. The effects on this image make it seem like these men are traveling fast on their bikes. Also, there is text on the back ground and at the bottom of the page. The first text that is black and is found above the man in red says, "We Go Where You Go." The text that is found below the man in white says, "Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation." On the bottom of the ad is a white strip. This white strip has an NFC bar code. It reads, "28 Sports in 28 Minutes." In addition to that, is more font that describes what is meant by the title. To the right of this text, is the text that reads "University of Utah Health Care" and under it reads the website. This part of the ad also includes the University of Utah Health Care's emblem.

I find this message very inspiring and comforting at the same time. Their message is that what you, the customer, want to do, they'll be there. No matter how extreme your sport, the University of Utah Health Care will be there to take care of you.

What Do You Mean By Change?

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Has anything changed in advertising now relative to the 1960s? The 1960s was the time of advertising revolution. We had Rosser Reeves who developed the idea of the USP, Norman B. Norman and the "empathy technique," Dr. Herta Horzog and her studies on American mass media, Bill Bernbach and his unorthodox approach to advertising, Shirley Polykoff and her introduction of women to the advertising nation, and Ilon Specht and her advertisement of adamant women. These were the original ideas pioneered in the 1960s that are still used today. I would like to think that the advertising industry has change, but there is reason for me to think otherwise.

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I think the advertising industry has changed, but the framework has not. First of all what is change? I'd like to think it's an original idea that has never been formed or brought up before. The problem with change is that for something that does change, there is something old that comes with it. For example, there were commercials in the 1960s and there are still commercials today. What has changed about them is that there is color on the TV, some of the products may have some technological advancement that improved it, and the way the product is portrayed to the public may seem different than it used to be.

Now I'd like to begin with the fundamentals, such as things that can be easily perceived (let's be honest here, I'm extremely lazy at the moment). Advertising is a game created for consumers and marketers. I believe that the objective of this game is for marketers to get the exact message, they created about a product and that is being sold, across to the consumer in hopes to make profit. The other goal of this game is for the marketers to win through selling that product. Now, do consumers and advertisers change? Last time I checked, we all have four arms, but maybe we have different ideas. But there are somethings that have not. For example, advertisers sell cars to consumers haven't changed. Cars are still cars regardless of its evolution. They have four wheels, a motor, and are meant for the consumer to move from A to B. Unless they can travel under and on water and fly, it's no different.

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Now let's forget about the products, let's think about the marketing tactics and let's compare 1960s advertisement to 2000s advertisement. I think it's safe to say that the 1960s did not have Internet. So yes, social networking websites are what makes marketing different today compared to before. There's one for change. The issue here is that has the marketing technique changed? I say no, advertisements are still advertisements. For example, in the 1960s newspapers contained advertisements. Today that still happens on newspapers of course, but on social networking sites as well. Well, okay, that's advertisement for you. I think it's fair to say that where will always be some form of ad
on something that a large population of people frequently see (television shows, social networking sites, newspapers and the list goes on). Okay, well maybe that tactic isn't the right one to discuss to describe change in the advertising industry. How about advertising styles that affects how a person feels towards that product?

This commercial in 2009 is something I can relate to. It includes a family and how the smell of Folgers is the best smell to wake up to. The message is more loving than the first one and you can see that is something more people can relate to today.

This Folger's commercial in the 1960s is not something most people can really relate to in terms of the characters. I believe that many people would be offended by this. Most women and some men would look down on this commercial because it blatantly demeans women. Nowadays, we would not have a commercial like this. So yeah, there's one for change.











I came in a bit skeptical about the idea that the advertising industry has changed, but I realize that there is some change that comes with things that are old. For example, the framework of advertising may stay the same for a while (I can't predict the future). There will always be advertisers and they will always discover a way to market their product to a large population of people. The advertisements such as the styles that are used will more or less stay the same; they will attempt to make a commercial that the targeted viewer can relate to. And it seems as that is so. For example, a commercial in the 1960s may be less attractive due to its lack of connection to the consumer; therefore, possibly making the product less attractive itself. The advertising industry's framework will never change, but the way the package they present to the public will.

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The Formula 1 of KHP Consulting.

(Picture Provided by www.KHPconsulting.com)

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsports and race car drivers, but it may not be as popular if it weren't for the works of a journalist. It began in 1985 with a native German journalist named Katja Heim who desired to bring Formula 1 above "[. . .]its limitations of its traditional media coverage in the motoring press and develop into a lifestyle brand in itself." This desire gave birth to KHP Consulting: an integrated communications agency. They have been of great help to the Formula 1 racing industry in its development of worldwide popularity.

(Picture Provided by www.autoracesponsor.co.uk)

KHP Consulting is an integrated marketing communications agency that provides event management, PR and communications, sponsorship consulting, and strategic advisory. The duty of event management is to provide hospitality for their clients and other services necessary for the event. For example, their work for Shell consisted of facilitating communication between Shell operating units,
building relationships and attending to needs of specific organizations related to Shell, and developing activities for the race event. PR and communications services clients through consulting strategies. For example, KHP Consulting worked on developing Red Bull and Casio's new sponsorship by generating media and consumer awareness. Sponsorship Consulting served to negotiate contracts and sponsorships between their clients (i.e. the Red Bull and Casio example). Lastly, KHP Consulting offers strategic advisory, which is its foundation of service. They solve all issues related to the event from race track operational management to ticketing, they bring race events to Formula 1 organization, and they find sponsors in order to help develop partnerships for local, national and international organizations. KHP has had many accomplishments throughout the years to prove its excellency for Formula 1 (more information about KHP Consulting can be found here).

(Picture Provided by www.KHPconsulting.com)

KHP has assisted Formula 1 and its sponsors well throughout recent years. It has helped improve the relationship between fans and Formula 1. They executed this through the introduction of the track walk, bus tours, public pit walk, driver meet and greets, consumer promotions, and race taxi rides on the track (this information can be found here). These activities give life to the ideas of fans who participate in these events. These interactive events give the fans a better idea and feeling of what its like to be Formula 1 race car driver. Ultimately, helping inspire fans to have more support for Formula 1 and give a clearer identity of what Formula 1 is. KHP has not only attended to Formula 1 fans, it has helped stage events at international racing circuits. Their introduction of the Bahrain International Circuit is proof of this. In 2003, KHP was asked to help introduce a new Grand Prix Circuit into Formula 1. Within six months, birth was given to the Bahrain International Circuit. This event just shows how well KHP Consulting performs and executes their objectives. It also shows how important their clients are. Thus, proving its excellency in Formula 1. If that's not enough proof, KHP has recently received many awards for their outstanding tasks. These include Best Race Promoter of 2004, FIA Institute Centre of Excellence Award in 2007, and Best Race Promoter of 2009. And if that's not enough, even Bernie Ecclestone, the President and CEO of Formula 1 approved of KHP stating that, "Operating in F1’s very tough environment KHP have proved over and over again they can deliver beyond their client’s expectations." KHP Consulting has been playing a large role in Formula 1 by executing its diverse duties and succeeding in the world of Formula 1.

(Picture Provided by www.KHPconsulting.com)

I have no idea how common it is for a journalist to create an integrated marketing communications agency and succeed. One thing is for sure, Katja Heim is one of those cases. Her creation of KHP has been a career success by assisting Formula 1 into the popular sport it is today. Its ability to gain sponsorship, create activities to help engage everyone involved with the sport (fans, new coming fans, sponsors, racers, etc.), solve problems for their clients, and achieve goals that assist Formula 1 in its growth. KHP Consulting services approved by their many awards and accomplishments. Even Bernie Ecclestone, the man who works with them approves of them. Has KHP Consulting improved Formula 1 through its marketing practices? Why not.

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