Gender stereotypes in two adverts and how the US Government publicises its War on Drugs.

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Mountain Dew “THE HARDEST SOFT DRINK”

When an individual looks at the print ad of Mountain Dew, he or she can easily tell that the ad is gender biased. The print ad is self explanatory! The colors used in this ad (that are black and green) symbolize authority, power and command. Apart from this, the chopper further enhances the look of the advertisement. It is generally believed that chopper riders are strong, muscular with tattoos and are huge. In addition to this it can be seen that the Mountain Dew can is “wearing” a black leather jacket that again portrays masculinity. The tag line, “THE HARDEST SOFT DRINK” represents the intensity of this drink, giving a picture that Mountain Dew is not for weaker souls (that are females in this case).

There is a wide difference in the depiction of men and women in advertisements. When both genders appear in the same ad, it can be seen that women are mostly portrayed weaker than men. Similarly if females are shown in an ad, they are depicted as sex symbols or dumb. Conversely men appear as strong, courageous and adventurous. Males act strong, tough and hide their emotions.

LUV Diapers

Gender identity is very significant in understanding consumer behaviors. There are differences in assumption about sex-typed behavior. We expect males to achieve “agentic goals, which stress self-assertion and mastery” and female to meet “communal goals, such as affiliation and the fostering of harmonious relations” . Consumers often react strongly to sex typed products and also assume certain sex typed behaviors. Therefore, marketers study these behaviors and use different approaches to targeted gender. These are easily found in TV commercials.
For example, Luv diaper commercial portrays stereotypical gender roles. One Luv commercial portrays a woman holding a baby very carefully while gentle background music plays. Setting is very quiet, calm, and softly glowing. In the following scene, the TV screen is filled with lively children running around and mom and dad chasing after them. Parents are busy keeping their eyes on children. The bathtub is filled with toys and the house is a mess. The Luv diaper slogan is “live and learn and get Luv”.
After the slogan, mom appears and says, “ Where are you going to get that guarantees? I will not get guarantees if I am going to get a shower everyday”. They offer no leak money back guarantees. With this slogan, the Luv offers not only the inexpensive diapers as well as sense of securities to consumers. The commercial is indicating that when parents have their first child, they are new to parenting and therefore will get expensive diapers. As they have more children, they will get more realistic. Luv diapers are not as expensive as other fancy brands but do the same job.
If the father rather than the mother claimed he is not sure if he will get a shower everyday because he is too busy taking care of the children, people will not be as sympathetic as when the mom says it. This commercial is targeting women with children who want inexpensive but quality diapers. Therefore, a male explaining how inexpensive and realistic Luv diapers are will not be register with targeted consumers as quickly. The advertisement will be less effective and consumers will be confused. In this commercial, females sex role and males sex role are clearly defined in traditional ways, meaning moms stay home and take care of children and the house while dads work outside. Dad plays a small role in this commercial but his appearance symbolizes the “male’s nature of mastery and self-assertion” . The mom figure symbolizes the female nature is to keep relations in balance. Although female sex roles have evolved in many ways and are still evolving, we still strongly react to traditional roles.

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Glad Tupperware

One more example of traditional female roles is in Glad Tupperware commercial. The Glad commercial illustrates women using Tupperware and explains how it works great. The structure of the commercial is interview typed. Each woman is talking about their actual experiences of using this product and comparisons with other brands. If men rather than women explained how useful the Tupperware are, the credibility will decrease towards the Glad Tupperware because consumer do not expect men to achieve “communal goals”. Males in Tupperware commercial are not assumption about ...

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