Advertising for Children, Emphasizing Gender Roles

Oh look! A fun game of battleship.

But of course.

The residues of past prejudices and gender inequalities still reside in today's world. The past ads can be scoffed and laughed at, but when such influences are still seen in today's time the consequences are much more serious. And this can be seen, especially, through the influence of children toys which attempt to further solidify stereotypical masculine and feminine gender roles.
The amount of young children watching television is constantly increasing. There are programs for children as young as 3 years old which teach them basic tools and decision making skills. During commercials, advertisements are specifically selected to their target audience, and in this case, it is children. The issue with these ads is that many are specifically targeted to either one gender or the other, all while emphasizing exactly what it is that's 'acceptable' for little boys and little girls to play with. Here are a couple of examples.
1. Boys are always seen playing with stereotypically masculine toys, such as cars, trucks, weapons, etc. Many of the toys are destructive and are played by hitting things together and/or destroying them. Other toys are all about emphasizing competition between the players, such as race car racing, etc. (Refer to the hot wheels video).

Girls are also playing with stereotypical feminine toys, such as nursing babies, strollers, cooking utensils, and pretend makeup.

This ridiculous advertisement to the left of the "My Cleaning Trolley" toy is specifically targeted to girls, as seen by the "Girls Only" label to the left. This segregation is unnecessary, especially by stating that boys can't use this, but only girls can. Not only is this sexist product teaching young girls that they have to strive to be good cleaners, but it's also teaching them the prejudices of the past where women clean. How are young girls supposed to understand that they are capable of doing anything that they want to, whether it's to be a doctor or to own their own construction company if such prejudices against their role as a female already exist?
Not only do toys such as this segregate and divide, but they also make societal 'atypical' toy preferences frowned upon. If a little boy wants to play with a cleaning toy because he is characteristically very neat and tidy, he'll feel uncomfortable doing so as the accepted gender roles at the moment tell him that that's not appropriate.

2. Another thing that's noticed is while walking into a children toy store, Toys R Us for instance, the boys and girls section is clearly segregated. This segregation is not seen through the use of BOYS HERE or GIRLS HERE labels, but rather it's seen through the use of colors and choice of toys (obviously). The girls section is highlighted by a flora of pink and stereotypically feminine colors, while the boys section is enveloped in dark colors, predominantly blue and other stereotypically masculine color choices.

What can be said in today's society is that it is harder and less accepted for males to show 'female' characteristics than it is for females to show 'male' characteristics. Degregation of female characteristics in specific can also be noted here. It's more desirable for females to be aggressive, persuasive, and extroverted than it is for males to take 'feminine' characteristics, such as nurturing, emotional, and talkative. This degrades feminine characteristics which as just as important as masculine ones.

Anyways, I just walked through Toys R Us and I thought about this and the impact that this type of marketing has on little girls and boys. Even though we're striving and state that we are a gender equal society, there are still gender inequalities that linger in our everyday lives.

Last week in my psych class, we watched a video regarding the depictions of men and women in media and advertisements specifically.

Regarding the marketing aspect, many advertisements are impacting the way men and women act, feel, and portray themselves in their everyday lives. Many of these characteristics can negatively affect people and lead to the generation of stereotypes. 

Firstly, the point of promoting through posters and ads in magazines is to let consumers get a feel for the product before they physically see it or buy it. It can show them what the product does, what they could feel or look like with the product, and even how they should act if they have the product. This brings up a couple of issues regarding the portrayal of the two genders in media, a portrayal that is neither fair nor just.

Starting with females and the issues that surround their confidence, body image, and body language.

Many ads dictate that women need to spend hours on makeup, hair, nails, waxing, plastic surgery, etc. These ads are usually followed by a picture of a ``perfect`` woman who has flawless skin, no blemishes, no wrinkles, and perfect hair. In fact, she does not have any pores! These images are misleading as they portray a false reality that with no matter the amount of product used, can never be achieved. This false advertising leads to young girls, as young as 11 compare themselves to these artificially manufactured images through programs such as Photoshop.

This infatuation with perfection is never-ending because no matter the amount of product used the artificially constructed view of perfection can never be achieved, leading to an unsatisfactory view of oneself and the devastation of failure. 

Furthermore, the perception of women in society is still being subtly degraded through various forms of multi-media. For instance, to promote her new book, Joanne was suggested to change her name on the cover from Joanne Rowling to J.K Rowling in order to appeal to a male market of readers.And what is up with this Heineken ad for beer? The women is transformed into nothing but a mere object to be utilized, in this case, into a beer keg. 

Many other examples have been noted in the advertising world. Women can be sometimes seen dominated by men, like in this Gucci Ad, where rape is obviously applied. 

Add caption

 

Women are constantly seem in awkward positions and poses which somewhat shorten, or even minimize their body. They pose in fetal positions, cringe, show vulnerability and child-ness. Males, on the other hand, are portrayed in physically dominant positions that display by showing their body mass and taking up as much space as possible. 

Subliminally, these examples not only ``advertise`` the product, but also depict how men and women should act in society. Women are seen sitting with their legs together, or crossed, taking up as much space as possible. Men sit with their legs wide and lounged back, arms surrounding the entire chair or furniture taking up all of its space. Women exercise to become slimmer, and thinner, men exercise to become larger and bigger. 

In this advertisement for Ralph Lauren to the right, the models were disfigured through photo shop to appear ridiculously slimmer than they really are. Not only do these advertisements look completely ridiculous, they also “...show that thin, ‘perfected’ media images have a detrimental effect on how girls and women think and feel about their own bodies,” said Dr. Helga Dittmar of the University of Sussex, one of the authors of the report. The article can be found HERE. Then we can also see how 0 is the new 2 in the modeling industry size, as designers are making their closing so abnormally small that most children can fit into it. This is now seen in the fashion industry as size 00 models who are unnaturally thin, impacting the children and the women in today`s society by making them believe that the smaller they are, the more beautiful they are. How can someone strive to be 00, when 00 is nothing? How can someone strive to be nothing? Well, that is what many women are being influenced by today. Furthermore, women are constantly seen covering their mouth in one form or the other. 

For instance, looking at this vintage advertisement from the late 60's. She's seen as having the mistletoe covering her mouth, besides the obvious child-like similarities seen in this photo.

Either by clothing, fingers, or other objects that have accordance to the advertisement. Now, not only are women subliminally taught to strive to be nothing, they are also taught to have no say.

Another trend that can be seen in ads is the expressions used by male or female models. Males are always more stoic, expressionless, and practically emotionless. Women are always either seen as alluring,  child-like, and innocent. This creates accepted gender roles where it is more acceptable for females to cry in public than males, and it is more acceptable for females to appear giddy and cheerful than males. There are countless examples of this, but the main point is that gender roles expressed learned through media and external influence teaches young boys and girls that boys are expected to deal with things through non-emotional terms, while women are accepted to think things out emotionally. For instance, here is an example of a typical male model compared to a typical female model.

Besides women, men are also being attacked more and more. In this ad to the right, men are following the woman around submissively. Not only does this degrade them as human beings, but it proclaims the well known stereotype that men will do anything for a gorgeous woman. As the brand Axe/Lynx likes to point out, "Getting the girl has never been easier" with this product. Ads are portraying how they should act, talk, what they should wear, and what size they should be (down and below as well). Everything for them seems to revolve around the fact that "bigger is better".  Men, just like women, are also being dehumanized through fashion ads which focus on only one part of their body. Being the abs, chest, shoulders, or any other part. Focusing on one part of a person’s body is the most dehumanizing thing that can be done to somebody. All the attention is stressed on that one body part, therefore making that one part dictate who they are as a person. Psychologically, this puts many stresses on men. Now, more than before, more and more ads are created which only portray one part of a person`s body. 

I understand that many of these issues are not particularity due to the advertising world. And besides gender, there are also a lot of race issues. But lets not get into that rant today. :P

Nowhere is safe!

=

The most epic weekend thus far in my 19 years of life has arrived and gone yesterday. Waiting anxiously each year for almost 10 years between the movie releases has taught me patience.
Harry Potter, just like a well branded firm, has established it's name in the world. Ask someone what Harry Potter is, and even if they have never seen it, they'll still have an opinion about it. For those that have been loyal followers, or just caught on, emotion can be felt and heard in their voice when they speak of the Harry Potter series. This value-based relationship has promoted Harry Potter through word of mouth, good reviews, and loyal fan sites.This is really important, because just like in marketing a product, exposure is necessary to get people knowledgeable about a good or product.
The advertising in Harry Potter has been so successful that the last movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 has been so successful that "it enjoyed the best opening weekend of any previous films from the franchise, exceeding the record from Goblet of Fire, which earned $102.7 million in 2005" as said on MailOnline. I am especially impressed with the design and feel of the visual marketing material. It's very professional and has the moody, dark feel to it. 
I think that one of the factors that could relate to Harry Potters success is also anticipation and mystery regarding the series. Just like apple, which releases products every year or so, Harry Potter movies are released in the same fashion. This leads to the mystery and excitement of feeling anticipated all while having something to look forward to until the date of release. Many thought Harry Potter would just be a fad, like Phat Farms, Beanie Babies, or Tomagotchi. But unlike these short lived examples, the Harry Potter franchise pops back up each year, constantly rejuvenating it's fan base. 
LONG LIVE HARRY POTTER!
Now lets all wait 8 months in till PART 2!!!!!!!!
The video linked: Harry Potter 7 Part 1 Trailer .

Employee Nightmares

Employees in whichever organization/industry/company obviously really make a difference. However, some of us many not realize how much of a difference they can really make. We can logically assume that in order for employees to be happy, their supervisor has to have proper qualifications and at least some decent knowledge and COMMON SENSE in organizational behavior.
However, this is not always the case. Supervisors, employees, and all the people working for a company have an impact on how it is portrayed and marketed to others.

The reason for this particular blog is to highlight the importance of a good supervisor, especially in the retail stores. For this case, I'll be referring to Roots and it's retail stores. I am not basing my judgments on the entire Roots retail, but solely on one anonymous store which is a good example of when 'things can go wrong'.

Anyways, one of my very close friends has been working at Roots closer to 3 years now. She has the same manager, and the same problems. I didn't realize the severity of her manager-employee relationship until she began to describe some of the things that she has to go through on a daily bases, occurrences ranging from minimal, tolerable, to rage inducing incidences which would drive any 'normal' person to bail. The reason that she did not leave was due to a number of things. 1) Since she's been there for a while, her pay has increased to beyond that of a first-time retail employee. 2) If she leaves now, then she will have to start again at starting salary, and attempt to climb up the ladder again.  3) Besides that, like many of us students who are straining to pay for school, it's a very stressing process to remain unemployed while searching for prospective jobs and attempting to pay for school, life, and even help out with the family at the same time. Some of the daily nuances that she has to deal with are her supervisors 'fake' and 'two-faced' attitude, being picked on for not smiling 24/7, supervisor forcibly pushing all work on employees and doing nothing themselves, constant nagging, rudeness, obvious employee preferability, and much much more. For instance, unfair payment on breaks (not clocking out during breaks, therefore still getting paid, unlike other employees), only hiring ONE ethnicity and speaking that language to the other staff members while excluding others, just leaving the store to smoke, shop, buy groceries, all while still getting PAID and clocking in her hours. This would get anyone else FIRED. Also, manipulating everyone to get what she wants (especially newbies) by making up fake policies that do NOT exist in order to benefit herself. Another example would be pressuring employees to smile, and interfering with employee-customer relations by making things awkward and incredibly embarrassing.

Personally, I have never experienced things like these at my place of work. I've always enjoyed my supervisor and had no problems with him whatsoever, so happenings like this in the workplace were unknown to me.
My friend has not been the only victim of the Roots supervisor, but she has been the one who's handled it the best so far, as it seems. Many others have already applied, been accepted, and quit.
Thinking about the negative impact on Roots from such employers, we can begin to see the horrible word of mouth that could be going around, and already is. Employees leave, are angry, begin to bad mouth other friends, and other friends begin to create a negative association with both roots. This not only leads customers away from Roots, but also leads potential employees from joining other Roots retail locations.

I think that manners such as these should be taken with higher consideration, especially since employees and supervisors not only have an impact on each other and the store, but on the company (in this case Roots) as a whole. Supervisors should be specifically chosen for their qualities that will not threaten, confuse, or make others uncomfortable.

PHOTOSHOP

Best... photo... ever? HA I think so lol.

Im a big fan of photoshop myself, whether it's for creating posters or art, it's the most useful tool that one can have in the 21st century.
Companies and large corporations have obviously been using it like crazy to get their products out and make the appealing to the market.
The use of photoshop is becoming so common now and so intensive to the point where customers are being blatantly decieved. Will my eyelashes REALLY look like that if I use this mascara? Will women REALLY run to me like that if I use this body spray? It all appears to be a manner of guessing sometimes, trial and error even.
Marketing finds out what people want to see, create it through artificial means (in most cases), and then distribute it with this little lie. If the one goal in marketing is to create value-based marketing, how can this be possible when people are being tricked into buying products that dont really give them the effect that was intentionally 'promised?'

Subliminal Advertising

I came across this video today that tested your awareness.

PLEASE WATCH IT FIRST BEFORE YOU READ, 

that way I wont spoil anything! 

It was really funny because even though I faintly remember watching this video in high school, I still didn't manage to see the moonwalking bear. 

After I watched this video, I began to think of all the subliminal messages we are exposed to on a daily basis. Reading Megan Duffy's blog, I decided to immediately purchase a copy of "Buy-Ology" by Martin Lindstrom. He talked about neuromarketing and how science can be used to dig deeper into the unconsious, therefore finding out what really captures our attention, what sticks, and what doesn't. It was really cool because I used to be obsessed with subliminal messaging, and used to google for hours finding subliminal messaging in Disney (quite nasty, actually), TV Ads, TV shows, commercials, and even Logos. Here are just a few that still sick with me.

SM in Disney Films.

DISNEY 

Here is also a link to an interesting youtube video showing some examples of SM in commercials/ads. 

Subliminal Messages

 

It's really crazy how even though many of us have seen these ads/commercials/movies/logos multiple times, we still fail to notice unless we are told exactly what we need to look for. Like the moonwalking bear in the first video, I would have never noticed unless I was told to :P.

 

Age Defying Barbie.

Stemming from Sunny Pao's Real Beauty blog, I cam across this photo while randomly searching through the internet. I found this photo really funny, because if you think about, Barbie is a little over 50 years old. Imagine all the revenue that Mattel would make if they started releasing 'age appropriate' and 'realistically proportional' Barbies? They could buy out the world! If you didn't take not of the sarcasm there, Im disclosing it to you now. :) If Barbie looked somewhat similar to her age, or even proportionally resembled somewhat of a realistic female physique, Mattel would skyrocket ... down. Our generation has been so influenced by the media and their standards that what would have been seen as normal, beautiful, and sexy 30-50 years ago is now being seen as inadequate. For instance, in Mattels case, if Barbie looked like this aged Barbie then less people would buy her. If Barbie gained an extra 20-30 pounds, would people still buy her? I think it all depends on the marketing. In our society to date, everything is photoshopped to be slimmer, smoother, and more vibrant. Nothing we see in the advertistements (billboards, television, packaging) is ever the way that it actually looks like in real life. We're so used to seeing everything being placed on this high pedastol, when even most of us will never achieve in the first place because it's literally impossible. Psychologically, this is very messed up.