ADVERTISING AND BODY IMAGE

Media 531

What is Advertising?

• Advertise:

1. to tell about or praise (a product, service, etc.) publicly, through newspapers, flyers, radio, television, etc., to make people want to buy it;

2. to make known, give notice of;

3. to call the public’s attention to.

Advertisement:

1. a public notice or announcement, usually paid for, as of things for sale, needs, etc.;

2. the act of advertising.

Advertising Definitions• Eye-Catcher: something that

especially attracts one’s attention.

• Hype: overwhelming publicity or exaggerated claims used to promote or accent excessively.

• Target Audience: a specific audience or demographic group for which an advertisement is designed.• http://www.livevideo.com/video/7664B

FC3681E4D079FC142D5E013333F/target-market-research-ident.aspx

•Prime Time: hours on radio and TV with the largest audience, especially the evening hours.

•Poster: large sheet of paper, usually illustrated, used as advertisement.

•Circulation: average number of copies of a magazine sold in a particular period.

•Jingle: catchy tune usually rhyming, simple, and repetitious used to promote a product. http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=mini+wheats+commercial+vanilla&www_google_domain=www.google.com&emb=0&aq=1&oq=mini+wheats+commerci#

•Slogan: a phrase identified with a firm. A motto used in selling an enterprise or company.

•Benefit: advantages of a product or services features.

•Advertising Agency: a company specializing in producing and placing advertisements for clients.

•Product Placement: paying a movie or TV show to prominently display a company’s product during the film or show.•Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - I Like Christmas Jesus Best

Commercial: paid advertisement on radio or TV.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3fe5w_guinness-tipping-point_ads?from=rss

Billboard: signboard, usually outdoors, for advertising large posters.

•Want Ad: Job offer that can be found in the classifieds.

•Classified Ads: Small advertisements in a magazine or newspaper categorized by subject.

Advertising Techniques (some call it Propaganda)

•Propaganda: Methods used to persuade people based on emotion rather than reason.

Techniques1. Bandwagon: joining the crowd.

2. Heartstrings: A story that pulls at your emotions. http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=6ffb6fe662a6e062ac9a

3. Repetition/Slogans: repeating a commercial over and over OR repeating within the commercial. http://www.livevideo.com/video/CaitlinSystems/CC230335F523403A8E14CBD84052D96D/headon-commercial.aspx

4. Humor: If people like the ad they might buy the product. http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4093176/11045121

5. Music: Catchy music and sound effects catch the viewers attention. Pepsi commercial - Google Video

6. Comparative Advertising: when one advertisement directly compares two or more products. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xphrz_pub-audi_ads

Criticisms of Advertising•Advertising leads to consumerism.

• (The theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is economically beneficial. )

•Makes people buy unnecessary products.• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7zrly_shamwow-commercial_shortfilms

•Takes advantage of children.

•It is false and misleading. New AXE Dark Temptation Commercial (US) video on

Funny Commercial

•There is too much of it.

To The consumer…

•Be cautious about the image of an advertisement.

•Think before you buy.

•Don’t let yourself be manipulated by advertisements.

Magazine Advertisements

Title

Slogan

Writing/Description

Picture/Illustration

Signature/Product Name

Open Space advertising

• Open Space Advertising is an advertisement placed in a non-traditional advertising space. • Hockey boards/ice,

• Side of vehicles,

• Side of buildings,

• Clouds,

• Body parts,

• Etc.,

Gender Roles in Advertising

•Stereotypes are assumptions we make about people based on generalizations about groups of people.

•Gender Stereotypes are stereotypes based on gender. They are learned; we are not born with the perception of what it is to be “ladylike” or to “act like a man”.

•Where do we learn these Gender Roles?•the media, celebrities, sports, parents, peers, etc.

•Gender stereotypes are reinforced by the way we treat people who do not fit the gender role. Examples of this are:• Name calling,

• exclusion from the group,

• ridicule

•Stereotypes are destructive because they limit our potential. We often try to fit the stereotype instead of being who it is we really are.

Advertising and Image

•Some critics accuse marketers of intentionally trying to damage the consumer’s self-image and self-esteem in order to help sell their product. Their product is presented as “the cure”to their shortcomings.

•Hip, muscular, young men and thin, scantily clad women in music videos link attractiveness and sexuality with being cool.

Women in Advertising

•…show concern for their body, clothes, home and the need to attract a man.

•…are rarely shown in work settings, business roles or positions of authority.

•…are presented as beautiful but the ads offer a limited, narrow image of beauty.• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x64i5j_mean-girls-vs-the-media-the-

photosh_news

• …are favored if they have Anglo (white) features, even if the models are Black or Hispanic.

• Models are found to weigh 23% less than the average woman their age.

• The hips of mannequin measure 6 inches smaller than the average young woman’s hips.

• 8 million American women suffer from Bulimia or Anorexia.

Men in Advertising• For men it is all about attitude.

• …often play the part of someone cool, confident, independent and even a rebel.

• …tend to show power, physical strength, confidence and dominance.• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x484dz_harley-davidson-respect_ads

• …rarely show sensitivity, vulnerability or compassion.

• …tend to be handsome, clear complected, with perfect hair. They are almost always athletic and performing something physical or dangerous.• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rk1l_gillette-champions-tv-ad_sport

•Body Image Disturbance – the condition where young boys and men go to any lengths, from over exercising to abusing steroids, in order to reach their goal of a perfect body.

Disturbing Facts about dieting• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).

• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat (Mellin et al., 1991).

• The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (Smolak, 1996).

• 91% of women recently surveyed on a college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting,22% dieted "often" or "always" (Kurth et al., 1995).

• 95% of all dieters will regain their lost weight in 1-5 years (Grodstein, 1996).

• 25% of Americans men and 45% of American women are on a diet on any given day (Smolak, 1996).

• Americans spend over $50 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year (Maine, 2000).

Dove’s campaign for real beauty

•In 2004, Dove launched the very successful Campaign for Real Beauty which features real women, not models.

•The ads focus on promoting real, natural beauty, in order to help change the idea that beauty is the thin, unhealthy image promoted by models.

•Their slogan is “real women have curves”.• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtuou_dove-evolution-makeup-

commercial_ads

Dove’s campaign for real beauty•According to a study released by Dove in 2004…

• Only 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful.

• 68% of women feel “media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most woman can’t ever achieve.”

• 76% wish female beauty was portrayed in the media as being made up of more than just physical attractiveness.

• 75% of women wish the media did a better job of portraying women of diverse physical attractiveness, including age, shape and size.

• http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/dsef07/t5.aspx?id=7985