English Argumentative Essay on Three Television Advertisements
Essay Prompt: Your Essay must have an argument. For this essay I would like you to do a close reading of three modern television advertisements in commercials that promote or challenge common perceptions of gender. The advertisements can be from 1990's to 2014. Pay close attention to the different images and texts in these advertisements and consider the similarities and differences in their approaches to the consumer. Interpreting the different elements in the advertisements, develop an argument about the advertisers' means of attracting the consumer. Here are some questions to consider: Who are the advertisements targeting? What are they assuming about the consumer? Are there signs/symbols/images in the advertisement representative of the consumers' real needs? Are there any contradictory elements in the ads? How is masculinity or femininity constructed and represented? What are the broader social ramifications for the representations and beliefs presented in the ads that you are analyzing? While I as that you focus your discussion on gender or the "myths of gender," you are encouraged to explore how race, age, and class affect gender expectations and norms. Essay Format Guidelines: 6 pages and must double spaced. Use 12 point Times New Roman Font Notes from the professor: You do not have to answer all the questions in the prompt. I put those questions to help generate ideas. You are more than welcome to address other issues and concerns related to the prompts. Remember that this essay needs to have an argument. Be careful not to generalize and not to provide excessive summary. The important part of the paper is the analysis, not the summary. You must cite your sources according to the most recent MLA citation guidelines. Note from me the student to your staff: I just read this from one of our class readings it called "Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt": Advertisement on Violence by Jean Kilbourne. The reading can be found on the book of "Rereading America" by Gary Colombo. 9th Edition from pages 420 to 445. I think it has insightful information about advertisements that can help with the custom essay I'm ordering. I think it would count as the source for the paper. If you think more sources would be helpful for each advertisement that would be fine too. Thank you.
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English Argumentative Essay on Three Television Advertisements
Advertisers craft commercials with an aim to capture the attention of their targeted consumers. They depict aspects of gender and distinguish between different races and social classes in their advertisements (Colombo, Cullen and Lisle 421). Portraying gender roles is one of the most effective ways for capturing consumers’ attention. Advertisers seek to either challenge or promote commonly held gender social constructs in their advertisements. In capturing the attention of the consumers, they also appeal to the racial and age differences among the general population through different strategies. Advertisers ensure that their commercials are thought provoking and that they display gender stereotypes to trigger communication about the advertisement and influence their buying decisions.
One advertisement challenges the socially construed stereotype that only women have to bear the consequences of unplanned pregnancy (Pike n.p). It sensitizes the public that unplanned pregnancy also affects teenage males. It strongly advocates for teenage males to take necessary precautions in avoiding unplanned pregnancy. When a man views the advertisement, it provokes fear through the absurdity of pregnancy and the need to avoid its occurrence (Pike n.p).The effect of the advertisement would have a much lesser effect on teenagers, both male and female had it used a female. The oxymoron of a pregnant male captures the attention of the general population and stimulates conversation about condom use to protect against unwanted pregnancy.
It also features the race considerations in the sense that it shows a white and a black teenager to indicate that condom use is necessary for all races. It is also notable that the black teenager occupies more space which is implies that blacks register higher numbers of unplanned pregnancies. The black teenager occupies more visual space than the white teenager to capture the attention of more blacks than whites do. The advertiser also shows that all males can be affected by sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies irrespective of their built and masculine or slim physique (Pike n.p). It also contains the text ‘unexpected’ to show that indeed teenagers are unprepared when conceiving and also communicates that teen fathers should also bear responsibility for the children they sire (DasGupta n.p). The advertisers seek to provoke a disturbing feeling about a bulging belly which is a female element on a male body. The advertiser is effective in the sense that the advertisement has far-reaching effects across all ages, races and class. The advertisement however raised criticism for negatively portraying transgender males. Transgender persons have a masculine appearance but they too can become pregnant. The fact that this advertisement displays similar bodies as disturbing fails to sit well with transgender advocates (DasGupta n.p).
Huggies produced an advertisement in 2102 that defied the conventional gender roles .The advertisement featured fathers that were left home with their babies while their mothers were taken out for a five-day treat. It showcased fathers trying to juggle between watching sports on television and looking after their adorable babies. The commercial shows a messy set with fathers leaving their babies laying around and delayed diaper changing. It indicates that fathers have a difficult time taking care of their children. The advertisers were strategic in using men that were behaving like actual parents, as they knew that it was the prevailing trend in advertising in 2012. Other brands such as Clorox and apple had featured fathers with their children in their laundry and iPhone commercials around the same period. The commercial was tailored to charm mothers who would appreciate some help from their husbands in taking care of their children. It was also meant to appeal to fathers who are involved in every day parenting of their children (Belkin n.p).
This advertisement rides on portraying the unusual role of a male caregiver to capture the attention of the consumers. It is uncommon for women to trust men to baby sit for such prolonged periods. This commercial however sparked anger amongst fathers. They claimed that it portrayed fathers as imbeciles because of the mess depicted in the advertisement. This prompted the release of a new version that portrayed fathers as more responsible. The new version depicts involved caring fathers who change their babies’ diapers on a timely basis, swaddle, feed, and sooth their babies to sleep in a competent fashion. These two advertisements challenge the gender stereotypes that the woman is the often times the primary caregiver in the family set up.
The Huggies ad campaign seems to suggest that fathers need to take up parenting roles more intently. The advertisers also attempt to communicate that child rearing is not an easy task and men ought to appreciate the role that women play in looking after their children. It also covertly reveals the need for fathers to be more involved in the daily child rearing activities. Displaying graphics of men taking care of their children is effective in capturing the attention of other ...