Pantene’s Ad entitled “Not Sorry” stands out amongst other advertisements because it employs both verbal and nonverbal forms of communication in order to convey a message that goes beyond selling their brand. The ad serves to empower females and encourage a pivotal change in an unacceptable aspect of societal behavior. It opens with a question: “Why are women always apologizing?” The words are in a bold, black font with a white background. The simplicity of their appearance draws the audience’s attention. They are direct and unadorned, speaking directly to the message and motivation behind the ad. It is an engaging question, one that gets at the heart of a prominent societal issue: what is the role of women and how is it different to that of men? At first, the audience may be unclear about what the question means, “apologizing” for what? But, the montage of diverse women in different environments quickly makes its point. Each of them is saying “sorry” to a male figure: co-workers, husbands, bosses, or strangers. The issue is that none of the women are shown doing anything deserving of an apology. Despite this, it appears to be their immediate, automatic response. Ultimately, Pantene desires to promote change through showing viewers a better, altered reality from that of our own, where women are not merely compliant, but are courageous and bold in their actions. After the first portion of the video, the words “Don’t Be Sorry” appear on the screen in the same minimalistic
Jean Kilbourne is an advocate for women and is leading a movement to change the way women are viewed in advertising. She opens up the curtains to reveal the hard truth we choose to ignore or even are too obtuse to notice. Women are objectified, materialized, and over-sexualized in order to sell clothes, products, ideas and more. As a woman, I agree with the position Kilbourne presents throughout her documentary Killing Us Softly 4: The Advertising’s Image of Women (2010) and her TEDx Talk The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women (2014.) She demonstrates time and again that these advertisements are dangerous and lead to unrealistic expectations of women.
What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be for a certain age, race, and sometimes even a certain gender. Pop culture has influenced the minority groups and shed light to women 's rights or so it was thought. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards a particular gender. What is interesting is it shows a false image of the opposite sex to the audience being portrayed toward their preferences. It is the image the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell their products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows commercials brings gender norms that produce the ideas of what a man’s man and a woman’s woman which is why he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.
Ram’s advertisement immediately begins by utilizing logos and pathos to embolden women to fight against stereotypes. First, the commercial’s narration uses a series of repetitive rhetorical questions to inspire the audacious emotions of the audience. Ram repeats “have you ever thought” multiple times to capture the female viewer’s attention. This technique establishes an understanding and inviting tone that prepares the viewer for Ram’s overarching message. Next, allowing the viewer to ponder these rhetorical questions, Ram briefly pauses the narration. Following this pause, Ram articulates their message: “You can break a stereotype and throw it into a whole ‘nother gear. Because
When we think of men in society, we think of someone strong and dominant. We think of the gender that is in charge. But what do we think of when we think of women? Do we see them the same way? Usually that’s not the case. When we think of women in society, we think of someone who does what they’re told without question. Maybe we think of the celebrities that advertise our favorite products. But, nobody every really looks deeper into the way women are viewed in society. However, Jean Kilbourne does. In her article entitled “Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence” she dives into how women are really viewed and what seems to be the “cultural norm”. In society, women are viewed as objects or as property. So in turn, men think
Sexist ads show that society is dominated by the same masculine values that have controlled the image of women in the media for years. Sexist advertisement reinforces gender stereotypes and roles, or uses sex appeal to sell products, which degrades the overall public perception of women. The idea that sexism is such a rampant problem comes from the stereotypes that are so deeply embedded into today’s society that they almost seem to be socially acceptable, although they are nowhere near politically correct. Images that objectify women seem to be almost a staple in media and advertising: attractive women are plastered all over ads. The images perpetuate an image of the modern woman, a gender stereotype that is reinforced time and time again by the media. These images are accepted as “okay” in advertising, to depict a particular product as sexy or attractive. And if the product is sexy, so shall be the consumer. In the 1970s, groups of women initially took issue with the objectification of women in advertisements and with the limited roles in which these ads showed women. If they weren’t pin-ups, they were delicate
Today’s world is dominated by the great influence of advertising media, which often depicts the objectification of women. The film Killing Us Softly 3, discusses how influential the negative portrayal and misrepresentation of women is throughout advertising media. The Versace advertisement I have chosen to analyze displays a slim, scantily clothed woman of color guarded by a shirtless, muscular man. Based on concepts from the film and the course’s text, it is clear that this advertisement sets a particular feminine beauty standard and, nonetheless, illustrates women as solely being sexual objects of men, having little to no power. This fashion ad influences the way women view their physical appearance, along with their position and function in society.
We've all seen and read many advertisements and we usually find them appealing and very persuasive. However the question is, what are they really advertising? Women are usually used for many different advertisements, not only are they used for women's clothing but also for other materials and objects. These are the ads that we look at each and every day. In, “Killing Us Softly” by Jean Kilbourne, she introduces her problem with how women are being used to advertise products. She shows us ads that she has seen where women are being used to advertise a company’s product. While our women are being used, dehumanized, and sexualized in our society, we’re going on with our life like it’s normal.
Women Can Do Everything? In Jean Kilbourne’s film, “Killing Us Softly”, she examines popular stereotypes of women in advertising. Her work has helped to develop the study of gender and how it is depicted in advertising. Gender stereotyping of women in advertising is everywhere today; television, internet, billboards, movies, magazines, airlines, taxis, subways, videos, and other digital media.
In this week’s lecture on culture and media, I learned to identify issues in our society that is usually overlooked. The TED talk, “Killing Us Softly,” by Jean Killbourne, taught us how advertisers began to change the public’s views as they began to overly sexualize women and objectify them in various advertisements. The difference in the way men and women were portrayed were extremely different and is now being continued into the present, while being accepted as a current norm.
In the article, ‘“Empowering” my Ass” (2017), Gaby Del Valle asserts her opinions on the issue of women-centered advertising. She views the concept of “empowertising”, as coined by Andi Zeisler, as just another scheme companies have implemented to make more money. Del Valle forwardly states: “The messaging has changed, but the purpose remains the same: Companies want you to buy their shit, and they’re happy to trick you into thinking consumerism is a form of self-expression to do so.” She provides examples of companies and aspiring brands who have recently begun integrating the concept of women empowerment into their advertising techniques. Brands such as Dove, Blink Fitness, Nike, and Aerie have all benefitted from spotlighting the idea
In the video “Killing Us Softly”, Jean Kilbourne explains how ads portray women in our world. Women are portrayed as fragile, more vulnerable, and less powerful. Ads are photoshopped to make their bodies the “ideal image” of what women should look like. Ads promote sexual and unhealthy images of women. The pictures are photoshopped making the models body shape and skin color completely different to what her actual body looks like. It changes her face to look more appealing, body shape thinner, white or light skinned, and bigger breasts. Ads also create a climate for violence against women. Ads portray men as strong, big, and more powerful. Men don’t live in a world where their bodies are criticized and judged every day. Men are less likely
In her fourth installment of “Killing Us Softly”, Jean Kilbourne explores the image of women that American advertising industries have created in our society. Kilbourne breaks down the trends that advertisements constantly reinforce for women throughout the decades, and criticizes the impossible standards that women are shamed into trying to achieve. She allows us to take a deeper look at the exploitative, sexist, and misogynistic tendencies embedded in commercial culture, which is presented everywhere we look. Proceeding to emphasize that these ads have damaging effects in the real world, leading to violence against women, eating disorders, and low self esteem. Furthermore, Kilbourne acknowledges that although things have changed through the
The Killing Us Softly series by Jean Kilbourne brings to light the portrayal of women in advertisements and analyzes how the female body undergoes constant scrutiny and objectification. The documentary further examines how women are still confined within age-old gender roles thus exposing them to be the weaker sex. In the fourth part of the series, Kilbourne discusses these issues through ads and images she collected and provides her thoughts on the effects of such demeaning advertising.
In society, women are held to a very high social standard. The pressure to look as perfect as all the models in magazines have driven many girls to an impossible fixation. Not only is it seen as a social norm, but also people do not even realize the degrading images of women in our everyday surroundings. After watching “Killing Us Softly”, this ideal was brought to my attention more that almost every advertisement piece that involves women promotes sexualization, objectification, and reinforces the feminine gender roles in America.
The roles of males and females in society have significantly changed, as opposed to the predominant roles in our history. In the modern culture of today, women have begun to break out of the mold that which society has placed her in. This much can’t be said when it comes to modern gender representation in mass media advertising. It can be safe to state that woman are seen as sexual, fragile, exotic—whereas men are portrayed as tough, in control, and aggressive. This trend can be one seen as an inhibitor to the advancement of our culture, because especially for women, it is hard to pull away from the stereotypes that are continuously represented. As examples of the given trend, the following