The Gender Balanced Beer Commercials By Neil Patrick Harris & The Grill Master Essay

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

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.

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be aimed toward certain age, race, along with certain gender groups. Pop culture has influenced minority groups and shed light on women 's rights or so it may seem. 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 male and female audiences. Interestingly enough these tv ads deliver a false image of the opposite sex to the audience catering to their preferences. It is the image of what the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows how commercials bring gender norms that produce the stigmas of a man’s man and a woman’s woman, which makes it apparent that he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

Stereotypes are found throughout society today. Many of these stereotypes are propagated by the prejudice and false assumptions prevalent in the American advertising industry. In her article About Men, Gretel Ehrlich exposes a variety of these fallacies--in particular, those associated with the representation of the cowboy--and questions the burden of gender roles that are imposed upon men. In an effort to differentiate between reality and these fanciful stereotypes, Ehrlich employs strong syntax, powerful imagery, and logical arguments--as well as shocking revelations about the true nature of the cowboy.

"'We’re all in on the gender-reversal joke,’ explains Lisa Wade, associate professor of sociology at Occidental College” (para 4). Ms. Wade’s observation on current advertising ploys is more than accurate. We are all aware that these ads exist, yet we continue to fall for the “hot guy” trick, and buy a product, whether we need it or not.

Many of us watch the Super Bowl to check out what we expect to be the most innovative and entertaining commercials of the year. Given the grand stage on which these commercials air, it is important that we analyze them in their proper context. Remember, this is a sporting event, one in which only men are allowed to participate (as athletes/coaches), where violent collisions are celebrated, and where most of the audience is male. Considering these gendered parameters, we should not be surprised that many of the 2012 Super Bowl commercials ooze hegemonic masculinity. In this post David Mayeda explores how a masculinity can be used to opress men and women alike.

The author, Natalie Zmuda, oversees the Chief Marketing Officer Strategy section (COM.com) and is responsible for identifying and analyzing the latest trends impacting chief marketers. Zmuda also covers the retail and non-alcoholic beverage categories. She joined Advertising Age in 2008, following five years covering the retail and fashion industries for Conde Nast Publications. The article examines multiculturalism in advertising in the U.S. 2014 television commercials for Chevrolet and Cheerios featuring a gay couple and interracial family, respectively; which are cited as examples of a trend in which major advertisers of brand name products with mass markets are more willing to portray social diversity in their advertising. The tendency

Although, we have improved in our acceptance many still target such individuals who sexual orientation differs. It is alarming when looking at the advertisements and media in today’s society and how they depict women and gay individuals. Women for instance are often depicted in the media as objects of men’s desires and treated as so on television broadcasts. Gay individuals are depicted in a comical way which is degrading. Another alarming factor that went unmentioned in the documentary is the age of many girls in the advertisements.

Take a look around and think about how far our society has really come along. Yes, we finally have a woman running for president, an African-American president, same-sex marriage laws, feminism and minority movements, but we still don’t have thing like equal-pay, or proper representation. Similarly to how a magician manipulates his/her audience’s perspectives by directing their attention to a particular part of the stage to see “where the magic happens” while the actual “action” happens elsewhere; Lisa Shaffer argues that pop culture has put on a performance of progression yet works behind the scenes to reinforce traditional social values. In the articles “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” and “Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ Backlash,” the authors agree with Lisa Shaffer’s idea of the media’s regressive intentions, and support their claim by providing analysis of varies commercials that underline traditional social values.

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.

Even though racial discrimination played an important part of American history, immigrants and slaves played a big role in shaping and developing the United States. The scene in the commercial in which Busch makes eye contact with a fellow African American attests to the fact that he is not alone in being an immigrant in a foreign environment. The sense of instant friendship in this scene pulls the viewer into a positive intent with Busch’s character and Budweiser itself, as it defines unity between minorities during times of racial oppression. In addition, Budweiser’s use of Kairos is utilized to pull in people of all ages. “Although the [beer] commercials were targeted to adults, young people would be interested as well...”

The majority of the participants said that beer and women are mainly the first two things that they think about when seeing a commercial directed towards men. The participant who responded ‘sometimes’ commented on a particular commercial with two girls wrestling and taking their clothes off in a fountain— “Are you kidding me!” Another participant made the comment of “They show beer commercials with women on them. If you were a girl, would you go grab a beer b/c a woman said to? I think not!” Amazingly so, when responding to the question of whether or not women are used inappropriately in these commercials, five people said yes, three said no, and two said sometimes. A male participant gave a response of “women are used too often as a source of attention while men aren’t.” However, another male participant quoted, “No, sex sells!” Every one of the participants said that there is a certain type of women used. The top three descriptions of her were—big breasted, slim, and attractive. Other answers were blonde, smiling, tall, curvy, long hair, and model-like.

Target audience: The commercial is targeted both male and female beer drinkers with decent income (because they can afford to travel to nice beach). They have the need to chuck away worries to live the moment. The commercial is also targeted the critical, peak beer-drinking summer season.

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

Marilyn Monroe, Marlboro Man, Hugh Heffner, Pamela Anderson, and The Rock are all examples of the society of idols whom the American public has looked up to in various media forms. In today’s society there are many gender and social stereotypes that remain a prevalent part of the advertising tactics of the media. In the particular ad that I have chosen are examples of gender stereotypes that I would like to analyze and discuss using Douglas Kellner’s article “Advertising Images”. Kellner states that the tobacco industry in both the past and present use subliminal messages with the intention of portraying lifestyles and choices to the American public. Cigarette ads in particular, Kellner argues, “contribute to identity formation in