Advertising For Children

Believe it or not one of my most memorable times growing up as a child was watching commercials on Nickelodeon, and then hinting to mummy when she was in the room by saying 'mummy look how cool this is'. That's how these adverts for kids get their customers, they convince the child to want the toy, and before you know it its added to the Christmas or birthday list. My mum was one step ahead of these adverts so she wouldn't always get me everything I asked for, and as for my dad as long as I had sisters and cousins around I didn't need toys.

Furthermore some of these ads were in relation to some of the popular kids shows, for example during the break of watching Barney or Sesame Street, an ad may come up advertising a new game or toy in affiliation with the show I was watching.
Sometimes company's will use characters from the kids shows to advertise their product/event. Here is an example of one

Kids generally have a short attention span, and if you want to sell something to them in a TV commercial it needs to have high energy and be as quick and to the point as possible and of course not to confusing. This is an advert by Alton towers, featuring Barney. I loved Barney as a child, and although I don't particularly remember this advert, I'm sure after I saw it, I asked my mum to take me to Alton Towers. This advert has kids voices in the background sayings 'that's not Barneys home' , as Barney dances around singing happily with sunglasses on. Using young toddlers voices, makes the kids feel involved, and most children that watch it probably join in with what the kids are saying. When the Alton Towers icon pops up the kids say 'That's Barneys Home', and he jumps in, indicating that this is where Barney can be found. When your a kid and you love a TV character it means everything to meet them, if kids know that Barney could possibly be at Alton Towers then they are going to bug their parents to go just so they could possibly meet Barney. Alton Towers didn't only use Barney, but they use other kid show characters, the more characters they show the more kids are going to want to go to Alton Towers and eventually the parents will give in. The way Alton Towers used Barney in this commercial was very ideal, as his show involved interacting with young kids,  having a group of children talking as if it is a pantomime, is apart of what Barney does in the actual show, so it was almost like the kids were watching the actual Barney show, and they just found out where he lives- Alton Towers!

This is why Disneyland & Disney-world is so successful, because they use full advantage of the characters from the Disney stories. Every child has at least one favorite Disney character and adults love to go to theme parks, so its a perfect family day out, everyone's happy. Furthermore Disney has been going on for so many years, the characters have grown with adults,  they even go to see Disney theater shows (The Lion King), so Disney Theme parks sell itself to both children and adults. 

The best way to advertise the kids is to be as interactive as possible, so when companies are advertising via billboards, they need to be as visually entertaining as possible. Lets have a look at some billboard adverts for kids, and how well the ad appeals to kids. 

This is a poster advertising the game Logo, its ideally targeted at children. Only a small percentage of adults will pay attention to this advert, and this is most likely because they are forced to look at it on a tube, train or on a billboard; stuck in traffic. But usually adults are on the go and avoid paying any attention to adverts, especially if their not looking for something, they would usually miss adverts like these. Children like colors, so they will notice the advert initially because it looks pretty, but then the all the attention will eventually fade off within a few seconds. To much is going on for a young infant to pay attention to, it shows the product and what comes inside the game, but it doesn't really Sell. Children know that they can only have a certain amount of toys, and this wouldn't make it to the top 10,it doesn't show the amount of fun you can have with it, and there is just way to much to read. This is an example of a non effective ad for kids. 

This is an ad for a cereal ideally for kids. Kellogg s is known for correlating characters and stories behind cereals, so kids can feel involved in a story when they are eating the cereal. Scooby-Doo was a popular kids TV program, so it was a brilliant idea to introduce a new cereal based that show. So if a child was walking on the road with their mum and they see the ad , Scooby - Doo will catch their eye, then they would think , why is Scooby - Doo on a poster? They would then see that Scooby is holding a bowl full of cereal, then they will realize that this is a cereal that Scooby- doo eats, and just like celebs set trend for adults so do TV characters for children. This is an example of a good advert for kids, its colorful, with a familiar face, and shows clearly what the product is without loosing the attention of the children. 

All and all we know that the best kids adverts feature popular the most interesting things that appeal to kids. When your selling to children you must make them want the product, and the best ways that this has been done has been through TV or Story characters. Children like to relate things back to something else, If a random Dog was to do an ad, a small percentage of kids will pay attention to it, the rest will notice the product but not necessarily want the product being advertised, simply because they don't know who is advertising it.

Another excellent way to advertise to children is through interaction!

Now I learnt this during my time working for Hamleys, for those of you who don't know Hamleys is a Toy store on Regent St London, its been around for 254 years and was actually the biggest toy store in the world until Toys R Us in New York took over :( .  Regardless it was, in my opinion one of the best kid stores that I have ever been to. Its strange most people know about Hamleys, and even celebrities come from all over the world just to shop there for their kids, yet I have never seen a commercial or ad on anything to do with Hamleys. I can probably recall vising Hamleys once or twice as a child, but yet I knew as much as I needed to know about it - it was a massive fun toy store. There were even times I took my sisters to Hamleys, way before I worked there , just to play all day and go home, and I know that most kids look at Hamleys like a 'day out', not really to go toy shopping.

So how do people know about Hamleys if they never advertise outside of the store?

Well apart from the different branches all over the world,the main store is on Regent Street in central London, this is a main place where not only Londoners visit,but where tourist often go. Regent street is often busy, as its near the main places in London, Piccadilly, Oxford street, Soho, Hyde Park and the list can go on. Many buses and cars pass regent street and without sounding biased, Hamleys was the most memorable thing on that street because characters were always outside, taking pictures, giving out balloons, screaming, singing basically doing anything possible to entertain the general public. Someone would always stand outside with the 'bubble gun' and these bubbles would go in all directions and anyone in the are who would see the bubbles knows that it is coming from Hamleys. Below is an example of a normal day at Hamleys, and what staff outside would typically do to attract customers.

Once the customers are in the store its like a market- everyone is selling something! Now this is what you call DIRECT advertising. Staff are located all throughout the store demonstrating how to use different toys, and even allowing the kids to interact and try them, is the perfect way to make a child want a toy. Children get attached to things they like easily, if they are playing with a toy, most likely, they are going to want it. So many times I have served at  the till point and 90% of the time, the parent/ guardian spots something in the shopping bag they didn't approve of , this is because the child was playing with it and because they had it throughout the whole time they were in the store; average shoppers spend 2 hours in Hamleys;  they have built up an attachment with the toy. Most of the time the child gets the toy that they wanted, that's what you call direct active selling, instantly the child wants the toy and leaves with it the same day. Its the best form of advertising in my opinion because the toy is in the child's hand, its not like they have to order it online and wait to see what it looks and feels like. Buyers also feel secure buying from demonstrates because its a person who sell the toy to the child, if there is any miss communication, they can always go back to that person/ store as a referral.  

Here is an example of how a product is advertised in Hamleys. We must remember that advertising isn't just billboards and commercials, but its any form of exposure of a product, for the purpose of sales. 

In this clip above, it shows what casually takes place on the inside of Hamleys, we can see first of all a toy car on the floor moving like a caterpillar, many customers would come and see this and then look to see who is controlling the car, sometimes a  child would play with it and start to enjoy it, and then another child will see them playing with it then want it as well- this is the nature of children to want what someone else has. After we see the car, we then see a 'light-up' UFO toy, this is flying in the air and of course it catches the attention of shoppers. This often happens in Hamleys, shoppers get distracted by all of the display and demonstrations, and because the store is massive with 7 floors with completely different toys on every floor, it can take hours for shoppers even without kids to get through the store. Most of the time when  served on a till the items that children and even adults chose, were those that were being demonstrated, if most of these toys were not demonstrated the sales wouldn't be as high. 

Sex - It Sells ...Or Not?

By Diesel 

In a few blogs back I spoke about how the role in genders have changed over time, and although there have been some positive changes for women overall, are we being seen as sexual objects when it comes to advertising a brand? After all Sex sells right ? Woman want to have the most sexy things and so do men, this could range from a car or even to the type of perfume you choose. Either way by buying things that appear to make you look sexy, it could mean that we are trying to come across as seductive as possible.

I hear adults, like my parents who are very religious and find sexual adverts to be unnecessary. Often I hear my dad say 'she could have sold that with her clothes on'. So before I challenge that statement, we will have a look at some products, and the way in which they are sold and whether or not the sexual implications would convince the consumer to purchase the product. After all that is the objective of adverts right ? To convince their consumer to purchase a product, or service.

Dolce and Gabbanna - 'The One' 

This is a commercial that I selected by Dolce and Gabbana, in this particular advert they are advertising 'The one' perfume, featuring Scarlett Johansson. This is a completely non-sexual advert, which is rare for perfume brands. This is simply an interview with Scarlett, except you do not hear anyone asking the questions, shes answering them, as the advert goes on you realized it is an interview although it appears as if she is talking to herself. She says ' Because I read it in your newspaper', indicating that it is a journalist interviewing her. The advert starts with her saying that 'She loves Italy and she had an Italian boyfriend once',this is a first indication of what the advert could be about, we assume it has something to do with fashion or fragrance because it starts with flashing lights as if someone is taking pictures of her, with a background setting as if she is in a studio about to do a photo shoot. She is also dressed very classy, looking pretty and modest, not exposing any inappropriate body parts. At the very first few seconds of the commercial Scarlett poses very professionally, as if she is a model, also indicating that she is someone familiar to the fashion and modelling industry. The entire vibe of this commercial moves quite fast, the background music is very calming and classical, it may get boring and being honest I would skip this advert if it came up on a 'YouTube' video. However actually giving this advert a change and watching it, listening to what she is saying, we learn that Scarlett is very experienced in the industry, she could be seen as someone who has a perfect life, with so many opportunities. At the end she doesn't show off the perfume, but humbly sprays it on herself and says 'Oh I'm not looking for a million things, just that one perfect thing'. This tells you that along with all the 'great' things she has in her life she also has this perfume- so if you want a perfect smell, then this perfume is for you ladies. This advert doesn't really speak about how this perfume can attract someone else, its more about feeling great within yourself, which is a great message but does it sell? Does it appeal to the public eye in the way D&G wanted it to? We can never measure how effective this advert is and how many sales it made for that particular perfume, but it seems like a classy perfume, appealing to sophisticated ladies. As I put myself in that category I would personally purchase the perfume, however this may not be the best way to appeal to the majority of females because they may not feel like they can relate to Scarllet in any way. 

Now lets have a look at another commercial that uses sexual seduction to sell to its consumers. 

Beyonce- Heat Fragrance 

This advert is very sexy and apart from that fact that it features Beyonce, it is still very sexy- I recon if another lady looked just as good and replicated her movements , the advert would be just at 'heated'. First of all this advert is simple, smart  but predictable, of course Beyonce would sell her own perfume brand - she's a brand herself and it wouldn't make sense to have someone else sell it for her, shes selling her image with the perfume. Beyonce is already seen as a sexual icon in the public eye, so this wasn't a challenge, from her billboard posters alone she would have had girls and even some gays running out to buy 'heat' to attract men. The background music goes very well with the entire theme, its Beyonce's soft voice singing fever, with the base guitar in the background dominating the tone of the commercial. Her moves correlate well with the dynamics of the song , at the points where she moves slowly; to engage the audience, the bass guitar and drums contradict her moves, they go very heavy and then drop back down to a subtle tone. She consistently moves slowly and seductively throughout the changes in the song. The advert is typically sexy from start to end, this is a main feature about sexual adverts that I do agree with, once it starts sexy, it needs to finish sexy- This commercial does this. A the very start her fingers grip onto the top of the perfume, slowly taking the lid off, we see what the product is at the very start. Furthermore her body looks like she is sweating, not sweating badly but glowing, this is an indication that she could possibly be hot- again this correlates with the entire 'heat' fragrance.The environment also looks like a hot steamy sauna, it has a reddish background with soft smoke all around.Theses small effects, make up the entire commercial, making it come across as a sexy advert. But all and all Beyonce is a role model to many women, young and old, when they see Beyonce has this new 'hot' perfume, in order to be as sexy as her they will buy it. She does many facial expressions and bodily gesture to suggest that the perfume is a turn on, the way she touches herself leads us to think that this is irresistible. It also has a slightly romantic theme, with roses, suggesting men should buy this for their other half. When Beyonce scratches the wall,it burns flames, this tells us how 'flaming hot' the perfume is because it has her touch. The soft female voice towards the end says 'catch the fever', followed by a sexy male voice describing the product, is a way to be direct and tell us exactly what this fragrance does- if you buy it -you'll catch the fever-the same fever Beyonce shows us in this commercial. Finally as she walks away, the camera zooms up to her feet and you see light smoke, the advert was successful already but that topped it off. This advert is what I call sexually appropriate, yes it used sexuality to sell the perfume but how else could you have sold it? 

Very contradicting to the first one, less talking, more visual, with perfect background music. They both sell but which one sells the best? The 'Heat' commercial- simply because we aim to be seductive in what we wear, we as women care about what men think of us- lets not lie. What we wear , what we do, how we move,most time its to look as attractive as possible to whoever we are attracting.

Sometimes adverts must have models in their under wear looking sexy to sell the brand. For example A Victoria's secret ad would inevitably have sexy ladies, because they want the lingerie to look good, likewise for a Calvin Klein ad. 

Just Like this M&S poster, many men would find this to be a sexual turn on, but its purpose is to simply show their range of underwear for ladies to buy. 

Nonetheless we can all agree also that sexual adverts can be unnecessary. Would the product still sell if they tried to do it differently without any type of 'seduction'? Lets have a look and see!

We all know that Calvin Klein are known for selling men's underwear, but in this particular ad they are not advertising underwear, they are advertising jeans. It shows a man and a woman lying down together on a beach, they are both only wearing the jeans, with the lady completely topless. The lady is lying back with her eyes closed, indicating she is in a comfortable position, her head is right in between the mans legs, resting on his groin area. The man is leaning up looking out with confidence, suggesting he feeling proud- either proud of his woman beside him or the jeans they are wearing. Their contact is typically a position that 'lovers' would be in before or after a sexual encounter. With the beach background and waves it tells us that the jeans are probably durable though wet weather, as well as appropriate for sunny days. Now the big question here is do the jeans sell more because its been advertised on half naked models? 

Still not sure ? Okay lets make a comparison ! 

So here we have an ad by Wrangler, advertising their jeans. Its simply a man dressed 'business casual',  looking down towards his jeans, at the back pocket. The fact that he is brushing the back of his blazer up to show the back pocket tells the audience already that the advert is most likely about the jeans he is wearing. However we're not sure , it could be his belt or shoes, but when we read the words beside, we then see that the ad is definitely for the jeans. This ad uses nice word play, the brand is called 'Wrangler' and a nice way of being distinct and making sure  everyone knows how to say it properly is by teaching them in the ad in a 'word play' way. The words in the ad give an instruction, they are telling us to look for the 'W', so straight away I look for it and see it on the back pocket. Now I know that's their signature mark on their jeans. This type of advert gives Wrangler memorable mark, their almost setting a trend, convincing people that it is cool to have this 'W' sewn onto the back of your jean pocket. The guy looks like he's a 'cool' type of dude, his body language suggest that he is showing off his jeans, he makes it look trendy and I would purchase them for my boyfriend or dad.

So comparing those two adverts which pair of jeans would you be more inclined to buy?

I would honestly go with the Wranger jeans, not just to be difficult, but because it has unique character, sexual seduction is played out so much that its not as eye catching as it was years ago when those type of ads came out. 

From this small analysis of sexual v non-sexual adverts we can see that when appropriate, sex can sell a brand, but sometimes when it is overplayed and used out, other techniques may be more effective.  

Keeping Up with Consumer Behaviour

I've decided to write about Dr Dre Beats- simply because they are amazing ! Not just as a product itself but through the way they have marketed their brand. 

"A high-performance headphone and sound transmission company intent on recapturing the fidelity of the studio in an age of ear buds and tiny laptop speakers"

So I have chosen this product because when Beats first came out they didn't appeal to me. They were overpriced and Sony, Bose and other established brands had electrical devices for less that were just as good. When it comes to headphones, or musical gadgets I'm not too fussy, so it just seemed like a big waste of money. 

However Dr Dre was able to sell an experience! Being a producer we already know that he has a good ear for music, and he knows the effort and hard work that producers / general musicians go through to make a song sound the best that it can. Both Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine; co founders of Beats; realized that it wasn't fair for artist to work so hard on their music and not have their fans hear every part that they want them to hear. On the website they have a slogan saying ' People aren't hearing all the music', generally people want to hear every part to a song, especially if your blazing it loud through your stereos or headphones - you want to hear as much as possible. Beats are telling their customers that they can finally hear what the bass sounds like in songs, it solves the problem of not being able to hear all the elements music- they can now enjoy their favorite artists to the max!  Beats took electronic devices to a whole new level, even making it 'cool' to wear big headphones. 

Dr Dre ( Andre Romell)  is highly respected in the music industry, he has been producing and rapping from the early 90's. Reasons as to why he is so highly respected in the music industry is because he has produced albums for some incredible artist such as, Eminem, Xibit, 50 cent, Kendrick Lamar, Burt Bacharach, Snoop Dogg etc. his judgment with music is very much respected. He was probably one of the most ideal producers to actually come up with an electronic musical device. He is known to be a perfectionist with his music, so when this product was launched in 2008, people had high hopes initially because of his musical reputation. 

Jimmy Iovine is the co-founder and CeO of 'Beats by Dr Dre'. Jimmy is regarded as a legendary figure in the music industry,and also known to have a progressive mindset. Jimmy worked with some significant musicians like Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, Tom Petty, Patti Smith etc, this is also a fantastic factor that adds to the success of the Beats. Not only having support from mainstream 'top of the charts' artists but also musicians from different genres, attracting different type of consumers. Jimmy was also a judge on American Idol, usually judges that are chosen for these positions are worldwide appreciated experienced musicians. To add to Jimmy's success he is the co-founder of Interscope; one of the record labels regarded as the home of music.  A quote by Jimmy when he co-founded Dr Dre Beats ;

 “Dre’s and my mission for Beats was to introduce premium audio to a generation that had never experienced the emotion of music as intended by the artists because of substandard ear buds and PCs”

Being highly respected by celebrities, they all supported Dre and Jimmy,we all know that celebrities set trends, so once people like LeBron James, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, P Diddy and Justin Beiber came out with special editions of the beats, they were guaranteed to be at the top of their market. Dr Dre Beats didn't just stick to headphones,they expanded on ways to include as many people as possible, so Beats could appeal to all. Beats has so many different styles, so many options are available, if something is too big or too small, too expensive then they have a range of options for their customers. 

In 2008 Dr Dre Beats had headphones and speakers that had a significant difference in the level of volume and music heard, compared to existing brands. Along with this they had a range of colors to appeal to both genders and ages.

In 2009 they partnered with HP, and they produced the HP Envy Notebook, which integrated with beats audio. This was very smart, as they were able to attract new customers, those who weren't always into music, had to option of reading and having a good audio to their books. 

That same year the Beatbox Ipod dock was introduced. Apple is a very popular product, so appealing to those who use iPhones/iPads was a great way to keep up with the demands from their consumers.

Not only did Dre and Jimmy think of the beatbox but they introduced different types, some smaller than others, most easy to carry around and still projecting the best sounds.. One of the ways I found out about how powerful, but small Beatbox's can be was when I was in New York, JFK Airport. I heard a song that I love-but I couldn't see where the sound was coming from. It was reggae song, and being Jamaican I was so excited to see where this could be coming from, so I followed the sound. I couldn't believe the size of the speaker when I spotted  it, it was so small but projected such a great sound and base and yes you guessed it they sold me the most expensive Beatbox at their stall- $400 I didn't plan to spend- but it was well worth it.

This is a great feature by Dr Dre Beats, they have compromised with their consumers and made the speakers sound as effective as possible being as compact and easy to carry around.

Dre and Jimmy also helped the Beats brands status grow because in May 2013, they gave a $70 million endowment to the University of Southern California to create the UCS Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business Innovation; described to be the new model for training and inspiring a generation of young innovators. The fact that they have initiated this program to start in 2014, means that more and more consumers will support the brand, both parents and youth. This is just one of the many great accomplishments from Dre and Jimmy,  its becoming a legendary company in its market.

I love one of the latest commercials by Dre Beats, because it features a rapper that I absolutely love and respect lyrically- Kendrick Lamar. The use of a celebrity in this advert is genius, and it couldn't have been a more perfect time to use Kendrick for a commercial, he's a popular artist, around the peak of his career, and of course as Dre produces most of his music, it makes sense to use him.

In this commercial it shows a regular studio session between Dre and Kendrick, its in a big empty space suggesting the power of the sound that comes from the Beats is strong even in big open spaces. The whole fact that they are in this commercial like its an actual rehearsal and Kendrick starts over again and again, like he would do in a regular studio session. It makes you feel like you are just simply watching them rehearse on a normal day. Its entertaining, it doesn't feel like an every day advert. Kendrick continuously messes up in the rehearsal, so Dre adds 'something is missing'. In the time that they separate to figure out why the track isn't giving off the vibe that they want, Kendrick goes to a local barbers and plays the song he was just recording on a tiny beatbox- certainly its loud as ever and in the mean time the other scene shows Dre standing around thinking really hard. He then calls Kendrick and tells him that it needs 'Drums', Kendrick records again and its perfect. The whole message behind this is that in the same way Dre figured out that drums was missing from the recording, is the same way Dr Dre Beats allows you to hear anything from a song that could be missing when you use another electrical device. Ultimately this advert spells out 'Dr Dre has the answers when it comes to music'. 

Another technique that the Beats brand used to keep their consumers coming in is by offering accessories to go with their products. Here's another commercial that not only advertises the beats but the new accessories that come with them too.

This commercial again features two well known celebrities in the music industry,Nicki Minaj and Ice Cube. It is made with light humor, as when Nicki walks out of the room because her 'man' in the commercial ; Ice Cube; is messaging another women, the speaker talks and snitches on him. We notice that the speaker isn't just alone, its being held by a pretty accessory ,something that looks useful and ideal, to keep the speaker safe as well as look good. The commercial ends nice and simple by playing a Nicki Minaj song ( just in case no one can put the song to face), it shows the beatbox name at the end 'PinkPill', with a statement mentioned the new cordless feature. Nicki Minaj is also another celebrity that is highly popular,once all the young girls see this they will want the beats. 

Ultimately since 2008 when Dr Dre Beats was founded, they have managed to appeal to their consumers and attract new ones like myself. They have always kept up to date with trends and found new ways to keep up to date with demands in their market. I believe they will continue to evolve as a company and keep up to date with all the expectations of consumers. 

My Favorite Superbowl 2014 Commercials

The Superbowl commercials this year were highly entertaining and humorous. I've selected 2 adverts that I felt were the best for me, along with a small analysis. 

RADIO SHACK

This commercial is advertising the 'Radio Shack' store, and their latest devices they have in stock. I liked this advert because it simply made me laugh - any advert that makes me laugh is on the way to winning. 

At the very start of the advert the average radio shack worker answers the phone as he usually should do on a normal work day. He answers the phone so upbeat and excited, but when he tells his coworker that 'the 80's called, they want their store back', he looks scared and his tone drops. As soon as this is said you then notice the ancient devices in the store, so I keep watching to see where the advert goes. Suddenly all the classical people from the 80's burst into the store, dressed in typical 80's costumes, they come charging in as if they own the store- this made me laugh! The co workers look so confused as if they have no idea what is going on. Characters like Jason Voorhees, Christopher Reid, Chucky the doll are taking items from the store, involving these characters from films you back to the late 80's early 90's, adding personality and amusement to the brand. At the end when the store is empty it left me quite confused, the advert made me think 'so what do they sell?' By this time I am still engaged in the advert, which means the advert is doing well ! After the store clears, it switches to what the store has in stock today, with all the latest gadgets, the commercial shows people being fascinated with all the products in the store. The absolute thing that topped it off for me was when the green ghost from ghost busters came out of the wall, and then the worker who answered the phone in the beginning said ' its too late'. Basically indicating that all the 'out of date' devices are completely out of the store, and they only have the latest of the latest products in store. 

Loved this advert- entertaining -humorous - and to the point. 

Cool Hyundai Superbowl Advert

This advert is genius. Less humor than the previous one, more of a 'mind-player'. I say 'mind-player' (yes a word I made up lol) because the advert simply plays with my mind. The fact that at the start a random man, who is minding his own business saves a baby boy from falling, catches my attention. The simple fact that the man was casually standing there managed to notice a baby boy falling so quickly keeps me interested in what will happen next. In my head when I saw that I thought to myself 'how did he know he was going to fall?' When I notice the same pattern in the next scenes, I was slightly confused as to what they could be advertising, then as soon as I see the car at the end I lean back with relief of being anxious. I realized that the main feature of the car they were advertising was being able to react fast to any possible accidents. Of course the advert is genius, it shows humans doing the impossible of reacting fast to potentially serious accidents, by this being a feature in their car, it makes you feel like this car is probably one of the best on the market with this amazing feature. It ends smartly with a young person driving the car; indicating that the car is super ideal for a first car, looks good, with safe auto emergency break. This commercial at the end shows a situation that could actually happen on the road; a young man driving and with his eyes wondering at a pretty lady, he misses the car in front of him. Usually in this situation with a Dad sitting beside his son who is about to crash, would be shouting 'STOP'. But in this advert he was annoyed but calm, because he trusted the car to stop before an accident occurred. This advert ultimately sells to parents and young drivers, the parents wouldn't mind buying their teen this car because it is safe and reliable, and young people wouldn't mind driving this car because it looks good too!

These are just 2 of many adverts from the Superbowl 2014 that I found to be great sellers and memorable. They both worked your brain for a few seconds, delivering their brands in creative,unique ways. 

How the stereotypes of Gender has changed with Advertising 

Over the years the roles and expectations of what a man and woman can do has changed, and still continues to change as time goes on. There are several reasons for this, a remarkable time in history for females was when Margaret Thatcherr served as Prime minister from 1979-1990. Following on from that many women began to have major roles in society, musicians, actresses, models, Ceo's, Founders and managers of big companies. Over time the roles that females serve in society  have dramatically changed, single mothers are expected to do both roles; provide and be home carers; therefore they are going for higher positions, education is available for all so more women are becoming more qualified, giving them the opportunity to apply for higher paying jobs. Of course the higher up you are in a company the more you are respected by your co workers, so the level of respect has overall increased for females. We have proved to do all the things men can do, from driving, mechanics, engineering, construction, corporate jobs, selling out concert stadiums etc.

Not only are women doing 'men' jobs but men are also doing 'female' jobs, some are hairdressers, make up artist, teachers and even home carers'.

Furthermore laws have helped us, no one is allowed to discriminate and make a decision based on our gender, and work places are required to have a particular percentage of women hired. Females have become more empowered also because of status's set by celebrities in the media. From Beyonce' making the song 'Who run the world'  to highly respected people like Oprah and Michelle Obama the capability of what we can do has grown tremendously over the years.

So how does this link with advertising?

Well we all know that when adverts are made, they are made around their target audience. If a man is typically known to use a product then it would be advertised with a man using it, and vice versa for females. The same goes with young children, an advert for a barbie would be used with little girls and one for something like 'bay-blades' would have young boys in the adverts- simply because that is the audience they are appealing to.

So if roles are becoming more diverse more things would appeal to both sexes that didn't before. For example Auto service adverts can no longer just be advertised using men, but both sexes, because women drive and have car troubles too. Cooking adverts no longer only advertise to just females, because more and more male chefs have interest in cooking products, as they too use them.

Depending on where you are in the world, adverts to both genders do vary. In the Western society that I live in, there are obvious stereotypes that remain the same with genders.A make-up advert would usually involve women, likewise a Calvin Klein advert would be used with men in boxers, as only men can wear them.

Not only are the roles changing but it is becoming more and more sociably acceptable to be gay/ bisexual. With this, more females are actually behaving like a typical man, and more males are behaving like typical females. With this no one is legally allowed to discriminate against them in regards to selling products, hiring or using a service.

Lets see how gender roles have changed in advertising over time.

As I mentioned earlier women are typically known to be housewives, and back in the day it was acceptable to advertise in a slightly sexist way. Have a look at these adverts.

This advert shows a man stepping on top of a women. Indicating that he is superior to her, especially with him stepping on her head it shows so much disrespect. This would not be an acceptable advert in this society that I live in today. The women is also being represented as tiger print carpet, indicating that she is there to be walked all over. Now both genders are seen much more equal, therefore when advertisers create their adverts today, they try to represent equality as much as possible because it is a popular opinion in society. 

 This is a more updated advert, it shows love and equality between men and women. The lady is hugging the man from behind, looking at him playing with his hair suggesting she is happy and all over him. The man is cooking, with a cocky smile on his face, suggesting that he feels honored to do the cooking. This advert is suggesting that cooking is a sexy attractive thing for males to do and sometimes it is okay for a woman to kick back and just smother her man with love.

Comparing the two above adverts we can clearly see the changes in the stereo types of roles in a relationship. It is more honorable for a man to treat a women with equal respect and treat her sometimes by taking over the kitchen, in return the woman will love and respect him. It is looked down upon in society for a man to belittle women, especially with the rate of domestic violence cases, woman are seen as delicate creatures you should look after in every way.

As male Chefs are now socially acceptable, more adverts for food are now under male names.

Men like Jamie Oliver, Gorden Ramsey, Ainsley Harriot have also helped this image to grow.

This advert shows a man holding his wife looking her in the eyes, with a confident look as if he is 'proud' of her. She is wearing cleaning attire, suggesting that she does the cleaning in the house, and the man is wearing the business suit suggest that he has the corporate job, taking care of the family financially. The statement suggest that a women who cleans and takes care of the home are the most attractive and sexy. The ideal way for a woman to attract a man is to be able to clean, cook etc and the best way for a man to a attract a woman was to be in a good job earning a high amount of money. Also the whole status of marriage was much more desired, look at see how the statement says 'Wife'. The advert is saying if you want to qualify as a wife, you need to ideally be like this woman.

In today's society, being 'cute' or extremely attractive consists of wearing as minimal clothing as possible and not having to lift a finger. This advert shows a woman on a car in a bikini, displaying most of her body. Many years ago car adverts were aimed mainly at men, because they purchased and drove them.  Now women also can afford to buy their own cars and the stereotype today is for a man to drive a nice expensive car in order to get a sexy lady. Not necessary someone to marry, but the theory is 'get a cute car, you get a cute girl'. 

 
If we compare both of the adverts, the way in which women are portrayed is significantly different. From a fully clothed wife with cleaning items in her hand to a lady in a bikini, exposing her body to the world lying down on a car, suggesting she deserves men who drive cars like this because of her image.

This poster suggest that men are superior to females, along with the statement alone 'Show her its a mans world', the man is in a suit suggesting he has come in straight from work and into bed without lifting a finger. His hands behind his head, with a grin on his face looking down at the lady, suggesting that he is waiting to be pampered like a prince. The lady is at the side of the bed kneeling down , serving him food and drink looking like she is serving her master, almost like she is a slave. She looks very happy to serve him in the illustration, this tells us that at the time that the advert was made women were generally happy to kneel down and serve their man.



In today's society female empowerment is greatly admired, and an advert like the one above wouldn't be accepted by society. We have things like international women day, and musicians like Beyonce carry the whole 'female empowerment'  image, so whenever she is used in an advert you automatically think 'female empowerment'. Other things like reality TV shows that show the lives of successful females ( Real Housewives, Braxton Family Values, Blood, sweat and Heels etc) also contribute to this image.

Other significant ladies that have led to woman empowerment are: 

Nawal El Saadawi- Egyptian Doctor, Psychiatrist, university lecturer and writer. 

                                              Carol Bartz - CeO of Yahoo

Gareth Peirce- Lawyer who had an impact on changes in the legal system 

Martha Lane Fox - Founder of  Last minute. com 

Doris Lessing - Nobel Prize winner for best novelist 

                      Oprah Winfrey- Talk show host, actress, philanthropist 

Caster Semenya- Athlete who overcame stereotypes that females can not win global championships. 

And of course the list can go on and on, these are just a few examples. Just a nice ending, below is a commercial for 'international woman's day'. This shows how far we,as woman, have come, and how much we contribute positively to society.

 Due to the differences we are making to society, we have earned all respect, everything is deserved, so there are less adverts that give off the message that men are superior to woman. However, women are seen as more sexual objects which can be seen negatively whereas in the past it would have been an insult for a women to show her body to the public eye. Men are also becoming more open minded to doing 'feminine' roles, its not looked down upon but rather honored in this day and age if a man can do a woman's job.

These views and stereotypes in gender changes over time have had an incredible effect on the way in which products are sold , and who they aim to appeal to.

Watching this awareness advert, I learnt so much, on how much we have invented, and what big differences we have made to society. Please watch it- It will make you smile.

The changed perception of Race/ Ethnicity & How Adverts have shown this

Because of the way that the media and society influence our thoughts, we have stereotypes on particular races and ethnicity. Over history perceptions have changed because of civil / equal rights laws, changes in the workplace and general perceptions. People are becoming more open minded with almost anything becoming acceptable. Advertisers play a big part in the way that we perceive races, of course it varies in which part of the world you are in, but generally adverts in different countries are based upon that particular type of society. Adverts advertise their product in a way to relate to as many people in their target market as possible. 

For example in the advert below, it says 'Get a red that last', addressing ladies who are into make up and agreeing with them at the fact that lipsticks don't usually last the whole day. By making this statement they are telling us that their lipstick, in particular red ; a popular color that often needs to be topped up; last for the entire day. Of course this is what ladies want to hear and see- a lipstick that finally last! This is a common problem shared by ladies and this advert pin points the problem. 

Get the gist of a common opinion and it is what advertisers use to create their adverts ? 

Okay ! Great. So if society have general stereotypes on race and ethnicity, in order for adverts to appeal to the target audience adverts have to agree with their market. So if its known for white men to go to the pub and drink beer, they may advertise a white man doing so. If a product like pasta which comes from Italy is represented by an Italian family, it is not offensively racist, but it is stereotyping. However they are not saying that their product is only for Italians, but it is showing the origin of the product.

Look at the example below. This is an advert for the Levi Roots 'Reggae Reggae' sauce. This commercial shows a black Rastafarian singing a reggae song about the product. Of course this is a type of stereotyping, a black man with dreadlocks singing a reggae song.

This is however justified stereotyping. Firstly the founder of Reggae Reggae Sauce is a black man with dreadlocks, who comes from Jamaica, so as well as the name being 'Reggae Reggae' it made sense for his to sing a Reggae song. Also this commercial has a very chilled happy vibe about it, its not attacking any race, just highlighting the origin of the brand in the advert.

Stereotypes however can be represented in a negative way and may cause offensive to the race that is being targeted. Its all about how the race is being represented, you can state the obvious in the advert like the one above or  you can take it a bit to far and become offensive.
If an indian man is in a grocery store, thats fine, because thats a common thing to see, but if someone walks in and complains that it smells of curry then that could be seen as offensive and stereo typical.

Below is an example of a commercial that many people found offensive. It is the Mountain Dew commercial by Pepsico. This advert has actually been removed, so I have shown a video of the commercial on the news for specifically being racist. The advert shows a Goat who is obsessed with Mountain Dew, lined up amongst young black African-American men, who are all being accused of battering the white lady.  The entire advert was directed by Tyler the creator; rapper, producer and comedian. Being an African American himself, He didn't mean to offend the black race but he did. He tried to push a boundary and it didn't work out to well!

Firstly critics say that this advert is inappropriate because it gives 'light' towards violence on women, and it portrays black men in a negative way.
The fact that it is a white women that is badly beaten makes it worse, as white elderly ladies are seen most innocent. All the suspects are black men and a goat, it is stereotyping saying that African American men are the most violent likely to be criminals. The goat who is talking in the  screening also talks like a black man saying ' You better not snitch on a player'. Bringing down the image of black men,  not only expressing that they are criminals but that they are player's.
This is a bad stereotype, if they wanted to have a similar storyline, they should have used a mixture of races and gender, as black men are not the only men who are capable of hurting someone and committing a crime.

So the next question is, have racial stereotypes changed over time ? 

Lets go through a quick history of make up adverts and how they have changed in regards to how races are represented.

In the early 1920's white was the only type of beauty, in regards to complexion the fairer the prettier, so when brands were advertising their make up they would often use a white women, repenting the type of make up they sell and what it will make other women look like if they decide to use their make up.

This poster says '1920's Make up look', indicating that this was the ideal look at this time.

These two adverts are from the 1950s. The Maybelline advert below does use a black women, but she looks like a white lady, very fair and hair styled like a white women.  This is one of the only adverts representing black women in a beautiful way in the 1950s. The Avon advert above is a typical example of how the majority of make up adverts were, still most using white women. The simple fact that their were still a huge amount of make up adverts only using white women and few with women from other ethnic minority backgrounds tells us that being fairer was still seen as more beautiful at this time. 

In the 1980's Black women like Whitney Houston was well respected by all races, because she was so talented many rightly looked pass her color.  Although adverts for make-up were predominantly with white women, actors and singers from ethic minorities helped to boost the stereotype.

However this advert below from the 1980's shows three white women and one black women who looks white. All other ethnic minorities are ignored and white women are really the only ones represented in this picture. At the bottom it says 'The most unforgettable women in the world wear Revlon'.  The fact that they are only representing 75% white women and 25% black women is indirectly saying that this is the percentage of beautiful women in the world, completely ignoring other races and saying that only black women who look like white women can get away with wearing Revlon and being beautiful.

As magazines like Vogue, Ebony, Pride magazine etc became popular, so did the status of colored women. The fact that many women of color were becoming so relevant, it helped to boost up ethnic minority females.  People like Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Serena Williams, Halle Berry are all examples of this, they are all diverse with their talent's and most of all, they are all beautiful.  

A page from Vogue magazine, A recent photo of 16 beautiful colored ladies. This would never have been accepted in the 1920's as beauty. 

An poster that stood out to me, which represents how far we have come in regards to stereotypes on beauty, was this ' MIU MIU' make up advert below. This lady is the complete opposite representation of what was seen as beauty years ago. She is dark skinned, with no hair, looking very African-American, but beautiful.  I love it!!

Finally these last two pictures show completely how diverse society has because and how society has become more open minded about what can be represented as beauty. Black, white and Asians are shown in the pictures, they all look stunning but they are different.

So with the example of  the product of make up and how it has been advertised throughout the years, we can clearly see that society has improved and become more open minded in regards to the view of beauty. As time has gone on more brands are catering for colored ladies, including Mac, Black up, Fashion fair, Clinique, Bobby Brown and many more. 

Stereotypes will always exist in every aspect of life, especially when we have been socialized to correlate a race with something.  We have to remember stereotypes can be changed and they are not always bad! Thanks to ladies like Naomi Campbell and Tyra banks, when we think of top models, they are people we think of. In the same respect when we think of rappers we think of black men, and when we think of a business man we think of a white upper class man. All because these stereotypes existing, it doesn't make them right, its just what the common correlation is in that particular society. 

Of course stereotypes vary depending on what society you are in, the popular opinion is the,most common . In the middle east, women covering up is seen as normal, in a western society this wouldn't be as popular.  Again in some african countries it may be a 'thing'; to shave off your hair or wear plaits, but in Europe the straight long hair look is desired and more common.

So how can we relate this back to advertising ? 

Easy !! This is when I go back to my point I originally made, advertisers advertise what is popular already. They only want to agree and attract an audience, therefore they advertise what is going to sell in a society. 

Lets break this down into a fun comparison. Below I will name job titles and I will write down beside them the most typical person in society that it could be. 

Stripper- In USA- Black young women, big bum, big tits 

Stripper- In Europe- White young slim woman

Teacher - In Europe- middle aged white women

Teacher- In Africa - elderly black women

Universal Stereotypes: 

President - Obama !! - Black man ( Changed stereotype over years)

Shop owner-  Indian man 

Beer drinker - White middle aged man 

Baker- Fat white lady 

R n B singer - Black young man or women 

Rock singer - White, tattoos and piercings 

 These are are the first descriptions you typically get when you think of these roles,  of course they are not necessarily correct, a stripper can be a white or hispanic lady, likewise a beer drinker can be a black slim women. Regardless these are the common opinions shared by particular societies. 

My last question is does advertising lead or follow stereotypes? 

In most cases, they follow what society thinks, it is considered risky as an advertiser to try and start a new trend. Advertising is expensive and its not always worth starting a completely new stereotype. Sometimes advertisers do create characters for their brand. McDonalds had the clown, KFC has the white old man, Frosted Flakes has the Tiger, Sugar puffs has the monster etc. The list can go on, but these brands are not rude in stereotyping anyone, they are only creating a character for their brand which is a popular successful tool in advertising. 

Regardless people will have opinions and will therefore stereotype. Every Race and Ethnicity has a stigma attached, because they are commonly involved in something. Advertisers can only enhance that view and feed off of it to create their adverts. If their is an advert to a Rock Band Concert, they may show clips from a previous concert which may show majority of white people, they are not saying it is only for white people, but only showing the people that attend the last concert. If the advert was to them insinuate that the concert is only for white people then it would be offensive to non whites. 

Adverts all depend on how each individual reads them and how they relate it back to their opinion. Hence why adverts need to be as clear and straight forward as possible in the message they are trying to send out.