Sex Stereotype in Advertising

Sex-role beliefs become sex-role stereotypes when individuals employ those sets of behaviors as rules to be applied to all males and females. In western society, for example, women have traditionally been regarded as more delicate and compassionate than men. Stereotypes for femininity include expectations to be domestic, warm, pretty, emotional, dependent, physically weak, and passive. By contrast, men are thought of as being more competitive and less emotional than women. Masculinity stereotypes can be described by words such as unemotional, physically strong, independent, active, and aggressive. 

In the world of advertising the sex-role stereotypes is no different. Since the beginning days women are more often presented in commercials, because they are seen as responsible for making everyday purchases.  On the other hand, men generally advertise cars, business products and investments, whereas women are shown rather in the commercials with cosmetics. Also, the role of men being the dominant gender and women being the weakest link has played a role in advertising prints.  

In the advertising today, shows women in "control" of, or dominating men, but in a very sexual manner that often refers S&M or bondage. So women can have power, and be in charge at the same time. Beginning on the 20th century, our cultural beliefs that women have power over men because men want sex and will allow themselves to be manipulated in order to get it.

Racism & Stereotypes in Advertising

The wide use of racism and stereotypes remarks in advertising has been around from the late 19th century and to even today as we encounter negative remarks on various types of ads. The act of depicting a race as inferior or negatively generalizing a type of race is not acceptable in advertising as ends up sending off a negative information to the mass media causing a negative depiction of a race. Advertisers have full obligation and responsibility to have ethical responsibility of the advertising being released to the public mass and its impact on society.

A fine example of stereotype in recent advertising comes out from an Italian laundry detergent commercial. The ad depicts on the stereotype of black men being good for nothing but sex, the "big black brute" stereotype.

Nivea Skin Moisturizer in 2011 created a print ad targeting African-American male by showing a well-dressed and clean-shaven African-American male lunching the head of a not-so clean-shaven and afro-donning male away. The campaign gained headlines depicting for being racist and later on Nivea went on to apologize for its racist action. 

Semiotic in Ads

The use of semiotics in advertising has allowed the concept of using as hidden messages and signs to target a clear message to certain group of individuals. In some cases, the sign can be an exact representation of the thing being signified, while in other examples, it may be associated with it.  

Recently, I came across a piece of ad from Axe Shower Gel that depicted the concept of men relation with their athletic appearance and need to have their "balls" washed. The use of semiotics in this particular ad invokes a certain feeling or idea about the product being sold targeting young men whom are constantly exciting and in need to attract females after  working out. 

Also, in prints ads the use semiotic has provided various ways of depicting a certain symbol to a particular group of people. From newspaper to magazines, the use of semiotic ads in a typical newspaper such as The New York Times would target middle aged men from a high middle class. A fine example would be having Eli Manning the Football player of the New York Giants, on one of the ads as it would target New Yorkers whom are fans of the New York Giants.

The ad provides Manning wearing a Citizen Eco-Drive Watch. The watch has a relation with Manning as both are depicted as being unstoppable and symbolizing to those who wear it too. 

Outdoor ads also provides a sense of semiotics to its viewers. The ability to capture viewers without having to pinpoint a type of ethnicity background allows the creation of billboard ads various types of people all at once. Since the prohibition of cigarettes ads in 1971 in the United States many companies have lunched various ads targeting people to quit smoking. Various billboards has provided a product to help smokers quit. Company such as Nicorette has placed ads behind public buses exposing a men blowing smoke from the bus exhaust pipe and emphasizing the product to help them quit. 

Pereira & O'Dell Agency

On my sophomore year in community college, I declared advertising as my major and ever since  I began  to be more and more intrigued with the concept of creating campaigns that draws attention from people all over the world. The ability to reach out to people in a personal level through the use of various forms of media it creates a great deal of satisfaction for me. By having the right content that it draws people to be satisfied with certain idea or product and the ability to use every possible of medium allows me to understand the power of advertising in our daily lives. The aspect of coming up with an idea and make the perfect pitch to win a new account to the agency creates a sense of pride and joy knowing that your idea would become a success. Being from Brazil and witnessing various types of advertising while growing up it allowed me to develop a taste towards the creative aspect of advertising.

Recently, I have began to research various advertising agencies around the San Francisco Bay Area. One that particular drew my interest was Pereira & O'Dell Agency as they specialize in every type of medium from television to labeling design. As well, I became aware that the Chief Commercial Officer PJ Pereira is also from Brazil, hopefully allowing me to interact with him in a more personal level.