Vintage Advert
Introduction
The media plays a key role within the society; one of the key roles of the media both print and broadcast media is advertising. Commercial adverts are meant to market a certain product and increase the sales. As much as adverts might be pleasing to the target market, there are cases where some adverts have been biased; the biasness is represented in the advert pictures and the caption that is linked to the picture. Since the media is a profit generation business, there is no much reviewing of what is being advertised , any person with the financial power can make an advert and manipulate the media fraternity and have the advert aired to the public without considering whether it is biased or not. Politicians have gained control of the media for many years since they have the financial and political power to control what takes place in the media. Those in business form some of the biggest shareholders in the media industry and therefore have a lot of influence of what is advertised in both the print and broadcast media.
When analyzing biasness in any advert, it is crucial to look at the advert critically and the words that are captured, in some cases an advert might have some aspect of humor which has some hidden biasness. An advert can portray different form of biasness such as gender biasness whereby a given gender is portrayed negatively. In other cases, biasness can be directed towards rival companies, there are cases where companies sue rival companies for biased advertising whereby they seek compensation for damages. Various social groups such as those advocating for the rights of women have been very vocal against biased adverts.
Women and sexism are some are some of the ideas the t e media uses in selling their adverts since this are two concepts that sell. The Mr. Leggs dress pant adverts which was used in 1964 shows a woman’s head that is attached to the tiger’s skin rug. There is a man who is dressed in a business suit whose show is place on the woman’s leg and a caption written, “It’s nice to have a girl around the house. “Below there is also another advert written, “Though she was a tiger lady, our hero did not have to fire a shot to floor her. “The picture and the caption displays the social perception of women during the late 70’s and early 80’s.This adverts portray pure biasness towards the female gender and just like many adverts in that period; it portrays women as flirtatious sex objects. This is an advert that displays the era of men and sexism.
The woman in this image symbolizes the women in the American society during that time; she is symbolized as a household item that has no authority over men. She is just a household item, therefore, the caption “it is nice to have her around the house. “The man has authority over the woman who has to obey to the demands of the menthe advert shows the position that women hold in the society, she is pinned on the floor while the man stands, and this is a reflection of the position women held in the society. Any person who views this advert would conclude that this is a society where gender discrimination is a common issue. It might be pleasing to the male gender since it shows how men have authority when dressed in pants from the advertising companies.
Men love authority, the argument that is being expressed in the advert is that once a man is dressed in such pants, he gains authority and control and does not have to struggle much to gain it.A woman pinned on the floor depicts that women would submit to any smartly dressed man which is pure discrimination and towards the female gender. The advert was used in a time when women in the society were highly dependent on men, they relied on men who were the breadwinners in the family, during that time the advert might not have much controversy. However, the advert remains to be offensive and degrades the female gender; it just praises and shows the superiority of men over women in the society. It portrays a society where men have control over women no matter how a woman might look to be tough. One fails to understand, did the women in that period approve the advert, and did it meet the expectations of the target market? During the period when the advert was being made public, women in the US had already started forming civil groups that were advocating for gender equality, for years they had lived under the dominance of men as it is illustrated in the advert. Their efforts were, however, met with many challenges since, at that time; there were few regulatory bodies, which controlled what was being advertised by the media. This is an advert that portrays a woman as a rug where the man can dust and step with his shoes and still feels comfortable. If the company had used a different concept, would it have achieved its goal?
Argument Revision
An advert is meant to be impressive to the target market, in this advert there would have been a better approach that the company would have used and still make a greater impact. Since this was a period when women were advocating for equality in the society, this is a concept that the company would have used in its advert. The advert needed to be impressive for both genders since a man cannot be smart without the effort of a woman. Women are used in adverts to make it more impressive and appealing; however, this is not captured in this advert. Future considerations need to be made when making an advert ensure that it makes an impact in the future; this has not been considered in the advert. It is an advert that does not consider the changing social dynamics in a society where women were fighting for their rights and gender equality. Instead of portraying the woman, being on the floor the advert would have made a better impact if the woman was standing next to the man both smartly dressed or the woman complimenting the man for being smart in the vintage pants. It would have had a deeper meaning whereby a man needed a smart woman for him to be also smart. Most men who dress in the pants are married men, if an advert is pleasing to the women also, they would prefer their men wearing a product that appreciates their position in the society. Women are not just household figures who obey what every smartly dressed man says; this should have been a consideration before making the advert public. It should have been a unique advert that portrayed women differently and positively in a period when women were discriminated not only in media advert, but also in the family and work places.
Vintage pant advert is just one of the many adverts, which portrayed sexism, and female discrimination .A biased advert might be pleasing to the target market, but it d with time it raises controversy, which creates a negative image for the product. If this advert was used in the modern time when there are so many organizations that advocate for women’s right, it would not have had increased any market sales, there would be many negative attacks not only on the product but also the company at large, the emergency of media regulatory bodies has ensured that there are regulations on what is being advertised. When there is prove of negative biasness in a consumer product, it cannot be made public. Media ethics is also another approach that needs to be used before a media company or an organization decides to advertise its product through the media. Media has a corporate social responsibility of ensuring that it promotes equality in the society and eliminate social biasness.
References
'Mad Men' premiere: Mr. Leggs: 'It's nice to have a girl around the house.'. (n.d.). NY Daily News. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/television/sexist-ads-mad-men-era-gallery-1.1050013?pmSlide=1.1049995
Menu. (n.d.). John Daniel Begg. Retrieved April 8, 2014, from http://johndanielbegg.com/tag/sex-is-a-very-misunderstood-advert-technique/
Mullainathan, S., & Shleifer, A. (2002). Media bias. Cambridge, MA.: National Bureau of Economic Research.
