Women and Gender Studies
Media Analysis
The Lincoln MKC commercial with Matthew McConaughey
The Lincoln advertisement is for people who can afford luxurious products. The advertisement clearly targets high income earners with a taste for luxurious cars. The tone in the advertisement is serious. The character in the advertisement points out serious reasons why he drives a Lincoln and the general tone in the advertisement is serious. This advertisement appeals to people who are rich and well-educated, more like corporate elites. The character is a famous and award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey. He dressed in a suit like a rich, well-educated and powerful person. McConaughey looks well-groomed and chose to portray himself this way to attract their rich and powerful audiences. The average income that target audience that the advertisement is reaching out to is about $250,000. It is difficult to detect any political appeals related to the advertisement, but definitely the target audience could be of voting age and have some political interest. The advertisement clearly targets men and the dominant race, so the advertisement targets white men. The actor in the advertisement has a bachelor’s degree or higher. The intended target audience should also hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, nothing lower than a college education. The language used in the commercial is English; no difficult words just simple English. Also, there are no symbols used in the commercial, the advertisement was direct and is intended to send a message in simple English. There is the use ethos in the commercial by using an actor such as Matthew McConaughey. He is a good actor and has many fans; he is convincing and the perfect character of the advertisement. The advertisement for Lincoln both influences its audience to pursue an élite social status and encourages people to spend to get the social status.
Subway Halloween Commercial 2014
The Subway advertisement aired a month ago on television; this was because of the approaching Halloween season. The advertisement is directly targeted to women to stay in shape and fit in sexy Halloween outfits. The advertisement is selling sandwiches, and it displays another male and female about to enjoy their sandwich. The advertisement features one female model and two other normal people. The model is playing a role where she is changing into different sexy female Halloween costumes. The role being played by the female model was stereotypical because there was a man sitting on the table, but he did not need to stay in shape for the costumes, but the women have to. The model was wearing makeup, changed into multiple Halloween costumes and her hair is perfectly styled to match each costume. The problem is that the advertisement does not show the product well and it is somewhat unreasonable to suggest that people could eat Subway sandwiches so they could fit in sexy Halloween costumes. This is a lie and nobody will look like that model if they eat Subway sandwiches. There are three people in the overall commercial, the model was the only one standing and the other two are sitting around the table. The model's body feels superior compared to the other woman who sitting on the table eating her sandwich. The actors in the advertisement have no specific relationship with the product besides picturing them eating the sandwich. The model is standing in different poses depending on the costume she is wearing. The male in the advertisement found one of the costumes to look attractive and based on his body language; it shows that women in sexy Halloween costumes are attractive to men. The models are looking toward the people sitting on the table and there are no explicit movements in the advertisement. The advertisement also shows that women dressed in sexy clothing are attractive compared to those who are just dressed in normal clothing. The advertisement also refutes traditional gender stereotypes and supports the view of women being viewed as sexual objects. There are no written texts in the advertisement; it’s just acting and movements.
