Week 4 EOC Role of Women in Contemporary Ads

In the feminist video we watched in class, I learned a lot of interesting things that caught my attention and made me look at advertisements differently. Women have been used as “accessories” in todays advertisements and most of the time they are a bit revealing or have some sort of sexual look about them. While watching the video I noticed a change….women were being recognized as being independent and powerful among the men, which was different back then. Today it is common, but still not fully accepted. The first ad is an ad for Wonderbra. It marketed towards women and says “I can’t cook. Who cares?” meaning that it doesn’t matter if the women wearing the Wonderbra cant cook, she has large breasts and that’s all that matters! This ad is degrading towards women and shows women that being smart doesn’t matter, as long as your breasts are large. In the second ad, this Dove campaign celebrates women for their bodies and who they are. In the third ad, Dolce & Gabbana feature an ad for their clothing and shows a women laying on the floor with her pelvis lifted towards the air while one man straddles her and three more men are standing around her. This ad just looks off-putting and again shows women as an accessory.

Week 4 BOC Jerry Delle Femina

Who is Jerry Delle Femina?

He is a legendary advertising visionary, book writer, restaurant owner and inspiration for the popular show Mad Men.  He first began when he became a junior copywriter in 1961. In 1967 he founded his own agency Della Femina Travisano & Partners. The company was huge and nearly brought in $250 million a year. During this time, he worked with accounts like Meow Mix, Pan Am, Beck’s Beer, Blue Nun Wine, Chemical Bank, and Dow Brands. He left that agency in 1992 and took a 6 month hiatus where he opened up two successful restaurants in New York and that same year he opened up another agency called Jerry Inc. Jerry is also a book writer and wrote From The Wonder Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor, which was a best seller, and An Italian Grows in Brooklyn, which didn’t really sell at all.

http://www.dellafemina.com/jerry.html

Week 3 EOC Tobacco Advertisement

·       1. Determine the scenario: What happens in this frame? There is a woman that looks like she’s laughing happily. Her clothing and accessories look luxurious and she is holding a slim Capri cigarette between her fingers.

·       2. What is the setting? What are the conditions? There is no real setting, she takes up the whole frame and is the subject of the ad. She feels at ease and happy when she has a cigarette. It makes her feel rich and sophisticated.

·       3. Who are the people or groups? The person being photographed is a woman, who looks like she is in her early/mid 20’s.

·       4. What is their point of view around this specific experience? The cigarette company’s point of view about this ad is that smoking slim cigarettes makes women feel like women: sophisticated, beautiful and luxurious. This ad released in 1987.

·       5. What are their goals? Their goals are to make women who smoke feel different than men by providing a sleek stylish cigarette to go along with their lifestyle.

·       6. What are their assumptions? What are their perceptions? Their assumptions is that women who see this ad will want to buy these cigarettes based on the lifestyle they are basing it on in the advertisement.

·       7. Are there conflicts? Is there cooperation? Technically, there is a conflict in the ad. The cigarette its self isn’t healthy for humans and they clearly post it on the ads. Consumers still participate knowing the affects of smoking.

·       8. What are the outcomes? The outcome is trying to get Capri noticed and popular by women so they can share the same experiences with the women in their ads.