Is Advertising Sexist !!
Back on May 4th mind the gap ran a post on her new cleaning product. The picture on the label was rather sexist and whilst embee might have once dreamed of me dressing as a maid to do the cleaning he'd probably now prefer a frog. There was a time in the UK when this type of labelling would have been commonplace but I'm pleased to say it has virtually disappeared. I searched the supermarket shelves and the labelling if now more subtle with the inference that women do the cleaning. It is a woman's hand on the 1001 carpet cleaning product. There are also women featured on lots of the laundry products. Is it only women who appreciate soft fragrant clothes and bedding (probably yes but now I'm being sexist). However, lots of the detergent labels featured boys in dirty football gear and men in dirty rugby kit- but that doesn't actually suggest they are going to turn on the washing machine. In fact what came to my mind was some poor female has to clean that lot!! Lots of the cleaning products are 'Mr Muscle' and what does that suggest!! Then you have nurses for hygeine and a woman in black to suggest the colour won't fade if you use this product.
So do you have any views on sexism in advertising!!!
Labels: advertising, women
posted by ChrisB @ 8:43 am
17 comments
17 Comments:
As a matter of fact, I have very strong views on sexism in advertising. I refuse to buy any car that doesn't come with a topless blonde airhead sitting on the hood (bonnet).
WT you know why they do that ? to make sure you guys don't realise you're about to buy a crappy car!!
hmmmm- are they being sexist or smart? I'm not saying that they shouldn't be perpetuating a stereotype- because they are doing that and that isn't a good thing. but who buys most of the cleaning products and who uses most of the cleaning products??? women. they are just using smart marketing. If I were selling a cleaning product, I would try to make it appealing to women.
but that is just my opinion.
I think sexist advertising for cleaning products is fine. After all it's a targeted audience. Why would I want to buy any Mr. Muscle?
Ducks and wheels off as quick as possible!
frannie the advertisers do seem to have moved away from making 'women' look as though they are tied to domestic chores which of course in reality is often the case. Although I will quickly add I know there are a lot of men who contribute to the domestic scene as I've read on lots of the blogs (it just doesn't happen in this house).
john you make me laugh!
Of course Advertising is Sexist!!! Look at all those beer commercials.
Advertising is pretty sexist but to be honest I don't really notice it anymore other then like johnb said with the advertisements with a blond sitting seductively on the hood of a car? My husband is the one around here who likes the laundry to smell nice he only wants me to buy one laundry detergent because he likes the smell and says it makes things smell fresh! I like it because I can tell between the mounds of clean clothes needing folded and mounds of dirty clothes needing washed............
Sexist advertising doesn't really bother me. However as the mother of two sons I dislike the ads that portray young men as idiots. Advertisers wouldn't get away with displaying young women that way. The cleaning product sexist ads at least show the women as being caring people.
karmyn here in the uk young women are now supposed to be binge drinking more than the blokes if you can believe the media!
my4kids advertising has never really influenced me and like you i don't particularly notice it; I only started looking after seeng the post on 'mind the gap'.
barbara I can understand how you feel about the adverts it's a bit like portaying women as being useless under the bonnet of a car (which of course I am!!)
I don't think it is contrived sexism per se - it is probably the result of a lot of marketing research to find out what appeals to the end user - the target audience and making the product into something they will like to buy. If it is a fact that 80% of washing liquid is being bought by women then the manafacturer is going to try and appeal to them.
American laundry stuff doesn't have this kind of imagery at all. Our detergent is in a bright orange bottle with a vivid lid colour that reflects the scent (ocean, spring, or odourless = what we have) and a swirly ccoloured label. Very bold and not pastel as yours are.
Luckily I have a man in my life who agrees that I shouldn't have to do any cleaning, in fact that neither of us should, and so we have a cleaner. I can honestly say it is wonderful and I would go out with many other luxuries before I gave her up as havng someone else come and do it alleviates all the stress a) of who should do what and b) what needs to be done. Right now he is doing the laundry - I was out at cooking school yesterday and he was at home doing laundry, bless him, - we share it equally, and he always takes the lead in washing up immediately after dinner. We both share putting the rubbish out although I do seem to be the one who always deals with the dishwasher, mainly because I can't bear it when my things get put in the wrong place so I can't find them - so I usually do it purposely when he is not around.
Sam Fred is very good and you don't know how lucky you are to have someone to do your cleaning. Just think back to what I've had to do over the years and am still doing if it comes to that. Dad rarely puts the rubbish out, or puts the dishwasher on although he does very occasionally empty it. Still he does do a lot of the gardening which is something but I now have all the watering to do if it doesn't rain while he's away.
I agree Sam, a cleaner is a great investment. We decided to get one after I became ill because although Bryan did the cleaning it wasn't up to my standard. Like Fred, Bryan does the washing up, the rubbish and helps with the laundry and always has since they day we moved in together.It must be a man thing - I like to empty the dishwasher as Bryan never puts things in their right place either.But he hates cooking which doesn't bother me 'cos I'm happy to cook. I encouraged our sons to do their own laundry from about the age of 12, including their sheets and towels, and now it's second nature, although I do have to sometimes remind them to do their sheets. They can both cook.....now if I could only find a couple of nice daughters in law!
barbara I think embee was much more helpful before I married him; he comes from the generation when women were slaves to the home, not that I ever was; I was a single working parent when we married and remained very independent; he's too old to change now and he feels I make too much fuss about cleaning- if its so easy I can't think why he doesn't do more of it!!
You don't have to be an airhead to advertise a car but you do have to be small- to make the car look bigger.
pi very good!
Willowtree needs a cocker spaniel for the hood of his car... anyone have one out there?
interesting post. Now I"m going to be checking this stuff out
I've just remembered you are going to get a prize for this - I will get round to sorting it out before long, I promise!
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