Mandi B. sent in this straightforward example of the way that women are positioned as commodities in advertising. The email ad for Spirit Airlines reads “Trade Up for a Better Flight Awards Card” and illustrates that trade with a new car, a younger look, and a lady in red. What does the lady have to do with it? Absolutely nothing. But it works because we’re accustomed to thinking of sexy women as prizes for men’s success.
Comments 20
Michael Eden Raney — July 22, 2011
Huh, when I saw it I assumed that the woman had "traded up" to a cuter, wealthier male. Not that that's any better, but I think it could be read that way.
Rachel Keslensky - Last Res0rt — July 22, 2011
What do the car, the suit, and the woman all have in common?
They have NOTHING to do with getting a better "Flight Awards Card".
What the hell happened to relevance in advertising?
Alex51324 — July 22, 2011
In before dudebro arguing, "The woman isn't part of the reward, she's just attracted to him because of the new car, younger look, and (presumably) Sprint Awards Card."
$ocraTTTe$ — July 22, 2011
And a successful man who buys nice things is the reward for being a beautiful woman. So goes the cultural narrative. If you're a man you'd better be rich, and if you're a woman you'd better be beautiful, or no one will love you.
Or you can just find some busted chick to date your broke ass, or some broke dude to date your busted ass, and you can have a happy life together shopping at goodwill. Sounds like a solution to me.
Umlud — July 22, 2011
Yeah, she's the "sexy" woman, but (assuming that I'm the owner of the flashy car) is she really the woman that I'd want to be with (and it is me that she finds so interesting, anyway)? And am I really that wealthy, or am I living heavily on credit? Have I made good financial investment decisions for the long-term, and what kind of smart investment is a gas-guzzling sports car anyway (especially with gas prices expected only to rise in the future)?
If the ad is supposed to show the "trade up" as a smart, long-term investment, then it makes little logical sense to show it as ostentatious spending for short-term gain.Finally, the ad is also a great example of horrible use of PhotoShop. (I mean, the scale of the people is well out of proportion to the cars as is the position of the cars to each other (and their supposed owners).
Yrro Simyarin — July 22, 2011
Wait, there's a woman in that advertisement? I was looking at the car...
Ldsnh — July 22, 2011
That;s what we confronted in the 1970's one airline's "Coffee, Tea or Me" ad. When will things change. Maybe never. What changed is the number of women especially speaking up with confidence about such stuff not being seen as "isolated feminist nuts."
Biancalav — July 23, 2011
The movie poster for The Change Up pisses me off in this same way
http://www.liveforfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/the-change-up-movie-poster-01-405x600.jpg
Jane Roe — July 23, 2011
I'm not saying this is how they intended it, but the fast/natural/easy read for me is that she's the one getting the reward. . . which is a wealthier/younger man to take care of her.
This really doesn't end well either way, does it. :/
PedanticCarNerd — July 25, 2011
Amusingly, the flashy new car is actually about ten years old.
Mafaulkner — July 29, 2011
There's so much to explore with this subject.
Men may look at this and subconsciously process it as "winners get great cars and beautiful women," but women may subconsciously process it as "be the prize that goes to a winner." Women don't identify with being winners, but with being rewards (objects).
From the woman's perspective, "being" a prize is a fulfilling or gratifying acknowledgement of your worth. I think that's behind beauty pageants, Playboy bunny-ism, and the whole "rescued damsel" meme.
Bcs1blix — September 13, 2011
That ad looks like the two cars just crashed into one another. The man in the back is obviously much worse off, but the two in the front are still emotionally distressed. If the words weren't there I would not think of it as an ad.