The ever-fantastic Sarah Haskins on car ads aimed at women:
For other examples of marketing cars to women, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.
product: cars
This Australian commercial for Toyota Corolla (found here) includes a homogenous, racialized out-group. More after the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckb-wUHj9WU[/youtube]
The term “out-group homogeneity” refers to the way in which members of an in-group tend to overestimate the extent to which members of an out-group are all alike. I suppose we don’t know what good kitty’s friends look like (do they all look exactly like him?), but we certainly have the presentation of an out-group that is both categorically different from good kitty and homogeneously so.
I would also like to suggest that that out-group is racialized. They didn’t use just any kind of cat to represent bad kitties, but a dark-colored cat. (If I know my cats, the bad “guys” in this video are Russian Blues.)
First, the commercial (found here):
I love and hate this commercial because of androcentrism. Androcentrism is the idea that we value masculinity over femininity such that we admire both men and women for performing masculinity. Androcentrism explains why we tend to like it when women drink beer, play sports, and become lawyers, but do not typically think it’s equally awesome when men cry, wear skirts, learn to knit, or become interior designers. Here is my crash course on androcentrism.
In any case, I kinda love the fact that the hot chick in this commercial represents strength and we’re obviously supposed to think she’s awesome. But the guy in the commercial, who is supposed to represent sissy hippy environmentalism, doesn’t exactly come off as awesome. He is funny, stupid, ridiculous. And I kind of hate that. In a perfect world, men would be allowed to do things associated with femininity without being considered uncool.
These three Volvo ads from 1974 (from Found in Mom’s Basement) remind us that this isn’t the first time there was an “energy crisis” and gas was difficult and/or expensive to get. They put this particular crisis in historical perspective and also point to (1) how resistant Americans are to change and (2) how short our collective memory is. That is, the problems we are facing to day are not new, but cyclic, yet we manage to forget crises as soon as they are past and revert to our familiar ways.
The ads also demonstrate the willingness of companies to capitalize on a crisis. See a modern version here. And enjoy the ads:
See also these public service announcements encouraging carpooling during WWII.
During World War II, the government encouraged carpooling because they needed the gas and rubber for the war (source). Here is a sample of the propaganda:
This one is, as it appears, by Dr. Seuss:
The next two are from the State of Ohio:
In the comments, both Eoin and Toban B. (T.B.) pointed us to this poster (found here).
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Ben O. sent us these three images. This image (found here) is of a sticker on the window of a car (presumably a Mustang?) that says “Built with tools, not chopsticks.” The car is, ironically, parked in front of a sushi bar (see the reflection in the window).
These next two images (found here and here) illustrate how this particular public library requires an ID to look at both Jet and Essence (magazines aimed at Black Americans), but not other magazines. Presumably, someone thinks that magazines consumed by Black Americans are more likely to be stolen than other magazines. Ben asks:
Is this racism? Is this censorship? What do you think about it?
Thanks Ben!
NOTE: In the comments, several readers questions whether the last image is an example of everyday racism. Yes, magazines are sometimes kept at the circulation desk because they are perceived to be at high risk of being defaced or stolen, but they’re also sometimes kept behind the desk if they’re highly popular, to prevent patrons from monopolozing them for very long periods of time. By forcing patrons to check them out rather than have them freely available on the shelves, patrons can keep them for only a cetain length of time, guaranteeing that other patrons who might wish to read them also have an opportunity. So it’s possible that Jet and Essence are kept behind the counter because they are very popular titles and the library is trying to be sure as many patrons as possible get access to them. So this image might be better used to talk about the difficulties that can arise interpreting situations where race appears that it might be playing a part, but it isn’t clear whether it is or in what way.
The ever-awesome Elizabeth, of Blog of Stench, sent in this image of a reusable shopping bag (found here):
Elizabeth says this “conspicuous, confrontational environmentalism” annoys her,
…because its point is not just to “save a tree,” but also to “look fashionable while doing it” [quote from organize.com]. I have a problem with pro forma environmentalism where the appearance of environmentalism matters more than actual actions, as is the case with this bag. The text on the bag equates “saving the planet” with using this particular bag or, by extension, making a show of one’s environmentalism. Furthermore and much more problematically, the implied contrast between the owner who is “saving the planet” and the audience who is being interrogated suggests that the audience is not doing anything to save the planet. The audience may be doing environmentally conscious activities in other areas of life; or the audience may have mitigating factors that prevent them from spending extra money in order to flaunt their environmentalism like white urban bourgeois hipsters.
For another example of environmentalism as fashion statement, see this post.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
Zach W. sent in this Mini Cooper ad (found here) that talks about the car’s “carfun footprint,” which is “a measure of how fun your car is versus how much impact it has on the environment”:
Clearly it’s awesome if car manufacturers are realizing they actually have to address the environmental aspects of their cars, but what grabbed my attention is that in the main text it says the Mini gets 37 mpg, but when you read the fine print at the bottom, you find out that in town it’s 28 mpg, and that’s the hard-top manual transmission Mini. According to this article, the convertible gets 30-32 mpg on the highway, and Yahoo’s autos page shows them getting in the low-20s per gallon in-town. As a Honda Civic driver, that doesn’t strike me as much to brag about, really. I mean, ok, yes, better than the Mercury my grandma bought last year, but still. (Note: I think my grandma is the last person on earth to buy a Mercury.)
Thanks, Zach!
NEW: Claire T. sent in this ad for o.b. tampons (found at Science Daily):
I think when even tampons are being advertised as environmentally-friendly, we can safely say that the idea of being eco-conscious is becoming fairly mainstream (though that, of course, means little about how people actually act).
Thanks, Claire!
Exactly in line with Gwen’s last post on symbolizing an eco-friendly identity, Dorothee H. sent us a link to a commerical linking leftist politics to the smart car. I think Gwen’s comments say it all and Dorothee’s submission illustrates it beautifully:
See also this commercial that uses pro-communist sentiment to market a car.
This Australian commercial for Toyota Corolla (found here) includes a homogenous, racialized out-group. More after the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckb-wUHj9WU[/youtube]
The term “out-group homogeneity” refers to the way in which members of an in-group tend to overestimate the extent to which members of an out-group are all alike. I suppose we don’t know what good kitty’s friends look like (do they all look exactly like him?), but we certainly have the presentation of an out-group that is both categorically different from good kitty and homogeneously so.
I would also like to suggest that that out-group is racialized. They didn’t use just any kind of cat to represent bad kitties, but a dark-colored cat. (If I know my cats, the bad “guys” in this video are Russian Blues.)
First, the commercial (found here):
I love and hate this commercial because of androcentrism. Androcentrism is the idea that we value masculinity over femininity such that we admire both men and women for performing masculinity. Androcentrism explains why we tend to like it when women drink beer, play sports, and become lawyers, but do not typically think it’s equally awesome when men cry, wear skirts, learn to knit, or become interior designers. Here is my crash course on androcentrism.
In any case, I kinda love the fact that the hot chick in this commercial represents strength and we’re obviously supposed to think she’s awesome. But the guy in the commercial, who is supposed to represent sissy hippy environmentalism, doesn’t exactly come off as awesome. He is funny, stupid, ridiculous. And I kind of hate that. In a perfect world, men would be allowed to do things associated with femininity without being considered uncool.
These three Volvo ads from 1974 (from Found in Mom’s Basement) remind us that this isn’t the first time there was an “energy crisis” and gas was difficult and/or expensive to get. They put this particular crisis in historical perspective and also point to (1) how resistant Americans are to change and (2) how short our collective memory is. That is, the problems we are facing to day are not new, but cyclic, yet we manage to forget crises as soon as they are past and revert to our familiar ways.
The ads also demonstrate the willingness of companies to capitalize on a crisis. See a modern version here. And enjoy the ads:
See also these public service announcements encouraging carpooling during WWII.
During World War II, the government encouraged carpooling because they needed the gas and rubber for the war (source). Here is a sample of the propaganda:
This one is, as it appears, by Dr. Seuss:
The next two are from the State of Ohio:
In the comments, both Eoin and Toban B. (T.B.) pointed us to this poster (found here).
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Ben O. sent us these three images. This image (found here) is of a sticker on the window of a car (presumably a Mustang?) that says “Built with tools, not chopsticks.” The car is, ironically, parked in front of a sushi bar (see the reflection in the window).
These next two images (found here and here) illustrate how this particular public library requires an ID to look at both Jet and Essence (magazines aimed at Black Americans), but not other magazines. Presumably, someone thinks that magazines consumed by Black Americans are more likely to be stolen than other magazines. Ben asks:
Is this racism? Is this censorship? What do you think about it?
Thanks Ben!
NOTE: In the comments, several readers questions whether the last image is an example of everyday racism. Yes, magazines are sometimes kept at the circulation desk because they are perceived to be at high risk of being defaced or stolen, but they’re also sometimes kept behind the desk if they’re highly popular, to prevent patrons from monopolozing them for very long periods of time. By forcing patrons to check them out rather than have them freely available on the shelves, patrons can keep them for only a cetain length of time, guaranteeing that other patrons who might wish to read them also have an opportunity. So it’s possible that Jet and Essence are kept behind the counter because they are very popular titles and the library is trying to be sure as many patrons as possible get access to them. So this image might be better used to talk about the difficulties that can arise interpreting situations where race appears that it might be playing a part, but it isn’t clear whether it is or in what way.
The ever-awesome Elizabeth, of Blog of Stench, sent in this image of a reusable shopping bag (found here):
Elizabeth says this “conspicuous, confrontational environmentalism” annoys her,
…because its point is not just to “save a tree,” but also to “look fashionable while doing it” [quote from organize.com]. I have a problem with pro forma environmentalism where the appearance of environmentalism matters more than actual actions, as is the case with this bag. The text on the bag equates “saving the planet” with using this particular bag or, by extension, making a show of one’s environmentalism. Furthermore and much more problematically, the implied contrast between the owner who is “saving the planet” and the audience who is being interrogated suggests that the audience is not doing anything to save the planet. The audience may be doing environmentally conscious activities in other areas of life; or the audience may have mitigating factors that prevent them from spending extra money in order to flaunt their environmentalism like white urban bourgeois hipsters.
For another example of environmentalism as fashion statement, see this post.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
Zach W. sent in this Mini Cooper ad (found here) that talks about the car’s “carfun footprint,” which is “a measure of how fun your car is versus how much impact it has on the environment”:
Clearly it’s awesome if car manufacturers are realizing they actually have to address the environmental aspects of their cars, but what grabbed my attention is that in the main text it says the Mini gets 37 mpg, but when you read the fine print at the bottom, you find out that in town it’s 28 mpg, and that’s the hard-top manual transmission Mini. According to this article, the convertible gets 30-32 mpg on the highway, and Yahoo’s autos page shows them getting in the low-20s per gallon in-town. As a Honda Civic driver, that doesn’t strike me as much to brag about, really. I mean, ok, yes, better than the Mercury my grandma bought last year, but still. (Note: I think my grandma is the last person on earth to buy a Mercury.)
Thanks, Zach!
NEW: Claire T. sent in this ad for o.b. tampons (found at Science Daily):
I think when even tampons are being advertised as environmentally-friendly, we can safely say that the idea of being eco-conscious is becoming fairly mainstream (though that, of course, means little about how people actually act).
Thanks, Claire!
Exactly in line with Gwen’s last post on symbolizing an eco-friendly identity, Dorothee H. sent us a link to a commerical linking leftist politics to the smart car. I think Gwen’s comments say it all and Dorothee’s submission illustrates it beautifully:
See also this commercial that uses pro-communist sentiment to market a car.