Camilla P. sent us this international sampler of Coke Zero ads. She says all of them that she found use the whole “zero” is manlier than “diet” strategy (see the first two below), except the one in Australia which links a sip of Coke Zero with orgasm (see the third video).
From Britain:
From Brazil (we’d love someone to translate, although we think we get the gist):
From Australia:
If you liked that, see this remarkable Orangina commercial.
While whiteness is the neutral category (for example, see here and see here for the same phenomenon related to gender) and most, but not all, advertising is aimed at white people first, we all know that people of color DO appear in advertising, even when it’s obvious that the intended audience is mostly white. In this series, I’m going to offer some examples of how people of color are used in ads and some of the conditions under which they are included.
In this first post of the series, I offer you examples of ads that include people of color in order to associate the collectively-held meaning of the racial minority group (i.e., stereotypical traits, the social construction of the group) with the product.
This first one is my favorite (thanks to my student Kelly for submitting it). The product is Dole Fruit Gel Bowls. The text is: “There’s a feeling you get from the refreshing taste of real fruit. Lighten up with Reduced Sugar flavors. Life Is Sweet.” So how do they convince us that “Fruit Gel” is “real fruit”? By putting a “native” appearing woman with a “natural” hairstyle in a white cotton frock with flowers around her neck.
In this ad (thanks to my student, Jennifer, for submitting it) Verizon Broadband is telling us that we can download music fast. What kind of music? The kind associated with black folks, of course. The text along the top reads: “Jazz. Rock. Trip Hop. Uptempo or down.”
Compare that version of the ad with this one (thanks to my student, Laura). In this ad, the person is now an Asian woman and the type of music mentioned is “Classical. Soul. Hip Hop.”
This ad for IBM products features a middle aged Asian man, a type of person associated with high technology.
NEW: This ad uses an Asian man to invoke the idea of a good worker.
These two ads for Kool cigarettes (thanks to my student, Eugene, for the first one, and this blog for the second) use Black men doing stereotypically Black things (playing the trumpet and djing) in order to try to transfer some of the cool associated with Black men to Kool cigarettes. (Alternatively, these ads may be targeted directly at a Black audience.)
This one too:
Finally, this ad for the Ipod ipod-type thing (submitted by my student, Cheng) uses a young Asian man dancing. We all know that white men can’t dance.
NEW! In this ad, rhythm is represented by a black woman:
If anyone has more examples, I’d love to see them!
Next up: using people of color to signify, literally, color, or even spice or flavor.
I found this ad in this random magazine published by a local bank that gets sent to my house every so often. As far as I can tell, it is an ad for advertising:
The small text at the bottom says “The secret formula revealed. Advertising. The way great brands get to be great brands.” What I like about this image is the self-awareness of the importance of advertising for making your product a household name, and the implication that advertising is what make Coke a globally-recognized brand. And also that it’s about being a great brand, not having a great product. This might be a good image to add to a presentation on marketing and/or the media.
Emily sent us this classic Goodyear tire ad. The ad starts out talking about mileage and showing men, but then moves to a segment where a woman is driving and there’s scary music and we’re to presume that she’s maybe being chased or is in danger–and you want to be sure your wife has good tires so she can get away.
NEW! This ad for the VW Bug also plays on the idea that women are terrible drivers:
Text:
Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things.
If your wife hits something in a Volkswagen, it doesn’t hurt you very much.
…
She can jab the hood. Graze the door. Or bump off the bumper.
It may make you furious, but it won’t make you poor.
So when your wife goes window-shopping in a Volkswagen, don’t worry.
You can conveniently replace anything she uses to stop the car.
Even the brakes.
A humorous look at how yogurt is marketed to the generic category, “woman.” Quite funny! (From Current TV via Jezebel.)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf_roIC9Pso[/youtube]
NEW: Here’s an actual yogurt ad that makes it clear that a) yogurt is for women and b) yogurt somehow makes women feel more like “themselves.” Thanks, 73man!
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.
I use this set of engagement ring ads, though any set would do, to illustrate the way in which ads have to sell much more than just the product. To sell an engagement ring, these ads also are selling: monogamy and the pair bond; marriage as the proper way to cement that bond; love, and love as a basis for marriage; the need for a symbol of commitment and a ring (a diamond ring specifically, apparently platinum preferably) as that symbol; men’s role as financial provider and decider (in that he buys the ring and proposes); the importance of the proposal (it needs to be a surprise and an event in itself); the importance of an expensive ring (i.e., “Does he know how much I really love him?”); and… what else?
Text: “When you can truly be yourselves. Your love has just gone Platinum.”
Text: “Tacori: A symbol of unending love”
Text: “Never compromise… when asking someone to spend the rest of their life with you.”
Text: “Platinum. For a lifetime of love. Platinum’s purity endows it with a natural white luster which allows the true radiance of your diamond to shine. As uncommon as true love, platinum is 35 times rarer than gold. Like the bond between you, platinum will hold your diamond securely now and for always.”
She asks: “Does he know how much I really love him?”
Under the image: “With love comes questions. The right diamond shouldn’t be one of them.”
Text: “For one moment the world is spinning around her.”
Here’s an ad for earrings that has the same message about love:
Miguel E. sent us these interesting images and text. They may help illustrate the notion of polysemy and the importance of how our interpretation of images is influenced by copy.
This ad is from April, 1908:
Beer as a healthy tonic–I’m surprised beer companies haven’t returned to this, now that we’re obsessed with whole grains again. Apparently they also used to call Schlitz “liquid bread.”
Thanks to Larry H. at the Los Angeles Times Daily Mirror blog!
