Question

1. The Gillette commercial focuses on the stigma of the way men treat women and how they should be when interacting with a man. The commercial focuses less on the sale of the Gillette razor, rather, it focuses on the social views of a man today and the patriarchal dominance over women and how many continue to raise and teach their young boys. The target market is for male parents who should be a leading example for others. They communicate this through the scenarios and different scenes that are presented throughout the advertisement. In the Cheerios’ commercial that featured an interracial girl and her two parents became very controversial in 2013. Many were troubled by the fact that they presented an interracial home that many were not used to seeing advertising. The target market was to represent all ethnicities as well as interracial families. This advertisement was objected to letting their audience know that Cheerios is a common household item that all families enjoy.
2. These ads are examples of advertising with negative social consequences because they were done to bring awareness to sensitive topics today. Although there are many interracial couples, broadcasting that image with a renowned household product was something many may not have been ready to accept. Similarly, with the Gillette commercial, bringing awareness to the phrase that “Boys will be boys” is something that raises concerns to how people raise their children. The advertisement was driven to bring awareness to sexual harassment. These negative social consequences brought extreme backlash to the audiences targeted or who are very insensitive to both topics.
3. The advertisers would justify the use of these ads just for the simple fact that these are social issues that need to be addressed. There should not be any reason for racial injustices within our country or the justification for the men who sexually harass or assault women without any consequences. Race is still an active divider in society today. The way society has become socially comfortable with their own race is a contributing factor to the way viewers felt about the Cheerios advertisement. As for the Gillette advertisement, sexual assault continues to be an ongoing threat in many everyday places. Women are still subjected to this behavior within the workplace, school, or even normal social settings. Many men who are prone to this behavior are often not held accountable and the advertisers are the ones who felt that these issues should be addressed.
4. An alternative advertising strategy would be to not make the advertisement solely focused on one thing. When it is one focus that often leads more room for backlash and negative commentary because not everyone is going to agree with how things are presented. By possible having an ending of a resolution or a quote that brings everything together, the audience would be able to get a better understanding of the purpose. When there are controversial advertisements as such, it is possible to come off harsh or taken the wrong way which is often not the advertisers’ intentions. More so, to bring awareness to issues but there are tactics that may need to be enforced to allow for more positive feedback.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/cheerios-commercial-racist-backlash_n_3363507.html

comment in the Discussion Forum: Do you agree/disagree that the identified advertisements have negative social consequences? Do you agree/disagree with the alternative strategies recommended? Can you come up with a better strategy?

Answer 1

The article given is very well presented and takes the readers attention towards a thing that we see daily, learn from it but never pay attention to how it is shaping our viewpoint. One example given in the article is of Gillette which shows the sexual harassment done by the men but tries to justify it by saying 'men will be men'.

I totally agree with the saying that the advertisements have negative social consequences. Though a real thought has never been given to it but now, through the given article, it can definitely be agreed on that advertisements do leave an impact on the people and we blindly follow it. One more example could be of Axe perfumes which teaches the boys that if you smell good, girls will start following you like a magnet. After seeing that ad, many boys switched to Axe perfumes in a hope to get a girl. Had they been taught that girls want reliable boys, who are respectable, caring and loving, they would have actually got a girl. But after seeing the ads, moral values are kept aside and the only thing that is promoted is looking good, smelling good and dressing up nicely.

Obviously, there is a need of finding some alternative strategies. For example, if Gillette wants to promote its razors, it should show in the ad that there are two males, one who has beard and looks homeless, and the other, who is clean shaved and clean. A girl is more proud in introducing the latter to her parents and therefore, the former guy feels the urge to shave to. Therefore, alternative strategy to show in the ads is to make advertisements which are full of moral values. Advertisements should be made in such a way that it promotes the value of the product by showing its good uses and how the use of it will make you a better person. Just showing that using a particular product will make you look "cool" should be avoided.