There
are several ethical considerations for sex and gender representation in
advertising. Stereotypes for men and women are heavily used in advertising to
make messages clear. For instance, a woman in the kitchen cooking a meal while
the husband gets home from work is a stereotype that is often used to sell
dinner items. Another ethical issue to be addressed is the “sex sells”
approach. There is sex all over the media, especially in alcohol and clothing
advertisements. This approach, whether it works or not, captures the attention
of consumers and tries to sell the product through objectifying both genders. I
will introduce ten guidelines for the best practices to address these
considerations to better serve the consumers.
1.
Advertisers should be aware of the goal of their
advertisement
a.
Advertisements serve the purpose of selling a
product or making the product known.
b. Advertisements do not always have to shock people to get their attention, be aware of the foundation of the advertising message.
b. Advertisements do not always have to shock people to get their attention, be aware of the foundation of the advertising message.
2.
Use realistic portrayals instead of using the
common stereotypes
a.
Yes, some women are stay at home mothers that
cook and take care of the kids while the father works. That does not mean that
there are no stay at home fathers out there as well. Or that there are no women
that work in business settings as a CEO.
b.
Using realistic portrayals will have a positive
effect over using the same stereotypical messages
3.
Coordinate with feminist consultants
a.
If the advertisement could potentially offend
women, asking an outside opinion will prevent future complaints.
4.
Truth is greater than sex
a.
Sex may sell, but consumers want to know about
the products ability to enhance their life.
b.
A sexy picture might capture the attention of
consumers, but a purchase will be made only if the consumer thinks the product
will benefit or meet their needs.
c.
The Trojan condom commercials integrate both sex
and truth. The truth part of the ads gives the facts about the products while
maintaining the attention of the consumer.
5.
Research the target audience
a.
It is important to clearly define where and when
the message will appear.
b.
For example, a beer advertisement with a
semi-naked woman might be found in Maxim magazine. If a middle-aged woman were
to pick up the magazine and see the advertisement, most likely she would not be
offended if she were picking up the magazine in the first place.
6.
Test
the advertisements
a.
Examine the reactions of the target market and
people that are not a part of the target market.
b.
This will give advertisers an idea of how the
message will be received, if it is offensive and if the ad needs to be revised.
7.
Relevancy
a.
Make sure the imagery used in the advertisement
matches the message of the product you are trying to sell.
b.
c. This advertisement is for Wonderbra and the
picture and message do not match. This is a stereotypical advertisement that is
trying to use sex to sell the Wonderbra.
8.
Create a unique message
a.
People are not going to remember another
stereotypical advertisement with that woman cooking or that man in the work
place.
b.
Consumers will buy something that stands out to
them, not something they have already seen.
9.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
a.
Creating new ideas of beauty will improve
societies expectations for what is beautiful and what is not.
b.
The Dove Campaign (previously mentioned) allows
normal women to express their ideas of beauty. The results for the campaign were
positive and inspirational to other women.
10. Empower each gender
a.
The main focus is woman, to diminish stereotypes
c.
This commercial makes women the main focus and describes
how “unapologetically strong” they are.
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