Explore how advertising has changed over the years in our new blog series.
Stricter regulations on advertising campaigns are set to be introduced in the UK in 2018 and are already in place in many other countries. We thought it was a great time to take a look back at how advertising has changed over the years and the direction it’s heading in for the future.
To kick things off, we’re exploring adverts that include gender stereotyping and look at the way male and female targeted ads have developed over the years.
Back to the 1800s…
Since advertising began we’ve been bombarded with visuals of the “good housewife” spending her days cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. Like this ad from 1893 – if only there were a washing powder that actually reduced cleaning time by 6 hours…
Things hadn’t really improved by the 1950s…
So, while the women were busy at home making it sparkle for their husbands, where were the men? They were at work of course, spending their time making money so they could buy their wives nice presents like this…
And it wasn’t just about cleaning. As we moved into the 1970s, companies like Dacron menswear took it upon themselves to create promotional adverts for their trousers showing women quite literally being used as doormats! The trousers apparently had the power to ‘floor’ a woman with just one look…
By the turn of the millennium the ‘stupidity’ of men was added to the mix…
It’s not just women who’ve been the subject of belittling advertisement. In recent years, there’s been a 180-degree flip from the 1950’s representation of women as the ‘stupid’ or ‘incapable’ member of the household. Instead, in recent years men have been depicted as having little or no ability to complete simple, everyday tasks. We’re seeing countless fathers struggling to cook a meal or sitting helplessly as the kids make a mess. Fathers who, with their lack of cleaning skills, remain completely at the mercy of their wives who are their only hope of escaping from the chaos…
In 2012, Huggies launched their ‘Dad test’ campaign which was designed to target ‘real dads’ with their babies and show how good their nappies and wet wipes perform. But their message was pretty misconstrued and the company received major backlash from offended Dads and members of the public who were outraged by the ads. Instead of showing the intended message that their products can ‘handle anything’, the ads simply made it seem like these dads had no idea about taking care of their children.
Now, Huggies responded well and revamped their campaign based on the feedback they received, but this just goes to show how much of an impact stereotyping in an ad campaign really has.
…and a little bit of objectification for good measure
And there’s more. The Telegraph points out that advertisers of today are displaying men as “either dumb or pretty” and, as we covered the ‘dumb’ aspect above, let’s take a look at ‘pretty’. This is all about the sexualisation of men and depicting them as nothing more than a sexual object. One example of a modern day ad that firstly targets women and secondly sexualises men is the ‘Gardener-Diet Coke commercial:
So, where does that leave us?
It’s fair to say that we as a society and our advertising campaigns have moved on somewhat in the last 60 years. But that doesn’t mean we’re in any way innocent of stereotyping in our advertisements. Gender stereotyping is still very much present, it’s just done in more subtle and less obvious ways, as ad agencies have changed their strategies so they can still target products to specific genders without an immediate outcry.
Take this ad from DB Export’s campaign, led by the very much non-gender-stereotyping strapline “the beer that saved men from wine”. If ever there were a statement to head up a campaign that labels beer as a drink strictly for men and emasculates wine drinkers, this is it.
Fortunately for us, key bodies in the world of advertising are cracking down on gender stereotyping and pushing for more gender neutral approaches to advertising. We’re already seeing leading brands like Nike creating empowering adverts for women’s fitness, and John Lewis leading the way in the retail world with its gender neutral children’s clothing range.
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