Representation Analysis

Advertisements are a constant in almost everyone's life. Even when you don't consciously pay attention, there is most likely an advertisement around your area. And the ads you see can impact you. Advertisements have notoriously shaped and have been the product of pop culture and societal norms. When all an audience sees for a particular product is one thing, they associate that one thing with that product. This can even extend to concepts. In the Tide ad, the woman is wearing pink. Pink has become a feminine symbol, with the help of advertisements such the one done by Tide. The Tide ad also shows the role of the woman to be the housewife and do the washing/cleaning up. The Axe advertisement can reinforce gender stereotypes as well as body stereotypes. The women were seen as "primitive" and drawn to the man. They were also wearing little clothes and all had pretty much one singular body type. This tells women that they need to have one specific body type. There was also little representation of other races, making this ad even worse.

The H&M ad, on the other hand, was challenging stereotypes of all kinds. The narration was telling specific stereotypes, while the video showed the opposite. This video did a great job counteracting the stereotypes imposed by other ads (specifically when it comes to fashion). The ad showed people of various ages, races/ethnicities, body types, sexual orientations, etc. It even showed someone with a prosthetic, which I do not often see in advertisements of any kind, much less fashion. It goes to great lengths to show as many different types of people as possible, and showing them as confident in who they are. This is great for reinforcing positive messages to someone who might relate to a person in the ad. Someone who does not often see themselves represented in advertisements. And the main message of the ad was that "there are no rules in fashion" (besides recycling clothing), which furthers the idea that there is really no such thing as a "normal person". Individuality is the main message, that everyone is different. There should be more ads showcasing more people of different races, ethnicities, body types, sexual orientations, family units, social classes, etc. Seeing someone who looks like you in an ad can make you feel like you are seen (through being represented).

Representation One: Tide (Links to an external site.)

Representation Two: Axe (Links to an external site.)

Representation Three: H&M