Stereotyping in Advertising

Question 1

what’s the harm in advertising stereotypes?

Answer 1

o Stereotypes that degrade women also degrade men
o Stereotyping often occurs when one group is more powerful than another
o Stereotypes can distort reality to make stereotypes seem natural (cultivation theory), and we then expect people to conform to them (media expectancy theory)
o Stereotypes can perpetuate racism
o Ads create an imaginary world that teaches us how to see the real world, and ourselves

Question 2

Why are stereotypes necessary in advertising?

Answer 2

o Most ads would fail without stereotyping
o Stereotypes help make sense of the world and organize our thoughts
o Stereotypes in ads can be used as cultural ‘short cuts’

Question 3

What are the right way to use stereotypes?

Answer 3

 Used to guide expectations
 Stereotypes should not be used to judge an individually incorrectly
 Stereotypes should be used in functional ways
 Stereotypes should be used in a way that is respectful and does not perpetuate negative ideas about a group

Question 4

What are some common stereotypes in advertising?

Answer 4

Children: boys are aggressive (often in sports/athletic roles) girls are dainty and feminine and cute

Shallow or incompetent men:
many beer commercials, playing stupid pranks on each other

Seniors:
out of touch with reality

Females:
always around the house

Race:
stereotypes with native americans, chinese, african americans, hispanics, etc.

Question 5

True or False:

Stereotypes have both qualitative and quantitative aspects

Answer 5

true

Question 6

What does valence of portrayals mean?

Answer 6

• Valence refers to connecting positive or negative values to stereotypes
  ex. mom stereotype; a mom would feel pride when seeing that advertisement

Question 7

are all stereotypes negative?

Answer 7

no

Question 8

What is frequency of portrayals?

Answer 8

 “An incessant recurrence of a single depiction throughout mass media content, coupled with the paucity of compensating images, marks the depiction as a stereotype”

Question 9

What is the cultivation theory?

Answer 9

two main concepts of this theory are;

mainstreaming: people from different social groups coming together to share a common perception

Resonance: describes how some images can have a greater impact for people whose real life reflects that which is shown in the media

Question 10

What is the social identity theory?

Answer 10

• everyone strives to be in a group
   Everyone strives to be in a group
   Once an individual belongs to a group, they see that group as the “in-group” and every other group as the “out-group”

Question 11

What are the three mental processes that separate “us” from “them”?

Answer 11

using social categories, relating certain types of behaviour to each category, and then social identification (adopting the identity of the group with which they identify)

Question 12

What is the expectancy theory?

Answer 12

 Advertising portrayals build or reinforce expectations and influence social reality
 If ads stereotype groups in a certain way, those groups will start to act that way too because it is what is expected of them

Question 13

What is recursive advertising

Answer 13

flipping stereotypes in advertising

- these ads are meant to make fun of other ads that use stereotypes

Question 14

What is intent in advertising?

Answer 14

 Determines what the ad is trying to do

Question 15

What is relevance in advertising?

Answer 15

 Asks how the advertising content is related to the product and to the target
 A relevant ad is place appropriately for its target; an irrelevant ad may be problematic

Question 16

What is context in advertising?

Answer 16

 Where/how the ad is places

Question 17

What is pride in advertising?

Answer 17

 Advertiser’s personal feelings about their ads – are you proud to put your name on the ad? How far are you willing to go in an ad?

Question 18

Sao paolo bans advertising

Answer 18

• banned in 2006
• very positive reactions
• predicted a loss in revenue, but the city collected 8 million in fines

Question 19

what is buy nothing day? how many resources do we use compared to the rest of the world?

Answer 19

• started in 1922 by ted dave
• day after thanksgiving on black friday
•  Black Friday is less about getting good deals, and more about being a part of something
   We use up 80-86% of the resources (top 1 billion) and the rest of the world uses 14-20% (the other 5 billion)

Question 20

What are stereotypes?

Answer 20

representations of a cultural group based on characters that emphasize a trait/traits that may or may not represent an accurate portrayal

Question 21

What are some effects of stereotypes?

Answer 21

• Justifies prejudices or ignorance in our society
• Prevents us from rethinking attitudes or behaviours toward stereotyped groups
• Perpetuates social prejudice and inequality
• Justifies the position of those in power
  EXAMPLE: blue vs brown eyed kids

Question 22

What is the united colours of benetton?

Answer 22

• Clothing company
• Controversial
• Every time their ads get pulled, they get more notoriety
• Target audience: Affluent 18-45 year olds
• Don’t really address actual social issues – does Benetton actually care about these issues, or is it just a ploy to get consumers on board?
• Appears to violate every rule in the book

Question 23

What was the Bennetton “unhate campaign”?

Answer 23

o Idea was that a kiss will make everything better
o Used political leaders’ faces kissing other political rivals (not allowed)
o Reactions were varied:
- Followers applauded their boldness
- Some thought the campaign conveyed messages of concern and connection to the world
- Others thought it was just a marketing ploy