Some last thoughts on the changing role of women in ads

Through my research I found it was obvious that women have come a long way from the homemaker image that was once so popular in the 1960's. Those homemaker ads are now called "vintage" not only because of their age but also because of the ideas, in my opinion. Like my grandmother stated, the portrayal of women in advertising changes as women grow and make more opportunities for themselves. If they keep pushing that glass ceiling and pushing for equality, the ads will show men and women as being more equal. Of course, there will always be ads that use women as sex symbols, and ones that use men as sex symbols. Sex sells in advertising. Women being held to such a traditional gender role shouldn't sell appliances though, not in the twenty-first century. Women won't buy into it.

None of the research I found contradicted my thoughts that advertising has gone from portraying "Betty Homemaker" in 1960 to soccer moms and working women in current ads. Advertising appliances now is a way to sell a lifestyle that comes with the appliance, not the actual product. Will it do something quicker, make me happier, etc. What will this do for me and what are the implications of that on my life. Time is money. Time is precious. In the 1960s the ads were heading in that direction, but the lifestyle wasn't as prevalent a theme as it is today. The product was always the center of attention, and the women was an accessory to the appliance. Now the women and the lifestyle shines bright, and you buy that product because you want the lifestyle that could accompany it. Women, let's keep on progressing and we'll have to see how ad agencies will keep up with us.

A man?! In the kitchen?!? No way!!

A man and a fridge. Now that’s not something you see everyday, at least in the world of 1960s appliance advertising. That’s not the case anymore with current appliance ads. This ad, with what looks like a man taking food out of the fridge, is once again aimed at the lifestyle you can have, although this ad definitely errs more on the side of selling the product as much as the lifestyle. This is because the arrows and words draw your attention away from the couple and back to the fridge. While it is not as “lifestyle” motivated as the other two current LG ads, it certainly makes leaps and bounds in the department from the woman being portrayed as a homemaker with children. Once again, there is a man but no children in this ad, which may reflect the choices of working couple’s to wait a little while longer until they are in their 30’s to have children.

Another thing I noticed about this ad and the relationship between the man and the woman is that while the woman looks as though she is cooking, the man is helping. It shows equality, which is the polar opposite of 40 years ago when men were buying their wives mobile dishwashers as luxury Christmas presents. Sure, it may make dishwashing easier, but what does it say about your feelings towards her role in the marriage? That she is the housekeeper? That was more common and socially accepted then, but more and more now we see young couples with a division of chores, and working together because equality between the sexes is so important to many men and women, in every aspect of life. The two people in this ad represent a team, not a man and wife separated by their traditionally accepted gender roles. That’s an extremely different portrayal of the homemaker image and a beacon of light for advertising involving women.

The appliance as the background, not the model, of the ad.

The second ad I chose out of a series of lifestyle ads by LG is “Culinary Adventure.” This is the ultimate example of the appliance fitting into the consumer’s life and fitting the consumer’s needs. Even the copy says it loud and clear: “Adapts easily to your latest culinary adventure.” The woman in this ad is not surrounded by children, there is actually an absence of children in these ads, but there are men in all three LG ads I have chosen. The male in this ad is hanging out in the background, not a major part of the ad but still alluding that the woman may be involved with him somehow. Another thing is that while the woman is cooking in the ad, she isn’t being portrayed as “Betty Homemaker” because the appliance is behind her, she is in the forefront of the ad and she’s clearly only cutting fruit. She isn’t all made up with children at her feet, dirty dishes in her hands but still with a huge smile on her face. That’s unrealistic. This is much more believable. I would say this ad portrays more the young professional, or working mother, but not a homemaker. The progression that women have made it the workplace is reflected in the ads, even if the ad isn’t showing her in the office place it isn’t hard to imagine her in an office setting, where that setting was hard to imagine putting the women that appeared in 1960’s ads.

Dance the Night Away

This is clearly a more current ad and it is from a whole campaign of LG appliances that really are advertising a lifestyle that a consumer can get if they have the product, as opposed to directly selling the product. As you’ll notice, the nature of this ad is much different. A man and woman are dancing in the kitchen in rhythm with those dancing on the fridge television. The first thing I noticed was that an adult male was in the ad, because they are not featured in ads from the 1960s. Males are practically absent in every appliance advertisement, but they are the stars of car ads. One of the things that is different about this ad is that when you first look at it you see the couple dancing, then the product. The product will fit into your schedule and adapt into your life, not the other way around. In the ads from the 1960s the appliances were the stars of the ads with people around them. With this LG ad, it’s all about selling the lifestyle of fun, romance, class and comfort. The homemaker has turned into a woman swept off her feet by Prince Charming.

Look Honey, it’s a fridge just like the one you’ll own one day!

Here’s yet another refrigerator advertisement. I’m not really clear on what the woman is pointing at and why the young girl seems delighted by a fridge, but it once again exemplifies the “young homemaker” that Hill discusses, with the daughter seemingly so excited over a fridge. The reason I picked this ad was because it is so different from ads today. I am of the opinion, especially after the research I have done, that current ads focus on lifestyle, as I have stated. This ad tells me nothing about this woman’s life besides that she gets overly excited about appliances and dresses unrealistically (according to my grandmother, at least) for the kitchen. The focus of the ad is definitely the fridge, which is important because it is what is being sold. In current ads there are ways to make the appliance the focus, yet also show a lifestyle, which is what will be in the following entries. Also, in recent ads women are not in dresses and heels in kitchens, it’s another dramatic change from the ads from the 1960’s.

Check out my amazing fridge!

This ad is one that I threw in the mix that I don’t believe is too far off from the advertising we see today, which is why I put it in the project, to prove that not all of the advertisements were implying the women should clean and be given cleaning products as gifts. This is an image of a regular family, mother and three children, unloading the groceries. The focus is still on the fridge, as opposed to a lifestyle, which is definitely what current advertisements are aimed at.

Once again though, notice the absence of an adult male figure. It is likely that the woman went and did the grocery shopping, because women make most of the household purchases, while the man was at work making the money. The only thing that could be misconstrued about this ad is the line “There’s always room for one more.” I am going to assume that is about the size of the fridge, since it is advertised as providing extra storage space, but I bet the copywriter realized the double meaning behind it, which in my thoughts is there’s always room for one more child. Perhaps that is just my thoughts when I analyzed this ad though, it could be taken in many different ways. While I don’t think this ad is as vintage as the others, I don’t think it is something that we would see today because of the appliance focus, and not the lifestyle focus.

Frigidaire Dishmobile…another perfect gift!

Here we have the ad for the Frigidaire Dishmobile, which I believe is a dishwasher that, judging by the illustration in the ad, is movable. The little jingle at the top left says “Holiday from Apron Strings” with music notes, which matches several Christmas carols, thus implying this is another gift that a woman would love to have for Christmas. Once again, it would have been lovely to have one of these, but probably not to receive at Christmas. Also, notice the absence of a man in the ad? It’s a mother having fun with her two children and a mobile dishwasher. That’s unrealistic. Children do not go near dishwashers unless there’s a threat involved. The small image in the bottom right corner shows a young girl emptying the dishwasher. Why isn’t it a little boy? It fits with Hill’s description of a young homemaker, the mom training the young girls to do chores around the home in preparation for when they themselves become homemakers (Hill, 193). Once again, it shows the progress women have made in regards to equality, as well as dropping great hints over the years to men about what NOT to buy as gifts. For that I think all women my age owe a big "thank you" to those brave women before us.