Report on the Use of Stereotypes in Advertising

Report on the use of stereotypes in advertising

To: Board of Directors


Executive summary: The advertising techniques have evolved during the last 50 year. Yesterday’s ads are no longer the ones of today. Tomorrow’s ones will have to take into account stakes connected to the change of the customs.
Procedure:   An analysis about the evolution of the advertising techniques will be made by focusing on key examples as the representation of the man and the woman in 1950’s, and then in 2000’s.
Findings:
Ads of the 50s and 2000s were minutely examined. The conclusions show that the techniques of attractiveness are not any more the same. For a very good reason, the public is not any more the same.
  So, the housewife and the domestic woman become the woman object and the femme fatale. The black man of colonialist past becomes a figure of virility. If the message changed, the idea is always the same: catch the eye by basing on current stereotypes.
Although the evolution of stereotypes in the advertising is mainly the consequence of the development of our consumer society and of the desire to shock and draw the attention, it would be necessary to not forget the role of the NGO’s and the popular contesting.
For example, the sexist advertisements are more and more discreet because of actions led by associations which fight them. The women themselves do not recognize in the representations which are made of them. Many advertising campaigns have been revised or nullified.
Finally, it becomes obvious that to realize at best the future advertising campaigns, the understanding of the stakes connected to the evolution of the customs is indispensable. An advertising campaign will be a success only if it does not raise an anti-authority wind.

Recommendations: The future trends begin to take shape. It is advisable not to lean on stereotypes anymore, but to play with. To twist them. The objective is not to disappoint the prospect. The humour will be an effective...