Case study- Tide advert

Question 1

Production context

Answer 1

-Launched in 1946 and quickly became a brand leader as it maintains today.

• DMB&B the advertising agency quickly created advertising to allow audiences to be familiar with the brand
• The post war boom allowed rapid changes in technology. Which one of those were Tide.

Question 2

Media language- How elements influence meaning in Tide

Answer 2

• Bright primary colors connote positive meanings to the product.
• Heading and sub-heading are written a sans-serif font connoting an informal mode of address
• The informal mode of address is reinforced with the use of the comic strip style imagery talking about the product.
• The more important details of the product are written in a normal serif font.

Question 3

How the semiotics theory can be applied here.

Answer 3

• Suspense is created through the enigma of ‘what women want’ emphasized by the tension of exclamation marks.
• uses of the heart logos above the main image connotes love and relationships. Also links back to what women want.
• Hyperbole such as ‘Miracle’ and ‘World’s cleanest wash !’ are used to connote superior cleaning power to their competitors.
• The symbolic codes were deemed successful as the products of Tide were superior.

Question 4

Representation- Industry context

Answer 4

• In the 1950s women were the primary market for products made for home.
• In advertising for these texts. Stereotypical representations of domestic perfection became link to the modern need for speed.

Question 5

Representation- How does media language represent gender

Answer 5

• Constructions of representation through selection and combination ( Cultivation theory)
• Using stereotypical 1950s hairstyle and fashion to conform to the women ideals
• Having shorter hair had a practical catalyst therefore women with short hair at home would be seen that their job is at home. But the women in the advert could be a binary opposite with the make-up that she is wearing.

Question 6

Stuart halls representation theory

Answer 6

• The comic strip relates to the individual performance of everyone and their own lives.
• The images such as the washing line are part of a ‘shared contextual road map’ that give meaning to world of adverts.

Question 7

David Gauntlett theory

Answer 7

• women are represented as role models of domestic perfection and what the patriarchal society had dictate how women should perform.
• Gives the women audience something to construct their identity to.

Question 8

Audiences- How Tide reaches the audience ?

Answer 8

• Despite the changes of women’s roles in the war they are still the aim of domestic products. Links to van zoonen
• The likely audience was usually the lower-middle class.
• The more domestic products stacked on retailer shelves required brands to have a strong USP therefore focused on their branding.
• The audience demographic is used by advert and the choice of women they identify with. Such as being newly married or having children. Domestic housewives
• Preferred reading of Stuart hall- The lexical fields such as miracle and trust suggest Tide provides the solution to a domestic household needs.

Question 9

Reception theory used for audiences

Answer 9

• The indirect mode of address with the main image of the women hugging the product suggest that is her primary need. Which is dominant encoding that the primary message is for women.
• The direct mode of address marketing techniques such as “You” make the audience feel spoke to by the advert.

Question 10

Cultivation Theory for audiences

Answer 10

• The Tide advert aims to cultivate that the nothing else can be compared to Tide for its female audiences.
• Gerbner’s theory would argue that the repetition of these key messages cause audiences ideologies to align with the advert.