Media studies Advertising CSPs

Question 1

What is social context?

Answer 1

• Who created it?
• who was the intended audience
• how genre conventions are socially relative
• the effect of social and cultural context on representation
• how and why social groups in a national and global context may be misrepresented
• how the audience responses to and interpretations of media products reflect social and cultural cirmcumstances

Question 2

What is cultural context?

Answer 2

• what was happening culturally at the time the text was produced
• how that reflects the attitudes, values and beliefs of a cultural group
• what is the text saying about the culture groups which it is representing
• how does that reflect attitudes, values, beliefs

Question 3

What is historical context?

Answer 3

• how genre conventions are historically relative and dynamic
• reflects the time in which something takes place or was created and how that influences how you interpret it
• the effects of historical context on representations
• the relationship of recent technological change and media production,distribution and circulation
• the way in which different audience interpretations reflect historical circumstances

Question 4

Mise en Scene - Score hair cream (setting)

Answer 4

• the setting is in a jungle, comparing the women as animals chasing after ‘food’

Question 5

Props - Score hair cream

Answer 5

• the gun could symbolise dominance and masculinity showing that he is in control

Question 6

Costume - Score hair cream

Answer 6

• the women are wearing revealing costumes meaning that they should please the man
• this would appeal to a male audience as it is indicating that if you use the cream all the women would be chasing and fighting over them

Question 7

What mythologies do the signifiers reinforce gender roles? (SHC)

Answer 7

• reinforces ideas such as men being in control and active while women should be submissive and passive
• reinforces the idea that a woman’s purpose is to please and appeal to men

Question 8

What mythologies do the signifiers reinforce about race? ( SHC)

Answer 8

• reinforces the ideas that caucasian is the beauty standard
• reinforces notions that causasian is the majority and more powerful race

Question 9

Does the text convey any other ideological position apart from a patriarchal ideology? (SHC)

Answer 9

• that relationships should occur between men and women, leaving no room for homosexuality
• that being caucasian is the better race to be

Question 10

How does Score construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience?

Answer 10

• it constructs a narrative by using humour that would be inferred and extracted by a male audience
• ‘get what you’ve always wanted’ implies that women being after you is the most important

Question 11

How and why might audiences responses to the narrative of the advert have changed over time?

Answer 11

• audiences during the 1960’s wouldn’t have been as critical as they would be now, women at the time the advert was made wouldn’t have any choice but to accept it because it was a patriarchal society
• whereas women now would challenge this and although patriarchy is still evident, it is not serious now as women fought for their rights, the audience now would find it sexist and offensive

Question 12

How does the advert create desire for the product?

Answer 12

• it indicates that if you use the cream, you will get what you have always wanted which is essentially having women all over you

Question 13

Narrative detailed feedback (SHC)

Answer 13

• identifies the man as ‘hero’ - infers that he is worshipped and the adoration of the females are his reward for masculine endeavours
• has an appeal to the target audience of ‘younger’ males
• the 1967 male audience might read the narrative as ironic and humorous but it is unlikely that they would challenge the underlying ideology implicit within the advert

Question 14

Liesbet Van Zoonen - SHC

Answer 14

• states that gender is constructed through discourse and that its meaning varies according to the cultural and historical context
• the score advert constructs a representation of women that is typical of the late 1960’s and accepted as normal the women in this era were largely represented as domestic servants or sex objects
• media texts use codes which are used to objectify females

Question 15

bell hooks - SHC

Answer 15

• feminist who explored the intersectionality of race. In the advert, there are only caucasian women which indicates that they are the only desirable race
• although the women are being oppressed, the, the struggles of oppression of the races isn’t being portrayed in the advert

Question 16

Judith Butler - SHC

Answer 16

• argues that gender is not biologically determined but socially determined. believes that gender is a performance
• both the male and the female in the advert are performing the roles of the masculine man and feminine woman, it reinforces the binary opposite gender roles ascribed by society

Question 17

Stuart Hall - SHC

Answer 17

• both the producer and the audience play a part in how that representation achieves meaning how audiences and producers decode texts differs
• producers saw the advert as humorous as the male audience however the female audience would see it as offensive

Question 18

David Gauntlett - SHC

Answer 18

• argues that both media producers play a role in constructing identities, men use adverts such as the score hair cream to shape their identities and their sense of what it means to be a man
• women would also have a clear sense about their place in the world which would make them submit to a man, ensuring they don’t challenge or ask questions

Question 19

Sephora - Black Beauty is Beauty - context

Answer 19

• french multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products ft nearly 340 brands and offers beauty products such as skin care, cosmetics, beauty tools, hair care
• has a well established presence in the industry and appeals to a wide range of consumers
• advert was produced in 2021 partnered with international innovation consultancy company to launch it which sheds light on the significance of Black beauty
• reveals the search bias which takes place on the internet in terms of excluding black beauty brands and prioritising caucasian brands as when you search up black beauty a horse comes up

Question 20

Why was the Sephora BBIB campaign launched?

Answer 20

• was directed by Garrat Bradley who is African American female
• singer SZA tweeted about being racially profiled and sephora received backlash because of this

Question 21

How did Sephora respond to the backlash they were receiving?

Answer 21

• the chief executive Jean - Andre Rougeout apologised to its customers for not being treated fairly and consistently and soon closed the stores to give his employees extra diversity training
• comissioned a study which found black people would use a series of coping mechanisms such as not trying any samples and keeping their hands out of their pockets to avoid accusations of theft. they did this to avoid racial bias and unfair treatment in stores
• Sephora also committed to the 15% pledge and increased the number of black owned brands sold its stores and online
• new policies were introduced to improve diversity and inclusion in their workforce

Question 22

Mise en scene - Sephora BBIB

Answer 22

• lighting - soft warm lighting to enhance darker skin tones rather than altering them
• clothing from different cultural backgrounds
• different settings - salon, home create a sense of community and relatability
• different hair styles
• props - styling tools and in the salon there are images of the civil rights movement

Question 23

How is camera angles and sound used in Sephora - BBIB?

Answer 23

• camera is always moving and never still which makes it more engaging with the viewer
• close up shots of the products
• multiple perspectives to show differences
• discourse about passing traditions of beauty
• editing style, split screen to show messages
• sound - pace of music keeps up with the montage - RnB soul shows cultural heritage

Question 24

Genre (conventions of beauty adverts) - Sephora BBIB

Answer 24

• makeup, cosmetics, hair products
• the ideas of perfect skin, perfect beauty
• has different types of people, cultures embracing gender, ethnicity , sexuality and their differences
• 3x longer screen time than normal adverts
• tells you about cultural heritage

Question 25

Narrative - Sephora BBIB

Answer 25

• conveys a message of empowerment, self love, shows awareness