Media studies Advertising CSPs Flashcards
CSPs - Sephora Black beauty is beauty and Score hair cream
1
Q
What is social context?
A
- 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
2
Q
What is cultural context?
A
- 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
3
Q
What is historical context?
A
- 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
4
Q
Mise en Scene - Score hair cream (setting)
A
- the setting is in a jungle, comparing the women as animals chasing after ‘food’
5
Q
Props - Score hair cream
A
- the gun could symbolise dominance and masculinity showing that he is in control
6
Q
Costume - Score hair cream
A
- 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
7
Q
What mythologies do the signifiers reinforce gender roles? (SHC)
A
- 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
8
Q
What mythologies do the signifiers reinforce about race? ( SHC)
A
- reinforces the ideas that caucasian is the beauty standard
- reinforces notions that causasian is the majority and more powerful race
9
Q
Does the text convey any other ideological position apart from a patriarchal ideology? (SHC)
A
- that relationships should occur between men and women, leaving no room for homosexuality
- that being caucasian is the better race to be
10
Q
How does Score construct a narrative which appeals to its target audience?
A
- 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
11
Q
How and why might audiences responses to the narrative of the advert have changed over time?
A
- 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
12
Q
How does the advert create desire for the product?
A
- it indicates that if you use the cream, you will get what you have always wanted which is essentially having women all over you
13
Q
Narrative detailed feedback (SHC)
A
- 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
14
Q
Liesbet Van Zoonen - SHC
A
- 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
15
Q
bell hooks - SHC
A
- 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
16
Q
Judith Butler - SHC
A
- 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
17
Q
Stuart Hall - SHC
A
- 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
18
Q
David Gauntlett - SHC
A
- 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
19
Q
Sephora - Black Beauty is Beauty - context
A
- 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
20
Q
Why was the Sephora BBIB campaign launched?
A
- was directed by Garrat Bradley who is African American female
- singer SZA tweeted about being racially profiled and sephora received backlash because of this
21
Q
How did Sephora respond to the backlash they were receiving?
A
- 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
22
Q
Mise en scene - Sephora BBIB
A
- 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
23
Q
How is camera angles and sound used in Sephora - BBIB?
A
- 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
24
Q
Genre (conventions of beauty adverts) - Sephora BBIB
A
- 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
25
Q
Narrative - Sephora BBIB
A
- conveys a message of empowerment, self love, shows awareness
- Todorov - Equilibrium, disruption, not conventional
- past informs present, we don’t see good vs bad, binary oppositions
26
Q
How does Sephora use AIDA to persuade the audience to buy products from Sephora.
A
- Attention - using social media, for different groups of society for everyone, diverse, bright colours, sound tracks
- Interest - unique as it is different to a typical advert, more vibrant
- Desire - the way they presented a sense of community which makes audiences want to buy the products
- Action - people will share it to raise attention to the message it is sending
27
Q
Apply the ideas of Gauntlett to the advert
A
- Identity - the advert reinforces Gauntlett’s ideas that there is now a much broader range of representations in the media, challenging traditional notions of gender identity
- Discusses the idea that identity is not fixed and audiences can use media texts to help shape their sense of self by selecting versions of ourselves we want to adopt
- The text provides audiences with an array of options for how a range of ethnicities could present their identity
28
Q
How do media representations reflect social, cultural and historical attitudes?
A
- media products and the representations of gender, ethnicity and sexuality can be seen as a product of the social and cultural context in which they were created, the BLM movement was now something which was reaching an international audience, zero tolerance for racism
- the racial profiling incident SZA demonstrates that people from the African American community were still being treated unfairly
- Consumers want ethical products or want to shop at organisations which are seen to be ethical
29
Q
Apply the ideas of Butler to the advert
A
- argues that gender is not strictly divided into two but exists on a spectrum of gender identity
- gender is not a social construct in which individuals perform their gender, it is a choice which should be celebrated
- represented in the advert when members of LGBTQ community perform traditionally female rituals by applying make up when binary genders perform the social rituals
30
Q
Apply the ideas of Gilroy to the advert
A
- the advert challenges racial hierarchies, hegemonic standards of beauty such as white, slim, euro centric features
- shows the history of the diasporic experiences with the images of the civil rights movements and demonstrates how society has the potential to develop and celebrate African American culture
- individuals from the BAME community have been selected to feature in this advert
31
Q
Apply the ideas of hooks to the advert
A
- in the advert the Sephora brand aims to attract a diverse audience and all the females featured are people of colour. they are not marginalised instead ‘black beauty’ is celebrated and recognised for its impact on the industry
32
Q
Detailed textual analysis
A
- when the advert was made, it was posted on YouTube, The Oprah Winfrey channel. The intention is to specifically target black audiences particularly American audiences where Sephora is primarily based.
33
Q
Opening sequence and key scene analysis
A
- As the advert starts, the scene is established in a beauty salon for black women. The camera pans across the salon in a typically fluid motion. Medium close up shots of tools of the ‘trade’ are used to communicate the idea that beauty comprises many elements that can be attributed to black origins.
- The advert then utilises split screens and mirror shots to provide origin stories for tools and to showcase the products in action, creating binary opposition between old vs new. There are parallels drawn between black beauty inventions, history,current trends, beauty products.
