TIDE Flashcards
what is the products context?
launched in 1946, tide became the most popular product for machine cleaning in America and maintains that position today.
their advertising agency DMB&B used print and radio advertising campaigns to build an audience familiarity. both media forms used the house wife character and the idea people ‘adored’ tide.
post WWII in the 1950s there was a rapid development in new technologies for the home so a large amount of advertising was used.
How did certain media language influence meaning in tide
Z line and rule of thirds was applied.
bright primary colours connote the positive associations producers want the audience to have with the product.
Headings, subheadings and slogans written in a sans-serif font, which can be perceived as an informal mode of address.
comic strip style in bottom right hand corner with two women talking about the product uses informal lexis ‘sudsing whizz’
the technical elements of the product use a serif font connoting the more formal information in bullet point lists.
what theories link to tide
semiotics- Barthes
suspense is created through enigma of ‘what women want’ and is emphasized by the multiple exclamation marks.
semiotics could be applied to the use of hearts above the main image. The hearts and womans gesture codes have connotations of love and relationships. ‘what women want’ shows this is what women desire.
hyperbole and superlatives of ‘miracle’ ‘worlds cleanest wash!’ ‘worlds whitest wash!’ aswell as tripling ‘no other…’ are used to oppose the connoted superior cleaning power of tide compared to its competitors.
symbolic code was successful as tide quickly overtook Procter and G.
what representation was demonstrated in tide
context
in the 1950s white women where primarily targeted because they stayed at home.
stereotypical representations of domestic perfection, caring for the family and the servitude ‘man of the house’ became linked to the need for convenience and a better standard of living.
representation of gender
dress codes of the main female character include a stereotypical 1950s hairstyle of waves and curls made fashionable by people such as Veronica Lake.
headscarf worn shows practicalities of womens dress codes of the time. the hair held back connotes being focused on work. this may be binary opposed by her full face of makeup.
theory link
Stuart halls theory of representation
images of domesticity ( two women hanging out laundry ) forms a shared conceptual road map that gives meaning to the world of the advert. even though it is a comic strip it is still familiar to the life of the audience.
David Gauntletts theory of identity
women are represented as role models of domestic perfection that the audience will construct their own identity around.
what was tides audience and how do we know
despite their roles in WWII (where they worked) domestic products of the 1950s continued to be aimed at female audiences.
the target audience was lower-middle class as they could afford these innovative products.
the audiences demographic is made through the adverts use of women who might identify (uses and gratifications theory). They’re likely newly married women with young families (mens and childrens clothing on the washing line)
good house keeping magazine makes them opinion leader for the target audience inforcing them as a market leader.
the preferred reading (Stuart Hall) uses reassuring lexical fields such as ‘trust’ and ‘truly safe’ which shows that even though it is new it still provides a good product
theories
Stuart Hall reception
indirect mode of address shows her relationship with tide is important the dominant encoding shows the message should be received by ‘you women’
personal address and personal pronouns ‘you wash’ ‘you can buy’
Cultivation theory George Gerbner
audience influenced by media texts
Tide aims to appear as a brand leader and nothing else with compare to tide. the repitition of the key messages causes audiences to align with their viewpoint
