Tide Flashcards
What year was Tide launched by Procter & Gamble?
1946
Which advertising agency handled Tide’s accounts during the 1950s?
D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B)
What marketing strategy did DMB&B use for Tide in the 1950s?
Print and radio advertising campaigns concurrently
What character was commonly used in Tide’s advertising campaigns?
Housewife character
What was the cultural context of consumer advertising in the 1950s?
Consumer culture was in its early stages of development
What type of technologies developed rapidly in the 1950s?
New technologies for the home
Name two examples of technologies that became desirable in the 1950s.
- Vacuum cleaners
- Washing machines
What is a characteristic of print adverts from the 1950s?
Used more copy than modern adverts
What does the Z-line and rough rule of thirds relate to in advertising?
Composition
What do bright, primary colors connote in advertising?
Positive associations with the product
What type of font is used for headings and slogans in the Tide advert?
Sans-serif font
What style is the image in the bottom right-hand corner of the advert?
Comic strip style
What does the serif font in the Tide advert represent?
Serious or factual information
According to Roland Barthes, what creates suspense in advertising?
The enigma of ‘what women want’ (Hermeneutic Code)
What do the hearts above the main image signify in Barthes’ Semantic Code?
Connotations of love and relationships
What are examples of hyperbole used in the Tide advert?
- ‘Miracle’
- ‘World’s cleanest wash!’
- ‘World’s whitest wash!’
What is the purpose of using tripling in advertising?
To oppose the connoted superior cleaning power of Tide to its competitors
Fill in the blank: The D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles agency aimed to build audience familiarity with Tide through ______.
concurrent media advertising
What was the impact of Procter and Gamble’s Tide in the 1950s?
Tide became the brand leader by the mid-1950s, overtaking competitor products.
What theory is associated with Claude Lévi-Strauss?
Lévi-Strauss’ theory involves the construction of texts through binary oppositions, where meaning is derived from understanding these conflicts.
How does the Tide advertisement reinforce binary opposition?
The advertisement states, ‘Tide gets clothes cleaner than any other washday product you can buy!’ and ‘There’s nothing like Procter and Gamble’s Tide’, contrasting Tide with its rivals.
What representations challenge stereotypical views of women in Tide adverts?
The adverts challenge views of women being confined to the domestic sphere, reflecting societal changes as men left to fight in WWII.
Who was the primary market for home technologies in the 1950s?
Women were the primary market for technologies and products developed for the home during the post-war boom.
What societal changes influenced women’s representations in advertising?
Representations linked domestic perfection and servitude to modern needs for speed, convenience, and a better standard of living.
What dress code is depicted in the Tide advertisement?
The main female character’s dress code includes a stereotypical 1950s hairstyle with waves, curls, and rolls.
What practical reasons influenced women’s hairstyles during WWII?
Shorter hair became fashionable as it was safer for women working with machinery in factories and on farms.
What does the headband or scarf worn by the woman in the advert signify?
It connotes that she is focused on her work, contrasting with her full make-up.
What intertexts are interesting to consider in relation to women’s representations?
WWII adverts for the ‘Women’s Land Army’ and J. Howard Miller’s ‘Rosie The Riveter - We Can Do It!’ advert.
What does Stuart Hall’s theory of representation suggest about audience demographics?
The likely audience demographic is constructed through the advert’s use of women with whom they might personally identify.
This is part of the ‘shared conceptual road map’ that gives meaning to the ‘world’ of the advert.
How do women in the Tide advert relate to David Gauntlett’s theory of identity?
Women represented in the advert act as role models of domestic perfection that the audience may want to construct their own sense of identity against.
What is the preferred reading of the advert’s lexical fields according to Stuart Hall?
The preferred reading is that the reassuring lexical fields imply trust and safety, suggesting that Tide is a superior product.
What does Liesbet Van Zoonen’s feminist theory suggest about the representation of women in the advert?
The advert may contradict Van Zoonen’s theory that media contribute to social change by representing women in non-traditional roles.
How does bell hooks’ feminist theory relate to the Tide advert?
The advert reinforces the idea that lighter skinned women are more desirable, fitting into the western ideology of beauty.
What does reception theory (Stuart Hall) say about the mode of address in the Tide advert?
The indirect mode of address connotes that the woman’s relationship with the product is of prime importance, indicating a hegemonic encoding of the advert’s message.
What does cultivation theory (George Gerbner) explain about the Tide advert?
The advert aims to cultivate the idea that Tide is the brand leader and a desirable product for its female audience.
What social context influenced the target audience of the Tide advert in the 1950s?
Despite changes in women’s roles during the War, domestic products continued to be aimed at female audiences, particularly lower-middle class women.
