Tide Flashcards
How does the costume of the woman in the advert reflect what was popular at the time?
• Hair tied back - reminiscent of Women’s land army
• Pursed red lips - similar to stars at the time like Marylin Monroe
• Illustration - producers able to construct the ‘perfect’ housewife at the time
What does the gesture code of hugging the tide box represent?
Represents how women are nurturing and suggests women enjoy housework anchored with the phrase “Tides got what women want” alongside symbolic codes of heart illustrations
What is the illustration of the woman intertextually referencing? Why is this significant?
Rosie the riveter
- hair tied up, gesture code of hugging looks familiar to Rosie the riveter flexing her muscles, red lips etc.
- used to empower women to buy the product in the same way that women were empowered to help out in the war effort
How does the advert appeal to female audiences?
• Illustration of the woman takes up the majority of the advert, makes women appear powerful
• By having light hearted comic strips and cartoons, domestic life is glamorised rather than made realistic and mundane
• uses the word “woman” many times
What would hooks suggest about the advert?
That white women are often idealised in the media, presenting the ‘perfect housewife’ as a white woman
What would gauntlet suggest about the advert?
Women may have constructed their identity based off of their media consumption, as Tide enforces what it means to be a women
Which company produced tide?
Procter and Gamble
What would Van Zoonen suggest about the advert?
Women are either represented as domestic or sexualised in the media
Historically, women in the 50s were presented more modestly and in the domestic sphere, it wasn’t until the 1960s when women became more sexualised
What ideology are the producers attempting to push?
They are trying to get women back into the domestic sphere after world war 2, try to create a discourse of empowerment in regards to house keeping
What types of audiences does tide attract? (Young and Rubicans 4 Cs)
Aspirers
Mainstreamers
How does the stamp in the corner ‘Gauranteed by Good Housekeeping’ attract audiences?
Attracts mainstreamers who follow opinion leaders, they entrust the opinions of this magazine
Also attracts a female audience who were more likely to purchase lifestyle magazines at the time
What Lexus is used to encourage a preferred reading of the advert?
“Miracle”
“Trust”
“What women want”
Who would have a negotiated/oppositional reading to the tide advert?
Women who left the domestic sphere during the war and prefer working, led to the rise of second wave feminism
How would Gerbner be applied to Tide?
Female audiences have been cultivated to adopt a domestic lifestyle through products like this , as it is glamorised and presented as the ‘norm’ for the time
How would the appearance of a washing machine attract audiences?
New technology at the time
Attracted aspirers who wanted the best equipment, attracting them to buy the product
How does the comic strip represent Tide’s target audience?
Clothes on the washing line belong to both men and children, suggests that the ‘perfect housewife’ is a heterosexual married woman with children but would also be the hegemonic demographic at the time
How does tide use DMOA?
They use the word “You” multiple times
How many women were employed in the WLA?
200,000
