Tide Advert Analysis

Question 1

1. Who are clearly the T.A. of this advert?
   - Give an example where this is shown.
2. What is created between Tide and all other cleaning products?
   - Which theory and theorist does this link to?
3. The woman on the Tide ad is largely presented as the stereotypically ______ woman.
   - Who’s theory does this link to?
   - Who would argue this puts woman in a position of submission?

Answer 1

1. White, middle-class domestic women.
   - ‘You women’ in strapline, ‘Tide’s got what women want!’
2. A binary opposition - Tide is better.
   - Claude Levi-Strauss’s Binary Oppositions theory.
3. Perfect.
   - Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory.
   - Leisbet Van Zoonen.

Question 2

1. There are only women on this ad. What could that suggest women are accepting?
   - Who’s theory is this?
2. The numbered points on the right side of the ad suggest that the producers are trying to _____ the audience.
   - Who’s theory does this contrast?
3. On this ad, we see a _______ ________ of ethnic minority women.
   - Who’s theory does this support?

Answer 2

1. The power dynamic of a patriarchal society.
   - bell hooks’ feminist theory.
2. Teach.
   - David Gauntlett’s theory that modern audiences are more able to construct their own interpretations of media texts - however this was not made for a modern audience.
3. Symbolic annihilation.
   - bell hooks’ theory that white middle class women are further represented and given more power than ethnic minority women in media texts.