Gender stereotypes in Television Commercials

Modern society is inconceivable without advertising. Advertising conveys not only information about products and services, but also about social and other types of relationships in society, including interpersonal relationships between men and women, in which the latter are usually not only stereotyped but also simplified. It should be noted that, in essence, advertising renders a particular product to a potential customer who uses it the most. . Thus, it’s logical that advertising does not go against gender attitudes of society.
The purpose of this work is to study gender stereotypes in advertising, on the example of TV commercials advertising chocolate.Two types of TV ads can be distinguished: targeting female and male audience (let's denote them as "feminine" and "masculine" chocolate). By "feminine" are a match the following : «Alpen Gold» ,«Wispa», «Kinder bueno» and «Bounty». By "masculine”: «Snickers», «Mars» and «NESTLE ® Classic FOR MEN».
=="Female" chocolate==
In roller-stories «Alpen Gold» the main character is a young pretty lady who sees in a window shop, bars of chocolate <big>«Alpen Gold»</big> , and possessed by a desire to try at least a piece, enters the store. The policeman arrives after a call, barges into the shop, but also sees the chocolate «Alpen Gold» , forgets about everything and starts eating it. The girl at the same time acted smart and disguised into one of the employee store. In this clip, the girl has rather typical appearance: long flowing hair, large eyes, slender figure and not typical behavior. The creators of this advertising, deliberately decided to "put" their heroine in this situation, to stand out against the background of their competitors. Plus, women like to see in ads amusing situations in which the heroine wins a "small victory" over a man. In this case, a passionate lover of chocolate received her chocolate and tricked the man by disguising as a salesgirl.

File:Feminine.jpg

In contrast to «Alpen Gold» ad, we can attribute a number of commercials that have no plot, in which the emphasis is on consumer perceptions. In this case, it is about chocolate commercials like «Wispa» and «Bounty».
«Wispa» - Epithets affiliated to chocolate bars of Wispa (tender, delicious, easy and unearthly) can be easily attributed to the stereotypical traits of female nature. The video shows us a girl dressed in white, walking on the seashore. She goes to meet his romantic hero, who also is on the edge of the surf barefoot, dressed in white. If we consider the semantics of the color, white - is the color of "total openness, willingness to perceive the world in all its diversity". Also, the white color will not give birth to any unpleasant feelings, which certainly gives it another advantage.
«Bounty» - The advert promises to it's potential buyers,to receiving pleasure once tasting the chocolate ( «Bounty -“ A Taste of Paradise”).In the ad of «Bounty» chocolate, the main "component" is a girl of heavenly beauty, resting on a tropical island.She is, as a rule, accompanied by a young man, just like her, very handsome, tanned, half-dressed.
Bountydarii2

«Kinder bueno» - Positioning: «Kinder bueno - tempting and easy!».Without a doubt, the target audience of this chocolate are girls and young women. As well as in «Wispa» ad, the dominant color is white. As we see, the emphasis here is on the stereotypical female "obsession" of her own figure. It is important that the video shows a slender, beautiful girl who carelessly eats high-calories chocolate, without thinking about the consequences, and that could convince potential buyers to do the same.</br>
=="Male" Chocolate==
«Mars» - In this sequence are used the following stereotypical masculine traits(correlated with activity): a tendency to adventurism, self-confidence, ability to find a way out of any situation, and resourcefulness. The heroes tasted «Mars», and immediately felt a "bright flavour, full of life," they showed wit and sense of humor.
"Work,rest,play"

«Snickers» - the chocolate bar is advertised, as a rule, by an energetic young man, living a sports lifestyle. He doesn’t have enough time to take a break to eat, that’s why he always has a Snickers with him. A practical function - satisfaction of hunger.
Of all of the adverts , «NESTLE ® Classic FOR MEN» ad is pointed out, because <big>Nestle</big> decided to directly identify the male consumer of its chocolate in every way and began to stick up for this in their commercials.It should be noted that Nestle refused to establish an independent brand for a male chocolate and incorporated it into line brands Nestle Classic.
The chocolate is shaped in rectangular thick squares, divided into large slices, which can’t be lost on a man's hand - that's what makes this a truly masculine chocolate product. The chocolate wrapper is red and symbolizes the strength of will, activity and aggressiveness.
File:Nestleformen2.JPG

As a conclusion
Producers of television chocolate commercials, not only, are congruent with the established social stereotypes of men and women, but also intensify them, which is a marketing technique. For example, if the advertisement is intended for female audience, then the main character of the commercial is definitely going to be a beautiful young girl or woman (usually with long flowing hair and absolutely slender). In ads for "women" we may not find a story by itself ,but the image of the woman will always be presented as a self-sufficient, independent and balanced woman. In two ads , the heroines are near water: the «Wispa» - the girl goes barefoot on the edge of the surf, in «Bounty» - on the ocean.The water in this case plays the role of creating a harmonious image of women, traditionally a symbol of cleansing, relaxation, and a” get away “from worries and negative thoughts. In chocolate ads with a plot, aimed to a female audience, there are also similarities. As in the previous case, chocolate is advertised by young slender girls (the same long flowing hair, nice-looking facial features).
In chocolate advertising , whose target audience are male, masculine image is also based on the established gender stereotypes. If the purpose of the ad creators is to incite young people (as in advertising «Snickers»), then in the frame will be an energetic young man, having an active lifestyle. His work will be presented as taking his life in his own hands and achieving personal success, which are undoubtedly the stereotypical expectations of male behavior. And in general, ads for men imply stories with an easy solution of life's problems, while the man always takes resourcefulness, sense of humor and comes out as a winner from a situation.
It is obvious, that the key to the success of advertising and its impact on the consumer is its inviting-tempting nature. Advertising not only promises to get pleasure simultaneously with the product ("Bounty - a heavenly delight"), but also creates the desire itself.
As we know, the main function of advertising is to convey information about the product and to represent it in the most advantageous light, encouraging the consumer to acquire it. However, the advertisements also reproduce social stereotypes, in particular related to well-established gender constructs and stereotypes, unconscious based on the pattern perceptions of relations between men and women in society. In most commercials, the stereotypical behavior of the appearance of men and women work together on making the needed figurative representation for audience exposure.

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