Car commercials have always been very powerful. They seem to really lull people into buying certain cars and tell people which type of car they should buy. Gender is portrayed very distinctly in these commercials.
This Toyota VENZA commercial shows one example of this gender divide. Here two women are talking of the VENZA and all it has to offer. It has lots of "cargo space" for all their stuff, it's affordable so these women have "more money for shopping" and it is marketed towards women. Women who are primary seen as mothers, mothers who go car shopping and need tons of cargo space, and want more money to buy things. If women are constantly portrayed as the mothering ones, the one's that need the minivan and not the sports car, then women will always be put in this same group. They will always been seen as the ones that need to care for the children and who don't need to go to work. Women will constantly be downgraded and will never gain the power that they deserve in society; they will always be second to men. Now let's look at a sports car commercial:
This Audi Supercharged A6 commercial is a man going through time driving a multitude of cars popular during the certain time frame, and of course he is driving fast and recklessly. The male is portrayed as the character that does not have a worry in his life. He is not the one who needs extra cargo space, but he needs a Supercharged car, one that can go ridiculous speeds, maybe inferring that he needs to hurry in order to get to work on time. He jumps through hoops (and windows) to get to his car. He needs a beautiful car, just like beautiful women, huh? So if the man is always in the fast car does that mean he is always on the fast track in life? The one that has all of the power in society, the controller of all women and all other cars.
Car commercials have always had this gender divide, so when some of the car commercials that challenge this gap came out, everyone questioned the car maker. Why would this particular car company make a commercial that challenged this gender gap? Are women in greater control in this company, or are the men just more progressive?
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I really enjoyed this post. I must admit that I am one of the many men in America who have been drawn into the whole muscle car concept; not only am I, but as was my father. Hence the reason I made sure I had to have an 8 cylinder Chevrolet Camaro when gas prices were at their highest.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point of how they apply gender divide in car commercials. It has been like that for decades. It also puts an unnecessary amount of pressure on both women and men to conform. I say this because if you are a guy and you drive a Convertible VW Bug, you are going to labeled as feminine. And to compare, if you are a girl and you are driving around in a Ford F150, you are going to be labeled as masculine. So we are putting these stereotypes on ourselves.
I especially like the whole gender divide concept because I think it applies well beyond car commercials. Great post!