Second: The gender gap. OK, so your watching TV, a commercial comes on, you start
surfing channels and you see more commercials, but you wonder whats on that channel
anyway. Well, what kind of commercial is on? I’m willing to go out on a limb and
say that if you see more than one commercial about feminine hygeine products, there
is a pretty good chance that there is no sports on that network right now.
Conversely, if you see a commercial about “Built Ford Tough”, followed by a Bud
Light commercial, it’s a pretty sure bet that the Oprah Winfrey show is not on that
network right now. You see the TV gods know who’s watching what, and when. But what
about when men and women are watching the same show you might ask? Well the TV gods
have that figured out as well. The harsh reality is, we live in a male dominated
society. Almost every major network is run by men. One exception is the Lifetime
channel. Since these networks are owned and run by mostly men they do things from a
male point of view. So while you and your signifigant other are watching American
Idol, you will see all the girlie commercials for women, but the women will be
really sexy so the guys will pay attention.My response:
Hey, I like the comments you made regarding the gender gap on TV commercials. I am very interested in this topic as well and I have created a blog for my gender and pop culture class on the very same topic. (http://www.genpopculture.blogspot.com/) Why is it that you can practically determine what show you are watching just by seeing the commercials? How can advertisements only focus on one or two similar ideas when there may be many different kinds of people watching a certain show? I believe these commercials do not necessarily reflect the entire spectrum of viewers but instead seem to be based upon the perceptions and ideas of gender.
1 comment:
Interesting comment- I can see how your topic might get increasingly complex based on this response to the author of the post :o) In relation to your comment/response, I would think that the purchasing power of the viewers is a rather relevant issue to the focus of the advertisers. Think about the Sex, Lies, & Advertising reading about Ms. Magazine--what happened with audience perception by the (prospective)advertisers in that context?
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