tide

Question 1

product context

Answer 1

• launched by Proctor and Gamble in 1946
• quickly became brand leader in America
• DMB&B advertising agency made ad

Question 2

the 1950s historical context

Answer 2

• the tide advert was produced in the post-WWWII consumer boom
• rapid development of new technologies for the home eg vacuums, fridges, microwaves, as well as products linked to them eg washing powder

Question 3

cultural context

Answer 3

• print ads from 1950 conventionally used more copy than today
• customers needed more info

Question 4

appearances of woman

Answer 4

• she has a full face of makeup
• hair perfectly styled
• signifies that appearances are important to women
• represented in idealised fashion - typical of advertising - women as perfect - aspirational image for audiences

Question 5

dress codes

Answer 5

• stereotypical 1950s hairstyle made fashionable by contemporary stars (Veronica Lake, Rita Hayworth)
• headband: practicalities of dress code for 150 women, also links to Rosie the Riveter, binary opposed to makeup

Question 6

housewive
how is she presented?

Answer 6

• smiling facial expression paired with hugging (gesture codes) and symbolic hearts signify that she loves tide and housework (Barthes semantic code)
• typical representation of women in 1950s

Question 7

why were housewives presented positively
examples of this

Answer 7

• were created to encourage more women to willingly return to domestic lives after war
• image of woman is large in size , dominant in frame - seems powerful - women were target audience

Question 8

Rosie the riveter

Answer 8

intertextual reference - represent women as being strong, empowered, and capable

Question 9

liesbet van zoonen

Answer 9

• ad reflects her ideas that women are often shown as being ‘domestic’
• challenges her idea that women are sexualised in media
• reflects her idea that representations are dependent on historical/ cultural context - was uncommon to sexualise women in 1950s

Question 10

bell hooks

Answer 10

• ad fails to represent non-white women, reflecting hooks’ ideas that white women are considered more desirable

Question 11

paul gilroy - ethnicity and post-colonial theories

Answer 11

• reflects his ideas that white people are presented as powerful, and people from ethnic minorities are marginalised

Question 12

female audiences response to ad

Answer 12

• women in ad may be a role model of domestic perfection, help construct ideas about identity (David Gauntlett)

Question 13

analysis of poster - codes and conventions

Answer 13

• z-line composition
• bright primary colours (connote the positive associations the producers want audience to make w product)
• headings, subheadings, slogans: sans-serif font

Question 14

mode of address

Answer 14

• sans serif font - informal
• reindorced with comic strip style image - two women ‘talking’ ab product using informal lexis (sudsing whizz)
• ## technical details written in serif font, connoting ‘factual’ info - provides reassurance

Question 15

Claude Levi strauss structuralism

Answer 15

‘nothing like Procter and Gamble’s Tide’ reinforces conceptual binary opposition between Tide and its commerical rivals