The German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz made both TV commercials a couple of years ago to promote two of new car models. Both advertisements, trying to be innovative, use allegories to promote their product. The first commercial is intended to be humoristic, and I have to admit that, at first, I somehow found it amusing. But this didn’t draw me away from the subject I am analyzing. How is this commercial related to the way women are represented in pop culture? Well, in this video we find a female stereotype that has been widely used in media in the last fifty years. This stereotype portrays women as dumb and mentally shallow. The phrase at the end of the commercial says it all: “Beauty is nothing without brains”. In this commercial, like in many others, women are solely associated with physical beauty. Mercedes uses this cultural conception to make an allegory with the product they are promoting: a car not only has to be attractive on the outside, but also on the inside. This stereotype shows women as superficial human beings, as if they had nothing else to offer than just their physical looks.
I found the second commercial really interesting too. In it we find other common, yet different, female stereotypes. Just like in the first commercial, physical beauty is obvious, since none of the ladies we see in the videos are unattractive, and they definitely don’t represent normal, day-to-day women. The second ad goes a little bit further and touches a more sexual side. Women in media are many times associated with sex; they are shown as sexual and desirable objects. If we think about the roles women play on movies and TV series, we find that these are most of the time related to sex; they play either a cheating wife or a hot mistress. These roles portray women as untrustworthy human beings, and this popular association is what Mercedes-Benz uses to promote their car. In simple words, they are telling us to have more confidence on our Mercedes than on our own wives.
A person may find these TV ads entertaining and funny, but there is more to it if we make a profound analysis. Without a doubt, both of these commercials were made to be watched through the eyes of a man, or the male gaze: women in these videos are attractive, sexual, and mentally shallow. Car-related topics are commonly associated with a male public, and that is probably why Mercedes decided to make these in the first place. By the way women a presented it is easy to imply that the ads appeal only to men, since most women would find them unimaginative and disrespectful.
This commercial was also created by Mercedes-Benz but it is different from the first two. There is a change in the way women are represented and we find a more recent female stereotype: the independent, executive, and intelligent woman. In this commercial the lady is in charge, opposite to the role the other women play in the first two. We can say that there is a more feminist approach in this ad, and that makes it less disrespectful and more tolerable to the female public. But does this woman portray women as they truly are? I don’t think so. The lady in the ad is the woman every man would dream to have. Although the lady has a more dominant role in this video, the way she is shown makes us wonder if the commercial, in order to be effective, is to be seen through the eyes of a woman or the eyes of a man.
Popular culture is still male centered and the representations of women in it are very narrow. Like we saw in the last video, there has been a slight shift in recent years due to feminist movements and cultural changes, but the male gaze dominates. Advertisers commonly use stereotypes like the ones seen on the first two commercials. Publicity and advertisement are everywhere in today’s globalized world and they are an important part of us. Everyone has access to and is inevitably influenced by them. The ways in which women are shown in advertisements are directly related to the way individuals conceive the their role in society.
"Funny Commercial: Beauty Is Nothing without Brains."YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 20 Sept. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHX2mvFVQMs>.
MercedesBenzTV. "Mercedes-benz.tv: Sensual Efficiency. The New CLS." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.<http://www.youtube.com/user/MercedesBenzTV?blend=3>.
"NOT IN THIS WEATHER!" YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 19 May 2007. Web. 20 Sept. 2011.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi47UcyK4Ms>.
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