The ad above shows the issues surrounding gender stereotypes in advertising. A common controversy with advertisements is the issue of depicting women as weak. Throughout advertising history women have been depicted as the housewife who's only job is to cook and clean for her husband. This tide commercial informs its viewers of the new stain release features of its detergent. The person who demonstrates the cleaning ability is a girl. Constant ads like this one reinforce the stereotype that women are lesser than men. This ad forces women into the cleaning role. I understand that the creators behind this ad may have purposely used only a woman in the commercial because thats who their target audience was, but that doesn't make it ethically right. The creators behind this commercial could have easily added a male which would of solved the problem.
Another gender stereotype that is a common theme is the depiction of women as sex objects. Up above is a print ad for Dolce and Gabbana. This is one of the most disgusting ads that I've ever seen. In the ad we can see a man overpowering a woman on top of her while three other men watch. This type of display is known as ritualization of subordination. This is when an image shows women lying on floors or beds while men are above them. This type of imagery is ethically wrong as it reinforces the stereotype that women are below men. The creators of this ad were going with the whole "sex sells" approach, but in doing so they created a print ad that is offensive to all women.
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