Female Audience Commercial-Victoria's Secret

These video's were chosen as a portrayal of the way media can influence the female audience. Although it may attract the male audience as well, the female image is depicted as thin, beautiful and sexual. Although many will argue that majority of the population do not appear this way, the middle school student may take this message and apply it to their own lives.

The Female Audience

The most important question that we must ask ourselves is how are the commercials on national television affecting our female generations? It has been found in a study that the average North American girl will watch 5,000 hours of television including 80,000 ads, before she even starts kindergarten. So what message do we intend to send to the young adult female audience especially when television takes up so much of their lives before even reaching middle school?

It is known that the strongest message sent to females in television commercials is "You must look like this. You must act like this. You must dress like this. If you want to attract a man or achieve some level of relational `success' with a man, you need to follow these rules.” Essentially, sexy ads that promote this message can be viewed by children that watch programming during prime time television. For example, “An 18-year-old female described a more recent Herbal Essences ad by saying, that “The three men in back make the ad sexy. They are attractive and muscular, and the camera sometimes focuses on their hands touching the woman's body. It makes me, as the consumer, want to open the bottle of shampoo and have three strong, handsome men wash me." There are multiple commercials created by Victoria’s Secret and fragrance/shampoo companies that promote models in push-up bras or dressed in scantily clad outfits that have become the basis of female advertising. It has become so common in the media that most females do not even notice the ads that promote this message and they do not understand its true power.

In essence, this ultimately means novelty for the female generation. Companies are creating these commercials because it is new and exciting to discover romance and crushes while moving into the realm of sexuality is stimulating. There is a level of danger if their parents should ever find out what they are doing when viewing these television commercials. Commercials that touch on these specific topics can be seen during any time of the day.

An American 1996 study “Images of Female Children in TV Commercials” found that there are 33 commercials per hour during Saturday morning cartoons alone. The commercials aimed at the female audience show girls 77 percent of their time laughing, talking or observing others while in the home. Is this an accurate depiction of the female gender? This audience is surrounded by images of beauty that are unrealistic. In the same study, two out of three girls stated “I want to look like that character on TV” and one out of three “want to change something about their appearance to resemble that character”.

But as these young adults get older, most will tune out the messages being portrayed about sexuality and “who you should be” but there still are some that will continue to base their image and personality on a character seen on television. 

A Brief History on Television Advertisements

Television commercials today consist of brief advertisements paid for and aired during television programming. Many television advertisements feature catchy jingles or catch phrases that remain in the minds of the viewers long after the advertisement has passed. The promotion of a product is meant for viewers to see and then proceed to purchasing that product. Television commercials are a sure way for advertisements to reach society through the means of media. Commercials can range from channel to channel but each time a commercial is played, the advertising company is charged for screen time.

Aside from annoying you when you are watching your favorite television program, commercials interrupt television programming in intervals. These advertisements are meant to keep the viewers watching the channel hopefully in turn staying tuned in for the advertisements while waiting for the next segment of the show to start after the commercial break. The Nielsen Ratings System exists so television stations can determine how successful their television shows are. The Nielsen rating system is essentially a ‘viewer counter’ and programming stations use this information to decide what rates to charge advertisers. Have you ever noticed how when you stay up until 4am doing homework in front of the TV, the commercials are weak and boring compared to day-time TV and again compared to evening programming? The reason for this is because the view ratings are very low at 4am compared to evening televising. In conjunction with high viewing rates the cost for advertising also rises during the 'hot' air time.

Commercials are produced and paid for by an organization that wants to convey a message about their product. The revenue from advertisements alone provides most television networks with all of the needed funding to stay on air. Television advertisements are generally the most effective mass-market advertising format. Until the early 1990s advertising on television was only affordable for larger industries as an investment, but today most companies large and small, use television advertisements to promote their product during commercials. The first television commercial dates back to 1941 where Bolova advertised brand name watch making before a Dodgers and Philies baseball game on WNBT. The cost of this airtime: $9. As television advertising climbs through history the popularity of televising ads has climbs drastically in price. As there is a broad range of television shows on air today, the cost of advertising today also ranges. For example, the Super Bowl, which seems to be just as known for it’s commercials advertisements as it is for the game itself is estimated to have 90 million viewers during the game. In February 2011 the estimated cost for a single 30-second commercial: $3 million dollars.

The cost of advertising has not only changed in history but the length of single ads has also changed. In the early 1950s and 1960s, the average advertisement length was one minute. Over the years the length dropped to 30 seconds and there would be only one or two commercial breaks during a program. Today, the majority of commercials run in 15-second increments at an average of 22 minutes total of commercial breaks during one program. So, in the 1960s the typical hour long television show would run for 51 minutes excluding advertisements. Today, the same program runs for 42 minutes compensating for the 20 minutes of added commercial breaks.

So in conclusion, commercials have made a bang throughout history increasing in assets like value and duration through time.


Here, I have a solution! Get a PVR!!!


The following are two commercials (Boluva watches) from the beginning of advertisements to today. Notice the difference in duration and quality from the 1960s commercials to 2010.

1960s

2010

Dove Mission: To make more women feel beautiful every day by widening stereotypical views of beauty.

I chose this commercial to start off our discussions on body image and how television commercials can influence young adults image on reality. Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and Self-Esteem Fund create ads campaigning real beauty and support the embrace of all body types. I believe that media has changed the way women look at their body and commercials like Dove have allowed girls and women to see how society has bombarded them with unrealistic views on body image. In your opinion, do you think that this commercial is a good example of how the media has transformed our image? Does this commercial reach out to young adults as well as adult women? More one than the other maybe?