For my research project, I chose to research television commercials on the United Paramount Network, more commonly known as UPN, which is channel 13 in my area. I chose this station for two main reasons. Firstly, UPN is currently in trouble, both financially, and programming-wise. The reason is related to its wandering demographic focus during primetime, because of the wide ranging variety of shows it airs. UPN’s current lineup is geared on different nights toward market segments. On Monday’s, its lineup consists primarily of African-American sitcoms, Tuesdays, towards African-American women, science fiction fans with “Enterprise,” and related shows are on Wednesdays, young men with “WWE Smackdown,” on Thursdays, and a demographic that can change by the week with its Friday movie. Therefore, it lacks a cohesive, loyal audience base on any given night, and has difficulty luring advertisers. The second reason I chose UPN is because it is a station I hardly ever watch, in fact, I do not recall the last time there was anything of interest to me on the station. Prior to working on this project, I had no real picture of the types of television shows, or commercials aired on the network.
Unlike the major networks such as ABC, NBC or CBS, the UPN does not have any daytime soap operas such as “All My Children” or “Young And The Restless.” Instead, I felt it had something that would be a suitable substitute, the “Montel Williams” show, which airs weekdays from 11 am to noon. After watching for just a short time, it was clear that the “Montel Williams” show is geared toward stay at home mothers. The show deals with topics ranging from family problems, and dealing with difficult life issues, to psychics and everything in between.
For my prime-time show, I selected “Star Trek: Enterprise,” a science-fiction and fantasy show geared toward teenage and young adult males. I admit, long ago, I myself was a big fan of its predecessor, “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” but ever since that show ended, I lost all interest in the “Star Trek” genre, and had never watched an episode of the new “Enterprise.” UPN airs “Star Trek: Enterprise” each Wednesday from 8 to 9 pm, and in case you miss it, the week’s episode is then repeated on Sunday’s at the same time.
In order to try to get some consistency, I chose three consecutive Wednesdays to watch both shows. The dates for these shows were May 14, 21 and 28. I tried to spread out evenly the number of commercials I chose for analysis each week, and to be as random as possible in selecting the commercials.
As I had expected, the majority of commercials during the airings of “Enterprise” were geared toward young men. I sampled 3 car commercials, one each from Lexus, Chrysler and Dodge. All three featured male voiceovers, and entirely Caucasian models. The Chrysler commercial was the only one to feature a woman driver, and some children, as it was for a minivan, while the Dodge and Lexus commercials were for sport and luxury lines and had professional looking male models. There were two computer related commercials, one for IBM and one for CDW, a computer reseller. The IBM commercial featured a Caucasian woman who was lost and fatigued, and visiting a psychologist for help. The psychologist was a Caucasian male, and the ad featured a male voiceover at the end. The CDW commercial featured an African American male employee, working in the shipping department, in workmen’s clothing, and had a male voiceover. There was also a UPS commercial feature an African American male employee spokesman, with a male voiceover. An ad for AOL featured a woman voiceover, and Caucasian professional women working on laptops in a business setting.
Also in my sample were several food related commercials. A Burger King ad featured Caucasian, African American, and Native American men grilling in various places, and had a male voiceover. A Subway ad featured several Caucasian and African American female employees, and had a male voiceover at the end. Pizza Hut ran an ad with a Caucasian family ordering pizza in a suburban home, with an African American male delivery man, and a male voiceover. Red Bull had a commercial which featured several young Caucasian stuntmen, and male voiceovers. 7UP had an ad with an African American spokesman, going to a house owned by a Caucasian man, and installing his TV for him. An ad for Reeses Peanut Buttercups had Caucasian and African American male models, a Caucasian woman nurse, and older Caucasian men watching. Finally, Doritos had commercial featuring Caucasian and Hispanic skateboarders, with a male voiceover.
There was an ad for 1010220, featuring a Caucasian male cowboy and a male voiceover. Also, Verizon Wireless had a commercial with a Caucasian male spokesperson and male voiceover.
Washington Mutual ran a commercial with Caucasian male customers, and a Caucasian woman teller, with a woman voiceover. Best Western had an ad featuring primarily Caucasian, but also a few African American models, portraying businessmen and athletes, and had a male voiceover.
There were only two hygiene related commercials. The first was from Oral-B, which featured women hygienists and a male voiceover. The second was for Neutrogena makeup, had attractive Caucasian women models and a woman voiceover.
As could probably be expected, the vast majority of the models were young, attractive, men and women. Only the Reeses ad featured any senior citizens, and that was not the main portion of the commercial. There were no indications of any gay or lesbian models in any of the commercials. Minorities represented in the ads featured a fair number of African American men, and a few African American women. There was a single male Hispanic model skateboarding, and a single male Native American model in the Burger King commercial. Noticeably absent from all the commercials were Asians. Very few of the models had anything to do with the product they were selling. The exceptions were the Subway, UPS, CDW and Verizon Wireless commercials in which the models portrayed employees of the companies. From what I saw, the models were primarily chosen for their looks, and not their knowledge or relationship to the products.
The most gender related product was the Neutrogena commercial; aimed specifically at women (the “Enterprise” audience is estimated to be 71% male and 29% female).
The three car commercials were all trying to sell a specific image. The Chrysler minivan was designed to appeal to mothers with children who wanted to have room, comfort and remain stylish. The Lexus commercial was for men who wanted to look sexual, powerful and successful in a convertible. The Dodge commercial was aimed at young men looking for an affordable, fun to drive car.
I found the 1010220 ad particularly interesting, because it featured a Caucasian male cowboy, out in the desert. The commercial did not even have a phone in it, even though it was an ad for a phone company service. The ad had absolutely nothing to do with the product which was being advertised. It was simply selling an image of how their product can save a person’s life, when in reality it is going to save them a few dollars, if anything.
Gender was depicted somewhat closely to traditional views. Ads featuring women most often had them in “motherly” roles, or working in positions such as bank tellers, nurses or other jobs which women have typically held. Only the AOL commercial demonstrated women in a professional business atmosphere. Most of the depictions in the commercials were not at all representative of reality. A person does not gain power or respect by purchasing a convertible, nor is it a life altering decision to switch banks or phone service. Many of the ads had very little real information about the products, if any at all. All the commercials were trying to sell an image, mostly about how a person can improve their life or gain some sort of satisfaction or advantage by purchasing the product or service.
As I had anticipated, the vast majority of commercials aired during “The Montel Williams Show” were geared toward women. My sample included several repeat commercials which were aired numerous times throughout the show’s duration. There were a number of healthcare related commercials, including ads for Tylenol, a bone loss medication, diabetes medication, and two for pregnancy testing. All of these ads had women voiceovers, and primarily Caucasian women models. The sole exception was the diabetes commercial which featured a senior citizen Caucasian male.
There were four education related commercials, of which, two were from a fashion design program, and the others from Bryman College and the Art Institute of Design. They all featured Caucasian women models, and mostly male voiceovers. The Art Institute ad also was the only ad I selected which featured Asian models, both men and women.
AOL Broadband ran two ads with Caucasian and African American, male and women models, and a male voiceover. Geico Car Insurance had an ad with a Caucasian male model and male voiceover. Larry H. Parker had a law ad with Caucasian male models, and women in the background. The Jewelry Exchange had an ad with Caucasian women models and male voiceover.
Denny’s ran an ad featured African American men and women, with a woman voiceover, for its BBQ day’s promotion. Chlorox had a Caucasian woman model using its new nonstick bathroom products. Ralph’s ran two ads featuring Caucasian women in grocery stores. Finally, Lindora ran two ads with Caucasian and African American women for its weight loss program, and they both had women voiceovers.
Although the majority of commercials were aimed toward women, I had expected more minorities to be targeted. As one could imagine, there were no gay or lesbian models used. Also, to my surprise, there were no Hispanic models in any of the ads I sampled, although, unlike the prime-time show, there was one ad including Asians. Many of the ads were gender related products, or household products, women hygiene, weight loss, and for fashion design, things women typically would have use for. All the models, with nearly no exception, were attractive and young. Very few of the models used had any relationship to the products they were advertising for. The sole exception I noticed was the Larry H. Parker law ad, in which he portrayed himself. Most of the commercials were trying to reinforce traditional definitions of women, such as the cleaning product ad, grocery shopping commercials and weight loss. None of the ads showed women in a professional atmosphere, including the AOL Broadband ads, which, during prime-time viewing, had featured women in business attire, instead of at home.
Sandra Bem’s theories about gender formation were prevalent throughout the majority of the commercials I sampled, both during “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and “The Montel Williams Show.” Bem referred to androcentrism, that is, the notion that men are superior to women, and that the male experience is the “normal” standard against which women and everything else are judged. She also uses gender polarization, which points to the fact that men and women differ not only in society, but that these differences constitute a central organizing principle for the social life of society. Examples of both these lenses could be found over and over in the commercials. Firstly, this was true by the fact that the majority of models were male, particularly for voiceovers, women were generally only used for “lesser” roles, or traditional women roles, such as cleaning, cooking, shopping, and ads for makeup or weight loss. When women models were depicted in the workplace, occupations were frequently nurses or hygienists. The only ad which portrayed women in a professional atmosphere was the AOL Broadband ad during “Enterprise.” Similarly, male models were shown in various careers, but classified via their race. Caucasian models were more likely to appear in law, insurance, or car commercials, while African American male models were depicted as pizza delivery men, shipping personnel, or other lower paid positions. Other minorities such as Hispanics and Asians fared even worse, as they were barely even represented at all.
Certainly, none of the ads explicitly said why they were using either a male or female model, and why that model was of a particular race or ethnic background. These are metamessages, which, according to Bem, are transmitted from childhood on. People simply become accustomed to seeing certain things being performed by men, and other things by women. I would be included in this category. Prior to working on this project, I had never really paid attention to details in commercials. I simply viewed them as advertisements, but didn’t understand their construction. When advertisers are marketing a product or service to particular group of people, they use models and images that the target group can most closely identify with and feel comfortable about, regardless of whether it resembles reality or not. Analyzing six hours of television really has made me see advertising and marketing in a whole new way.
