The document analyzes representations of women in television advertising based on whether the ad is targeted toward male or female viewers. The author conducted a content analysis of 10 ads, coding 5 men's ads and 5 women's ads. The analysis found that women are portrayed differently between the two types of ads. In men's ads, women are depicted as easy, gullible, controlled, judgmental, and promiscuous. Meanwhile, in women's ads they are portrayed as in control, competent, glamorous, self-confident, and strong. However, the author was surprised to also find women depicted as promiscuous in one of the women's ads, though she was seen as being in control.

1. Whose Ad Is It Anyway?
Content Analysis of
Representations of Women in
Advertising onTelevision
By: Alex Jaime

2. INTRODUCTION
When doing my analysis, my main focus was to
compare if and how women are portrayed differently
in certain ads based on whom the ad is intended for.
I believe this is important for communication and
media studies so that we, as a society, can make
educated decisions about what we’re being told
instead of simply accepting it all at face value.
That being said, the question is:
Are women portrayed differently in ads geared
toward male viewers vs. female viewers?

3. PREVIOUS FINDINGS
It was extremely difficult to find any previous
research done on my specific question. Many studies
have been conducted on how men are portrayed
differently than women in the media. However, my
question is asking something completely different,
which is why I chose to further investigate.

4. EXPECTATIONS
I expect to find that women are portrayed
differently in ads geared toward male vs. female
viewers.I am curious to research how this is done. I
would expect that women in “men’s” ads are more
promiscuous than in “women’s” ads. I am also guessing
that the woman is more of a prop in a man’s ad. (For
example: I don’t think the woman would be the “hero”
of the ad.) Although I expect to find differences, I
also expect to find society’s definition of “beautiful”
women in both types of ads along with some other
similarities.

6. METHOD
I chose to do a content analysis because of my
research topic. In order to do some quality research,
I knew I was going to have to look at the content of
television ads just like we had to do for class. I chose
ten commercials to analyze (5 geared toward male
viewers and 5 geared toward female viewers). Then, I
coded these commercials in two separate charts and
analyzed them in my conclusion.

7. Here are the links to the 10 commercials I chose
to analyze:
MEN’S ADS
1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paYE628HkHQ&feature=plcp
2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DnQypXp54Q (0:03-0:22)
3)http://www.youtube.com/user/oldspice?v=dOFj9toF4Ho
4)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvau8bNwu04&feature=related
5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvIzHgWtwTU&feature=fvwrel
WOMEN’S ADS
1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac8Kr6NQm3A&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL3A6D41CA0F01F7D4
2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00AkiTghwJM
3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFbeP6YqHzg
4)http://www.youtube.com/user/gillettevenus?v=QrLSdHy-pzE
5)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvZFGdcSlQU

8. Men’s Ads
Commercial Commercial Commercial Commercial Commercial
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
Product Being Sold Speed Stick Digiorno Pizza Old Spice Bud Light Axe (Touch)
MainCharacters& Man& Woman, 3 Men & 1 Man & Multiple Man& Multiple Man & Multiple
Their Relationships Co-workers Woman, Women, No Women, No Women, No
Husband& Wife relationship relationship relationship
and the man’s 2
friends
Location Office (Public) Home (Private) Home (Private) Backstage Vacant Building
and Public areas (Public) (Private)
Sound/Image Sound- Sound- Sound- Sound- Sound-
Representation Character’s Character’s voices Character’s voices Character’s Voiceover
voices and a and a voiceover. and a voiceover. voices and a Image-
voiceover Image- Image- voiceover. Sexual
Image- Casual Sensual Image-
Professional Sensual
Purpose/Message To impress a To impress friends “I am the best” To be smooth To impress &
woman & control a Overly self- with the ladies “touch” a woman
woman confident; To
impress women

9. Women’s Ads
Commercial Commercial Commercial Commercial Commercial
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5
Product Being Sold Gucci Perfume Affresh washer Swiffer Gillette Venus Weight Watchers
cleaner
Characters & Man &Woman, Woman 2 Women, No Multiple Women Woman
Their Relationships In sexual relationship and Men
relationship
Location Abandoned city Home (Private) Grocery Store Bed (Private) and On a set
and Bedroom (Public) Party (Public)
(Private)
Sound/Image Sound- Sound- Sound- Sound- Voiceover Sound-
Representation Music Character’s Character’s voices Image- Glamorous Character’s voices
Image- voices and a and a voiceover. and a voiceover.
Sporty& Sexual voiceover. Image- Casual Image- Casual&
Image- Casual Fit
Purpose/Message To be in control Woman cleans it Women clean it all Anything can Self-confidence,
all happen! “I can!”

10. Results
The first commercial targeted for men was selling a deodorant called “Speed
Stick”. The commercial had a total of two main characters, a man and a woman. It
was set in an office and they were donating blood. The man was clearly afraid of
the needle in the beginning of the commercial (which would lead him to sweat), but
tried to play it cool because he was in front of the woman. At the end of the
commercial, the man stated, “Guess I’m a giver” and the woman replied with, “I love
giving!” Obviously, the purpose of this ad was to sell the deodorant. However, in my
research I am looking at how the women are portrayed. In this commercial, the
woman was easily impressed and even stated that she loved giving. This is
something, in modern day life, could be taken very sexually. Therefore, in this
commercial, the woman was portrayed as gullible and “easy” which in turn helps sells
the product.
The second commercial targeted for men was selling Digiorno Pizza. The
commercial had a total of four main characters, a man and his wife along with his
two friends. It was set at the household of the husband and wife. The husband was
in the backyard with his two friends and they all wanted to order pizza. To do this,
he called his wife, who was inside their house. This made the assumption that the
wife would drop everything she was doing to make him and his friends the pizza. He
even said the words, “Make it snappy!” The woman in this commercial was portrayed
to be completely controlled by her husband.

11. Results Continued
The third commercial targeted for men was selling Old Spice. The commercial
had numerous characters, but one main man. In the entire commercial he was
repeating phrases of self-confidence (for example, “I am the best”). This gave off
the message that if you wear Old Spice, you too would have confidence and success.
When the women appeared in the commercial, he was talking about having the best
car. Again, the women were impressed which in turn sells the product.
The fourth commercial targeted for men was selling Bud Light. The commercial had
numerous women, but one main man. It was set backstage of a concert. The man was
instantly greeted by half-dressed, promiscuous women because they all thought he
was a part of the band. After they asked him to sign their stomachs, they found
out he was, “just here for the Bud Light.” Up until they knew that, the women were
all over him. This portrayed the women to be judgmental and promiscuous.
The fifth commercial targeted for men was selling Axe (Touch scent). The
commercial had numerous characters, but one main man. The commercial had no
words the entire time, and instead showed very sexual scenes. The man used Axe
and had various women’s clothes falling off. This clearly sent out the message that
if you wore Axe, women would be ripping their clothes off to “touch” you. This
portrayed women to again, be promiscuous and “easy”.

12. Results Continued
The first commercial targeted for women was selling Gucci perfume. The
commercial had two main characters, a man and a woman. In the beginning of the
commercial, the woman was driving a sporty car at a fast pace. After she stopped
the car, she had a vision of a sexual encounter with a man. The woman in this
commercial was portrayed as beautifully promiscuous, however, she was in control.
She was in control of the car and she initiated the sexual encounter.
The second commercial targeted for women was selling Affresh washer
cleaner. The only character in this commercial was one woman. She was scrubbing
the shower clean when the washing machine appeared in the bathroom. It was angry
that it hadn’t been cleaned yet, and the woman responded with “I’ll clean you next.”
The product was intended to help the hassle of cleaning washing machines. The
woman was portrayed as a very competent human being with a mindset of “I will do
it all.”
The third commercial targeted for women was selling Swiffer. The commercial
had two main characters, both women. One woman was shopping in the grocery
store and the other woman worked there. The worker recommended the Swiffer
product to the other woman and claimed it would work better than anything she’s
tried before. This instantly portrayed both women to be the “cleaners” of their
households. Again. the woman was portrayed as a very competent human being and
in-charge.

13. Results Continued
The fourth commercial targeted for women was selling the razor, Gillette
Venus. There were multiple men and women in this commercial, but the point was
very straightforward. With this razor, romance, confidence, and just about
anything can happen! The women were portrayed to be very beautiful, glamorous
and self confident.
The fifth commercial targeted for women was selling Weight Watchers. The
commercial had one character; singer Jennifer Hudson. She talked about how being
on Weight Watchers made her believe in herself. Now she is able to say “I can!”
Therefore, the woman in this commercial was portrayed to be strong, self
confident, and beautiful.

14. Conclusion
After conducting a content analysis on representations of women in advertising
on television, I have found that I was both right and wrong with my expectations.
To make it easier, I compiled sets of words for the two types of ads I analyzed.
HOW WOMEN ARE PORTRAYED IN:
Men’s ads - easy, gullible, controlled, judgmental, promiscuous
Women’s ads- in control, competent, glamorous, self confident, strong
These findings mean that there is definitely a difference in how women are
portrayed in ads geared toward male viewers vs. female viewers. In most of the
men’s ads, the women were used as props/tools to help sell the product, whereas in
the women’s ads, they were selling the product themselves. However, I thought
that the “promiscuous woman” would only be found in men’s ads. I was surprised
when I really watched just how promiscuous the woman in the Gucci ad was. The
only difference was that she was viewed as “in control”.
I believe that my findings were for the most part similar to my expectations,
which is because of the way women are portrayed in the media everyday.