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May 16, 2010

Stereo types in Indian advertising - Part -1


 Just visualize the following scene. Why is it that always that women are shown as washing clothes and men are pictured as pursuing manly and intellectual pursuits? The only exception that immediately comes to mind is that of BPL smart wash that shows women as controlling meetings while her washing machine is washing clothes or of an Ariel advertisement that shows the husband washing clothes.

Stereotyping is the term given to the human tendency to make over-simplifications and generalizations about people or objects based on limited experience.

Some of the stereotypes can be that India is full of Fakirs, magicians and Snake-charmers. Similarly that whole of Middle East is a vast stretch of desert like depicted in Lawrence of Arabia. Nothing can be more away from truth. From his personal experience the author can vouch for the fact that Sultanate of Oman is not a desert and it is arid place like Andhra Pradesh and infact the southern part of Oman called Salalah is as green and picturesque as the state of Kerala. Sana’a' the capital of Yemen is a hill resort and the average temperature during any time of the year is only around 140C.

Stereo types are very rampant in advertising. The classic ones are discussed.

You need to drink hot Milk for it to be a nutritious Drink, (Kellogg to its horror has discovered that this habit or Stereotyping is increasingly becoming very difficult to break because Kellogg has to be eaten with cold milk and the cereal of Kellogg becomes soggy with hot milk).

Indians have come to accept polygamy as an acceptable practice, what with the popular literature and the popular cinema even providing the justification for a man to have many wives. One advertisement that comes mind is that of Nescafe’s 3 in 1 coffee. The advertisement is that of Coffee, milk and sugar coming together in a pouch and that it is very convenient to use. But the imagery used to depict this association is very disturbing. The ad shows three puppies, ONE MAN and TWO GIRLS frolicking under the garden hose, ONE MAN and TWO GIRLS cycling on a cycle. The contention is why one man and two girls, why not two men and a girl.

The boys are always shown as the Mama's pets and are shown as very brilliant and the girls have to only look on adoringly. (I am a Complan boy only then the girl says I am a Complan girl). The games that girls play are always about house-hold chores and it is as if they are being told that is what they will end up doing when they grow up.

The girls are told at a very young age that they should be very careful about their complexions. Just recall the Life-Bouy Gold advertisement. The girl is not very worried about not getting the first rank, about putting on weight; she keeps saying I don't care! But when told about her dark complexion the whole scenario changes, it is as if the whole world has fallen on her head.

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