Media Language

• The print advert is aimed at women who have domestic responsibility and chores within the home, this is shown by the central image being of a lower middle class woman of the period.
• The layout on the print advert suggests that the women who purchase the product will love the results- further presented by the love hearts and the gesture that the woman is hugging the product.
• Language is used in the print in order to pursuade the audience, headings and subheadings have been used in a sans-serif font, therefore connoting an informal mode of address to the target audience. This is further demonstrated by the print presented in a comic-strip style with the two women at the bottom discussing informally about the results of the product.
• The advertisement includes bright colours that portray the positive associations that the producers want the consumers to have with the product. The woman appears to reflect the colour scheme with a yellow tint to her skin, relating to the main colours associated with ‘Tide’. The background colour is white reflecting the ‘whitewash’ and clean result.
• Technical codes related to the product show the more ‘factual’ information written in a serif font.
• At the time the advert was created, it was not generated for a modern audience, the attitudes and beliefs are outdated. In the post-war boom of 1950 many new technologies were developed and these before long became desirable products and a symbol for status in refference to the American Dream.

Representation

Stuart Hall’s Theory of Representation

This type of advertising uses stereotyping specificaly related to the ideas of the time period. The key beliefs reflected in this print is the form of women being domestic and obsessed with products which benefit them in this enviroment. The woman is the centre image which mirrors the target audience of the advert. The disregard of men in the advert suggest the belief of women doing typical roles within the home and men doing hard labour or fighting at war.

The stereotypes related to the advert are both positive and negative as they represent women as organised and tidy. However, these stereotypes can also portray women of the time period as ‘simple-minded’ by the use of primary colours mainly assosicated with children.

Images of domesticity (inclusion of women hanging out the laundry) reflects worlds opinions at the time. Despite the comic strip visual construction, scenario represented is familiar to the audience.

David Gauntlett’s Theory of Identity

A modern audience would disagree with the representations of women as it greatly differs from current beliefs of the roles of men and women in todays society. There is a lot more copy on this advert than we would expect to see on modern ones, this is because there were a lot of new products appearing on the market combined with technological developments.

Women were represented in the advert to act as role models of domestic perfection

Women were still generally judged by their appearances , and therefore manny adverts uses representations to concentrate on sexuality and emotions and narratives based upon relationships.

Audience

The audience of the time period were targeted by this advert through the use of portrayals of women and the satsfied results that Tide give. Audiences would have trusted the advertisement due to the endorsement of ‘Good Housekeeping’ which would have related to the target audience and convinced the effectiveness of the product.

Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory related to audience

The use of indirect mode of address made by the woman in the main image illustrates that her relationship that she has with the audience is of prime importance (Tide products has what she needs/wants). This, is the dominant/hegemonic encoding of the advert’s primary message.

The direct mode of address of the images (top-right/bottom-left corners) link to imperative “remember!” and use of personal pronouns “Your wash” etc.

George Gerbner Cultivation Theory

Tide advert aims to cultivate ideas that “nothing washes the same as Tide”, its a desirable product. Advertising strategies changed dramatically during the 1950’s, portrays that Tide is a innovative product with a unique selling point.