Primary Question&Answers

Proffessional oppinions. Advertising agencies. Male and Female opinions.

“When creating ideas at the start of any new campaign we are, obviously, influenced by gender which is usually specified as our target market (or who we are talking to) in our initial briefing. Generally certain products lean towards a specific gender (Tampax and Lynx being obvious examples for both genders) and our language, tone of voice and visuals reflect this. When the product has a more universal appeal we try not to alienate anybody when coming up with ideas. I think that there has always been a 'female' voice in advertising on a generic level because, as research shows, women are the main purchasers of most products (everything from FMCG, white goods, holidays & fashion) not just for themselves but their families and partners. One area where there is a definite bias and the exception to this rule is the car market where men are the main deciders in the market, that is why you will find, with most makes of cars, the tone of voice is all about tech and sexiness etc. This is what appeals to the male demographic in that particular market so nothing has really has changed over the years.”

Female Feedback…

“Hi,

Firstly, I would recommend reading Judith Butler – Gender Trouble, this will ensure proper use and understanding of ‘gender,’ but also this will probably help with the construction of an argument and a really detailed analysis.

Of course, there is always a target audience that has to be considered with any campaign and this is often simplified and somewhat generic as appealing to masses implicitly means you cannot speak to individuals, despite the desired effect being to speak to an individual. It is relying on the individual’s interpretation of a representation (eg. a car advert) and so to an extent is conditional on that individual’s grasp of social norms and conventions (which are reflected through the ad) and how they situate themselves in relation to those norms before they can understand what they are seeing.

The idea that car advertisements are tailored towards ‘men’ is true insomuch as they represent what is considered/accepted as ‘masculine’ (and masculine being an accepted quality of men) within that specific culture.

As far as a female voice is concerned, it depends on how the viewer understands ‘female’ and of course, it does not necessarily mean ‘feminine’ so you need to ask, do you really mean ‘feminine’ or the ‘idealised female in western culture,’ as opposed to simply ‘female?’

So to answer your question, there is a female voice because there has to be if an advert is constructed around a ‘male/female,’ ‘masculine/feminine’ binary, but it is relative to ‘male’ eg. the constitutive outside (see Stuart Hall on Representation). As we live in a patriarchal society, the female voice in this context is passive rather than active. Car adverts are tailored to appeal to a sense of heteronormative masculinity and imply that men should strive towards that and this is where women as active consumers are left out of the picture. Obviously, this is not a good thing.

With the title, you first need to ask what is the female unconscious and is this ubiquitous?

I’m not really sure reconfiguring advertisements to target a female unconscious is actually very feminist or constructive as it means first women must again be objectified.

Not really a direct answer but something to think about.”