Introduction:
This post is a reflection on the vintage Palmolive commercial. In part, I chose this commercial because I assumed that, like many current commercials designed to sell cleaning products, the intended audience would be women. These commercials usually strike a chord with my feminist ideals and concern over gender inequalities. On a less serious note, I just watched an episode of Parks and Recreation that spoke to gender issues. Leslie Knope, the main character who is a city council member, was lobbying for more female representation in government jobs. One scene shows Leslie conducting a gender equality meeting, and ironically enough, ALL of the people who were sent to represent their department were male. A member comically praises her for the refreshments and tells her that she could leave the meeting. At any rate, I knew that like this episode of Parks and Recreation, the Palmolive commercial would have me thinking about gender, and therefore, I was immediately drawn to view it and analyze its messages.
Analysis:
What is the purpose of this video? What version of reality is it selling?
The purpose of this commercial is to convince women to purchase the dish detergent, Palmolive. It aims to convince the consumer that unlike other dish detergents that dry out your skin, Palmolive would moisturize your hands as you clean the dishes. It hopes to sell the reality that you don’t have to look like a mess just because you’re cleaning one up. You can still maintain your beauty and femininely soft hands while washing the dishes.
Audience:
Who is the intended audience of this video? Through whose eyes or perspective is information conveyed? Why?
Like I presumed, the intended audience is women. More specifically, one might even assume that the intended audience is married and the spouse responsible for doing household chores since the advice-giver, the manicurist who advises her client to use Palmolive and even has her soak her hands in it during the manicuring process, assumes that her client is married. However, since society and the media also sell the idea that most females hope to one day meet their Prince Charming and marry, we can assume that it also targets all females who hope to eventually become a wife.
The commercial’s message is conveyed through the eyes of two characters, a manicurist and her client. The former is Madge, a raspy-voiced, middle-aged, warm and humorous manicurist who uses Palmolive at work to soak and soften the cuticles of her clients’ nails. The other actress portrays her client, a beautiful, doe-eyed, younger woman who has dry hands. Both are beautiful, feminine women who are perfect for conveying the commercial’s message and sell the reality of beauty and household-chore-efficency.
More specifically, since it is a commonly held belief that one becomes wiser with age, Madge is suited to sell this product to her client and the audience because she is older, and inherently more knowledgeable. Her client, who is younger, married, and beautiful, is suited to sell the product because she is the one with the need to clean while maintaining her beauty. The producers might have assumed that when the young client is convinced of the product, the audience would ultimately be swayed as well to switch over to Palmolive.
Representation:
How are the people/figures in this video portrayed? Why do you believe they have been singled out? Whose voices are not being represented in this text?
Since the commercial takes place in a nail salon, the audience might infer that the women are concerned with beauty. They are both wearing make up, jewelry, and their hair is done perfectly. Naturally, it is no surprise that these women are concerned over how soft their hands are as well.
They are portrayed as romantic yet faithful since both of Madge’s jokes in the commercial include a reference to romanticism. When her client asks her about why she became a manicurist, she jokes that one of the reasons was the romance of it. At the end of the commercial, when the client attests that she’s “simply in love” with the dishwashing fluid that Madge recommended two weeks ago, Madge responds. “What, does your husband know about this?”
They are singled out because the advertisers hoped to sell their product to the romantic women who share the same concerns of these two women: a clean home, beauty, and romance/marriage.
There are many groups who are left out in this commercial like minorities, males, and anyone younger than twenty something and older than fifty something. Yet, even among the advertiser’s intended audience, there is a group of women left out: those who are not responsible for cleaning their home, concerned with beauty, or interested in romance.
Design:
From the perspective of a video producer, discuss what you think are some of the most important design decisions used in creating this ad. Why do you think this specific medium was used to market this product?
The design decision to have the commercial take place in a nail salon was key to appealing to a woman’s concern with beauty and femininity. If the tagline “softens hands while you do dishes” originated before this commercial, the selection of the nail salon as the setting was perfect. What better venue is there to showcase dry hands and its remedy than the nail salon?
Using a video/commercial as the medium was a smart choice for this ad-campaign because it allowed the personality of Madge, the beautiful, knowledgeable, yet wise-cracking manicurist to sell the product through her personality. Something about the light-hearted authority with which Madge speaks makes you want to believe that 1. you should care about whether or not your hands are soft and 2. Palmolive is the dish detergent you should use. Madge’s authority would not be communicated across any other medium quite as well.
Summary:
Although gender norms have become less rigid since this commercial was filmed, advertisers still reinforce gender stereotypes. For instance, commercials for cleaning products still target the female audience. There’s no doubt that commercials, and the media in general, reflect societal norms, but it must not go unnoticed that they also reinforce them. Without even realizing it, our ideas about our identities and how we should behave are shaped as viewers. Personally, as a female consumer of media, I continually monitor whether I am “buying into” the female reality sold by the Leslie Knopes of television or the current day Madges.
As an educator, I know that it is my job to help students develop visual and text literacy so that they evaluate both the superficial and embedded messages in the media. Students must learn to evaluate these messages so that they begin the self-reflective process of determining who they want to be, how they want to act, and what their beliefs are rooted in exactly. Is it a philosophy of thought? Or is it the way the media stereotypes in order to sell a product or concept? Overall, I know that I must do my part to not only bridge the student achievement and global achievement gaps, but other kinds of divisions like those inherit in gender inequality.
This post is a reflection on the vintage Palmolive commercial. In part, I chose this commercial because I assumed that, like many current commercials designed to sell cleaning products, the intended audience would be women. These commercials usually strike a chord with my feminist ideals and concern over gender inequalities. On a less serious note, I just watched an episode of Parks and Recreation that spoke to gender issues. Leslie Knope, the main character who is a city council member, was lobbying for more female representation in government jobs. One scene shows Leslie conducting a gender equality meeting, and ironically enough, ALL of the people who were sent to represent their department were male. A member comically praises her for the refreshments and tells her that she could leave the meeting. At any rate, I knew that like this episode of Parks and Recreation, the Palmolive commercial would have me thinking about gender, and therefore, I was immediately drawn to view it and analyze its messages.
Analysis:
What is the purpose of this video? What version of reality is it selling?
The purpose of this commercial is to convince women to purchase the dish detergent, Palmolive. It aims to convince the consumer that unlike other dish detergents that dry out your skin, Palmolive would moisturize your hands as you clean the dishes. It hopes to sell the reality that you don’t have to look like a mess just because you’re cleaning one up. You can still maintain your beauty and femininely soft hands while washing the dishes.
Audience:
Who is the intended audience of this video? Through whose eyes or perspective is information conveyed? Why?
Like I presumed, the intended audience is women. More specifically, one might even assume that the intended audience is married and the spouse responsible for doing household chores since the advice-giver, the manicurist who advises her client to use Palmolive and even has her soak her hands in it during the manicuring process, assumes that her client is married. However, since society and the media also sell the idea that most females hope to one day meet their Prince Charming and marry, we can assume that it also targets all females who hope to eventually become a wife.
The commercial’s message is conveyed through the eyes of two characters, a manicurist and her client. The former is Madge, a raspy-voiced, middle-aged, warm and humorous manicurist who uses Palmolive at work to soak and soften the cuticles of her clients’ nails. The other actress portrays her client, a beautiful, doe-eyed, younger woman who has dry hands. Both are beautiful, feminine women who are perfect for conveying the commercial’s message and sell the reality of beauty and household-chore-efficency.
More specifically, since it is a commonly held belief that one becomes wiser with age, Madge is suited to sell this product to her client and the audience because she is older, and inherently more knowledgeable. Her client, who is younger, married, and beautiful, is suited to sell the product because she is the one with the need to clean while maintaining her beauty. The producers might have assumed that when the young client is convinced of the product, the audience would ultimately be swayed as well to switch over to Palmolive.
Representation:
How are the people/figures in this video portrayed? Why do you believe they have been singled out? Whose voices are not being represented in this text?
Since the commercial takes place in a nail salon, the audience might infer that the women are concerned with beauty. They are both wearing make up, jewelry, and their hair is done perfectly. Naturally, it is no surprise that these women are concerned over how soft their hands are as well.
They are portrayed as romantic yet faithful since both of Madge’s jokes in the commercial include a reference to romanticism. When her client asks her about why she became a manicurist, she jokes that one of the reasons was the romance of it. At the end of the commercial, when the client attests that she’s “simply in love” with the dishwashing fluid that Madge recommended two weeks ago, Madge responds. “What, does your husband know about this?”
They are singled out because the advertisers hoped to sell their product to the romantic women who share the same concerns of these two women: a clean home, beauty, and romance/marriage.
There are many groups who are left out in this commercial like minorities, males, and anyone younger than twenty something and older than fifty something. Yet, even among the advertiser’s intended audience, there is a group of women left out: those who are not responsible for cleaning their home, concerned with beauty, or interested in romance.
Design:
From the perspective of a video producer, discuss what you think are some of the most important design decisions used in creating this ad. Why do you think this specific medium was used to market this product?
The design decision to have the commercial take place in a nail salon was key to appealing to a woman’s concern with beauty and femininity. If the tagline “softens hands while you do dishes” originated before this commercial, the selection of the nail salon as the setting was perfect. What better venue is there to showcase dry hands and its remedy than the nail salon?
Using a video/commercial as the medium was a smart choice for this ad-campaign because it allowed the personality of Madge, the beautiful, knowledgeable, yet wise-cracking manicurist to sell the product through her personality. Something about the light-hearted authority with which Madge speaks makes you want to believe that 1. you should care about whether or not your hands are soft and 2. Palmolive is the dish detergent you should use. Madge’s authority would not be communicated across any other medium quite as well.
Summary:
Although gender norms have become less rigid since this commercial was filmed, advertisers still reinforce gender stereotypes. For instance, commercials for cleaning products still target the female audience. There’s no doubt that commercials, and the media in general, reflect societal norms, but it must not go unnoticed that they also reinforce them. Without even realizing it, our ideas about our identities and how we should behave are shaped as viewers. Personally, as a female consumer of media, I continually monitor whether I am “buying into” the female reality sold by the Leslie Knopes of television or the current day Madges.
As an educator, I know that it is my job to help students develop visual and text literacy so that they evaluate both the superficial and embedded messages in the media. Students must learn to evaluate these messages so that they begin the self-reflective process of determining who they want to be, how they want to act, and what their beliefs are rooted in exactly. Is it a philosophy of thought? Or is it the way the media stereotypes in order to sell a product or concept? Overall, I know that I must do my part to not only bridge the student achievement and global achievement gaps, but other kinds of divisions like those inherit in gender inequality.
RSS Feed