Thursday, November 15, 2012

Media Moment, Fiat 500 Commercial


I remember seeing this commercial on TV a few months ago. Will this comparison between a woman and a car ever stop or is it another one of these mechanisms that advertisers continuously use?

In this commercial, the woman's body is literally juxtaposed with that of a car. Her presence on screen is replaced by that of the car with the same colors that she is wearing (red and black). The fact that she speaks Italian and is presented as foreign to the viewer relates to the "foreign car." Does anyone else find this insulting? There is constant play on the idea of "riding" in a car and I don't think that this should cross over into the use of a woman's body. Ban these tropes!

At the end of the commercial, you hear the woman's voice say "you never forget the first time you see one." This immediately places her in the position of "object" because of the word "one."
I think this commercial presents a man as being the potential driver of the car, not the woman. This is also linked to the stereotype that men make better drivers than women do. I do not think that the woman in the commercial is empowered in any way. She is not driving the car, but is "seducing" the man who passes by after she scolds him for ogling her. This implies that staring at a woman's body is nothing to feel nervous about and is even encouraged. This is evident in her suggestively touching him afterwards.

A few weeks ago, I saw another TV commercial. I wanted to share it with you, but I can't find it anywhere. Let me know if anyone comes across this so that I can put it up too. Thank you!
The commercial that I'm referring to featured a woman who was advertising a car. She was surrounded by three different "types" of men. She was characterized as the protagonist who had her choice in different types of cars the way she had in men. Does anyone see this as any better?

2 comments:

  1. I also remember this ad. This ad came out early this year.. I think.

    Anyway, apparently this ad sexual objectifies the woman and the car. This doesn't make sense at all. so, if a person buys that car, means buys the woman also? This is crazy.

    I think, advertisement of car, alcohol, and sport are frequently expose women in this way because their target audiences are men. This enforces unethical sexual images of women. This kind of ad also effect to kid more than adult audiences.

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    1. Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it. I agree about the ads in the areas you mentioned, but I think the ages are throughout adulthood. That's the scary part.

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