Gap Ad

In analyzing GAP ads we were asked to look at the language used and how it impacted the way we viewed the ad. In the ad for the young boy we recognized the key phrases as: Scholar, Genius, Future and His" these words bring  a positive sense to the ad, that the clothes being sold will bring success to the child, we identified "His" because it excludes girls and some people could view that word negatively. In the young girls ad we identified the key words as: Social Butterfly, Talk, and hers. These words have positive sense because it means she'll be popular. This could be viewed as negative because popularity can be a double edge sword and just because people talk about her does not mean it's positive talk. We learned how words  create different ideas and appeals to parents and audience. How potentially a parent could want these clothes for their children because they promise success or popularity.

This ad made me think about gender stereotyping with how women and girls are targeted with the promise they will become popular. While men and boys are targeted with the promise of success. Women are thought of to work their way up by knowing people in high places and not working, and thought of that they will talk their way up. While men do "Real" work and work their way up through that way. Women and girls are being stereotyped in these ads because the advertisement is not considering women working for their future and being in the academic sphere and having professions in math and science.

I found meaning in the text because of current events and stereotypes of women. The text in these ads made me associate them with other sexist and stereotypical ads. While these ads intended to market the clothes positively, association with other problematic ads made that message almost meaningless.