Modern advertising was created in the United States as a dynamic of consumer capitalism in the early 20th century. Advertising agencies used psychologists and other behavioral scientists to build advertising campaigns. Advertising pervades Western culture, and gender representations are one of advertisers' favorite means used to sell products. Agencies regularly design campaigns that exploit gender identity in an attempt to catch consumers' attention, entice us with an image, and most importantly, sell us a product. While selling a product is the advertiser's ultimate goal, the images in an ad can also serve to reinforce gender norms and bolster the pervasive gender culture.

Assignment: You will present orally to the class an analysis of a print advertisement. You should bring a copy of the advertisement to display in class. Your presentation should allow for a brief discussion. Your presentation should:

• analyze the gender assumptions in the ad
• make use of  feminist theory to illuminate the way in which gender is understood and used in your example.

Purpose: Analyzing film will help you put theory to work in the world around us.

Method: Use a contemporary advertisement (either print or film media) to analyze the assumptions upon which it is based (include  a copy or description of the ad). What are the "unconscious fantasies" the creators of the ad are hoping the viewers have which can be used to entice them into buying the product? Use feminist theory to critique the ad.

Your oral presentation should briefly summarize what is really being advertised--certainly not the product.  Most of your time should be devoted to a feminist analysis, (e.g., what are the assumptions made about women?  

Assessment: Your Advertising Analysis presentation will be graded on the complexity and thoroughness of your analysis, your incorporation of course readings and theories into that analysis, clarity of presentation, and adherence to time limit.