Today i finally started to write my brief. After having only described ONE of the adverts i am intending to produce for my campaign, i realised that i have already used up 245 of the total of 500 words allocated to our brief! Suppose i have to cut down on my words, some how!

Today, i tried to research adverts that are specificly used to oppose sexism. I actually found it quite difficult to find adverts for such campaigns, and only managed to find two adverts today.

This advert is part of a campaign to prevent sexual discrimination against women working in air lines. The image of the woman and the plane in the background, coupled with the “No sexual discrimination” sign inform the audience at first glance that the aim of the advert is to appeal for a stop to sexual discrimination against women in this particular sector of work. The use of the “ban sign” although simple, is very effective, as it immediately gets the message of the campaign advert across to the audience.

Although this image is not part of an advertising campaign, I still feel that it breaks the conventional view of women. A weapon that is usually associated with men is given the feminine touch simply by changing its colour to pink. This image has prompted me to consider using items that are usually associated with one gender, and portraying them as unisex objects in my own advertising campaign.

I found another advert today, which portrayed females stereotypically.

The main purpose of this advert is to make the product "Noxzema" (some type of body product) appealing to women. However, in their attempts to do so, the creators of this advert have suggested that it is necessary for women to look beautiful in order to be noticed. The animated character on the advert, has a noticeably slim figure, indicating that the symbol of real beauty is a slim body figure. Although the blue background of the advert can be seen as a positive sign for women- since the colour blue is usually associated with men- the use of blue in this case, coupled the "construction site" sign, can be seen as offensive to blue collar workers, who are stereotyped as "women-crazy" men.

After analysing the advert for “Noxema” I started to research adverts for products and companies, in which women were not stereotyped. Finding and analysing such adverts will give me ideas on how to depict women in a non-conventional way when I finally start to plan my own campaign.

• A motorbike- a vehicle usually associated with males- is being promoted here by the use of a female model.
• The fact that she is using the motorbike as a mirror to apply mascara exposes her femininity through the rough exterior.
• The costume of the model is complementary to the image of the motorbike and the promotional subject of the advert.
• The lack of colour is also relevant to this particular advert, as it enhances the image of biker gang.
• Colloquial language (“Blah, blah, blah”) is used to make the advert appealing to the audience, who are most likely people in their late teens and their twenties.

• (The advert is supposed to be joined as one, but i am unable to put publish both the pieces side to side)
• Not only is this advert as anti-sexist portrayal of women in the work place, but it is also a good example of anti-racism and anti-ageism.
• The long shot of what seems to be some sort of corridor allows a large diversity of people to be portrayed in the advert.
• Having a female in the foreground diminishes any stereotypes of male domination in the workplace.
• The idea of having some people in the foreground while some in the background is perhaps something I could consider when creating my own adverts, as it can give a sense of power and control to people.
  
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• Through the use of quite lengthy text, these adverts show the two sides to most modern women; the conventional feminine side that dreams of “knights in shining armour,” and the completely independent side.
• The colour scheme of both adverts is quite dark, giving the models a mysterious look, and hence suggesting the enigma of women who choose to buy a “Diamond right hand ring.”
  
• It is worth noticing that these adverts belong to the same company, ‘A Diamond Is Forever’, whose advert I have analysed previously. The major difference between the previous advert and this set of adverts is the target audience. Whereas these adverts are aimed at women and therefore use female models, the text on the advert for males, appeared to be speaking directly to men.
  
• Likewise, I will also have to use models and language that is relevant to my target audience.

Today we had a lesson in the dingy, depressing, windowless room in the art block. We looked through and analysed some adverts as a class and were then left to do some independant research. I have decided to do an advertising campaign on sexism. Since I think that a major purpose of a campaign against sexism would be to break any stereotypical views of women, or even men, I first need to find out how such stereotypes are projected to people through advertising. In order to do so, today I will find and analyse some adverts, which may unintentionally portray sexist stereotypes, while promoting particular products or companies.

• This advert is promoting diamond jewellery from a company called "A Diamond Is Forever."
• It is targetted at a male audience who are provoked to buy diamond jewellery for their girfriends, wives etc.
• In its attempt to persuade the audience to buy the jewellery, the advert actually sterotypes women as being materialistic.
• In terms of format the advert is actually quite plain. The background is completely black with white contrasting writing on it which stands out.
• The image of the diamond bracelet is extremely small at the top, while the writing is at eye level, grabbing the attention of the audience immediately.
• In my campaign I could also perhaps use writing to make my point clear to the audience instead of just using imagery.
  
  
  

Unlike the previous advert, this advert for "sweaters" uses an image to portray a stereotype of women as being weak and dependant. The reason for depicting the female population in this way is not necessarily to undermine them, but to increase the confidence of men by portraying them as strong. As my campaing will be about sexism, i could use a similr image, but reverse the gender roles.

• This set of adverts for “Slim Fast” use a wedding scenario to expose the weight concerns that women supposedly have prior to their wedding day.
• The wedding cake, the figures of the bride and groom and the decorative backgrounds emphasise the situation portrayed.
• The adverts use humorous images, which invite the female audience to question their own weight and any issues it may cause in their own lives.
• A good technique used here is a rhetorical question at the bottom of the advert, next to which there is an image of the “Slim Fast” drink, suggesting that it is the answer to women’s weight issues.
• Since my aim for this coursework is to produce an advertising campaign, all of my adverts will have to be consistent like this set of adverts.

Last lesson of the week with Sam. He went through a presentation about textual analysis and the different things we need to include in our blog and how it will help us write the brief. He also showed us some advertising campaigns, and familiarised us with the socio-economic groups, which we will be important when we consider our target audience. I have changed my mind, and have decided to create an advertising campaign rather than a magazine.
The first thing i need to do is research and analyse some adverts, to familiarise myself with the codes and conventions of adverts and what they should ocntain. I started to analyse some adverts in a Microsoft Word document, which i will include in my planning folder.

Today we were introduced to our coursework in lesson and i created my blog for homework. I am thinking of perhaps creating a magazine for teenagers for my coursework.