An in depth summary of the A-Level EDUQAS Media Topic of 'Tide', written by 2 A* achieving A-Level media students. This document provides a basis of information you can build on to get an A/A* grade at A-Level. As well as this, this document provides some more in depth information also and theory ...
Tide 1950s:
Contexts:
- Tide made by company Proctor and Gamble, made as a new formula to replace their ‘ivory soap’ in 1946- to clean better to meet the
- demands of the new, advanced domestic appliances.
- Post WW2 consumer/economic boom included the rapid development of new tech like vacuum cleaners, fridge-freezers and washing machines. Tide was created around this time to aid the new
technology of the washing machine
- Adverts from 1950s used more copy than nowadays.
- Intertexts in the advert like ‘Rosie the Riveter’ where the representations in these adverts challenge stereotypical views of women being confined to the domestic sphere, something society needed
at the time as traditional ‘male roles’ were vacated as men left to fight
- While men were gone in WW2, women were the primary target for the new products being developed for the home. The adverts had stereotypical representations of domestic perfection and caring
for the family
- The headband worn also links to the practicalities of dress code for women during this time. Having her hair back connotes she is focused on her work, though this is binary opposed to the full
make-up that she’s wearing
-
If men featured in a 1950s advert, they tended to be represented as strong and dominant over women. E.g. the Coca-Cola advert represents how having a coke will draw in all the women. This is
-
not conventional of the time however it still conforms to patriarchal society of the time whilst women were the primary market for the products and technologies being developed for the home.
Language + representation Audience:
- Direct address of “you women” targets post-war women - Target audience= lower-middle class women
- Image of washing machine engages audiences that want to be ‘trendy’
- Newly married with young families
- Women hugging box reflects Van Zoonen’s idea of women being represented as being ‘domestic’ in the media, and
how representations of women are constructed to reflect societal views at the time. - Identity: Women represented in the advert act as role models of domestic
- The woman’s indirect mode of address connotes how her relationship with the product is of prime importance. perfection that the audience may want to construct their own sense of identity
- Superlatives so audience think Tide is great against
- Clothes on the line shows the woman having a family which was expected during this period - By including post-war intertextuality this appealed to the increase of feminists who
- Cartoon creates a ‘fantasy feel’ to distract from the crumbling reality had gotten a taste of working male jobs and independence during WW2→ the
- Large image suggests power and ability. However, this was tactical so women would go back to being domestic after
patriarchy were trying to oppress and force back into their domestic roles by
the war
- Perfect hair and makeup reflects beauty standards of the time, represented in an idealised fashion. making them feel empowered but actually stripping them down to their original
- Hearts shows she loves Tide and housework- reflects patriarchal ideologies that women should be grateful for their domesticity.
role and adhere to patriarchal standards. - The ‘Guaranteed by good housekeeping’ (a well trusted women’s magazine at the
- Hair pulled back, shows women as being more practical, resourceful and prepared to do the hard work. time) badge, would have provided the quality stamp of approval that it’s audience
- ‘Goes into more American homes than any other washday product’- influences consumers to accept the preferred needed and makes Tide and opinion leader/ trend setter.
reading + buy Tide.
- Reception: Indirect mode of address made by the women in main image
- -Only white women represented (hooks)
- Semiotics: Suspense created through enigma of ‘what women want’ and emphasised by the tension-building use of connotes that her relationship with the product is of prime importance - dominant
multiple exclamation marks. The semantic codes of the hearts and woman’s gesture codes have connotations of love encoding. Direct mode of address of the images in the top right and bottom left
and relationships- important to women and further conveying that women WILL love Tide. Superlatives used to link to the imperative “Remember!” and the use of personal pronouns like “your
emphasise the connoted superior cleaning power of Tide to its competitors wash” and “you can buy”
- Structuralism: Tide vs commercial rivals: “unlike soap” and superlatives - Gerbner cultivation: Advert aims to cultivate the ideas that this is the brand
- Representation: The images of domesticity form part of the ‘shared conceptual road map’ that give meaning to the
leader and nothing can compare to Tide. It’s a desirable product for the female
world and the advert
- Identity: The Tide advert provides encoded messages from the male-dominated media producers at the time audience. Causes audiences to increasingly align their own ideologies with them;
regarding how women should be domesticated. This therefore offers women the ‘tools’ to construct their identity "goes into more American homes than any other washday product".
around the representations of stereotypical housewives- what patriarchal society wanted to urge them back into their
domestic roles after WW2.
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