Advertisement is one of the major weapons used by various national as well as international brands to gain popularity for their products. Especially the television commercials are more attention-seeking as most of the population spends at least some of their time watching television. These commercials appear during the breaks taken during the program so automatically people watch them while waiting for their programs to continue. The brands pay high amounts to the channels for showing their advertisements on the televisions.
Women have many roles to play in her lifetime, some of them, and also the most important ones, being a mother, a wife, a daughter etc.
Women, in the old times, were used in advertisements to portray delicacy and tenderness. Even in the movies, they were portrayed to be delicate and very soft by heart so they were basically included in the advertisement of brands of washing powders, talcum powders etc.
For example, Nirma, a famous Indian brand of washing powder, has been including only women in their advertisements since its advent, as in India an ideal women is considered to do all household work, including washing clothes.
With time, home-makers i.e. women started being included in the advertisement of the brands of household appliances, utensils, feminine talcum powders etc. Hawkins, the brand of Indian pressure cooker has been portraying women as a mother as well as a wife in its commercials. As the food cooked by a mother is considered to be the tastiest food in Indian society (arguably for the love and care put in), and when the mother is unable to do so, the wife gets into the role.
Today, women are not just a symbol of delicacy and tenderness; they portray sensuous as well as strong roles on the television. Women are also used to increase glamour in the advertisements.
Brands like Axe and Addiction (Deodorants) include women in their commercials to make their commercials sensational and tempting. Women get attracted to the masculine fragrances in these ads, so these ads appear quite appealing to the youth.
Next, women are also seen in the ads of scooties and cars, sometimes to increase the glamour and sometimes to portray girl-power.
Pleasure, an Indian scooty brand has its tagline as ‘Why should boys have all the fun!’ Here women are used to show that they are no less than men. Upon the dawn of enlightenment, women have come to play strong roles in advertisements and not just objects of desire. But sadly, the latter part of it refuses to whither.
Women can also be seen in the ads of condoms, attracting men towards themselves. In telling about the significance of using protection, the advertisers serve a dual purpose — glamour and deliverance of a crucial message!
Women can be seen in almost all type of ads today, be it feminine, be it strong, be it delicate: they fit into all kind of roles and possess the potential to portray in perfectly!
All in all, it’s safe to say that the world of advertisement is incomplete without women!