Women and advertisement:

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.
Use of women to promote a concept or product is going on increasing Women are used in
TV commercials as weapon of persuasion. Women in many cultures make the majority of
consumption decisions; hence they are important target of these advertisers.

Cultural beliefs and values are emphasized through advertisement, which is

a powerful weapon in society. In order to sell a product women were being
objectified and viewed lower than men. Women have to look, act and do
certain things in a certain way in order to be accepted in society. Women
were viewed with stereotypical ideas in the world of advertisement during
the 1900’s.

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.
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