Twisted tale of a Perfect family

Analysis 9

Product: SBI Car Loan

Found on: India Today: Anniversary Issue, Page 139 (December 2011)

The ad starts with a bold caption promoting SBI Car loans. Below the caption, some advantages of the loan are highlighted. Accompanying the text is an image of a family. From left to right: Father, Mother, and Son. The father is holding keys of the car. The mother is holding the son while the son is looking at the reader.  On the background, we can see a car and a girl (possibly their daughter) is peeping out of the window with balloons in her hand. Below the image are some more advantages of the loan.

This ad reinforces what constitutes an ideal family. Let us look at the composition. On the foreground, we have 3 members of the family. The father is holding the key of the car. This makes it very clear that he is the decision maker in the house. He has full control over this investment and possibly other future investments. The mother is holding the son with care. This makes it clear that the son is her responsibility. While the man is looking after the finances, she takes care of the children. Can you even imagine role reversals? A woman is holding the key to the car while a man is holding the son? No. That is because male dominance is so deeply rooted in our psyche. Duties are divided based on gender not biology. But the most disturbing part of the ad is how children are positioned. The son is very happy being in his mother’s arms. He is the only one looking at the camera. His mother and father are looking above, probably dreaming of a better future. What about their daughter? She has been relegated to the background. She has been provided with some materialistic balloons and left to her own desires. She is nowhere part of the “perfect family”. Not in any degree as precious as the son. In a culture where sons are preferred over daughters, this ad reinstates the divide. Not only is it promoting gender stereotyping of a man and a woman but also preferential treatment of children based on their sex. Isn’t this highly disturbing?

 

Portrayal of Women In Advertsisng: Primary Reserach

I believe that advertisements have a very strong effect on our psyche. Repeated exposure to certain norms, traditions and outlooks leads to their subconscious integration in our behaviour. I have already posted on male dominated society, advertising and its relation with sexual harassment. Recently, I posted “Killing Us Softly” by Jean Kilbourne where western advertisements have been analysed. Seeing it, I decided to do a firsthand research on Indian Advertisements. Today is the first day of this new adventure. I have picked four magazines, as shown below. I have kept special care to choose all different magazines for the study. However, full disclosure warrants that I confess that these magazines have been picked because they were easily available to me.The details of the magazines are:

1. Business India ( October 16, 2011)
2. India Today: Anniversary Issue. (December 26, 2011)
3. The Week: Luxury Special (February 5, 2012)
4. Jet Wings (March 2012, Vol12, Issue3)

From now on, I will try to post an analysis of an ad from these magazines everyday.