Language Features
The short, catchy phrase a brand repeats so you remember it
What is a slogan?
Pink is traditionally linked to femininity and blue to masculinity, an example of this visual feature
What is colour symbolism?
The brand’s symbol, usually placed in a corner or at the end of an ad
What is a logo?
An oversimplified, generalised idea about a group of people
What is a stereotype?
The way a group of people is shown or portrayed in a text
What is representation?
Command words like “Buy”, “Try” or “Discover”
What are imperatives?
The term for whatever in an ad grabs your eye first
What is salience?
The big, bold text at the top of a print ad that grabs your attention
What is a headline?
An ad that only shows women cooking and cleaning ___________ traditional gender roles
Reinforces/perpetuates
Presenting a person mainly as an object to be looked at, rather than as a full human being
What is objectification?
Repeating the same starting sound, as in “Clean, crisp, confident”
What is alliteration?
When a person in an ad looks straight at the viewer, as if demanding a response
What is a direct gaze?
The way the images and text are arranged on the page
What is layout?
An ad showing a dad as the main caregiver at home ___________ traditional gender roles
Challenges
When an ad frames women from a heterosexual male viewer’s point of view
What is the male gaze?
Words like “you”, “we” and “us” that make the viewer feel personally involved
What is inclusive language/direct address?
A camera looking up at a subject to make them seem powerful or dominant
What is a low camera angle?
The final instruction telling the audience what to do, such as “Shop now”
What is a call to action?
The specific group of people an ad is designed to persuade
What is a target audience?
Marketing that deliberately avoids labelling a product as “for boys” or “for girls”
What is gender-neutral marketing?
The associations or emotions a word carries beyond its literal meaning
What is connotation?
Lines, such as an arm, a gaze or an object, that lead the viewer’s eye around the ad
What are vectors?
A smaller heading that sits under the headline and adds more information
What is a subheading?
The dominant cultural ideal that men should be tough, unemotional and in control
What is toxic/hegemonic masculinity?
Advertising that uses female empowerment messages to sell products
What is femvertising?