Adverts and Girlhood

I know this course is about girlhood. However, in order to talk about marketing to girls I need to talk about marketing to boys. It's true girls are sold to in a certain way. But, so are boys. We have talked about these expectations before. But, boys are supposed to be in touch with their masculine identity and be macho and tough. Everyone has seen the little green army men that boys will tend to play with. We are encouraged to act out violent play which in turn lessens our ability to show weakness or sympathy. In order for this construction to be taken up by young boys they must be shown a certain brand of advertisement. As a boy I remember vividly an ad campaign on television for a certain brand of electric water gun. There were several different electric water guns. An Uzi. An assault rifle. An automatic pistol. They even made water balloons that you could fill and throw and they looked like dark green grenades. In the ad boys around my age were literally running through the jungle with several clips of “ammo”spraying one another. I distinctly remember I knew I HAD to have more than one clip so as not to run out of water in the middle of battle. Several things drew me into wanting the toys. They were completely black and looked like real guns. The allure of the blackness was intoxicating. (A quick aside: Because they were electric and the water flowed so rapidly you could feel the power of the motor as you fired the toy. That was a big part of it). Additionally the boys were in the jungle – an exotic place that seemed adventurous. So there was a fantasy element to the ad itself. The boys in the ad were my age and wore shoe polish on their face and camouflage on their bodies. To me at the time they seemed like a real band of soldiers. I think I wanted that “commodore”.

It's pretty amazing to think I had all of these things going on in my mind based on one 30 second commercial. I know young girls must feel the same way when they see ads geared toward their demographic. In the plastic television world items simply look too good to be true. How can you not buy that new doll or hairbrush or what have you? It's surprising how fast these items can become tied to our own self worth. As in, if I don't get the item everyone else has I will not be cool, I will not be popular. The article on advertising touched on all these things. “If it's done right, a good ad also manages to sell emotions, fantasies, fears, and lifestyles." I think that's the danger in advertising. It can actually change your emotions for the worse when you are young and impressionable and vulnerable.