Different Strokes for Different Folks

 

Advertising has methodically used women in advertising for every audience variable. Sexualized women in the advertisements directed at men, caretakers for children and seniors. The role that women play in advertising directed at other women is one of many different images, as the ideal woman is different for everyone. The surgically enhanced cyber woman does not generally appeal to the eighty-year old female. In the past advertisers relied on female stereotypes mostly perpetuated by males.

We now find advertisers trying to persuade women and men by tapping into their inner thoughts. Advertisers commonly gain trust from their audience by making fun of something or someone that irritates or annoys them from time to time. Advertisements directed at women will often be at the chuckle or expense of men, likewise, ads directed at men will make fun of women.

Other common strategies that advertisers incorporate to persuade their audience are reaching their consumer on an emotional level, via children or family. Pathos would be the theory behind this approach. Logos and ethos are also used as common methods of persuasion, but pathos is still the most popular approach. Kerrie Mallory describes the wide range that pathos can emerge in. "Pathos is the form of persuasion based on emotion. It has worked effectively when it has drawn up the sympathies and emotions of the audience causing them to accept the ideas, propositions, or calls to action. Aristotle states that pathos can use the emotions of "anger and mildness; friendship and enmity; fear and boldness; shame and shamelessness; graditude; pity and indignation; envy and emulation." (http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/gallery/rhetoric/terms/pathos.html)

One will often find the form of pathos in life insurance commercials as they always play with the tragedy of losing a loved one. Another industry that often applies the theory of pathos is that of pre-manufactured foods. Advertisements will often tug at the heartstrings of mothers. The key element in this concept is implying that consuming these products will give you more time to spend with your family. As women reach further into the working world they are often plagued with the guilt of not being able to spend enough time with their children. This is an example of shame being utilized in the pathos at work in these concepts. There are ads where there may seem to be no meaning nevertheless, the idiosyncratic nature of the joke or situation speak deeply to the niche target market.