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In today’s society, the media has a strong ability perpetuate negative female stereotypes, portraying images of what women are “supposed” to look like, that degrade and demean all women to one common ground. Unfortunately many leading brands and companies have the ability to change our society by doing so. A prime example of a company in which participates in this unfortunate activity is PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals).
Whilst this brands aim is to promote the good well-being of animal it does so by dehumidifying women as animals, promoting the “ideal” body type and objectifying women. PETA achieves this through various advertisements such as the “Have a heart, go vegetarian” campaign. In this advertisement a young woman blonde woman is sitting in a purple swimsuit. This woman wears a soft purple bikini, whilst calmly inviting you into the advertisement, subtly evokes romance and luxury, suggesting that this woman is merely an object of desire.
The soft purple, can also represent extravagance and ambition, allowing the viewer to receive a false understanding, that this “ideal” image f a woman is an achievable goal, simply if you follow what the advertisement is telling you to do (a clever use of Given/New). The purple is in contrast to the white background which represents the woman’s gentle and pure nature, which contradicts the powerful influence of the purple, implying that the woman-whilst pure and innocent- is a strong, powerful woman, much like the brand.
Luring you into the advertisement is the woman’s intensified demand to the viewer. The use of this direct gaze is inviting and engaging, as the darkness of her eye makeup creates a sense of control and demand, almost forcing you to look at the ad, ND read into it further. The use of symbolism of the typical “beautiful woman” with her platinum blonde hair, blue eyes and incredibly faultless skin tone, also acts as a form of invitation, driving the viewer to discover more.
PETA uses an eye-level shot to provoke an equal amount of power with the viewer to create a connection on a personal level as well as a high use of modality to make the advertisement appear realistic and clear, again allowing the viewer to feel that this is something realistic and achievable. The Juxtaposition of the woman’s body, indicates that her body parts are angled to rate vectors, leading you towards both the woman’s facial features and the brands slogan.
Similar to the woman’s body position, the dotted lines also act as vectors, dividing her body parts into smaller, detailed sections, to allow the viewer to respond to these in greater detail, especially the woman’s breasts and upper thighs. Ultimately the advertisements text “All animals have the same parts” induces the discrimination against woman that objectifies them and dehumidifies them to animals sun as a cow I . Nils text promotes negligence against women.