University Work
Art Fund Creative Campaign Example
Targeted Marketing Persona
Toys, Advertising and Gender
Gender-oriented toy marketing is still used heavily, and toy advertising is still struggling to become genderless (Russell and Tyler, 2002). Barbie and Hot Wheels are prime examples of this. Even with campaigns such as Mattel’s “Imagine the possibilities” campaign, the girls are mostly aiming for nurturing roles (Barbie, 2015). When we examine Hot Wheels, they seem to have recently taken a different approach to advertising. They’ve largely avoided having any obvious girls or boys in their adverts, instead showing just hands moving their toys around. However, their adverts use only male voices.
Having male or female voices in advertising for typically girls’ and boys’ toys, nurturing for girls and competitive spirit for boys was studied by Johnson and Young in 2002. This barrage of ‘boys should be competitive, and girls should be nurturing’ becomes evident in not just the advertising, but also the toys themselves. For example, Mattel produces a few male Barbie-style figures; they are all sporty or “heroic”, such as firefighters or kings with swords.
This gender stereotyping affects children’s decision-making; children like toys less if they are clearly aimed as being for the other sex, and they expect other children to do the same (Martin, Eisenbud and Rose, 1995). Although many parents claim to reject common gender stereotypes, three to five year olds often believe that their parents will disapprove of their playing with cross-gender toys (Freeman, 2007).
Advertising and marketing to a specific gender is reinforcing old stereotypes and enforcing the outdated concept of gender roles.
References:
BARBIE, 2015. Imagine the Possibilities [viewed 03 Apr 2019]. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vnsqbnAkk
FALLON, K., 2012. Mattel’s buzzy new ‘Drag Queen Barbie’ is no cross dresser. Daily Beast, 23 Aug [viewed 02 Mar 2019]. Available from https://www.thedailybeast.com/mattels-buzzy-new-drag-queen-barbie-is-no-cross-dresser
FREEMAN, N.K., 2007. Preschoolers’ perceptions of gender appropriate toys and their parents’ beliefs about genderized behaviors: miscommunication, mixed messages, or hidden truths? Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(5), 357-366
JOHNSON, F.L. & YOUNG, K., 2002. Gendered voices in children’s television advertising. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 19(4), 461-480
MARTIN, C.L., EISENBUD, L. & ROSE, H., 1995. Children's gender‐based reasoning about toys. Child Development, 66(5), 1453-1471
RUSSELL R., & TYLER, M., 2002. Thank Heaven for little girls: ‘Girl Heaven’ and the commercial context of feminine childhood. Sociology, 36(3), 619–637
Blurb: The Handmaid's Tale
After suffering a coup, the USA has abandoned its liberal democratic roots and become the Republic of Gilead: a puritanical state where desire, disobedience and sedition are punished by death. The toxic and polluted environment has pushed the sterility rate to dangerously high levels, and young fertile women are used for breeding; providing heirs for the privileged and the powerful. One of these Handmaids, whose real name we never discover, tells her story against the backdrop of an oppressive regime and the bittersweet memories of her former life. How will she adapt to her new world, where every friend could turn traitor and every decision could lead to execution?
References:
ATWOOD, M., 2017. The Handmaid's Tale. TV Tie-In edition. London: Vintage Classics
Book Pitch:
Target audience: Older adults (30+)
Title: The Bunker
Synopsis:
The book follows a prepper who is building a bunker; his family die during a nuclear blast and he alone makes it to his bunker.
As time passes, we see him fall into deep insanity as his food, water and hope diminishes. As the days go on, he begins to blame himself for the death of his family, it becomes clear that he no longer has joy or sadness, he just survives each day.
I’ll be researching several accounts of those who suffer from isolation, depression and studies into those areas. I’ll also be drawing inspiration from the practice of Hikikomori.
The book would appeal more to those interested in psychological profiles and dystopian science fiction, rather than more action styled dystopia books such as the Hunger Games. As such the book wouldn’t aim to please the young adult audience [1], instead it’ll aim to appease to both Social Science readers and those interested in philosophy & psychology. Hitting roughly 45% of the American reader market (Mummy, I’m looking at adult fiction and scientific). [2]
Works with similar themes:
JACKSON, S., 2006. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. London: Penguin.
KONKOLY, S., 2010. The Jakarta Pandemic. New York: Stribling Media
MILLER, B., 2018. Breakdown. Nashville: Wordstream Books
References:
PETERSON, V., 2018. Facts and figures to know about the young adult book market, The Balance Careers [Viewed 20 Apr 2019]. Available from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-young-adult-book-market-2799954
SCHMIDT, M. & PARK, M., 2013. Trends in consumer book buying (infographic), Penguin Random House [Viewed 20 Apr 2019]. Available from http://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/trends-in-consumer-book-buying-infographic/
TEO, A.R., 2013. Social isolation associated with depression: a case report of hikikomori. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 59(4), 339-341