Critical Analysis of Visual Techniques Used in Eight Different Advertisements from The 2015 Super Bowl

The modern American society is one constructed on a foundation of democracy and a call for equality. It also rests comfortably on a secure base of capitalism, a base that erupts into a complete infrastructure of consumerism and reaches out to all, begging for citizens to buy, buy, and buy. This overwhelming drive for consumerism in America is easily examined in the advertisements all around us. Whether in the back of a local newspaper, or in between downs during the largest sporting event in the known universe, advertisements seek to appeal to the desires of the people, desires that are oftentimes rooted in motivation to meet certain societal norms. Over the last week I have conducted a visual content analysis of eight different advertisements from the 2015 Super Bowl to see how companies and their advertisements address what society has decided is normal behavior for men and women.

Every advertisement that was viewed and analyzed followed the same basic flow structure that involved a compelling narrative focused on people for the majority of the run time, followed by a few seconds of product placement or identification at the very end. Although usually filled with high drama or emotional appeal, the narratives of the advertisements showed actions that the average person may be expected to do, ranging from picking up medication at the pharmacy, to working out, to grabbing a bite to eat and the local burger joint. The use of the “average joe” going about daily life was a method seemingly used by all companies in this study to normalize their viewers to the products being sold. The normalization of characters in the advertisements did not stop there, it was observed that throughout every advertisement, the behaviors of the people involved either overtly or subtly followed widely accepted gender norms with very few examples of deviance. In the advertisements observed, the following gender roles and norms were observed: sexualization of the female body, feminine beauty standards, men as rugged individuals, men being physically fit, women as a caregiver, men as aggressive individuals, women in domestic roles, and women as docile individuals or victims. In contrast, the following deviations from gender norms were observed: women as physically fit, men as caregivers, physical equality between men and women, and women as aggressive individuals. Snapshots and explanations of specific examples and their corresponding advertisements can be found in the appendices.

Although each advertisement analyzed was relatively short, running between thirty seconds to a minute, breaking down the overt and subtle nods to gendered behavior was no easy task. The first step in coding the gender normative behavior in each ad was to view each advertisement and transcribe it in great detail as a hand written script. Each section of the script that related to gender norms or deviance was identified, this means that every advertisement had the potential to show many different examples. After all gendered content was identified, it was consolidated and separated into corresponding, overarching categories that were given in the previous paragraph. The total number of occurrences observed in all advertisements was then calculated for each category. Of the categories of gender norms observed, men as aggressive individuals occurred ten times, men as rugged individuals occurred eight times, women as caregivers occurred seven times, women in a domestic role occurred seven times, men as physically fit individuals occurred five times, sexualization of the female body occurred five times, standards of feminine beauty occurred four times, and women as docile individuals or victims occurred two times. Of the categories of deviation from gender norms observed, women as physically fit individuals occurred five times, physical equality between men and women occurred three times, men as caregivers occurred two times, and women as aggressive individuals occurred two times.

The patterns of gendered behavior observed in the advertisements are representative of main stream gender relations in America. Despite progress in gender equality in many sectors of society, many social norms perpetuate a place of secondary importance, domesticity, and sexual objectification for women in the collective mind of Americans. These trends are represented in the advertisements by a high occurrence of domestic behavior by women and a repeated focus on the female body. These trends are challenged, in some instances, by examples of physical equality between men and women but occur far less in the advertisements. One extreme example of gendered content that subtly favors the superiority of men was observed was in a category by itself. I chose to omit this example from my overall analysis but it is worth noting. In a Mophie Cellular advertisement, God was depicted by a male actor. By gendering the most powerful idea in human experience as a man, it can be implied that the ultimate level of existence, that of divinity, is denied to women in this advertisement.

Because the majority of gendered content shown in the advertisements (eighty percent) fell in line with existing gender norms, it can be deduced that the advertisement media observed serves as an agent of socialization in accordance with Functionalist sociological perspective. The Functionalist perspective suggests that agents of socialization serve a function as smoothly continuing preexisting social norms in a society, a function easily assumed by the large scale advertising of the 2015 Super Bowl.

The methods used to analyze Super Bowl advertisements were thorough and effective, but not without limitation. The overwhelming amount of symbolism and general content packed in to each short advertisement was difficult to organize and separate into quantifiable measures. Due to this limitation, some examples worthy of study may have been overlooked. This limitation also served as a reminder that content analysis, much like ethnographic research, requires a keen and persistent attention to detail, otherwise relevant data may never be analyzed. That being said, visual content analysis allowed each advertisement to be assessed by multiple senses. Audio and video could be replayed and gleaned for content indefinitely, a luxury that I personally believe no other research method could provide. Finally, the nature of the sample being studied (advertisements shown national television) took nearly all ethical considerations of sociological research out of the equation. The advertisements themselves are part of the public domain so anonymity of the content did not need to be maintained.

It seems that no matter where you turn, media is constantly telling you what to buy, what to think, how to look, and how to behave. This comes as a result of many corporations appealing to the desires of the American people, desires that are oftentimes grounded in a deeper desire to adhere to specific societal norms. After a visual content analysis of eight 2015 Super Bowl advertisements, this targeting of norms was made clear to me, especially the targeting of gender norms. With very few examples of deviation from what society has deemed as normal behavior for men and women, it would seem that media, even on the largest stage, is following a pattern that perpetuates norms that separate men and women and keep women in a traditionally secondary role. Only time will tell if future Super Bowls will run ads that feature behavior more reflective of a progressive and gender equal future.