Shaq o neal lotion commercial

Hello Professor and Classmates,

The commercials I viewed are:

Frosted flakes commercial with Shaq

Olay- New Retinol 24 Max cream commercial

In the Frosted flakes commercial, Tony the Tiger and Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) are playfully discussing/arguing that Tony could dunk a basket while Shaq says that he loves Frosted Flakes more than Tony. In the end of this short clip, they suggest that the tiebreaker between them is who has the deeper voice. They both attempt to say the Frosted Flakes slogan “They’re Greatttt” with the deepest voice. In the end, they sound very similar and agree that they will have to try again tomorrow. I think this commercial speaks to the male gender roles of being extraverted, assertive, physically active and strong as mentioned in the book (Howe, 2018). I believe that the gender role theory that applies in this commercial is the social cognitive theory. According to Howe (2018), “Children learn through imitation of role models in their environments” and this commercial is the perfect example of this. This commercial depicts a popular cereal cartoon mascot which we can assume is masculine and a famous, very wealthy male celebrity and former professional basketball player. I can imagine that Shaq, especially, could be seen as a role model in which children aspire to be like, especially with his fame and success. In this case, we might expect to see boys attempting to make their voices deep in order to be similar to Tony and Shaq.

The Olay commercial depicts a youthful, attractive actress, with smooth, nice, and clear skin free of imperfections such as wrinkles. One doesn’t need to know what Retinol is in order to infer that it creates a flawless looking face which is highly desirable.I believe that the gender role expectations depicted in this commercial show that women should be youthful, pretty, and flawless even as we age. I think the Gender schema theory would apply with this commercial. As the book suggests, “our schemas direct our attention to images, people, and activities that confirm our existing schema” (Howe, 2018) and in this case to how we should look as women. As young girls we are taught that we should have our face clear of imperfections and aging lines and things of that sort in order to fit in with society. Women are meant to look a certain way and take care of themselves using creams and items to rid ourselves of skin impurities in order to look our best.

Best, Sandra

Hello Class,

I do not usually watch TV with commercials so I had to go to youtube and watch some from the last Superbowl. I watched 10 commercials in all but I chose to talk about three. 1. a commercial for Rocket Mortgage that looked like it was geared to both genders, however all of the "accidents" seemed to befall the male in the commercial. I think this means that while they are trying to include both genders, it is geared to males. 2. I watched a commercial for Toyota in which an adopting couple was told that their possible daughter would have an up-hill battle because of a disease that required amputating her legs. I believe this was for females because the mom did all the listening and talking. In addition, the girl was swimming around the different scenes from her life. 3. I watched a commercial for Doritos 3D with Matthew McConaughey in it that described a feeling of emptiness. He was a sheet of paper until he ate the doritos. I think this was geared toward men because of the idea that men are always hungry.

Blessed,

Amber Cochrane