Advertisements are a huge part of our society and a dominant way for
products to be seen in order to capture the audience's attention and
persuade them to buy what they are looking at. Products are
advertised in a variety of ways, each way specific to what is trying
to be sold. Some people's intentions may not be to buy, but instead
just to look or gaze upon the advertisement especially when it
involves women. Over the years we have seen an increase in women
being portrayed as sexual icons in all types of advertisements.
This is particularly true in sports advertisements where men are
shown as athletic and masculine, while women are usually seen as
sexy and lacking athletic qualities even though they are well-known
athletes. The portrayal of men and women is different with each
sport and company, but I found that tennis advertisements play up
this role in a very obvious way. Two of the largest companies, Nike
and Adidas, have an abundance of tennis ads that show off their
brand by using men and women players that are well-known and can
sell their product. When comparing advertisements from both
companies to each other, we can find similarities and differences in
how men and women are used to model their products. Through
comparing and contrasting, we can also see what is viewed as normal
along with patterns that are formed from this natural idea of
advertisements.
"The community of sport is a powerful site for the construction of
masculinity, male identities, and heterosexuality" (Kassing and Mean
126). This quote serves as an illustration of the reasons why women are
depicted like they are in sports advertisements. Our society preserves
sport as a tradition where only men can compete and be interested in
them. However, women have broken through that barrier with the help of
Title IX to include them in the participation and discussion of sports.
"The increased presence of women in this community can be argued to
reflect change in the substantive structure of sport as a male identity"
(Kassing and Mean 127). With the inclusion of women, the sports world
has indeed changed, but it can be argued whether that is for better or
worse for the state of sports. I believe that it was for the better,
not only in competition, but for advertisements as well. Women could
show men that they were able to do things outside of the domesticated
housework and challenge people believing that was all they were good
for. Even though women and men's sports are separated, many areas of
competition shared common trends and patterns which allow them to be
similar except for the role of gender.
However, among their differences, a pattern has emerged from both in
their depiction of women versus men within their advertisements. Nike
and Adidas have chosen to show women in a sexy, athletic way which can
take away from their identity as a true athlete. This is not an
uncommon theme because we see it in everyday advertising for other
products that are not related to sports or tennis. Their outfits in
particular stand out the most because they wear skirts and tank tops
that do not cover as much as opposed to what the men wear, shorts and a
t-shirt. Over the years, clothing has changed for both women and men.
Men used to be the ones who wore short shorts, but now the roles have
reversed with women wearing the short and scandalous clothing. Most
people who come across these types of advertisements are not usually
thinking about buying into the product, but the companies hope they
will become interested if they like what they see. "The use of sex in
advertising has been a source of controversy among consumers and
practitioners for over a decade. The controversy has recently
intensified, perhaps because of a perception that there is an increased
use of sexually provocative and suggestive content in advertisements"
(Kurzbard and Soley 46). This quote backs up the claim that women are
seen in a sexual way throughout all advertising, so it comes as no
surprise that we see the same thing taking place in the Nike and Adidas
tennis advertisements.
Within the world of sport, there are common misconceptions and
stereotypes about that sport and/or the people involved. "Sport is a
major global, cultural, and economic force strongly linked to ideologies
and identities" (Kassing and Mean 128). Through the ideologies our
society has set out for gender, athletes create their persona based off
the standards and norms we are accustomed to. We can see this happening
with tennis players. The most well-known players, such as Roger
Federer, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams, have a
representation of being great players who have been successful on the
court. However, lately for some, it is more about what they are doing
off the court. More frequently, a lot of athletes are featured in
commercials and other advertisement to endorse a product for a company.
This is where they generate a majority of their value and wealth because
they use their status as great athletes to establish their status as
celebrities, which helps them land large endorsements. We are starting
to see more tennis players pose for advertisements not only supporting
their sport, but other products as well. Having these advertisements
out in the public eye allows us to be able to analyze and see the gender
differences. Through semiotic analysis, psychoanalysis, and discourse
analysis, we can see how sports advertising has played into the gender
binaries that our society has set as the standard for women and men.
All three of these methodologies will prove beneficial to gain a deeper
meaning and understanding behind what the ads are trying to say and how
they work.
Adidas and Nike are both well-known brands with a presence throughout
everyday life, but we most associate them with being connected to
sports. Over the span of tennis' existence as a sport, these two brands
have been powerhouses when it comes to what people support and wear
while they play. With them being so big, it only makes sense that they
have well-known tennis players' support and promote their brand. Even
though they are similar, a difference is seen between the two brands
with Nike having the edge by obtaining more successful and easily
recognizable players in their advertisements such as Maria Sharapova and
Roger Federer. Another difference that the two brands have is how they
go about displaying players and the message behind the ad, which aids in
what they are trying to get across to the viewer.
Click to continue. |
Kassing, Jeffrey W. and Lindsay J. Mean. "I would Just Like to be Known as an Athlete: Managing Hegemony, Feminity, and Heterosexuality in Female Sport." Western Journal of Communication. (2008) 72: 126-144. Print.
Images:
http://insidethesneakerbox.com/2010/12/07/nike-tennis-2011/
http://www.tennisidentity.com/tennisidentitycom/2009/01/now-in-flight-novak-djokovic-launches-signature-adidas-falcon-line.html