Woman, as Defined by Corporate America

Advertisements are a powerful influence on society, whether we care to admit it or not. And furthermore, advertisements are a company’s interpretation of its customers’ lives, albeit with more enthusiasm and catchy jingles. This means that the commercials we see on TV and the billboards we see across Sunset Boulevard are often intended to mimic what that company thinks we, the general public, are- or if not that, what we want to be. This is why I get so angered when I see ads that treat women like cleaning robots or housewives that live to serve their incompetent husbands. But not all companies manage to push my feminist buttons. Some ads, and companies in particular, treat women like the multi-faceted people they are, either allowing them to drive fast cars or have high-level jobs. This is a short list of some of the commercials on TV stations today, and what message they are conveying to the commercial-watching public, for the empowered better or outdated and out-of-touch worse.