TV Advertisement Analysis

Aren’t television advertisements the most annoying thing in the world when you’re watching TV? TV advertisements are more often than not seen as annoying interruptions from the actual programing you are paying to see. Often times we pay little to no attention to them as we are anxiously waiting for the actual scheduled program to return. But if we decide to pay closer attention to these advertisements, they often times influence and even shape our thought processes, social norms, and even our culture. I decided to spend three hours watching television in Pakistan, specifically a channel called “HUMTV” which is well known for its dramatic soap operas; from 9PM-1AM(there was a power outage from 11PM-12PM) and trying to analyze the themes and

The types of advertisements shown on channels primarily meant to air soap operas seem to target mothers in many different angles. Of the advertisements I observed approximately 23% in some form portrayed a mother using a certain product on their kids. Another 19% portrayed a woman serving or providing a certain product to either her husband or her in-laws. Also about 12% of the Ads were dedicated to whitening creams as well as other beauty products for women, in which often times are shown to get lighter skin (which in Pakistani society equates to beauty). The advertisers often use the Ads to create a perfect image for either a family or for the role a certain genders should play in it (Khalid). As shown by the data I collected on a channel primarily focused on soap operas has at least 54% of their Ads directed at mothers and wives and the majority of the time they had three main

But never once did I really take the time to analyze what I was watching. My mind would automatically switch into Pakistani mode and I would just accept everything on TV as normal. Had I been thinking from my western perspective though I would probably have found a lot of what I saw very offensive in terms of the portrayal of women. It wasn’t until I really sat and thought about what I was watching that I understood the messages being pushed through Ads as well as the actual programing. The roles of men and women in Pakistani society are very clear and defined. But I never noticed how these images are constantly heavily reinforced by the media in Pakistan. Unfortunately the continual reinforcement of these images is hurting the women in Pakistani society. The continual heavy portrayal of women having a primary duty to her children and husband is stifling the growth of numerous women in Pakistan (Khalid). Furthermore the constant portrayal of women being subservient to her male partner and his family also is not only stifling the opportunity of growth for women but often times leads to situations where men feel as though they are in control of or own the women in their lives.

In conclusion, I have noted through my research that advertisements in the media play a significant role in shaping perceptions in a society. Unfortunately in the case of Pakistani media it