5. What I have learnt about the representation of events, issues, individuals and social groups in television adverts and how I intend to demonstrate this knowledge and understanding in my production in order to communicate meaning successfully.

I have looked at many TV adverts to explore how events, issues, individuals and social groups are represented and am going to compare two TV adverts, Dove UK's #MyBeautyMySay advert and Organic Balance's 'Real Morning Report' advert. Although both adverts are over one minute long, I will be analysing them specifically for their representation of women as they both have the same TA of women, possibly focusing on young women between 18 and 35 years old. These individuals are all portrayed as different figures in different ways across both adverts.

Dove UK's #MyBeautyMySay Campaign

=the representations discussed below are mainly reinforced through the characters explored and the way that they refuse to conform to stereotypes of what women should act like, do or look like

• In this advert, eight women are featured (with five named and given their occupation at the end) and all describe how other people view them, with the voiceover "they said" cut in between the women, reflecting how the phrase haunted them.
• Some of the women are challenging gender stereotypes of particular careers relating to appearances. For example, there is a blonde young woman Heather Hardy who talks about how people said she "was too pretty to fight." In this way, this portrayal of a young woman (particularly of a blonde) feeling confident in pursuing boxing for a living is challenging stereotypes, as boxing may conventionally be seen as a sport for men. Heather is also an aspirational figure for the TA due to her success in her career when she proudly announces at the end of the advert; "I'm ranked number one in the country and number two in the world." This may inspire other young women to pursue their dreams in an 'unladylike' career and succeed fearlessly.
• There are also women issuing positive messages about body confidence and expectations of beauty such as Rain, a model who says that people have said that she was "boyish and ugly," framed in a MCU and smiling after she says the rude comment that someone told her. This subtle yet important smile portrays how she uses this comment to give herself power rather than to bring herself down

Organic Balance's 'Real Morning Report' Campaign

=in this advert, women's representations are established through the way they differ from women's sterotypical representation on TV adverts

• The three women featured in the first 15 seconds of the advert are portrayed as distant fairy-tale stories very different from what real women are like.
• Stereotypes are challenged in this advert through the differing mise-en-scene elements, particularly the bright lighting, spotless sets and extremely perfect-looking costumes and make-up. These women are portrayed as distant realities to real women's lives and are seen going stereotypically 'feminine' things like journaling, doing yoga and eating yogurt with a very small spoon. These representations are very effective as they are a satirical play on the stereotypical woman in an advert, allowing women to laugh and be entertained by the advert, but essentially disagree with the initial representation. Therefore, they would and relate to the women later, who consume the product of the 'Organic Balance' yogurt drink.
• The women featured in the rest of the advert may prove to have a closer representation to the reality of what women's lives are actually like. However, unlike the Dove advert, these women remain nameless and their occupations are not explicitly stated, but they connect to the TA through the relatability of their morning routines.
• One particular woman of Asian descent is displayed as a mother, picking up her childrens' toys off the floor while talking straight to camera about research to prove real women's mornings. Her hair is very messy and almost knotty and she doesn't have any noticeable make-up on. This very realistic representation of women is one that many women will be able to relate to and sympathise for.

Summary:
-Both adverts challenge gender stereotypes
-They do this by either opposing stereotypical roles of women or challenging how conventional adverts represent women through meta-referencing
-In both adverts, women talk directly to camera, addressing the audience directly and explicitly challenging stereotypes
-Both adverts have some emotional appeal, whether it is comedic or emotive
-Different types of women are displayed in both, with varying careers, races and appearances

Therefore, in my advert, I hope to challenge gender stereotypes of women and portray females as real people who may not look flawless when they wake up first thing in the morning and active people, who enjoy exercising. But most importantly, I will portray characters who are both of these former qualities as well as women who are also 'allowed' to care about the way they look and wear make-up without being labelled as superficial.