Gender Stereotyping in British Toy Commercials

Abstract

The paper examines the principles of gender stereotyping in British commercials of boys’ toys. The sample of commercials was drawn from databases and archives, while none of the 12 advertisements is older than five years. The analysis understands the process of television advertising as a form of mass communication, where advertisements play the role of messages, television behaves as a channel, advertisers figure as senders of the messages and children represent the audience. According to the findings of the analysis the product stands in the centre in all cases, while music, colours, voice-overs and the features of the brand names only reinforce the picture about the toy. The commercials offer sufficient information about the toys’ usage and parameters. Gender stereotypes serve in these advertisements to strengthen the masculine features of the toys and to emphasise the commercials’ main target audience. According to the amount of gender stereotypes presented in each advertisement, it is possible to divide them into two categories, namely strongly masculine and moderately masculine product presentations.