Chapter 9 Controversies in Contemporary Advertising Advertising and Age Sexual Orientation and Ability Marginalized or Mainstream What makes a target audience attractive to marketers o Large in number o Spend a lot of time with mediated content o Have a high amount of disposable income o Are not brand loyal but open to new products and brands Advertising has traditionally reflected an overall youth bias Youth bias started in the 20s with the flappers Disability A restriction in the ability to perform a normal activity of dialing living that someone of the same age is able to perform PWDs spend more than average consumers on dining out and travel more than other consumers They also spend more time with media Another group that has often been ignored are individuals who identify The LGBT population are restaurant trendsetters and dine out more than the themselves as LGBT average American Advertising and Elders Many older adults have money to buy what they want and are either at the top of their earning power or living comfortably on their retirement incomes American culture has been criticized as having a blatant disregard and disrespect for older people Older people are generally absent from our mass media often stereotyped The primary categories where older adults appear are financial services food and mocked and health Elders are seen as o Retired thinking about retiring o Stubborn o Non interested in technology o Sick feeble o Deaf o Confused o Socially isolated Persons with Disabilities Four categories of disabilities exist o Mobility impairment o Cognitive impairment o Hearing impairment o Visual speech impairment In the U S PWDs have a buying power of 200 million every year Ability Integrated Advertising An advertisement containing an individual with a physically notable disability Lesbian Gay Transgender and Bisexual Populations Many marketers consider the LGBT consumer market to be a Dream Market because of the belief that those consumers represent a sizable market segment possessing relatively large amounts of disposable income Why don t more ads feature LGBT individuals o Worried that heterosexuals would be less likely to purchase a new or everyday product if a company used gays and lesbians to market or promote it 24 said they would Companies that show support for LGBT community o Ben and Jerry s o Orbitz o Cover Girl o Levi s o Macy s o Wrigley s o Target o JC Penney Gay Window Advertising Speak to the LGBT consumer in a way that is not immediately noticeable to others using imagery considered gay vague When ads are explicit portrayals of LGBT consumers they often fall into some specific stereotypes o Affluent white gay professionals Consequences of Invisible Populations There are many reasons that these three groups of individuals tend to be invisible in advertising messages and thus may not be considered part of the mainstream o Many people are simply uncomfortable with people who are not like them o Niche groups get cut first The lack of presence of these niche groups in advertising could have the effect of making them invisible in all aspects of society Marginalization o The predominance of traditional portrayals of white men and women leave little room for portrayals that are nontraditional o Seeing more diverse groups of people in advertising content will help to address people s levels of comfort with people who are not like themselves These populations are offended o Individuals in these groups report that they are dissatisfied with the marketing efforts and are offended by some of the portrayals that they see These populations are devalued o Repeated exposure to commercials that carry a negative subtext may lead to the overall devaluation of invisible groups by other in society Creating negative expectations about aging among younger people