Selling Accessories and Products

    Advertisers have always believed that adding sex to ads will make the product sell more. While some sex appeal can attract customers, over-sexualizing women, perpertrating racist stereotypes and abusing body images can cause a harmful effect to our society. Advertisement has also installed gender roles in young children. For children, by adding specific toys that are targeted and only meant for "girls" or "boys"; advertisers are shaping and creating specific gender roles for their future ads once these children became adults.
    In many ads women become props and decorations. Women are used to decorate the product they are selling. In Sex, Lies and Advertising by Gloria Steinem of Ms. Magazine, she continues to explain that "carmakers are still draping blondes in evening gowns over hoods like ornaments." (Steinem 113) Rather than having the blonde model drive the actual car and show what it is intended to do, she became an object just like the product she is selling. Instead of showing the consumer what the product does, the blonde model is designed to became an accessory to the car.

Women become props and decorations in ads

    One of the most dangerous tools that advertisers use is the idea of the most beautiful, perfect and ideal woman. Advertisers display an unrealistic view of beauty. Even after pilling on tons of makeup, extensive hair dos, finding the perfect camera angles, female models are subject to extensive photo editing and photoshop. All of this is combined to create the ideal perfect beauty. When advertisers use unrealistic ideals of beauty, young girls and adult women are suffering from devastating effects. These effect are known to cause "life threatening eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia." (Kilbourne 57) The perfect female beauty is damaging women with an unrealistic view of what their beauty should be.
     Advertisement needs to sell its products without the destructive effects is placing on our society. A simple and effective solution is to give a real, honest and positive portrayal of selling a product. Instead of having the model be an embroidery for the car, she should be driving it and showing how they product is used. Instead of separating boys vs girls toys, toys should just be used by children regards of their gender. Fashion lines should incorporate women of all shapes and size in their advertising. By being realistic with advertisement, products will be sold to a wider larger consumer base without damaging results.

Roberto Moreno