Results and Discussion

Findings

To illuminate major findings from my research I used qualitative and quantitative analysis. By using these two methods I was able to uncover 3 major themes to which my research could contribute knowledge. These themes are the sexualization of women’s bodies, the portrayals of femininity and masculinity, and which gender is being marketed to. At the center of my findings is that men and women are marketed to differently but in the early 21st century cars were not being marketed toward women as much as they are in the years 2020-2023. 

Sexualization Of Women’s Bodies

For the first theme of sexualization, my findings showed how women were not sexualized in the way that people normally think of sexualization. Rather they were more objectified in a way that was in line with traditional gender norms. This means that marketers were not using the female body to arouse men to buy the car so they can feel like they’d have “a woman like that”. Marketers juxtaposed women with the automobile, in the early 2000s especially, to show that a car is like a woman in the sense that men should have ownership and control of the vehicle the same way they “should” have ownership and control over women. The portrayal of women is similar to the portrayal of the car. This indicates that the sexualization of women and the objectification of women in automotive ads is and remains in line with traditional gender norms. Women were sexualized traditionally by the ad depicting women as beautiful and appearing well, sensitive, caretaking, and social. The best example from my research that shows how even today traditional depictions of women play a role in automobile advertising is Chevrolet’s Mrs. Hayes ad. When taking this ad and comparing it to the 2003 Ford Explorer ad I used as a part of my data sample it is clear that traditional depictions of women are still factored in when producing automotive advertisements. While most ads did not blatantly sexualize women they did objectify them and use their beauty, appearance, and actions to appeal to the viewer like in Ford’s “breaking out ad” from 2000. This ad depicted women more as objects and props which makes the ad more appealing to men. An interesting comparison I found was between the 2004 Ford Mustang commercial and General Motors executive stress ad. In both cases the ad only depicts a woman, they are both behind the wheel, and they are both depicted as being independent. However, in the Ford ad, the depiction of the woman was sexual, emphasizing her body and when she needs to refill her car’s oil she applies it to herself. Even though she is in a dominant role racing down the open highway in a Mustang she is signaling that women like her come with a car like that, but also that if men can control the Mustang then they can control her. Or the other way around, if she can drive that car then every man obviously should be able to. It almost creates a competition between male viewers needing to prove that they can drive better than her because they would never let their oil run out as she did. When comparing this with the executive stress ad, the depiction is similar, however, the woman is not being controlled or dominated, but like women in every ad she is arguably beautiful, well put together, and social, and while she does express an outburst of anger she can quickly calm and control her emotions. Women from 2000 to 2023 were sexualized more so through objectification and physical portrayal rather than sexualized through undertones of sex and fornication surrounding the female. 

Portrayals Of Masculinity and Femininity

The portrayal of masculinity and femininity leads to a significant finding that when men and women are both in an ad, one gender will be more dominant than the other. No ad portrayed strong traditional masculinity and strong traditional femininity. Emphasis would be placed on one or the other. The best example of this would be the 2000 General Motors advertisement. There is no clear dominant gender, however, using qualitative analysis I was able to determine that men were the target audience of the ad, and while the depictions of men and women were not quite 50/50 but close to it the traditional forms of masculinity were more present. When women were depicted their appearance fell in line with traditional femininity, and their actions were portrayed as passive while men’s actions were dominating and in positions of power. Masculinity was portrayed in the early 2000s as traditional emphasizing strength and power or success, affluence, and control. The GM bankruptcy commercial is the best piece of data used to depict the portrayal of masculinity. This ad portrayed men as survivors and the type of person to make it through hard times, the way GM rebranded was by having a “rebirth”. The rebirth they mention is not only a literal one but also indicates a rebirth of masculinity and a new age where men can live up to their traditional roles and responsibilities. Masculine portrayals had more bravado or would signal a deeper meaning. Femininity was portrayed as more surface level, the deeper message being used to reach the audience was less grand as in commercials where masculine portrayals were at the core of the ad. An example of this is from General Motors GM Credit Card ad where the woman is being portrayed in a neutral role, not one of power and not one of submission. Her soft femininity is also portrayed as having a sexual undertone where she bites her lip as if the car she wants is turning her on like a man she desires. This is not communicating any deeper meaning, but if it was a man instead of a woman the deeper meaning would have been one of lust, control, and the ability to pursue one’s own dreams and aspirations.  The Buick LeSabre commercial is the most interesting when it comes to portrayals of masculinity and femininity. The ad’s language says right from the start that “moms do dad things and dads do mom things”, challenging traditional gender roles, however, the visuals given reinforce traditional portrayals of men and women. Women even though they do “dad things” were still placed in a soft, feminine, non-dominating role while men still looked to be in charge of things including dates or trips to the park with the family. However, moving towards the 2020’s men and women would not be put together in an ad or the ad would be gender-neutral completely removing masculinity and femininity visually. Rather than using masculine and feminine depictions, the ads focused more on features. Masculine attributes and feminine attributes were not associated with the car. The later ads moved away from portraying masculinity and femininity whereas the earlier ads emphasized it almost as much and in some cases more than the car. The later ads that stuck out most as being gender-neutral were the 2018 Ford Focus and 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 ads. The Ford Focus ad uses gender-neutral colors and no language to market the car. The Focus does not have a driver and is being shown as appealing to everyone, the visuals do not depict the car as aggressive and dominating but also not as passive or submissive and focus more on technological or design benefits rather than safety or performance. The GT500 ad is geared toward men because it puts emphasis on the performance and sound of the car, but the driver is ungendered as well as the language. Ford also did a good job at making the emphasis of the beginning of the ad more masculine than the ending. The focus shifts from actual performance to the interior design which appeals to women as much as it does to men because the aesthetic of the car is engendered. 

Target Audience Gender

The target audience of the ads was an interesting theme to uncover. It is very clear that ads were focused more on advertising to men in the early to mid-2000s. Ads such as Chevrolet’s “Like a Rock” commercial and the 2000 Chevy Impala advertisement very clearly use traditional masculinity to make the car more desirable in the eyes of men. The “like a rock” ad enforces men being dominant, strong, stoic, and aggressive and the Impala ad uses the car to show how it’s one for a lady’s man and that having the Impala will make men more desirable. It also uses the traditional concept of competition associated with masculinity by showing how other men will want the car. The Impala ad plays on the saying ‘Women want him and men wanna be him’. However, as time moves on it is very clear that cars are being marketed more towards women. 12 of the ads from 2018 to 2024 depicted women as the dominating gender or were gender neutral. There was a massive shift from men being the target audience to now women being the focus. When women are not the focus the commercials are trying to appeal to both genders like in the 2024 Ford Mustang wake-up call commercial. This advertisement depicts women as being the drivers which is progressive and challenges traditional concepts of femininity. This allows the ad to appeal to women by showing it is not just men who can drive and control the car. The Mustang is a unique case due to the hypermasculinity attached to its history as well as the visual depictions of aggression and performance. The visuals of the car appeal more to men. This ad would be appealing to both men and women and reflects very well how modern car commercials are aiming to be more gender inclusive by making more ads that appeal to both genders or ads that appeal to women more so than men regardless of the car being marketed. 

The ways in which automotive advertisements have changed most significantly from 2000 to 2023 are through the sexualization/objectification of women, the portrayals of masculinity and femininity, and the target audience. Modern-day ads are aiming to be more inclusive and often target both genders while still reinforcing that women should be beautiful and look traditionally feminine. Masculinity is being challenged more so than femininity. Women are not as objectified as they were in the early 2000s, however, there are still traditional standards of beauty communicated through the ads even though more progressive masculine and feminine roles are emerging.