D - PUGSLEY, MARISTELA.pdf - DSpace - Universidade Federal do ...

1 4
knowledge of the culture and ideology of a society should be
taken into
account.
As we have already quoted from VESTERGAARD & SCHR0DER
(1986) on page 9, "advertising not only influences human
society but also reflects aspects of that society's values."
Therefore, in order to reach a certain audience the advertiser
tries to present a version of reality which fits the presumed
i
attitudes and values of that society considering such aspects
as age, sex and social
status.
The young generation, for example, is the target group
of many ads for products such as soft drinks, sports-cars and
cigarettes; because these products are associated with
joyfulness, vitality and self-assurance. On the other hand,
when addressing the female audience, announcers seem to have
always in mind a major slogan: "in order to become happy and
successful a woman has to be beautiful."" This idea is
implicit in almost all of the advertisements for cosmetics,
food, clothes and even soap and kitchen supplies. Besides,
the
woman should serve and be protected by the man who is usually
portrayed as a strong and handsome hero. However, because of a
tendency in most of the western contemporary societies to
approximate the roles of men and women, advertisers have had
to change their techniques to approach each
group.
Besides age and sex, another important aspect to be
considered in relation to the public aimed at is social
status. In addressing the classes, "advertisers have to take
into account the class membership and class identifications
of
the audience of various publications.Advertisements vary