Explain how historical contexts influence audience interpretations of media products. Refer to the Tide advertisement you have studied to support your points.

In the 1950s, while men were being targeted for the post-war boom in America’s car industry, women were the primary market for the technologies and products being developed for the home. In advertising for these types of texts, stereotypical representations of domestic perfection, caring for the family and servitude to the ‘man of the house’ became linked to a more modern need for speed, convenience and a better standard of living than the women experienced in the pre-war era. The dress codes of the advert’s main female character include a stereotypical 1950s hairstyle incorporating waves, curls and rolls made fashionable by contemporary film stars such as Veronica Lake, Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth. The fashion for women having shorter hair had a practical catalyst as long hair was hazardous for women working with machinery on farms or in factories during the war. The headband or scarf worn by the woman also links to the practicalities that women’s dress codes developed during this time. For this advert, having her hair held back connotes she’s focused on her work, though this is perhaps binary opposed to the full makeup that she’s wearing. The images of domesticity, including the two women hanging out the laundry, form part of the “shared conceptual road map” that give meaning to the “world” of the advert, which is Stuart Hall’s theory of representation. Despite its ‘comic strip’ visual construction, the scenario represented is familiar to the udience as a representation of their own lives. Women represented in the advert act as role models of domestic perfection that the audience may want to construct their own sense of identity against, David Gauntlett’s theory of identity. Despite women having seen their roles in society change during the War (where they were needed in medical, military support and other roles outside of the home)domestic products of the 1950s continued to be aimed at female audiences. The likely target audience of increasingly affluent lower-middle class women were, at this point in the 1950s, being appealed to because of their supposed need for innovative domestic technologies and products. The increasing popularity during the 1950s of supermarkets stocking a wider range of products led to an increased focus by corporations on brands and their unique selling points.The likely audience demographic is constructed through the advert’s use of women with whom they might personally identify (Uses andGratifications Theory). These young women are likely to be newly married and with young families (the men’s and children’s clothing on the washing line creates these connotations). The endorsement from Good Housekeeping Magazine makes them an Opinion Leader for the target audience, reinforcing the repeated assertion that Tide is the market-leading product.