Blog #8

October 29, 2009 maxwae01

As a communications major with an emphasis in Media and Public, we often talk about the effect of commercials. A subject that comes up often is the emphasis of cleaning products during the day, and who is the target audience for these commercials?…Women! Soap Operas actually began because “soap” commercials helped sponsor these daytime melodramas for women. The idea is if the women are drawn to watching TV, they will notice the cleaning products and be persuaded to be them. The humorous thing about these commercials, are the way they are made. Of course intended for women, because that’s who does the housework; these women are happy, dressed very casually, and sometimes there are even sexual characteristics that come up. How can we relate these things to cleaning? Sarah Haskins is a feminist that has done many humorous videos that poke fun at women issues. In 2008 she made the short video “Target Women: Cleaning” you can find this video on youtube.com and feministing.com. The video pokes fun at the idiotic aspects of cleaning commercials intended for women. Some things mentioned are, cleaning equals sexual activity, how you can dress like you’re about to go out while cleaning, how not having a clean home can before harmful to your family, how everyone is an idiot when it comes to cleaning, but the women, and how cleaning products can be your friend or even date. She ends the clip saying cleaning products, seduce you, romance you, and even protect you from sexual diseases. Please check out the clip, is one you have to see just to get a laugh.