{"id":3,"date":"2017-10-20T12:09:42","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T19:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/?p=3"},"modified":"2017-10-20T12:12:36","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T19:12:36","slug":"culture-jam-assignment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/2017\/10\/20\/culture-jam-assignment\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture Jam Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Original Ad<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This Gap (UK) Kids advertising campaign speaks to perpetuate gender stereotypes, and it specifically encourages the differing futures that a girl and a boy would have. The main objective of this ad is to promote a \u2018back-to-school\u2019 fashion for children to be trendy and stylish. However, despite of a reasonable fashion objective, the taglines embedded on the ad have created serious public backlash and a patronizing message to young children.<\/p>\n

First, the advertisement stereotypes the varying roles of a boy and a girl in the society, such that a boy is expected to be \u2018the little scholar\u2019 whereas a girl is deemed as \u2018the social butterfly.\u2019 As such, \u2018the social butterfly\u2019 implies that the girl can be successful by being popular, not because she is actually qualified. The advertisement portrays a young girl in sparkly cat years wearing a cream sweater with a pink \u201cG\u201d logo, while of the boy it states \u201cshirts + graphic tees = genius idea.\u201d The girl\u2019s sparkly cat ears and pose has created a patronizing image of a girl, suggesting that she only cares about her fashion and has no dreams in becoming a smart, successful individual. In contrast, the boy is wearing an Einstein T-shirt while giving a much more confident pose to portray his bright, intelligent image. Ironically enough, the T-shirt misspelled Einstein as \u201cEinstien,\u201d which further dampens Gap\u2019s image through this ad.<\/p>\n

Secondly, there is an underlying element of racism in the advertisement. As this advertisement was designed to be shown in the UK, it fails to acknowledge the cultural diversity of children who go to school in the UK. The advertisement only shows white, blonde children. Indirectly, it defines a successful future only from the perspective of a privileged socioeconomic class, in which fashion plays a role in determining that success. Although the clothes portrayed represent Gap\u2019s fashion style, it gives an exclusive boundary to children of color and different racial backgrounds. As such, this ad arguably ignores the varying financial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of children who are striving to pursue education and work hard for a successful future.<\/p>\n

The Jammed Version of the Ad<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The jammed advertisement features different taglines for the girl. In my cultural jamming, I put more focus on the girl\u2019s role, as I attempt to encourage female independence and empowerment through these two changes.<\/p>\n

First, the title of the girl, \u2018the social butterfly\u2019 is replaced with \u2018the whatever-the-hell I want to be.\u2019 As the original ad portrays the girl\u2019s role as a social butterfly, it implies that success can be attained by how popular and sociable a girl. It suggests that girls don\u2019t need brain to be successful, as clothes and popularity are sufficient for them. However, the truth is, the definition of success of any individual should not bound by society\u2019s expectations. In other words, girls can define their own success in whatever way they want to. Unlike the boy\u2019s title of \u2018the little scholar,\u2019 I did not try to encourage girls to be equal by being another \u2018little scholar.\u2019 Instead, an individual has the freedom to choose their own success through whatever talent and interest they have.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the subheading of \u2018chambray shirts + logo sweaters are the talk of the playground is now replaced with \u2018Hard work + courage are the secret to success.\u2019 Rather than merely promoting the fashion and popular image of a girl, this ad strive to encourage girls to create their own success through hard work and courage. Although fashion can play a role in presenting yourself, it takes more than appearance to be successful. By having the courage to be \u2018whatever-the-hell I want to be,\u2019 the jammed advertisement incites a sense of autonomy and independence in a girl\u2019s success. The ad encourages children who are still in school to be more aware of the strength that they have, such that their own efforts and decisions will determine their future.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Original Ad This Gap (UK) Kids advertising campaign speaks to perpetuate gender stereotypes, and it specifically encourages the differing futures that a girl and a boy would have. The main objective of this ad is to promote a \u2018back-to-school\u2019 fashion for children to be trendy and stylish. However, despite of a reasonable fashion objective, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25491,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25491"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3\/revisions\/10"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/fernandaneysa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}