5. What I have learnt about the representation of events, issues, individuals and social groups in television adverts and how I intend to demonstrate this knowledge and understanding in my production in order to communicate meaning successfully

Representation and challenging stereotypes is of great importance when producing an advert. People are more likely to buy into the brand if they can relate with the messages, themes and portrayals of race, gender and sex. For example, homosexual audiences are extremely unlikely to buy a product that centres its themes around hetrosexual love and relationships.

Lynx launches a transgender campaign

Lynx, a brand famed for its solitary appeal for young males, in the past promoting their deodorant as one that would score plenty of women for a man. However, the brand has turned over a new leaf in recent years, embracing the LGBTQ messages, like those of a transgender male, as shown above. This was a major turnaround for Lynx, and has resulted in many new people buying into the franchise. However, much of the original Lynx fan base were unhappy with this change, and dropped off buying the products. Lynx should not have made such a drastic change in marketing, but should have slowly built up to this change of heart, so the fans would have slowly adapted with it, and not just dropped off Lynx.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/laddish-lynx-has-gone-transgender--but-is-mainstream-man-ready/

Axe produces a unisex product

Axe is Lynx's American brand, and was previously famous for the same thing as Lynx: ita solitary appeal to young males, and its strong messages about using the deodorant to attract women. However, Axe turned over a new leaf when they unveiled their Axe Anarchy campaign, making the slogan, 'for him and her'. This was finally the positive female representation that many people were waiting for. Audiences were attracted by the simple use of everyday activities (such as filling a car with fuel) that put women on the same level as men, and not as in need of a man as they were previously portrayed. The campaign, however, lacks any sense of challenging racial stereotypes, as the models for all three poster adverts are white.

Brands which previously stuck to the normal stereotypes that made one group look stronger above the rest have changed, portraying messages challenging gender, racial and sexual stereotypes. It is therefore important to challenge the audience's normal perceptions of these topics, in order to potray a positive message and attract more people to buy into the product.