TV Commercials depicting mothers

Basically, commercials depicting these women, mothers in particular, are good in the eyes and soul of the viewers, meaning that the aesthetic and moral beauty of the ad is good, but there are always hidden message in these ads. Throughout history, mothers have been portrayed as the primary physical caregivers of children. Physical caregiving includes tasks such as breast-feeding and changing diapers. Some theorize that this has to do with the idea of women as having a natural instinct towards motherhood. Similar to the decline over time in wives as being portrayed solely as housekeepers, the portrayal of mothers as the primary physical care takers of children has been on the decline. Instead, there has been an increase in the portrayal of mothers as facilitating recreational activities with their offspring. Nearly two-thirds of mothers featured in ads on prime time television are intensive moms who buy products solely for the good of the family, while non-mothers were more likely to be portrayed as independent free agents, enjoying themselves far more, a new analysis has found. A good example ad is on Lucky Me where the mother was caught in traffic. Her tired husband and hungry children are waiting for her to arrive and prepare their dinner. Even though she was late, everything will be all right because there is Lucky Me. The ad had the jingle, "Ano man ang mangyari, ako ay lucky mommy. Ano man ang mangyari, basta't may Lucky Me." One would ask why they (father and children) have to wait for the wife and mother when they can cook their own evening dinner. The ad is suggesting that cooking is strictly the women's role and that men do not know how to cook noodles and pancit canton. It therefore stereotypes women as housewives and men as ignorant around the kitchen. It makes the men and the children look like lazy and always dependent on the mothers. It also shows that mothers are like the martyrs of every home. More television ads revolve around the same concept just like this. Mothers in television advertisements have become far more child-centric. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, stay-at-home moms were selling food and cleaning supplies with no mention of kids, signalling they had interests beyond their brood. But, its said that it had become a given in

the realm of marketing that women are multidimensional, and all these ads are doing is speaking to a salient part of their identity, one that would best connect with the product. Women are almost always projected as maternal, thus conveying the idea that every girl should aspire to be a mother. "Mothers are always portrayed as the doting parent of lovable children, the faithful wives of hardworking husbands, the neat homemakers who do not have or did not choose 'careers' outside of their homes." Images like this shape the way males and females feel about how a mother is supposed to act. "Although more mothers are breaking out of the norm, somehow, they also do not stray afar. However, like what I explain over and over again, the husbands and children should be responsible enough whenever at times of being far from their parents, mothers in particular. On a final note, it is not as if advertisements perpetuate hegemonic ideologies consciously. When these advertisements are prepared, in general, advertisers do not think of reinforcing patriarchy or stereotyping mothers or such. What they do think of is selling the product. What we have to remember is that the norms and expectations of mothers are so strong and common in our everyday activities that it perpetuates on its own in media. However, more importantly, the viewers are not passive in all these. We constantly bargain with the images we see with our own interpretations even if these bargains are still bounded by structures. There are progressive movements in media to break away from the hegemony and are starting to gain attention. In the case of television commercials and advertisements, it would be more difficult to veer away of what it already does presently. It could adapt though to whatever existing market here is. But as long as the primary function to sell a product is there, controlled meanings and identity calls will still be prevalent in advertisements, and the audience will also still be constantly negotiating with what they perceive.