Advertisement analysis

The text this commentary will be analyzing is a career advertisement by Workforce

Central, based in Florida, the United States of America. The advertisement is about
possible opportunities in the nursing profession. The advertisement asks the question-
‘Are You Man Enough…to Be A Nurse?’ this shows that the text is clearly attacking
‘Gender Inequality’. In the image there are men clad different outfits based on their
hobbies but all of them work in the healthcare department. This is breaking the
stereotype of women only working in the nursing profession. The advertisement is
based on ‘Gender Inequality’ and ‘Career Stereotypes’, and I will be proving this through
analyzing different features and stylistic devices in this advertisement.

The advertisement is targeting the general public, particularly men who think that there
is no possibility in the nursing profession. The purpose is to encourage these men to join
the women dominant profession and to transfer the symbolic power of this exalted form
of masculinity towards potential male nurses to empower them to enter this field. It is
culturally reframing gendered associations of nursing.

In the advertisement, the slogan is in the form of a question, which acts like a hook or
attention grabber. It makes the readers curious and attentive. The slogan is written in
capital letters, in bold fonts and divided into halves with- ‘Are you man enough…’ on top
in black and ‘…To be a Nurse?’ in red colour. Both these colours are visually strong and
attractive that stands out which cannot be ignored by the readers. Black and Red also
symbolize strength and power, which stereotypically has been associated with men for
the longest time. The black colour is also considered to be conservative. As the
advertisement is breaking a conservative thoughts of gender oriented occupations.
The three ellipses after the first half of the question tells us that it is incomplete which
makes the audience very inquisitive. The phrase-‘Are you man enough’ will usually grab
the attention of men as it is not simply questioning whether you are a man but whether
you are ‘man enough’. Later on the second half of the question continues with the
ellipses in the beginning. Usually one’s manhood is questioned when asked to do
something daring. In this context being a nurse is the challenge for a man, which shows
the stereotypical thought of only women being in the nursing profession.

The slogan when read might make many male readers question themselves about any
possibility of them becoming a nurse. Since a long period, there have mainly been
women in the nursing profession as in this male-dominant society it was believed that
women were subordinate to men, and were only to serve or be a helping hand. A man
can work under a man but not under a woman. This clearly shows gender inequality.

The image of the advertisement consists of nine men wearing different attires and
equipped with the props needed to show their hobbies. Traditionally masculine
resources help to authorize male gender identities in their participation in culturally
feminized robes. Below each man, their personal information is given- their name, their
profession and hobby. Each person has a different name and hobby but the same
profession, which is in the healthcare department. These male nurses are muscular and
well toned with a confident smile, who look like any regular working man. The images of
these men are daring the readers to judge them on their appearance. The motive behind
this is to prove that men who choose to be a nurse have an alternative career path which
is mainly a masculine job, but becoming a nurse and working in the healthcare
department, which is culturally a feminine job, does not make them less manlier.
Basically, this text is questioning the manliness of the male society by asking if they are
bold enough to choose a career in the nursing profession. There has been a usage of
irony as it is challenging the manliness by joining a culturally ‘feminine’ profession. This
tells us that because of strong incentive to enter male professions but men have little
incentive to do female jobs. Mainly because female dominant care professions are
associated with great deal of work and low salary. Therefore, lower cultural status and
prestige. It also links to our collective investment in the idea that men and women are
suited to different sorts of work.

At the bottom of the advertisement it states- ‘Want a career with unlimited

opportunities that will challenge your intelligence, courage and skill, be a nurse.’ This
statement uses nouns like- intelligence, courage and skill, which are essentially needed
for almost all careers. It is trying to prove that the nurse is like any other profession with
similar requirements. ‘unlimited opportunities’ in the statement is a way of tempting the
readers about benefits one gets while becoming a nurse. The statement ends with ‘be a
nurse’ which is the aim of the advertisement, that is to encourage the readers to become
a nurse.

To conclude, the advertisement is based on the global issue ‘gender inequality’ and
career stereotypes- mainly with the healthcare department. I have proven it by
analyzing different features like image, colours and stylistic devices like irony, question
and furthermore. There has been an extra detailed analysis of the image to persuade the
readers to change their stereotypical mindset on careers.