TV Commercial: Herbal Essences

I think the intended audience for this television commercial is females aged 18-30. The reason for this is because the commercial is centred around a woman and as it's about shampoo, typically females are considered to care more about their appearance than males. Therefore, they would be more inclined to buy a product that was being advertised on television as they care more about it.

The use and gratification this commercial meets is personal identity. A female watching this commercial can identify with the woman advertising the product because those who are interested in it would identify with also wanting to take care of themselves and their hair. Women 18-30 would identify with the woman in the commercial, too, because she looks to be of the same age as them.

The advert has been specifically constructed, showing particular clips of the woman in the shower and also in a bath of roses which gives the audience the impression that she's naked; this shows it's shot with sexual intention. Towards the end of the advert after the woman has had her shower and used Herbal Essences, they then shoot her in bed with her partner/husband who shows a lot of adoration for her now, whereas in the beginning he wasn't shot. The advert has been mediated this way because it makes the target audience think that if they buy this certain hair product, they'll appear suddenly sexier with more confidence and their hair will be as silky and shiny as the woman's in the commercial. Another reason it has been mediated like this is because it would make females who watch it think that if they buy the product, then it'll suddenly make men more interested in them.

I think the values of the media producer are that they see women as a sexual object rather than a person, because to include a male at the end who is only shot when the woman looks her best, it's giving off the impression that a male will only adore or admire a woman when she's at her prettiest. This gives off the assumption that a woman has to look beautiful all the time for a man to love her.

I think the media producer has portrayed his values in a way that shows he doesn't necessarily have respect for women intellectually, but rather has respect for their bodies and their appearance. I think the media piece as a whole shows women in a negative way, because it's insinuating that women can only be projected in a sexual way for a product to sell.