In our society just as much as we dirty and mess things up we have to clean it up just as much, so cleaning products are in high demand. Connecting cleaning with the idea of making things quicker and efficient, Procter and Gamble created a line of cleaning products back in 1999 called Swiffer. Swiffer has varies of products that are very useful in the household and that all come at a affordable price, but that catch is that must continue to purchase replacement refills and pads over the life of the product. I would say that Swiffer products are a great creation and it allows one to replace the traditional broom and mop; however, the products is heavily gendered based to women throughout its marketing.
As you are watching TV have you actually watched and paid attention to one of the Swiffer commercials that are shown quite a lot. Well I have, and I realized that all of their commercials have the same format where a woman is using one of the Swiffer products, and the commercial constantly tries to compare the Swiffer products to a old mop or broom. In these commercials the announcer would always say“Once you switch, you’ll never go back." In Sut Jhally’s article Image-Based Culture she states” Many commercial messages use images and representations of men and women as central components of their strategy to both get attention and persuade” (Jhally,253). The representation of women in Swiffer’s commercials is very vital component on how they are marketing their products to women. These commercials rarely have men in them and if they do the only purpose of the man would be to a spectator to the women using the Swiffer product to clean the house.
“Swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning”, that is one Swiffer’s present day slogans that is often written on their products and said during their commercials. Giving the stereotype that women are the ones that do all the cleaning throughout the household, Swiffer not only markets its product to women they even create them for women. Swiffer products are these lightweight yellow or light green tools that are marketed to make cleaning better. In a article called Cosmetic: A Clinque Case Study , it states “ An important factor in the different presentations of products for men and women is colour, a distinction by which gender stereotypes are reinforced” (Kirkham and Weller, 269). Though Swiffer products are not pink and purple, all of the products are light colors which mean they are represented more for women. Combining the light colors of the products and the female dominated commercials of Swiffer products is goes to show that Swiffer is heavily marketed to women and only women.
Jhally, Sut. "Image-Based Culture: Advertising & Popular Culture." Gender Race and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 249-57. Print.
Kirkham, Pat, and Alex Weller. "Cosmetics: A Clinique Case Study." Print. Rpt. in Gender, Race, and Class In Media. Ed. Gail Dines and Jean M. Humez. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2003. 255. Print.
Photograph. Swiffer Product. Web. 5 August 2011. http://gringationcancun.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/swiffer.jpg
Photograph. Swiffer Product. Web. 5 August 2011. http://www.worstedwitch.com/pix/2006/04/12/swiffer.jpg
Photograph. Swiffer Product. Web. 5 August 2011.
Photograph. Swiffer Product. Web. 5 August 2011.
Photograph. Swiffer Product. Web. 5 August 2011. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Swiffer-logo.jpg
Photograph. Swiffer Product. Web. 5 August 2011. http://swiffercouponsx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/swiffer-coupon.jpg
