A longitudinal analysis of the changing roles of gender in advertising: a content analysis of Super Bowl commercials

Abstract

Although the prevalence of gender stereotypes in advertising is well established, relatively little research has examined gender stereotypes in the context of Super Bowl that is arguably the most important event in US television advertising. This study systematically examines gender representations across various product categories in Super Bowl commercials over a 20-year period (1990–2009). Our findings detect and discuss shifts in the cultural notions of gender constructed in advertising messages targeting the largest and the most demographically diverse audience in US television. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.

Keywords:

• gender portrayals
• female stereotypes
• male stereotypes
• Super Bowl advertising
• content analysis
• TV advertising

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend a special acknowledgement and thank you to Professor Lysonsky for his permission to use his original typology on gender stereotypes. The authors would also like to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.