This clip shows a positive representation of women. We see this in the way the man is struggling to parallel-park his car. Naturally, in today's patriarchal society, we expect there to be some stereotypical insult against women's parking skills, judging by how they have been criticised in the past. However, this advertisement takes a turn against this patriarchal mentality and shows the viewer that women can not only park safely, but can park better than men. It expresses the views of modern Feminists that women can do everything as well as men, if not better. The Mise-en-scene is derived from a comic scene created in the 1990s, where a woman was mocked for her driving skills after impossibly crashing into a gate and flipping her car upside-down.
The woman that gets out of the car wears high heels, which is the first glimpse we get of her. This build up creates a powerful atmosphere illustrating her as an authoritative figure as she walks towards the man's car in slow motion. The effect is used to create tension as the audience watches in suspense for who this mystery woman is. She is dressed in formal office-type clothing, which connotes that she is not the sterotypical woman who is known to have reckless driving skills, but is this powerful Feminist, looking down at the man in the car through the window. This advertisement sends a clear message to anti-Feminist males, that women do not have to show their flesh and skin to be considered powerful, or even beautiful.
It almost seems deliberate that she is shown to be blonde, judging by the stereotypical connotations of blonde women being less academincally able "bimbos". THis also cancels out the traditional subordinate view of blonde women driving cars, almost converting the male gaze into a female one. Furthermore, the female character in the commercial could be showing signs of Androgyny, as she is portraying herself as almost a masculine woman. However, some could argue that she has qualities of a traditional Femme Fatale; even though she is not dressed provocatively, she possessed the shiny blonde hair and power over the man. There is also a slight sense of Voyeurism depicted in the scene which would tend to attract male audiences. It uses ISA to bring across this message of passion and fetishization as we watch her heel hit the floor and the camera pan up her legs to show her waist
This commercial shows a negative representation of women and is of complete contrast to the previous one. First of all, it begins with a group of friends playing a prank on one of their mates, who leaves the car to urinate. The fact that the driver is male displays the stereotypical view of how cars should be handled.
However, the main sexist remark shown in this clip is at the end, where the car drives over the cliff and the viewer is informed that the ad is to promote an insurance company. The target audience would probabl be sexist males, who have a patriarchal, even in today's society. This is because they are most likely the only group of viewers who would find the commercial funny rather than indulting. It is surprising that, not only is the advertisement completely sexist, but the company itself is based around the view that insurance should exist purely for women's use. This centres on the previous clip, which opposed the view of the stereotypical woman driver and her lack of driving skills.
Therefore, this commercial shows women as subordinate by insulting the intelligence of women drivers. Some may argue that this commercial is more misogynistic rather than patriarchal, seeing as it displays an unnecessary dislike towards women and their driving skills. Furthermore, it uses ideological state apparatus to, in a way, “brainwash” the naive and feminist male audience that this is the way they should be thinking. Therefore, it could be argued that the creators try to manipulate audiences to fit the needs of their target audience.
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