JEDDAH, 3 November 2006 — The increasing appearance of women in advertisements and the display of adverts that are unsuitable for young viewers has, instead of attracting consumers, caused many people to react quite negatively.
Advertisements, whether on TV or radio, are no longer as innocent as they used to be. They have become embarrassing and offensive to many people. According to a report published by Nielsen Media Research recently, a single household in the US on average watched eight hours and 14 minutes of television each day last year. This is a record-high and a three-minute increase from the year before.
Jameel Ameen, 53, believes the situation is the same here in the Kingdom. “People watch advertisements every 10 minutes when they are seated in front of their TV sets. The idea that my children are watching commercials that are not suitable for their age really bothers me,” he says. “Commercials that promote energy drinks and medicines suitable for married couples in between children’s programs and family-oriented soap operas are highly unsuitable.”
Women also do not like products aimed at them to be aired in front of all male members of their families. “It is annoying and insulting to keep watching these adverts full of immodestly-dressed women. Women are shown promoting and attracting consumers in a vulgar way. This is not what we womenfolk are born to do. This is not the message we want to give to our children,” said Sarah Muhammad, 26, an employee at a local bank.
Marwan Qutub, cofounder of 3Points Advertising Company, says advertisers need to primarily have a deep understanding of consumers and then accordingly develop an appropriate means of communication.
Qutub believes that Saudi and other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) consumers have suffered for years from a sense of advertising that does not speak to them. He blames it on the fact that previously there were no professional advertisers working in the field. “Saudis entered this field just 10 years ago. They are still in a minority and are outnumbered by other nationalities in the field,” he said.
Qutub says that when advertisement campaigns are carried out by Saudi agencies they tend to gain wider acceptance and recognition. “For example, take the case of ‘Akim Salatak’ (Make Your Prayers) campaign that was developed and launched by 3Points in 2001,” he pointed out.
That campaign, Qutub said, was a revolution in advertising in the Arab world and was one of the most talked about TV commercials in the region. “Since then, the number of talented Middle Eastern professionals (both men and women) working in the field has been growing steadily. More and more professional Saudis are now joining the advertising industry,” he said.
“Furthermore, MBC4’s ‘It’s for You’ advert showed that local women could be fashionable and trendy and at the same time respectful of the cultural sensitivities,” said Qutub.
“These two examples are ample proof that the key to success in advertising is to have local advertisers who understand the local consumer trends. If you go to London, you will see British advertisers developing advertisement concepts suitable for the British consumer. The same is the case in Egypt, Lebanon, France and US,” he added.
In addition, while some companies believe that sexually provocative advertisements may attract consumers to buy their products, a study published by MediaAnalyzer Inc., a market research company, showed how this assumption is totally wrong. The company tested 200 men and 200 women in October last year to explore how men and women look at sexually-themed adverts.
The results showed that an average of 19.8 percent of men recalled the correct brand names in nonsexual adverts, while only 9.8 percent recalled the correct brand names in sexual adverts. Women, on the other hand, tended to avoid looking at sexual imagery, but curiously, their brand recall was worse in sexual adverts. An average of 22.3 percent recalled the correct brand/product in nonsexual adverts, while only 10.8 percent correctly recalled brand names in sexual adverts.
Women were much more likely than men to say that sexual adverts promote a deterioration of moral and social values and feel they are demeaning due to the models featuring in them. While almost half of men (48 percent) said they like sexual adverts, few women (eight percent) agreed. Most men (63 percent) said sexual adverts catch their attention while only 28 percent of women felt the same. Also, most women (58 percent) said there is too much sex in advertising; while only 29 percent of men agreed.
A lecturer of communication skills at King Abdul Aziz University and managing director at Creative Film Roll Agency, Rolla Abdul Majeed, is against the exploitation of women in the advertisement industry. “Even if we wanted to keep up with the modern world technology in the frame of being free and mentally open, it does not mean we should advertise in a way we are unaccustomed to,” she said.
Rolla says some advertisements go against the values that Saudis have been raised on and taught. “These personal hygiene advertisements for example are scratching our innocence. We were raised not to discuss such subjects in front of our fathers or brothers,” she said.
Rolla adds that companies should take into consideration the time of the day when advertisements are shown on television. “The daytime is a very sensitive part of the day and this is a time when our kids watch TV and listen to radio. And it is not just the children. I feel embarrassed when these advertisements are aired when I’m on the road with my driver. It just isn’t comfortable,” she said.
