Gender in Advertising

In this video, you first see a destroyed major city; everything has been blown up, set a blaze and no humans are seen. You do see a newspaper saying the date as December 21, 2012 (the date specified by Mayans to be the destruction of the world). Then a man driving a Chevy Silverado breaks through the rubble, dog in tow, and you see him drive through this city. You see a meteor burning in the earth and robot aliens, all while this guy drives right on through.  He then meets up with three other men, all driving different models of the same car. They joke about how Dave didn’t make it because he drove a ford. The video ends with frogs falling from the sky.

This ad is clearly gender specific because NO FEMALES SURVIVE. None of the women survive most likely because they didn’t drive Chevy Silverados. This also plays on the idea that men drive big pickup trucks, and that women are too dainty and cannot drive them properly. The ad, however, is appealing because there is a lot of skepticism regarding December 21, 2012 (the date the Mayans have suggested will bet eh end of the world). The intended effect of this commercial is obviously that Chevy Silverados can withstand a lot of things and will still be powerful and run. However, underlying this message is that this car is not for women. 

Chevy Silverado 2012 commercial