In this febreze commercial we see the perfect housewife and perfect family being portrayed. The house wife is a young put-together woman, hair and makeup flawless. It seems this woman has achieved the stereotypical aspiration all woman should have (as encouraged by corporate consumer culture), or the "all american" dream. The perfect husband, two children (girl AND boy) as well a dog. The little girl and boy are both "socially correct" girl wearing a pink dress, and boy a blue plaid button up. By the looks of the house, their clothes and the items and furniture inside, we can assume this family to be of upper middle class (a common pattern seen in most cleaning ads).
In this commercial it seems the mother or mother in law is coming for a visit. The wife here is encouraged to have the house smelling clean and fresh before she arrives, it shows specifically the wife spraying the febreze all over her home, because it is a womens job to clean and use the household products.
The house is spotless and smelling fresh when she arrives, and it seems grandma approves. The wife is now seen and reinforced as "the perfect housewife".
-Meryle Girl
I think if my grandmother ever wandered into my house like she does in the commercial, my reaction would probably be to assume that hell hath frozen over. Its such a silly reaction, and the mom doesn't DO any actual cleaning, its as if the 'living life' her family is doing, does nothing but leave foul odours throughout the house.
ReplyDeleteIts a bizzare take on the seperation of wives from the mother in law, and although that acceptance is garnered, there is still very little attention paid to the wife. Has she really gained as much acceptance as she hoped, or is she merely high off of the febreeze fumes?
Sushi Warrior
I almost wonder with the obvious using a white family if they could be hinting that people of racial minority are not clean? You rarely if ever see a non-white family or woman being portrayed in cleaning commercials.
ReplyDeleteUsing the mother-in-law who appreciates the scent and cleaning that the wife/mother has done denotes the qualities that woman look for in a wife for their son. Too many obvious sterotypes and a silly commercial in my books.
Bakerella