8-2 Culture Jam Discussion by Jabiz Raisdana

Yasharth

2025-05-07 02:13:46 UTC

The celebratory poster dedicated to women’s day highlights how stereotypical, gendered expectations are reinforced in advertising, where women are encouraged to conform and men are subtly empowered. When analysing the advertisement, it can be seen that it depicts a smiling woman of a darker skin colour standing confidently and wearing a grey suit over a white shirt. Her pose resonates professionalism and assurance. The logo is placed in the bottom right corner, establishing the brand of a well-known stationery company. Opposite that, on the bottom left, we have the text “#HappyWomensDay”. Moving onto the meaning conveyed through this ad, the language reflects the problematic gender biased approach. The statement “looks like a girl” suggests that appearance plays a key factor in the life of a female and this may cause people to feel insecure regarding their appearance. Next, the line “think like a man” implies the belief that men are naturally skilled thinkers or decision makers, which is a prejudiced opinion. Furthermore, the statement “think like a boss” reinforces the divide between gender and power by implying that women must aspire to become leaders, but are unable to obtain such a position. Instead of empowering women for their true identity regardless of conventional gender roles, it criticises the limitations of women by promoting stereotypical gender expectations instead of encouraging inclusivity between the two.

Benny :)

zhu105015_2 — 2025-05-07 02:14:14 UTC

The advertisement for the new Coca Cola zero sugar is biased due to it reinforcing the message of body shaming as it visualises the so called ‘normal’ body or the ideal body. The images shows a couple drinking the new coke zero sugar with the text saying “tastes more like coke, looks more like coke” describing them as the people everyone looks up to, in terms of body image. They are going against diverse body types emphasizing the claim that they look unprepossessing. Thus the text is biased towards people who are robust and ‘attractive’ without including diversity in body image. For the reasons stated, I have chosen to adjust the ad inorder to display the bias. In the image I altered the text into “Ignore the others, Feel the way you want” by doing this I am able to expose the bias in the ad, I have also adjusted the photo and the small words inorder to show that it’s normal to not be slim or attractive the goal is to just be yourself. The aim of this culture jam is for readers to think twice about the definition of being normal as there is no ‘normal’ or ideal body and you are the best if you be yourself.

Ryu

2025-05-07 02:14:23 UTC

This Poster is based on a Male rock climber drinking a protein milk to enhance the body saying “Milk Is For Real Men” And on the Ad it shows a Man Drinking milk while hanging from a rock. This was showing how males are stronger than females and how the males can rock climb. This had an impact on female viewers because of the questions why Cant women also climb? and how do you become real? To counter the bias I had changed the text Milk For REAL Men and I changed it to Milk for Women and men and for the photo I photoshopped the man and put a woman climber also to make it an equal gender.

Tobias

2025-05-07 02:14:46 UTC

This poster advertising a movie called couples retreat is a biased ad that promotes the idea that the typical or standard couples are heterosexual or young. The original poster shows 4 different couples, all young and all heterosexual, on a vacation island. And by the title and subtitles it’s about young couples who have some problems that they are going on a retreat for. This leaves out those who are older or homosexual because it sets a standard for relationships, showing the message that they are more “normal” or successful through the movie and poster. It also implies that couples on retreat are younger than others and have more problems.

Because of this, I chose to edit the poster by changing some of the text.. The main thing that I changed was the title. I changed it from couples retreat to the ideal couples vacation because it highlights the bias of heterosexual and young couples are the ideal type by saying the ideal because it again sets a standard for couples. I also changed the heading to say other biassed things to make it more obvious like successful, perfect, or young for the same reasons, implying that there's a better form of couples, leaving out others. I tried to make it so it wouldn't be in such an obvious way.

Zherui

2025-05-07 02:15:19 UTC

The promotional poster for the product, Mr Clean Sponge, is biassed in that it reinforces the message that women are the ones who should be doing the job of cleaning the house and doing all the chores. The advertisement has a picture of a woman cleaning, with a piece of text on top saying “this mother’s day, get back to the job that really matters”. This text shows that the advertisement is gender biased.

In my picture, I flipped the ad around by swapping the genders of the people in the picture, this exposed the gender bias that was there in the original advertisement. I flipped it around so that people can clearly see and understand what the bias of the ad is.

Mya

2025-05-07 02:16:56 UTC

Prisha

2025-05-07 02:16:58 UTC

This is the Pepsi ad for their new skinny can for their diet soda, which is biased towards gender, body image, and appearance. The original reinforces the idea that people, specifically women in this ad, should be slim and not have excess body fat. The ad also shows that if you want to be considered “normal”. It also says you should drink their soda because it isn’t unhealthy and keeps you slim. The text on the side suggests that the can is skinny, and how people who drink this new soda will remain at a “perfect” body type. For these reasons, I believe that the Pepsi ad is biased towards one’s appearance and a little towards gender.

According to the paragraph above, I chose to change the text to make the issue that was already there clearer. I changed the side text that said “ the new skinny can” to “Ready to be accepted by society?” to showcase high society's standards and how hard it is to cope with them. This phrase made the issue about body type clearer and brought readers' attention towards this. The second change I made towards this ad was moving the second part of the text down so that it doesn’t draw as much attention as the intended text. This culture jam aimed to highlight the issue of body appearance, however I didn’t tap into the gender part of it, the main message was about how society expects people, especially women, to be a certain body type.

Devika

2025-05-07 02:17:05 UTC

The poster for the animated film the Little Mermaid shows a biased message by suggesting that women must change themselves to gain the approval or love of a man. This text illustrates Ariel being admired by a man while her dad and the evil sea monster look over them in disbelief. The original title of this film suggests a magical love story between a mermaid and a human, but it hides the fact that Ariel must give up her voice for a man. Additionally Ariel changes her body for a man in many ways like getting legs in order to be perceived as someone “normal” and human. However, this excludes people who may not be physically able especially at their lower half. Lastly in the poster Ariel's body type is highlighted showing that the “hourglass" kind of body is admirable by a man. These exclusions reinforce traditional gender expectations and that a woman's primary fulfilment is found in romance. It reinforces that having an able body and an hourglass figure as a woman is desirable. This text is biased in that it supports physically able, skinner body types and masculine privileges.

For these reasons to expose this bias, I changed the title to Silence Yourself for a Man. I also edited the letter “O” in “For” by replacing it with an image of Ariel giving up her voice revealing her silence as an offering. I also edited Ariel’s iconic hourglass figure of her body to reflect a more realistic body type. Which challenges narrow beauty standards often promoted in the media and targeted at women. These changes highlight how the film sends the message that a girl should sacrifice her identity for love and a man. The goal of this culture jam is to help viewers think critically about how physical appearances are shown in media, and to question the idea that someone has to change or give up part of themselves to fit into a certain standard.

Azalea's culture jam

2025-05-07 02:19:19 UTC

The advertisement that is shown above is biased in the means that the subject implication is that a ‘normal’ woman is unable to open a bottle. The text illustrates a ‘normal’ white woman holding a red glass bottle that is surprised. Originally saying “you mean a woman can open it?”, gives the idea that women are not physically as strong as men not even strong enough to open a bottle. This eventually gives power overall to men by taking power from women. Marketing such an ad would probably be a lot more common several years ago, although nowadays it wouldn’t work as people have become severely more aware. Ad marketers in the present have to be careful about what they are campaigning for and if the message is suitable and applicable to everyone, seeing that it would draw a lot of negative attention and hate towards the company. Thus, the text at the bottom was very simply changed to “A bottle that women can open because they are weak whiners?? WOW!” Which is slightly more head on to what they were actually trying to say.

Evelyn

2025-05-07 02:21:07 UTC

the poster for the film, The little mermaid, shows bias towards how women should look “normal” so that their partner will be happy and what they should give up to be with a man, the poster shows a mermaid and a prince and the villian of the story and the king of the undersea. the little mermaid is all about how ariel changes herself to get to prince erick like how women change there body to be with a man, though dosent the bias that I am refering to I decided to change the poster to refelct the bias the movie demomstrates. I changed the title of the movie poster to demonstrate the plot of the movie and because of that I continues to renforce the idea that women need to change how they look to be able to be loved by a man.

Emily's

perer995001 — 2025-05-07 02:22:20 UTC

The poster that the company BIC sent out for Women's Day is biased and sexist towards women because of the phrasing it uses. The text says “Look like a girl, Act like a lady, Think like a man, and work like a boss”, i changed the words to what they are now because by them saying “think like a man and work like a boss” they are implying that only men can lead properly. This reinforces the idea that women should not be in office workforces, which is not true. This text is biased and provides a sexist viewpoint of office staff and what gender the staff should be.

For these reasons, I changed the text to highlight the bias and show what the company BIC was saying. I changed the title to “look young like a girl, act politely like a lady, think smart like a man, lead like only men can”, this text now highlights the bias and sheds light on what is wrong with the use of words that they chose. The purpose of this culture jam is for other people to not only see the bias in this poster and be able to recognise that this is wrong, but also recognise biases in posters or text they read on a day-to-day basis.

Andy

2025-05-07 02:22:44 UTC

This temu ad is a biased ad as it reinforces that living like a billionaire is what everyone should live like, but it doesn’t show the downsides, like how temu allegedly uses child labor and forced workers. It also shows how the customers are contributing to the problem, as buying products from temu means that you are indirectly supporting them.

My version shows the child labor, and unethicality of temu’s factories. My version also shows how they are treated badly.

Gloria

2025-05-07 02:24:06 UTC

For the original ad, there is a thin woman sipping a tall and thin pepsi can with the content of “the new skinny can” beside her. This ad would like to sell the pepsi in a new shape of can. Because of the can is taller and thinner than the traditional pepsi can, the ad would like to use a woman who is also thinner and taller than the average human to imply the audience to make themselves think that when they are drinking the new packaged pepsi, they would have the same skinny body type as the woman on the ad. The woman who is skinny is implying the skinny can, however, the truth is when you drink the cola, your body type would be not skinny and not the healthy.

I change this ad into this is because I think in the reality, people who drink this “skinny” “tall” pepsi can have different body type. The character in my ad demonstrates that people who drink the “skinny” “tall” pepsi can be not skinny and not tall. The caption of my ad is “THE REAL SKINNY CAN” which shows that in the reality, the can can be skinny but the people drinking it might don’t have the same body type as the woman in the original ad.

Emma

sheng140082_1 — 2025-05-07 03:06:25 UTC

This ad from a beer company, Schlitz. It is biased base on the picture of a women burned the beer accidentally and the man is forgiving her.This let us think about that women are always working in the kitchen and mess up things, man are always kind and nice to forgive what the woman do, but the text was in a uncomfortable way. The text that said “Don’t worry darling. You didn’t burn the beer!”.It sounded like the man was being inclusive and comforting the woman, but actually in the deeper meaning it sounded like it was saying women always mess things up. It is also a male dominant perspective when you look at the ad. For these reasons, I turn the picture to both woman and man cooking the beer, because both man and woman can be in the kitchen and cooking things, we don’t need to talk bad about one or another on ads. When they worked together, they could make things well. So it will make less bias when you look at the ad.

Kim Vy

2025-05-12 03:19:15 UTC

The original text is a Mr. Clean sponge advertisement, which demonstrates a clear bias by subtly hinting that a woman’s role in society is to drop all other responsibilities and serve a man when called to do so. It illustrates that regardless of all skill, talent, and success that a woman has in her respective field, she ultimately belongs at home, scrubbing away. The image depicts a woman teaching her daughter how to complete household chores, while Mr Clean watches over and smiles proudly. This can symbolise how outdated gender roles are passed down through generations and generations, when the daughter will become a mother and therefore a servant herself. The motto says, “This Mother’s Day, Get back to the job that really matters.” The text holds biased and sexist connotations while trying to disguise them as a celebratory Mother’s Day promotion. Through the caption, it expresses a standard of what a “good” mother is, describing her as a woman whose principal duty is to clean and stay at home with her child. While there is nothing wrong with doing so, it still imposes a constraint, limiting women with standards and expectations that men do not usually face. By referencing “the job that really matters”, it undermines the potential career that a woman has built for herself, prioritising housework. Mother’s Day should be a day where women are appreciated and celebrated; however, this advertisement and its producer only see a woman for how they can utilise her. It is almost pretending to be uplifting and empowering women, when all it is doing is taking power away from them, in order to give it to men. Blatant sexism has been this way since the beginning of time, and advertisements such as this one do nothing but encourage this prejudice. While many ads from the 1950s-60s display similar language and context, gender equality has made a lot of progress since, which makes this simply unacceptable.

I swapped the “traditional” gender roles showcased in this text, in order to expose and emphasise this bias even further. It shows a stay-at-home father who is doing chores and looks after the children, while Mrs. Clean shines a perfect smile. The ad looks so unusual, which makes the viewers question why this is normalised and accepted by society when it is instead a woman. The answer is because people aren’t accustomed to men being in a position that is “supposed” to be a woman’s role. I asked an AI platform to generate Mrs. Clean in a business suit, to highlight how confident and strong she is. Her business suit symbolises that she is successful in fulfilling her true potential in the role that she chose and earned, rather than the role that society had assigned to her. I wanted to do so because I felt the need to mirror what the original advertisement was doing: hindering a woman’s power, to empower a man.

Tom

hong153479_2 — 2025-05-13 06:11:17 UTC

The Kinder Egg advertisement promotes a narrow view of childhood by dividing toys along gender lines. The poster highlights “FASHION DOLLS” as options for girls, while positioning “SPRINTY” as the default for boys. The poster’s design and labelling suggest that kids have to pick toys based on their gender instead of their preference, and what they actually enjoy.

For these reasons, I chose to swap the labels to emphasize how toy ads push unfair gender stereotypes. I switched the labels so "Fairies & Dolls" appears over the blue side, and "Superhero Toys" appears over the pink side. This simple switch proves how ridiculous these gender divisions are - toys are just toys, and kids should play with whatever interests them.

Instructions and Prompts:

jra10 — 2025-05-14 00:06:28 UTC

Use the sentence starters below to comment on your peers’ Culture Jams. Focus on how they revealed or challenged ideas about identity, bias, and power or privilege in the original ad. Choose one or two starters that help you express your thoughts clearly. You can agree, disagree, or ask questions — just be respectful and specific.

“Your Culture Jam made me think about how identity affects the way people see this ad because…”
“This ad assumes a certain identity is ‘normal’ — your edit challenged that by…”
“I’m not sure I agree that this ad is biased in the way you described — could it also be interpreted as…”
“I hadn’t noticed the bias in the ad before, but your Culture Jam made it clear that…”
“You said this ad gives power to ____, but I wonder if it’s actually more about…”
“I can see your point about privilege, but I think the original ad might have been trying to…”