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16 years of gender role representations and stereotypes in FIFA World Cup commercials: a historical content analysis

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16 years of gender role representations and stereotypes in FIFA World Cup commercials: a historical content analysis

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16 years of gender role representations and stereotypes in FIFA World Cup commercials:
A historical content analysis

By
Chloe Elena Piepho

THESIS

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts in Strategic Public Relations
in the Department of Journalism
of University of Southern California

December 12, 2018

Thesis Committee:

Assistant Professor Aimei Yang, Chair
Professor Jennifer Dayle Floto
Associate Professor Ben Carrington

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ABSTRACT
Although the prevalence of gender stereotypes within advertising is well researched, very
little research, if any, discusses the frequency of traditional gender portrayals in FIFA World Cup
commercials. Using a historical content analysis of commercials aired in the United States during
the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments between 2002 and 2018, this study examines
the presence of traditional gender roles and stereotypes. The findings from this study indicate
that women are more often portrayed in roles that shatter gender barriers, whereas men are
corralled into predominantly masculine roles.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Literature Review 7
Understanding Gender Stereotypes 7
Gender Stereotyping within the Sports Industry 11
Gender Stereotypes in Advertising 13
Gender Stereotypes in Sports Advertising 17
Potential Consequences of Advertising on Society 19
Practitioners Perspectives on Gender Stereotypes in Advertising 23

Hypothesis and Research Questions 24

Methodology 31
Sample of Commercials 31
Coding Procedure 32

Results 35
Analysis of Gender Representation of Central Figures and Voice Overs 35
The Role and Credibility of the Central Figure 38
The Body Type of the Central Figure 42
Analysis of the Central Figures’ Primary Location 44
Analysis of Products Advertised 46
Analysis of the Central Figures’ State of Dress 49
Analysis of the Presence of Sexualization 50

Discussion 52

Future Research and Implications 58

Bibliography 61

Appendix 72
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INTRODUCTION

On July 1, 1941, Bulova aired what is commonly recognized as the first legal television
commercial on NBC affiliate WNBT for $4 (Poggi, 2016). The 10-second spot, which ran during
a Dodgers-Phillies game, showed the outline of the then-48 states overlaid with the face of a
Bulova watch (Poggi, 2016) The male voiceover states, “America runs on Bulova” (Poggi,
2016). By 1949, total U.S. advertising spend on television reached $12 million and continued to
climb to $158 million three years later (Tungate, 2013). Because of the sharp rise in popularity
since the 1940s, television advertising has piqued the interest of many researchers. Additionally,
the proliferation of television commercials has inspired some researchers to gather a better
understanding of the potential affects television advertising has on society (Kolbe & Muehling,
1995; Paek et al., 2010; Lavine et al., 1999; Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Peterson et al.,
2009; Baird & Grieve, 2006).
The first area of study that has received significant consideration is the influence
advertising has over children, specifically their perception of gender role concepts. As Kolbe and
Muehling (1995) point out, advertisers rely on stereotyped gender role portrayals, which children
use to formulate their perceptions of correct gender behaviors. Kolbe and Muehling (1995) found
that children were generally aware of the central figure’s gender when watching commercials,
and made some judgements based on the gender role portrayal. Children construct the concept of
gender and appropriate gender behaviors through cues found within their environments
(Ellemers, 2017).
Similarly, another area of study focuses on how advertising influences the perpetuation of
traditional gender roles and gender stereotypes (Paek et al., 2010). Similar to their role for
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children, commercials with traditional gender representations can reinforce behavioral norms for
men and women (Paek et al., 2010). In fact, Lavine, Howard, and Sweeney (1999) argue that
television commercials are one of the most highly pervasive modes in which gender stereotypes
can be constructed, reinforced and activated. Although the purpose of a commercial is to
persuade consumers’ purchasing behavior, experts believe advertisements also influence
viewers’ beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors (Lavine et al., 1999).
Research has also indicated that advertising may affect positive body image in men and
women (e.g. Lavine et al., 1999; Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Peterson et al., 2009; Baird &
Grieve, 2006). One criticism of advertising is that it creates unrealistic standards for female
beauty and thinness and male strength and masculinity (Lavine et al., 1999). Advertising that
uses socially ideal body types – thin for women and muscular for men – generally leads to an
increase in comparison for most viewers (Baird & Grieve, 2006). Because of this, male and
female viewers are left with higher levels of body dissatisfaction after viewing commercials
portraying idealized physiques (Lavine et al., 1999; Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004).
In addition to its potential influences on society, advertising also has significant
economic implications. Advertisers rely heavily on television commercials to reach existing and
potential consumer bases. Although cable subscriptions decreased by 1.9 million in 2016
(Spangler, 2018) more than $190 billion were spent in advertising in the United States in the
same year (Statista, 2017). Advertisers look to sporting events as optimal times to invest, and the
return on that investment is massive. Moreover, 37 percent of network TV’s ad revenue was
generated from sports programming in 2015 (Adweek, 2016). This is an eight percent increase
from 2012 (Adweek, 2016).
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This value is further manifested through the massive price tags placed on commercials
aired during popular sporting events, like the FIFA World Cup. Although advertising during a
Super Bowl is still more expensive at an astronomical rate of $5 million per commercial, the cost
of TV ads purchased for the FIFA World Cup is inching closer. For example, in the United
States, the soccer tournament’s most expensive ad aired during the final of the 2014 Men’s
World Cup, and it cost $1.18 million (Badenhausen, 2018a). Consequently, television networks
in the United States experienced a large bump in ad revenue during that year’s World Cup
tournament. Univision earned $177 million in ad revenue, just trailing ESPN and ABC which
generated $187 million (Badenhausen, 2018a). Looking outside of the U.S., eight marketers paid
a total of $600 million for television presence on the host nation’s, Brazil, network Globo. At
$75 million per sponsor, that’s the equivalent of almost 20 thirty-second Super Bowl
commercials (Wentz, 2014). Although estimates are still being tallied for the 2018 FIFA World
Cup, FOX is projected to top ESPN and ABC’s 2014 television advertising spend (Lynch, 2018).
As soccer becomes more popular in the U.S., the viewership of the World Cup is
increasing to reflect that growth. At its peak, even without the presence of the U.S. Men’s
National Team, the 2018 Men’s World Cup final between France and Croatia drew 14.6 million
viewers in the United States (FOX Sports, 2018). According to FOX Sports, this was the most-
watched non-NFL telecast of any kind on FOX in 2018, and the most-watched telecast on
television since the NBA Finals among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. In comparison, the
2015 Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Japan drew 25.4
million U.S. viewers, which shattered the record as the most-watch soccer match in U.S. history.
Although the viewership was high, the 2015 World Cup only generated $40 million in ad
revenue for FOX Sports due to a lack of sponsor interest.
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As previously mentioned, soccer’s popularity in the U.S. continues to increase. Soccer is
now the fourth most popular sport in the country, following football, basketball and baseball. A
Gallup poll from December 2017 found that seven percent of Americans named soccer as their
favorite sport to watch. This is a three-percentage-point gain from four years ago (Bondy, 2018).
Because of the steady growth of participation in youth soccer, experts believe this will only
increase viewership of televised soccer games (Bondy, 2018). Soccer has also made significant
strides in gaining a prominent female viewership in the U.S., with women making up 40 percent
of the sport’s fan base (Bazilian, 2017).
Although soccer is the world’s most popular sport (Boudway, 2018), advertising during
soccer matches has garnered limited attention from researchers, especially when looking at
gendered representations in commercials. Most of the previous literature examining the FIFA
World Cup explores its economic effects as a mega-sporting event. However, with almost half of
the U.S. soccer fan base comprised of women, the World Cup presents a unique opportunity to
explore gender. This is especially important to understand as a marketer or public relations
practitioner when attempting to reach a gendered segment of a target audience.
As previously mentioned, over the past few decades, gender role portrayals and
stereotypes in advertising has become a popular field of study for many scholars (e.g. Eisend,
2010; McArthur & Resko 1975; Dominick & Rauch, 1972; Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Ganahl et al.,
2003; Lundstrom & Sciglimpaglia, 1977; Wolin, 2003; Sharits & Lammers, 1983; Bartsch et al.,
2000; Schneider & Schneider, 1979). Research thus far has focused on topics including, but not
limited to, advertising targeted at children, commercials aired during primetime compared to
daytime programming, advertisements shown during sports programming, and Super Bowl
commercials. However, to the author’s knowledge, there is very limited to no research at all on
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the gender role portrayals and stereotyping constructed through World Cup commercials, and
how these constructs have evolved over time.
Therefore, to fill this gap, the purpose of this research is to conduct a historical content
analysis over a 16-year period (2002 to 2018), to examine whether female or male stereotypes
are present in World Cup commercials; how they have changed over time; and whether the
stereotypes presented, if any, change between commercials aired during the men’s World Cup to
the women’s World Cup. A historical content analysis will provide a useful guideline to public
relations practitioners and marketers regarding the evolution of gender portrayals in advertising.
With this information, practitioners may be able to improve messaging to target audience
segments by understanding whether current visuals and messaging properly reflects their
consumers’ values and perspectives.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Understanding Gender Stereotypes

The process of stereotyping is to attribute simplified and often overgeneralized
characteristics or traits onto a group of people (Vinacke, 1957). Essentially, stereotypes reflect
general expectations about members of a social group’s thoughts, behaviors, appropriate
activities and appearances (Ellemers, 2017). One of the most common forms of stereotyping
occurs when individuals are clustered together based on their gender, which enforces a strict
binary form of categorization (Ellemers, 2017). When binary categorizations are present, people
tend to compare one group to another. Therefore, women are often compared to men and men are
often compared to women (i.e. women are more intuitive than men, or men are more
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authoritative than women). According to Ellemers (2017), this form of comparison magnifies the
genders’ sharp contrasts, therefore solidifying the differences between men and women.
The binary categories of gender include masculinity and femininity, and the terms
assume an individual’s behavior results from the type of person he or she is (Connell, 1995).
Masculinity and femininity are used to organize social practice and relational approaches
(Connell, 2000). Society polarizes these gender concepts so that a feminine or un-masculine
person behaves differently than someone with masculine qualities (Connell, 1995). A feminine
person is assumed “to be peaceable rather than violent, conciliatory rather than dominating,
hardly able to kick a football, uninterested in sexual conquest, and so forth” (Connell, 1995, p.
67). Not only do masculinity and femininity categorize differences between men and women, the
terms also apply to differences among men and differences among women (Connell, 1995).
Furthermore, without one concept, the other does not exist (Connell, 1995). Because of the
interdependence between the two gender concepts, a balance of power arises, and “this
constitutes a ‘deep structure’ within which the ideologies and values that govern relations
between the sexes are generated and sustained.” (Dunning, 1986, p. 80).
Masculine and feminine stereotypes typically consist of four different and quite
independent components (Deaux & Lewis, 1984). Trait descriptors are the first component and
refer to personality characteristics. For example, women tend to be more concerned for others’
well-being, while men tend to possess self-assertive personalities (Deaux & Lewis, 1984).
Physical characteristics are the second component and refer to an individual’s appearance, which
include hair length, body composition (i.e. height, weight and percentage of body fat), etc.
(Deaux & Lewis, 1984). In this category, men should have more muscular physiques, while
women should have an hourglass, petite figure. The third component, role behaviors, pertains to
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the man or woman’s perceived role in society. For example, a tradition role behavior would be
for women to take care of children, whereas men take care of supporting the family financially
(Deaux & Lewis, 1984). Occupational status is the last component of gender stereotypes as
presented by Deaux and Lewis (1984). This category refers to the career or job men and women
are most likely to have based on gender stereotypes. For example, traditional gender stereotypes
assume women hold job positions as administrative assistants, teachers or nurses, which are
fields that are still predominately comprised of women. On the other hand, men are assumed to
be doctors, businessmen, bankers, or fill blue collar positions, such as truck drivers and plumbers
(Deaux & Lewis, 1984).
Not only do gender stereotypes influence the way society views men and women, but
also how individuals view themselves as members of their gender. This process begins at a
young age during development when children begin searching for cues about gender. Such cues
include observing who should or should not participate in a particular activity, who can play
what and with whom, and why boys and girls are different (Martin & Ruble, 2004). From these
cues, children form gender identities, which occurs when children realize they belong to a
specific gender group (Martin & Ruble, 2004). At times, this can be positive because it helps
children make sense of the world around them, as well as understand how other people behave.
In essence, children use gender cues provided by society to help them understand what they see
and hear (Martin & Ruble, 2004). However, gender cues can perpetuate gender stereotypes,
which contributes to pressures of fitting in among members of a specific gender group. (Martin
& Ruble, 2004).
Television is one of the important ways children are exposed to gender cues. Barner
(1999) observed that “one of the most obvious and important characteristics of television actors
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is their gender and one of the most important ‘lessons’ that children learn from TV actors is how
gender fits into society” (p. 551). The lessons learned from gender cues as a child carry into
adulthood and seem to dominate race, age, and social roles as a basis for categorization (Zemore
et al., 2000). Not only is gender formation a multilayered social process, it is a fundamental
aspect of daily group interactions, institutions and the cultural symbols that represent a society
(Messner, 2010).
The presence of gender stereotypes may have detrimental effects on society, such as
hindering people’s potential, preventing the ability to define or evaluate an individual’s
characteristics without a gendered lens, and may offer an oversimplified view of the world
(Ellemers, 2017). To expand on hindering people’s potential, gender stereotypes become even
more problematic when they cause expectations and judgements that restrict opportunities for the
individuals within that binary category (Eisend, 2010). For example, Eisend (2010) noted that
“stereotyping behaviors may lead to restricted opportunities in self-development and
stereotyping occupational roles can lead to disadvantages in women’s careers” (p. 419).
For women, the gender landscape has shifted dramatically in the last few decades (Haines
et al., 2016). Women represent 47% of the U.S. labor force (United States Department of Labor,
2010). College enrollment rates for young women was 71.9% in 2017, compared to 67.4% for
young men (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). In 1971, girls
accounted for only 7% of high school athletes, now that number is more than 40% (Haines et al.,
2016). Although changes have been made, gender stereotypes and discrimination are still present
in many respects. While women comprise almost half the work force in the U.S., in 2017, the
median weekly earnings for women who were full-time wage and salary workers were 82% of
those of male full-time wage and salary workers. (United States Department of Labor Bureau of
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Labor Statistics, 2018). Additionally, in 2018 there were only 24 women in CEO positions at
Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. (Zarya, 2018).
Men also experience the negative effects of gender stereotypes and remain pigeon-holed
into traditionally masculine roles. This is evident in stereotypically female occupations. For
example, men represent only nine percent of registered nurses. This number has increased from
the 4% in 1980, but in the last decade there has only been a .5% increase (Haines et al., 2016).
Although the percentage of stay-at-home fathers has increased from 10% in 1989 to 16% in
2012, it is still dwarfed by the number of stay-at-home mothers (Livingston, 2014). In the same
year, 29% of women were categorized as stay-at-home mothers (Galley, 2014). There is a sharp
contrast between the reasons why men and women choose to be stay-at-home parents. At 35%,
the largest share of stay-at-home fathers are at home because of illness or disability, while 73%
of stay-at-home mothers report they are home to care for their home or family (Livingston,
2014).

Gender Stereotyping within the Sports Industry

Gender discrimination and stereotyping are still common occurrences within the sports
industry, despite advancements like Title IX, which enabled the increase of girls’ and women’s
participation in athletics. As explained by Hatzithomas, Boutsouki, and Ziamou (2016), this
commonality may be because “sports represent a site where gender ideologies are articulated” (p.
889). Organized sports serve as a primary institution for bolstering and encouraging the ideology
that men are superior (Messner, 2010). This is apparent in the lack of equality in terms of
funding, programming, facilities and media coverage for women’s sports (Messner, 2010).
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For example, since Title IX, there has been a steady and surprising drop in female
collegiate head coaches of women’s teams, from 90% in 1972 to 43% in 2014 (Flanagan, 2017).
Some experts attribute this decline to the merging of male and female collegiate athletic
departments, which occurred in response to Title IX (Flanagan, 2017). Most women were likely
forced out of college coaching positions because Title IX ensured equal pay for women’s team
coaches, which attracted male coaches to these teams (Flanagan, 2017). In youth sports, only
27% of coaches are women (Flanagan, 2017). Women professional athletes earn a small fraction
of what male athletes earn in salaries and sponsorships (Musto et al., 2017). This is elucidated in
Forbes’ annual look at the world’s top 100 highest paid athletes (Badenhausen, 2018b). In 2018,
no women were represented on the list for the first time since it was expanded from 50 to 100 in
2010 (Badenhausen, 2018b). Lastly, the vast majority of professional sports teams are owned by
men (Musto et al., 2017).
While the numbers of women and girls participating in sports have steadily increased, the
amount of media coverage of female athletes on major U.S. networks is less than two percent.
(Haines et al., 2016). Coverage of women’s sporting events are not given as much time or high
production value as men’s events, especially when considering football, basketball and baseball
(Musto et al., 2017). Although journalists are improving their coverage of women’s sporting
events, like disallowing overt forms of sexism in commentary, Musto, Cooky, and Messner
(2017) proposed that a new form of sexism is taking hold of the media. They refer to this
phenomenon as ‘gender-bland sexism.’ This form of sexism, “enables sports news and highlight
shows to convey sexist beliefs by discussing men’s sports with more excitement, engagement
and reverence, while women’s sports are rendered insignificant and inferior through lackluster
commentary” (Musto et al., 2017, p. 590). As a stealth form of sexism, ‘gender-bland sexism’ is
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more difficult for viewers to be aware of, and therefore, subtly reinforces gender stereotypes
(Musto et al., 2017).

Gender Stereotypes in Advertising
Researchers have specifically studied gender stereotypes and gender role portrayals in
advertising since the 1970s, beginning with print ads and moving to television commercials. The
focus on gendered representations in advertising may have been spurred by women’s shifting
role in society. During the 1960s, women were starting to experience new, egalitarian roles
largely because of the women’s movement and consequential legislation (Stone & McKee,
2002). This organized women’s movement demanded “acceptable sexual expression equal to that
of men” (Stone & McKee, 2002, p. 77). Women also voiced discontent with the role of full-time
wife and mother (Stone & McKee, 2002). Because of the movement, women’s participation in
higher education was accelerated and so was the increase of women in the workforce, which
attributed to the shift of women’s roles in society (Stone & McKee, 2002). Additionally,
researchers are keen to examine gendered representations in advertising because of the potential
social and cultural implications advertising can have on society. Countless studies have been
conducted by scholars of different disciplines to gain a better understanding of the potential
influences of advertising. Therefore, there is a good basis of research that exists as the
foundation for the present study.
Gender is frequently focused on by marketers and public relations professionals to
segment target audiences. As previously discussed, gender is easily identifiable because of its
binary categorization. Practitioners can also access gender information through media data with
relative ease (Darley & Smith, 1995). Additionally, there are large enough segments of the
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population to make gender segmentation profitable for the company advertising and selling the
good or service (Darley & Smith, 1995). Lastly, gender segmentation is measurable, and these
populations are responsive to marketing mix elements (Darley & Smith, 1995). Much like how
children use gender cues to understand the world around them in early development, consumers
use the representations in advertising “to understand themselves and make sense of reality”
(Windels, 2016, p. 864). Because of this, advertisers become “cultural intermediaries who
construct symbolic meaning for goods” (Windels, 2016, p. 866).
McArthur and Resko (1975) sought to identify which characteristics of male and female
models were sold alongside products featured in more than 350,000 television commercials.
Their groundbreaking research was one of the first to shed light on the shocking gender role
portrayals that were present in commercials. McArthur and Resko (1975) found that 57% of
central figures were men and 70% of those men were portrayed in an authoritative manner.
Conversely, merely 14% of women were portrayed as authorities on a product being advertised,
and surprisingly, men tended to appear as authorities on products used primarily by women.
Another key finding was that female characters were more apt to be portrayed in a role which
defined them in terms of their relationships to others (McArthur & Resko, 1975), thus
reinforcing the stereotype that women are not capable of being independent. Men were more
often portrayed in the opposite light, as independent of others (McArthur & Resko, 1975). The
study also found that commercials tend to reinforce traditional gender roles, i.e. women as the
homemaker and men as the breadwinner (McArthur & Resko, 1975). Although the women’s
liberation movement was in full swing at the time of this study, commercials did little to reflect
women’s changing roles in society.
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Eisend (2010) conducted a meta-content analysis of gender roles in advertising on
literature that used coding procedures based on McArthur and Resko (1975). Eisend (2010)
uncovered important patterns regarding gender role portrayals in advertising over a span of
decades. From examining the previous literature, Eisend (2010) determined that the odds that
females are presented visually or in a non-speaking role, versus a voice over, is almost four times
the odds for males. Much like McArthur and Resko (1975), Eisend (2010) found that the
likelihood of women presented in a dependent role or relative to others – versus an autonomous
role or independent form others – is four times the odds for men. Furthermore, occupational
status was found to have the highest degree of stereotyping in advertisings (Eisend, 2010). These
findings are surprising because it demonstrates that advertising deviates substantially from the
realities of the real world and widely accepted societal goals (Eisend, 2010).
Although numerous studies indicate an unchanging presence of gender stereotypes and
traditional gender role portrayals (Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Dominick & Rauch, 1972; McArthur &
Resko, 1975; Eisend, 2010; Ganahl et al., 2003; Lundstrom & Sciglimpaglia, 1977), a few have
started to chart a decline in stereotypes, at least for female roles (Schneider & Schneider, 1979;
Sharits & Lammers, 1983; Bartsch et al., 2000; Wolin, 2003). For example, Sharits and Lammers
(1983) focus on the social psychological attributes perceived to be held by male and female
commercial characters. They determined that, while there are differences between the characters,
those differences depended upon the time the commercial aired and the product it advertised.
When looking at primetime, for instance, since the audience is more heterogenous, advertisers
focus on current trends in today’s culture (Sharits and Lammers, 1983). For daytime
commercials, to appeal to the mostly female audience, advertisers portrayed women as having
responsible and mature attributes with less focus on social image-status attributes (Sharits and
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Lammers, 1983). Another study conducted by Bartsch, Burnett, Diller, and Williams (2000),
found that, while unequal gender representation still exists, there has been a significant increase
in female voice-overs and an increase in the percentage of female product representatives for
nondomestic products. This suggests that the common statistic citing 91% of narrators are male
and only 8% are female (Bretl & Cantor, 1988) has improved.
Generally speaking, there are two schools of thought as to how marketers depict women
within advertising (Eisend, 2010). The first, known as pessimistic studies, emphasizes that
women are still portrayed in a negative, stereotypical way, and that these portrayals are
becoming worse (Eisend, 2010). Commercials in this category portray women in traditional
gender stereotyped roles that are far removed from the modern woman’s reality. As Verna
(1975) concluded, “the roles in which women have been portrayed in the media are neither
flattering nor representative of the female workforce” (p. 301) For example, Wearden and
Creedon (2002) would be categorized as a pessimistic study. Wearden and Creedon (2002)
examined commercials aired during nineteen WNBA games within the inaugural 1997 season.
While they noted a movement toward using more non-sexist images of women in some product
categories, the majority of commercials in their sample contained sexist images (Wearden &
Creedon, 2002). Thus, leading them to the conclusion that women are expected to maintain the
status quo (Wearden & Creedon, 2002). The second school of thought, called optimistic studies,
argues that women are more frequently portrayed in roles that break from traditional stereotypes.
In these commercials, women are gaining substantial ground on their male counterparts (Bretl &
Cantor, 1988). These role portrayals are more aligned with contemporary roles and more fully
represent women in modern society. Wolin (2003) examined 28 content analyses of both print
and TV advertisements. The results of this analysis uncovered instances of both increasing and
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decreasing gender biases. However, Wolin (2003) determined that the tendency in advertising
was for decreased gender biases.
Although researchers may disagree on whether advertisers are positively shifting the
portrayal of women in advertisements, most studies confirm that women are underrepresented in
commercials compared to men. The unequal representation is concerning because it diverges
substantially from the shift that has occurred in real world gender roles (Eisend, 2010). This also
implies that advertisers, although most likely unintentionally, are reconstructing and reinforcing
traditional gender stereotypes and gender roles.

Gender Stereotypes in Sports Advertising

In mass media, the generic term ‘sports’ is assumed to refer to men’s sporting events
(Messner, 2010), whereas women’s sports almost always use a gender descriptor (Buysse &
Embser-Herbert, 2004). This is realized in the promotion and coverage of women’s sporting
events. While the coverage has increased, female athletes are still promoted as ‘other’ (Buysse &
Embser-Herbert, 2004). In basketball, for example, there is ‘The Final Four’ for men and ‘The
Women’s Final Four,’ as well as the ‘Women’s National Basketball Association’ as opposed to
the ‘National Basketball Association,’ which is for men. Therefore, sports represent a site where
gender ideologies can be fully articulated (Messner, 2010), and the coverage of sporting events,
and its subsequent advertising, contribute to and perpetuate the social construction of gender
roles and gender hierarchy (Buysse & Embser-Herbert, 2004; Kane & Parks, 1992). Gender
composition and imagery in commercials aired during sporting events reinforce the notion that
sports refers to men, therefore confirming the idea that sport is strictly a man’s world (Messner et
al., 2000).
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In Messner, Dunbar, and Hunt (2000), 91 commercials did not include a main character.
However, almost every commercial featured a male voice over. They also found that in the
commercials where women are present, they are usually portrayed in stereotypical and/or in
minor background roles. Therefore, this may be categorized in the pessimistic studies school of
thought. Even more compelling were the findings they uncovered on the depiction of masculinity
and the male body during sports programming commercials.
This injunction for boys and men to be aggressive, not passive, is reinforced in
commercials, where a common formula is to play on the insecurities of young males (e.g.
that they are not strong enough, tough enough, smart enough, rich enough, attractive
enough, decisive enough, etc.) and then attempt to convince them to avoid, overcome or
mask their fears, embarrassments and apparent shortcomings by buying a particular
product (Messner et al., 2000, p. 386).
Essentially, advertisers are telling men that buying the product they are advertising will help
stereotypical male nerds overcome their ‘uncoolness’ to seem more attractive to women and
more masculine to other men. This is one aspect of the Televised Sports Manhood Formula that
Messner et al. (2000) identified.
Sports programming and its commercials contribute to formulating an idea of what it
means to be a real man in the eyes of young boys and men. This concept of a real man is based
on traditional gender roles and stereotypes about masculinity. For example, these traditionally
masculine images have been used in Super Bowl commercials for decades (Peterson et al.,
2009). This is significant because the Super Bowl is arguably the largest annual American
television event, with the 2018 Super Bowl garnering 114.4 million viewers in the U.S.
(Rapaport, 2018). Peterson, Xu, and Limbu (2009), found that male stereotypes are more
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frequently used than female stereotypes in Super Bowl commercials. However, this may be
attributed to the fact that women are greatly underrepresented as central figures in these specific
commercials (Peterson et al., 2009), therefore, supporting the concept that sports are still men’s
sports (Messner, 2010) and remain a male dominated territory (Peterson et al., 2009).
Additionally, commercials during sports programming stress traditional forms of masculinity by
emphasizing the importance of physical strength and ruggedness, independence, aggressiveness,
competitiveness, and daring (Craig, 1992). This reflects that sports tend reinforce the production
and reproduction of masculine identity (Dunning, 1986). Commercials during sports
programming also seem to ignore men’s evolving familial status. They are most commonly
shown as the breadwinners or protectors of their families (Craig, 1992), not as doting, nurturing
fathers or husbands.

Potential Consequences of Advertising on Society

Because studies consistently reveal the permeation of gender stereotypes in advertising,
researchers have started exploring the potential effects these gender role portrayals and
stereotypes may have on populations. Advertising is generally persuasive because it is pervasive,
appearing in many modes and mediums, especially as digital forms of advertising increase
(Pollay, 1986). Advertising is also repetitive and persuades through repeating the same message
to reinforce the same or similar ideas (Pollay, 1986). Finally, advertising is also professionally
developed, which enables the use of market research to improve the effectiveness of messaging
to increase the chances of change in product use behavior or consumption patterns (Pollay,
1986).
Piepho 20

Through this research, two main schools of thought are employed when debating the
consequences or influences advertising has on society. The first is commonly referred to as the
mirror argument. This assumption is based on the fact that advertising simply reflects the values,
attitudes and behaviors that are already present in society (Holbrook, 1987). Furthermore,
advertising should hold a mirror up to society and accurately reflect or represent the world
around them (Holbrook, 1987). Researchers in support of this theory believe advertising does not
have the power to dominate other forces that contribute significantly more to values of a society,
such as family and religion (Holbrook, 1987). The second theory, known as the mold argument,
assumes that what people hear or see in the media has an influence over their thoughts, attitudes,
values and activities (Eisend, 2010). Researchers in support of this theory believe some of the
influences comes from the proliferation of the media and constant exposure that consumers
experience makes advertising impossible to avoid and “involuntarily experienced by the entire
population” (Pollay, 1986, p. 21). Within this theory, scholars believe that advertising in fact
informs society and its goals and values, that not only does commercial persuasion influence
shopping and product use behavior, but effects “social roles, language, goals, values and the
sources of meaning in culture” (Pollay, 1986, p. 21). Regardless of whether the chicken or the
egg came first, there is a definitive connection between popular thinking and the media
(Kaufman, 1999).
Critics of advertising argue that advertisements that portray gender stereotypes in fact
reinforce stereotypical values and behavior in society (Eisend, 2010). Because advertisers still
use these strategies in advertising, many argue that they do not illustrate the advancements made
in women empowerment and equality within society (Eisend, 2010). Consumer exposure to mass
media tends to increase one’s likelihood of having a stereotyped viewpoint of society (Bretl &
Piepho 21

Cantor, 1988). Gerbner and Signorelli (1982) found a positive relationship between the amount
of television watched to the belief that a woman should not work if her husband is financially
able to support her. Advertisers often use outdated and inaccurate stereotypes and portray
unattainable standards, thus showing sex, gender and sexuality in a misrepresented manner
(Zayer & Coleman, 2015).
A similar phenomenon is seen in children who are exposed to highly gendered
advertising. Tan (1979) provided evidence that exposure to advertisement containing gender
stereotypes affected adolescent girls’ sex role attitudes. Kimball (1986) also studied the influence
advertisements have over children’s sex role attitudes. In this study, gender role attitudes of
children were explored in three different groups: one with no television exposure, one receiving
only one channel, and the final receiving four channels. Similar to the findings of Bretl and
Cantor (1988), the research unveiled that children with television exposure were more
stereotyped in their gender role attitudes than those without. Additionally, once television was
introduced into the group that originally did not have it, the children’s attitudes toward gender
roles grew more stereotyped.
In addition to effects gender stereotyped advertising has on perceptions and attitudes,
studies have also explored the adverse effects advertising can have on body image, especially for
women, by portraying unattainable standards. While there is no conclusive evidence that
advertising imposes a direct causal connection on eating disorder incidences or prevalence, it has
been found that advertising has considerable influence (Fowler & Thomas, 2015). Evidence
suggests that women who view idealized female images become less satisfied with their own
appearances and exhibit more eating disorder behaviors (Cash et al., 1983; Stice et al., 1994;
Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004). When looking at female models used in sports programming
Piepho 22

commercials, for example, Peterson et al. (2009) found that underweight and normal weight
actors or models appeared more frequently than what is representative of the U.S. population.
Additionally, underweight female models were depicted the most favorably in their study. This
conclusion is surprising because it might be assumed that advertisers would not use underweight
models given the emphasis on physical accomplishment and strength, which is inherent in the
sports industry (Peterson et al., 2009).
Recently, more researchers are examining the potentially harmful influences advertising
may have over male body image (Fowler & Thomas, 2015; Baird & Grieve, 2006; Agliata &
Tantleff-Dunn, 2004). Fowler and Thomas (2015) found that male models in primetime
commercials are often physically portrayed in an ideal manner. In fact, Baird and Grieve (2006)
identified that men who were exposed to muscular male models in advertisements experienced
lower body satisfaction, therefore concluding that viewing mesomorphic male models in
advertisements decreases men’s overall body satisfaction. Fowler and Thomas (2015) noted that
“the media’s continual barrage of unrealistic and unattainable images of attractive, athletic,
chiseled bodies may be taking a toll on men’s perceptions of self-worth” (p. 368). This concept
may be linked to an increase in the number of men who have eating disorders (Baird & Grieve
2006), such as muscle dysmorphia, which leaves individuals with a negative body image and an
obsessive desire to have a muscular physique (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Most consumers regard
images presented in advertising as realistic representations of beauty and because of this are
healthy comparisons for an idealized appearance (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004). Ultimately,
the media does not distinguish between glorified fiction and reality (Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn,
2004).

Piepho 23

Practitioners Perspectives on Gender Stereotypes in Advertising
Although gender stereotypes have potentially negative and harmful consequences on
society and do not necessarily reflect the shifts in gender roles, advertisers and public relations
professionals still employ traditional gender stereotyped narratives. While not widespread,
research has been conducted to determine how practitioners view the influence highly gendered
advertising has on male and female audiences. Zayer and Coleman (2015) interviewed men and
women in the U.S. within the advertising industry who worked in varied positions and had
differing levels of experience. The study found that most practitioners did not believe the gender
stereotyped messaging they might create are detrimental to society (Zayer & Coleman, 2015).
Breaking this down further, some professionals believe men are immune to media’s influence,
while women are especially vulnerable (Windels, 2016). This may signify that professionals
conceptualize gender in traditional ways, including men as stoic and powerful and women as
sensitive and vulnerable (Zayer & Coleman, 2015). This most likely stems from the cultures set
forth within the advertising institutions. For example, Zayer and Coleman (2015), discovered
that “the distinct gender dynamics of agencies and ways of ‘doing gender’ promote culture of
masculine hedonism and homosociability and an environment where toughness and a need for a
thick skin are necessary” (p. 271).
Windels (2016) also explored how practitioners view the role and function of gender
stereotypes within advertisements. Practitioners in this study admitted to using gender
stereotyping or typecasting because they are useful tools that work quickly and are based on
truths (Windels, 2016). These small truths to stereotypes are present because of the way children
are raised and educated (Ellemers, 2018). Children are exposed to gender stereotypes in early
development and those truths learned at a young age continue to develop throughout a person’s
Piepho 24

lifespan (Ellemers, 2018). However, this does not mean the truth is based in fact. Part of the
reason why stereotypes work quickly to get a message across is because of the truths that
individuals have psychologically developed with (Windels, 2016). Additionally, consumers see
someone they can relate to in the advertisement, which allows them to move on to the more
important message-based aspects of the commercial (Windels, 2016). If a stereotypical role is
not used, practitioners fear that consumers will be left distracted trying to understand the
meaning behind the unconventional role (Windels, 2016). Windels (2016) also found that
practitioners use stereotypes to appease clients and give them what they want. Clients are often
risk-adverse, so stereotypes offer something that is comfortable and familiar (Windels, 2016).
Advertising seems to be most effective when it is creative (Windels, 2016). Creative
practitioners in Windels’ study found stereotypes to be typical, ordinary, or obvious messaging
solutions (Windels, 2016). However, this is contradictory because the practitioners also admitted
to using stereotypes or typecasting when creating advertisements, especially when working with
risk-adverse clients (Windels, 2016). Therefore, to solve this contradiction and offer a practical
solution, Windels (2016) concluded that “by positioning work that includes stereotypes as work
that is not creative, managers might convince creatives to break the habit of using stereotypical
representations” (Windels, 2016, p. 884).

HYPOTHESIS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

As the preceding review of literature suggests, significant research has gone into
understanding the prevalence of gender stereotypes within television commercials, as well as the
influence these stereotypes have over society. However, most of the research focuses on
Piepho 25

commercials aired during daytime or primetime programming. Some studies have examined
commercials aired during major sporting events but focus on the Super Bowl or the Olympic
Games. To the best of the author’s knowledge, a historical content analysis exploring the
presence gender stereotypes within commercials aired during the World Cup has not been
conducted. Therefore, little evidence exists regarding the presence of traditional gender role
portrayal within this type of sports programming. For this reason, the present study attempts to
address the following six research questions:
1. What ratio of women to men will be portrayed as central figures in World Cup
commercials? Will this ratio differ between the men’s and women’s events? Will this
ratio differ year-to-year?
2. Is there a significant difference in gender representation between visual or non-speaking
roles and voice overs?
3. Do commercials aired during the World Cup place heavy emphasis on traditionally
masculine and feminine characteristics? In what ways are these characteristics
manifested?
4. Which sex, male or female, will be portrayed in more traditional gender roles?
5. If at all, how do gender role portrayals and stereotypes of men and women from the
2000s compare to 2010s?
6. Do the commercials portray central figures with idealized physiques or more accurate
representations of the United States population?
Since women are gaining more dominant roles in society, advertising should reflect this
shift (Fowler & Thomas, 2015). As previously discussed, the sports industry remains male-
centric. Examples of the industry’s male dominance include the pay gap between male and
Piepho 26

female professional athletes, the lack of female head coaches, and the discrepancies in media
coverage between men’s and women’s sporting events (Messner, 2010). These discrepancies are
also present in commercials aired during sports programming. For example, although the use of
gender stereotypes has gradually decreased, women are still underrepresented in television
commercials aired during the Super Bowl (Hatzithomas et al., 2016). In other sports
programming, women almost never appear in commercials unless they are accompanied by men
(Messner et al., 2000). Additionally, women represent less than 10% of commercial voice overs
(Dominick & Rauch, 1972; McArthur & Resko, 1975). Again, these factors support the notion
that gender composition and imagery in commercials perpetuates the idea that consumption of
sports is strictly for men (Messner et al., 2000).

H1: In World Cup commercials, men will be portrayed in central roles more frequently than
women. Male voice overs will also be used more frequently than female voice overs in these
commercials.

As the saying goes, “sex sells.” Scantily clad women in provocative, suggestive positions
are used to sell every type of product on every type of medium (Zimmerman & Dahlberg, 2008).
However, with the rebirth of the women’s movement, critics have consistently protested the way
women are portrayed in advertisements (Zimmerman & Dahlberg, 2008). Fowler and Thomas
(2015) concluded that men were less likely to treat women as a sexual object. Specifically, from
2003 to 2008, Fowler and Thomas (2015) found a seven percent decrease in male central figures
treating women as sexual objects.
Piepho 27

Dependency on others is another common gender stereotype projected onto women in
advertising. Hatzithomas et al. (2016) conducted a longitudinal content analysis on Super Bowl
commercials; and discovered that the often-female attributed characteristic of dependency
declined in most product categories in commercials aired during the new millennium.
Additionally, women portrayed in non-traditional activities increased in all product categories
(Hatzithomas et al., 2016).
Grau and Zotos (2016) propose that a new type of advertising has emerged that focuses
on empowering women. Some have started calling this new form of advertising, femvertising. A
2014 survey, 51 percent of respondents agree that these types of femvertising ads help break
down gender inequality (Castillo, 2014). Specific examples of these ads include, Under
Armour’s ‘I Will What I Want,’ Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ and Always’ ‘Like A Girl.’

H2: Although in a limited frequency, when cast as the central figure, most women will be
portrayed in roles that defy traditional gender stereotypes, such as serving as an object of sexual
gratification and being dependent on others.

Numerous studies have cited noticeably positive improvements in women’s portrayals in
advertising (Allan & Coltrane, 1996; Barry et al., 1985; Bartsch et al., 2000; Busby & Leichty,
1993; Caballero & Solomon 1984; Craig, 1992; Easton & Toner, 1983; Kilbourne, 1986;
Schneider & Schneider, 1979; Fowler & Thomas, 2015). Recently, attention has shifted slightly
from female portrayals in commercials to male portrayals, however, this research is much less
widespread (Fowler & Thomas, 2015).
Piepho 28

Commercials aired during sports programming, which is typically directed toward a more
male audience, continue to uphold traditional male stereotypes (Gentry & Harrison, 2010),
especially in relation to family roles (Kaufman, 1999). Kaufman (1999) found a significant,
arguably negative, difference between men and women’s portrayals in commercials depicting a
familial setting. Men in these commercials, especially during daytime programming, were
portrayed as uninvolved husbands and fathers (Kaufman, 1999). They were also shown as
passive, incompetent or dependent on their wives (Kaufman, 1999). The importance of
masculinity is also emphasized by utilizing male models with idealized, muscular physiques in
advertising (Fowler & Thomas, 2015). These male models represent the traditional man to the
male consumer (Fowler & Thomas, 2015).

H3: In World Cup commercials, men will be portrayed as possessing traditionally masculine
characteristics and roles and will be placed in a traditional category more frequently than
women.

Research suggested that the attractiveness of the model or advertising spokesperson can
increase consumer attitudes toward the product that is featured in a commercial (Peterson et al.,
2009; Koernig and Page, 2002). Peterson et al. (2009) studied female body types on primetime
television and found that underweight characters were more likely to be considered attractive, to
interact with romantic partners, or to display physical affection. In a recent study, researchers
examined which male body type heterosexual women find more attractive. Sell, Lukazsweski,
and Townsley (2017) identified that all 160 female participants found men with mesomorphic,
athletic builds to be the most attractive.
Piepho 29

H4: In World Cup commercials, the frequency of mesomorphic body types will be greater than
endomorphic and ectomorphic body types, signaling an emphasis on the attractiveness of the
models used.

Table 1 Summary of Research Questions, Hypotheses and Findings
Research Questions Hypotheses Findings
What ratio of women to men
will be portrayed as central
figures in World Cup
commercials? Will this ratio
differ between men’s and
women’s events? Will this
differ year-to-year?
H1a. In World Cup
commercials, men will be
portrayed in central roles
more frequently than women.
Of all World Cup
commercials in the sample
depicting a central figure,
77.5% (148/191) are men.
Women are portrayed as
central figures more
frequently than men in
commercials aired during the
women’s World Cup
tournaments. There is no
significant difference
identified from year-to-year.
Is there a significant
difference in gender
representations between
visual or non-speaking roles
and voice overs?
H1b. Male voice overs will
be used more frequently than
female voice overs in these
commercials.
Of all World Cup
commercials in the sample
with a voice over, 90.5%
(76/84) are men. Men are also
used as voice overs more
frequently than women when
conducting individual analysis
of commercials during the
men’s World Cup and the
women’s World Cup.
Do commercials aired during
the World Cup place heavy
emphasis on traditionally
masculine or feminine
characteristics? In what was
are these characteristics
manifested?
H2. Although in a limited
frequency, when cast as the
central figure, most women
will be portrayed in roles that
defy traditional gender
stereotypes, such as serving
as an object of sexual
gratification and being
dependent on others.
 Women are portrayed in a
role that is independent
from others in 86.05%
(37/43) of commercials
with a female central
figure.
 Women are cast as product
users in only 25.53%
(12/47) of World Cup
commercials. Their
Piepho 30

credibility is attributed to
celebrity most frequently.
 Women are portrayed in
non-domestic settings
79.07% (34/43) of the
time.
 Women are portrayed
selling an away product or
home and away product
(traditionally non-domestic
products) 67.65% (23/34)
of the time.
Which sex, male or female,
will be portrayed in more
traditional gender roles?
H3. In World Cup
commercials, men will be
portrayed as possessing
traditionally masculine
characteristics and roles and
will be placed in a traditional
category more frequently
than women.
 Men are portrayed in a role
that is independent from
others in 92.57% (137/148)
of commercials with a
male central figure.
 Men’s credibility is
attributed to celebrity
41.89% (62/148) of all
commercials.
 Men are depicted with
mesomorphic physiques in
75% (111/149) of all
World Cup commercials.
 Men are portrayed in non-
domestic settings 82.43%
(122/148) of commercials.
 Men are used to sell
traditionally non-domestic
products 68.31% (97/142).
If at all, how do gender role
portrayals and stereotypes of
men and women from the
2000s compare to 2010s?
The percentage of women
portrayed as central figures in
commercials aired during the
men’s World Cup
tournaments increased slightly
year-to-year. However, the
increase is not significant
enough to claim an upward
trend. The same can be
determined for the presence of
stereotypes.
Piepho 31

Do the commercials portray
central figures with idealized
physiques or more accurate
representations of the United
States population?
H4. In World Cup
commercials, the frequency
of mesomorphic body types
will be greater than
endomorphic and
ectomorphic body types,
signaling an emphasis on the
attractiveness of the models
used.
In all World Cup
commercials, 72.25%
(138/191) of central figures
have a mesomorphic
physique.

METHODOLOGY

Using a historical content analysis, a study was conducted to analyze the depiction of
male and female gender role portrayals and gender stereotypes in commercials aired during the
FIFA World Cup. Additionally, the study was designed to analyze whether these depictions have
changed over time.

Sample of Commercials
The present study consisted of a historical content analysis of commercials aired during
the FIFA World Cup and were gathered from the Men’s World Cups from 2002 to 2018, and the
Women’s FIFA World Cups from 2003 to 2015. Since the World Cup is held every four years,
this equaled commercials from five sporting events for men and four sporting events for women.
The commercials that were examined aired on either ESPN, ABC or FOX Sports in the United
States. In total, 199 commercials were analyzed. Of these, 174 were aired during the men’s
World Cups, including 10 from 2002, 31 from 2006, 21 from 2010, 40 from 2014, and 72 from
2018. Therefore, the remaining 25 were aired during the women’s World Cups, including two
from 2003, three from 2007, one from 2011, and 19 from 2015. which also occur every four
years.
Piepho 32

To find the samples for the present study, a list of FIFA sponsors and other companies
known to advertise during sporting events was compiled. This list was then cross-referenced to
articles identifying the top ads from each World Cup. After evaluating dozens of journalism
articles analyzing commercials from each year of the tournament included in the present study, a
list was created with the titles of the companies’ commercials. After verifying the authenticity of
this information, the commercials were collected from either the companies’ channels on
YouTube, third party users on YouTube, or two advertising archive platforms called ispot.tv and
adland.tv. Initially, this research uncovered 250 commercials. However, some were eliminated
because they were either animated or portrayed children as central figures. A complete list of the
commercials analyzed can be found in the appendix.

Coding Procedure
Commercials in the present study were coded if they portrayed an adult male or female
central figure, featured a voice over/narrator, or both a central figure and a voice over/narrator.
When a central figure was presented in the commercial, the following characteristics of the
central figure were coded: sex, role, occupation, credibility, setting, industry of product
advertised, body type, state of dress, presence of sexualization. When a voice over or narrator
was used in a commercial, the sex of each character was noted.
Central Figures
In keeping with the coding procedure used by McArthur and Resko (1975), central
figures are described as having a major role in the commercial through speaking or prominent
visual exposure. Central figures have to appear on camera for at least three seconds or have at
least one line of dialogue (Dominick & Rauch, 1927). No more than one adult could be coded as
Piepho 33

a central figure for any one commercial. If more than one adult was portrayed, the character with
the longest speaking role or on-screen time was selected as the central figure. The sex of the
central figure was then coded as man, woman or unknown/unclear.
Sex of Voice Over
If the commercial contained a voice over, the voice of the announcer was coded as man,
woman, or unknown/unclear. If the commercial did not use a voice over, then this category was
not coded.
Role of Central Figure
The everyday role of the main character in which they were cast was categorized
(McArthur & Resko, 1975). The roles included: spouse or significant other, mother, father,
homemaker, worker, celebrity/entertainer/professional athlete, or other. If the central figure was
coded as a worker, the central figure was further described by the following types of
occupations: high-level business executive, entertainer/professional athlete, white collar, blue
collar or other.
Credibility
While McArthur and Resko (1975) coded credibility of the central figure as either
product user or product authority, Bretl and Cantor (1988), expanded this to include different
definitions of product authorities. With slight modifications, Bretl and Cantor (1988) is more
applicable for the present study. The six types of credibility are as follows: company
representative or spokesperson (a real person from within the company advertising the product,
or a real person selected as the spokesperson to represent the company advertising the product);
personal experience (real people who have actually used the product); celebrity (real famous
person); apparent personal experience (actors made to appear as if they have used the product);
Piepho 34

other basis (another representation that is not listed); no basis (no apparent basis to attribute
credibility).
Location
Each main character is categorized according to the location in which they are portrayed
(McArthur & Resko, 1975). If more than on location was shown, the locale within the longest
on-screen time was coded. Locations include: kitchen, bathroom, other room in the house,
outdoors of home, outdoors away from home, restaurant or bar, business, school, or unknown.
Industry Category
The products being advertised are categorized based on major industries in the United
States. The following industries were coded: apparel, footwear and accessories; business and
legal; education; food and beverages; household products; personal products and beauty;
telecommunications; consumer electronics; restaurants; automotive; pharmaceutical and
healthcare; retail stores; banking, finance and insurance; travel (i.e. airlines, hotels, etc.); and
other.
Body Type
Based on the classification system utilized by Fowler and Thomas (2015), which was also
used by Kolbe and Albanese (1996) and adapted form Sheldon (1954), the body type of each
central figure was identified as endomorphic, mesomorphic, ectomorphic and unclear.
Endomorph is selected when central figures appear to “have a body that was soft and spherical or
rounded in appearance with an underdevelopment of muscle” (Fowler & Thomas, 2015, p. 363).
Mesomorph is used to describe central figures with muscular and well-built, athletic bodies.
Ectomorph categorized central figures with lean and long bodies “that are linear and fragile
characterized by flatness of the chest and delicacy of the body” (Fowler & Thomas, 2015, p.
Piepho 35

364). Unclear is coded when the central figure’s body is not visible, or visible but not enough to
determine a body type.
State of Dress
Adapted from Dominick and Rauch (1972), main characters are categorized by their state
of dress as the following: professionally dressed (i.e. suit, slacks, button-down shirt, blouse, etc.);
casually dressed (jeans, shorts, t-shirts, etc.); wearing revealing clothing (low-cut tops, cropped
tops, short skirts or shorts); or in a state of undress. State of undress is determined through partial
nakedness or the implication that the central figure was completely naked (Dominick & Rauch,
1972).
Sexual Objectification
Sexual objectification was categorized as occurring if a character in the commercial
treated another character (second or central) as an object intended for sexual gratification
(Fowler & Thomas, 2015). For example, sexual objectification would be present if a male
character gazed sexually at a female character or initiation flirtatious behavior. If sexual
objectification is noted, then the sex of the individual objectified should also be noted. Therefore,
in the previous example, the sex of the female character would be recorded.

RESULTS

Analysis of Gender Representation of Central Figures and Voice Overs
The first objective of this study was to determine the frequency of men versus women
cast in central roles during World Cup commercials. Tables 2 and 3 present the number and
percentage of men and women portrayed as central figures during men’s and women’s World
Piepho 36

Cup commercials, respectively. The data is broken down to compare year-over-year percentages,
as well as the totals for each sex’s World Cup tournament. This data is employed to assess the
first portion of the H1 hypothesis set forth earlier, which states men will be portrayed as central
figures more frequently than women in World Cup commercials. At first glance, during the
men’s World Cup tournaments, 86.83% (167/174) of commercials portrayed men in the leading
role. Conversely, although the sample size is much smaller, women appeared more frequently as
the central figure in commercials aired during the women’s World Cup tournaments. To further
evaluate these findings, t-tests for the significance of differences were conducted. According to a
t-test at the .05 level, with p = 0.0065364, p < .05, the disproportion of men compared to women
depicted as central figures during the men’s World Cup is statistically significant. Conversely,
although women are portrayed more frequently, according to a t-test at the .05 level, with p =
0.196348, p > .05, this difference is not statistically significant. When analyzing all World Cup
commercials in the sample, 77.5% (148/191) depicted men as the central figure. Based on this
analysis, the first portion of the H1 hypothesis is supported.

Table 2 The Presence of Men and Women as Central Figures in Men’s World Cups

Year
Total Men Percentage
of Men
Women Percentage
of Women
2018 68 52 82.34% 12 17.66%
2014 40 33 82.5% 7 17.5%
2010 19 19 100% 0 0%
2006 30 29 96.67% 1 3.33%
2002 10 8 80% 2 20%
Total 167 145 86.83% 22 13.17%
Piepho 37

Table 3 The Presence of Men and Women as Central Figures in Women’s World Cups

Then, to analyze the second portion of the H1 hypothesis, the representation of men and
women in voice over roles was analyzed. The latter half of the H1 hypothesis states male voice
overs will be used more frequently than female voice overs in World Cup Commercials. Table 4
and 5 present the number of male and female voice overs identified in commercials aired during
the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments. Again, the data is broken down to compare
year-over-year percentages, and total percentages of voice overs in each sex’s World Cup. In this
category, men were cast as the voice over 95.83% (69/72) of the time during men’s World Cup
tournaments. To examine these results further, t-tests were used once again. According to a t-test
at the .05 level, p = .02537234, p < .05, the difference between men and women cast as voice
overs is significant. During the women’s World Cup tournaments, men and women were cast as
narrators more equally, with 58.33% (7/12) of men and 41.67% (5/12) of women. However,
according to a t-test at the .05 level, p = .24751267, p > .05, the data does not have a statistically
significant difference. When examining all World Cup commercials, 90.5% (76/84) had men as
the voice over. According to a t-test at the .05 level, p = .02777547, p < .05, this difference is
Year Total Men Percentage
of Men
Women Percentage
of Women
2015

18 0 0% 18 100%
2011

1 0 0% 1 100%
2007

3 2 66.67% 1 33.33%
2003

2 1 50% 1 50%
Total

24 3 12.5% 21 87.5%
Piepho 38

significant. Overall, these results support the H1 hypothesis that men are depicted in central roles
and as voice overs more frequently than women during World Cup commercials.

Table 4 The Presence of Voice Overs in the Men’s World Cup

Year
Total Men Percentage
of Men
Women Percentage
of Women
2018 37 34 91.89% 3 8.11%
2014 11 11 100% 0 0%
2010 11 11 100% 0 0%
2006 11 11 100% 0 0%
2002 2 2 100% 0 0%
Total 72 69 95.83% 3 4.17%

Table 5 The Presence of Voice Overs in the Women’s World Cup

Year Total Men Percentage
of Men
Women Percentage
of Women
2015

10 6 60% 4 40%
2011

1 0 0% 1 100%
2007

1 1 100% 0 0%
2003

0 0 0% 0 0%
Total

12 7 58.33% 5 41.67%

The Role and Credibility of the Central Figure
After looking at the prevalence of male lead characters, analyses were then conducted to
understand the role and credibility attributed to the commercials’ central figures. Commercials
aired during the men’s World Cup tournaments featured celebrities 41.32% (69/167) of the time,
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of which 88.41% were men. The second and third most frequent roles were worker and other,
respectively. In this case, other mostly represented the role of a sports fan. The data was
collapsed into two categories. Relationship dependent roles included spouse, mother, father and
homemaker. Relationship independent roles included worker, celebrity and other/sports fan. The
difference of men to women in relationship dependent roles was not statistically significant
according to a t-test at a .05 level, p = .1151, p > .05. However, after conducting a t-test at a .05
level, p = .007005, p < .05, the difference of men to women in relationship independent roles
was statistically significant. Men were portrayed in independent roles 80.24% (134/167) of the
time, and in 5.98% (10/167) of dependent roles. When looking solely at male central figures,
92.41% (134/145) of men were cast in independent roles and the remaining 6.89% were in
dependent roles. Comparatively, women were cast in 10.18% (17/167) of all independent roles
and only 2.99% (5/167) of dependent roles. Furthermore, 77.27% (17/22) of all female central
figures were cast in independent roles and the remaining 22.73% (5/22) were in dependent roles.
Similar analyses were then conducted on commercials aired during the women’s World
Cup tournaments. Although the sample size is smaller, a role that was relationship dependent
only appeared once in a commercial that depicted a woman as a mother. Women were cast in
independent roles in 83.33% (20/24) of commercials during the women’s World Cup
tournaments, and only 4% (1/24) of commercials with an interdependent role. Men were cast in
independent roles in 12.5% (3/24) of commercials and in 0% of roles depicting dependence.
However, after running a t-test with a .05 level, p = .196451, p > .05, the difference observed
was not statistically significant. Although statistically insignificant, these percentages again
allude to the fact that women are being portrayed in roles that break traditional gender
stereotypes, whereas male roles seem to reinforce traditionally masculine stereotypes.
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A third analysis was conducted on all the World Cup commercials, regardless of the sex
of the tournaments’ participant. When viewing the statistical significance of dependent roles, the
results were similar to the individual men’s and women’s World Cup results, which was evident
in a t-test at the .05 level, p = .13691744, p > .05. The analysis of the second collapsed category
describing independent roles also identified a similar result to the individual men’s and women’s
World Cup tournament findings. Men were portrayed as having an independent role in 92.57%
(137/148) of commercials with a male central figure. Women were cast in an independent role in
86.05% (37/43) of commercials with a female central figure. A t-test at the .05 level, p =
.04934131, p < .05, confirms the significance of this result. The results of this analysis begin to
show support for the H2 and H3 hypotheses previously described.

Table 6 The Role of the Central Figure in World Cup Commercials

After analyzing the roles in which men and women were cast, the credibility attributed to
those roles was examined. McArthur and Resko (1975) coded credibility as either product users
or product authorities. Their data revealed that only 14% of female central figures were
portrayed as authorities, while 86% were portrayed as product users. However, 70% of male
central figures were portrayed as authorities, while 30% where depicted as product users. Bretl
and Cantor (1988) used a different coding procedure to identify credibility, which the present
Category Total 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Spouse 5 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
Mother 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Father 7 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Home-
maker
2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Worker 43 20 0 1 0 5 2 14 0 1
Celebrity 87 21 14 25 1 8 1 8 2 7
Other 44 18 3 11 0 5 0 6 0 1
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study loosely followed. Bretl and Cantor (1988) compared personal experience and apparent
personal experience to product users as defined by McArthur and Resko (1975). In doing so,
they found 56% of male central figures and 74% of female central figures were portrayed as
product users.
Since the present study followed a similar coding procedure, apparent personal
experience will be equated to product users. Personal experience was removed because it was not
coded in any World Cup tournament. Overall, 24.61% (47/191) of World Cup commercials
depicted a central figure as having an apparent personal experience with the product being
advertised. Of this total, 74.47% (35/47) of commercials portrayed men as product users,
whereas only 25.53% (12/47) were women. Although the percentages are vastly different, after
conducting a t-test at the .05 level (p = .0625207, p > .05), this result is not statistically
significant. In commercials aired during the men’s World Cup tournaments, 20.96% (35/167) of
product users were men, while women were only 5.39% (9/167) of product users. To further
analyze this result, a t-test was conducted at the .05 level, p = .027361, p < .05, which found that
this difference is statistically significant. Additionally, 24.14% (35/145) of all men were cast as
product users and 40.91% (9/22) of all women were cast as product users. In commercials aired
during the women’s World Cup tournaments, men were not presented as product users, and only
12.5% (3/24) of all commercials showed women as product users, and in commercials female
central figures with central figures this accounted for 14.29% (3/21). Of all female central figures
cast, only 27.91% (12/43) were portrayed as product users.
The highest frequency of credibility attributed to a central figure in World Cup
commercials was celebrity. Because of this reoccurrence, a similar analysis was conducted.
Credibility as a celebrity occurred in 40.84% (78/191) of all commercials. In the men’s World
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Cup tournament, celebrity as credibility was found in 36.53% (61/167) of commercials, and in
the women’s tournament it was in 70.83% (17/24) of commercials. While a t-test at the .05 level
confirmed that these findings are not statistically significant for the women’s tournament (p =
.156018, p > .05), this is significant in the men’s tournament (p = .010575, p < .05). Breaking
these results down further, men were perceived as credible due to their celebrity in 41.89%
(62/148) of all male central figures. Likewise, celebrity was attributed to women in 55.81%
(24/43) of all female central figures. In commercials aired during the women’s World Cup
tournaments, female central figures were most frequently perceived as credible because of their
celebrity status.

Table 7 The Credibility of the Central Figure in World Cup Commercials
Category Total 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Company
Representative
10 7 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0
Celebrity 78 19 13 23 1 4 1 8 2 7
Apparent
Expert
5 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Apparent
Personal
Experience
47 25 3 5 0 10 0 4 0 0
Other Basis 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
No Basis 48 13 2 10 0 4 0 17 0 2

The Body Type of the Central Figure
The next objective of the study was to review the body types represented in World Cup
commercials. Table 8 presents the number of mesomorphic, endomorphic and ectomorphic body
types portrayed in World Cup commercials. The data is broken down to compare year-over-year
figures, as well as the overall totals for body type. This data is employed to assess the H4
hypothesis set forth earlier, which predicts the frequency of mesomorphic body types will be
Piepho 43

larger than endomorphic and ectomorphic body types, signaling an emphasis on the
attractiveness of the models used.
As predicted, the mesomorphic body type was the most frequently depicted, appearing in
72.25% (138/191) of all World Cup commercials. During the men’s tournament, people with
mesomorphic bodies were portrayed in 70.06% (117/167) of commercials, and in 87.5% (21/24)
of commercials aired during the women’s tournaments. The commercials during the women’s
tournaments failed to show statistical significance. However, the disproportion of mesomorphic
body types was statistically significant in commercials aired during the men’s tournaments, as
well as when analyzing all the commercials in the sample. When comparing mesomorphs to
endomorphs portrayed in the men’s tournament commercials, the findings were statistically
significant at the .05 and .01 levels. This finding was reflected in all commercials comparing
mesomorphs to endomorphs. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference at the
.05 and .01 levels between mesomorphs and ectomorphs in both men’s tournament commercials
and the total compilation of commercials. Therefore, the H4 hypothesis is fully supported
because a difference was confirmed when analyzing all World Cup commercials.
This data can also contribute to proving a portion of the H3 hypothesis presented earlier
that predicts men will be portrayed as possessing traditionally masculine characteristics.
Typically, masculine characteristics are ascribed to individuals who have more muscular
physiques (Fowler & Thomas, 2015). Because of this, mesomorphic body types are often
promoted as the idealized figure for men. In commercials aired during the men’s World Cup,
men with mesomorphic body types were shown 75.86% (110/145) of the time. To further
evaluate this finding, t-tests were conducted between men with mesomorphic and endomorphic
physiques, as well as mesomorphic and ectomorphic. At the .05 and .01 levels, the difference
Piepho 44

between mesomorphic men and endomorphic men was statistically significant, p = .007563, p <
.05, p < .01. The difference between mesomorphic and ectomorphic was also statistically
significant at the .05 and .01 levels, p = .008836, p < .05, p < .01. These results were reflected
when analyzing all World Cup commercials. Therefore, this data can provide support for the H3
hypothesis.

Table 8 The Body Type of Central Figures in World Cup Commercials

Category Total 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Endomorphic 25 12 1 3 0 2 2 3 0 2
Mesomorphic 138 43 17 28 1 14 1 25 2 7
Ectomorphic 22 10 0 7 0 3 0 1 0 1
Unclear 8 3 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0

Analysis of the Central Figures’ Primary Location
The next analysis conducted for the present study examined the primary setting – at
home, outdoors of home, outdoors, etc. – in which each central figure was depicted. Table 9
presents the frequency for which each primary setting was used in commercials during the World
Cup. The data is broken down to compare year-over-year, as well as the total usage of each
location. In conjunction with role and credibility of the central figure, this data is employed to
assess aspects of the H2 and H3 hypotheses set forth previously. H2 predicts that most women
will be portrayed in roles that defy traditional gender stereotypes, while H3 predicts that men
will be portrayed as possessing traditionally masculine characteristics that reinforce gender
stereotypes.
To analyze whether the data will contribute to supporting these hypotheses, t-tests at the
level of .05 were conducted. Eisend (2010) found the odds that women were presented at home
or in a domestic environment were about 3.5 times the odds for males, compared to a business
Piepho 45

setting. Furthermore, Bretl and Cantor (1988) found that men were more likely to appear in
commercials set in the two outdoor locations, outdoors of home and outdoors away from home,
and business. Therefore, for this analysis the categories were further collapsed into two
classifications. Home setting includes kitchen, bathroom, other room in house and outdoors from
home. Non-domestic setting includes outdoors, restaurant/bar, business and other. In this case,
the majority of other locations is described as either a soccer stadium or soccer field.
Additionally, the school category was removed because it was not coded.
Analysis of commercials during the men’s and women’s tournaments uncovered the
disuse of domestic locations. In commercials aired during the men’s tournaments, male central
figures portrayed in non-domestic settings was significantly different than the frequency of
depictions in the home settings. In the commercials that had a female central figure, women were
portrayed more frequently in non-domestic settings, 68.18% (15/22), than in home settings,
31.82% (7/22). However, according to a t-test at the .05 level is was not the difference was not
statistically significant. When analyzing commercials aired during the women’s tournaments,
100% (21/21) of female central figures portrayed in non-domestic settings. Similarly, 100% (3/3)
of male central figures were also depicted in non-domestic settings, but the difference of
frequency between the two genders was not significant enough, which is probably due to the
small sample size.
Finally, when comparing commercials from the entire sample, women were portrayed in
non-domestic settings 79.07% (34/43) of the time. Although the difference between women in
domestic versus non-domestic settings was not statistically significant, p = .06572998, p > .05,
the percentage does imply that women were shown more often in locations that defy traditional
gender roles. World Cup commercials also had male central figures in non-domestic settings
Piepho 46

more frequently than in home settings. Men were in non-domestic settings 82.43% (122/148) of
the time, which is statistically significant, p = .00803521, p < .05, p < .01, compared to their
presence in home settings.

Table 9 The Depiction of Primary Location in World Cup Commercials

Category Total 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Kitchen 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Bathroom 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
Other Room in
House
19 10 0 7 0 0 0 2 0 0
Outdoors of
Home
10 8 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Outdoors 24 7 0 11 0 4 0 2 0 0
Restaurant/Bar 21 10 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 0
Business 17 6 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0
Other 93 24 17 17 1 11 3 10 1 9

Analysis of Products Advertised
Bretl and Cantor (1988) compressed industry categories into home, away, and both home
and away. The home products, which are items primarily used in the home, included food and
beverage, personal and beauty, household products, pet products, toys and medications. The
away category included products used in locations other than the home (Bretl & Cantor, 1988),
such as travel, banking, finance and insurance, restaurants and automotive. The last category
encompassed products that are used both in and outside of the home, including apparel,
telecommunications and consumer electronics (Bretl & Cantor, 1988). They found that women
are more likely to be portrayed in a commercial advertising a home product. Men are more likely
to be in a commercial for an away from home products, or products that are used both in and
outside of the home (Bretl & Cantor, 1988).
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An analysis was conducted on the products advertised based on the collapsed categories
that Bretl and Cantor (1988) presented. However, because there are differing categories between
the present study and their study, some changes were made. In the present analysis, home
products include food and beverage, personal and beauty, and household products. The away
category includes travel, banking and insurance, restaurants, automotive and retail stores.
Telecommunications, consumer electronics, apparel, and pharmaceutical and healthcare make up
the final category. Additionally, two industry categories from the initial coding procedure,
business and legal and education, were removed due to the lack of prevalence. For the purposes
of this analysis, the ‘other’ category, which accounts for 15 commercials, was also eliminated
because of the obscurity of the industry categories identified.
T-tests at the .05 levels were performed to analyze the coding results. First tests were
conducted comparing the presence of male central figures in men’s World Cup tournament
commercials. Each category was tested against each other (i.e. home products versus away
products; home products versus away and home products; and away products versus away and
home products). The results of the t-tests at the .05 levels illustrated no significant difference
between the frequency of male central figures within differing product categories. The same tests
were conducted with female central figures in men’s World Cup commercials and showed the
same conclusions. These findings were echoed in results from t-tests conducted on commercials
aired during the women’s World Cup tournaments.
However, when comparing the frequency of male to female roles in these three categories
during the men’s World Cup tournaments, there were a few important findings. The frequency of
men to women in commercials advertising home (p = .02242875, p < .05), and home and away
(p = .01715174, p < .05) product categories was significantly different. In commercials
Piepho 48

advertising away products, men and women were more likely to be depicted as central figures in
an even frequency (p = .07233142, p < .05). Additionally, no levels of significance were
identified in commercials aired during the women’s World Cup tournaments. T-tests analyzing
all World Cup commercials revealed that men are more likely to be portrayed advertising
products in the home and away category than women (p = .01715174, p < .05). This was not
found to be the case in the other product categories. Of the commercials that portray women as
central figures, 32.35% (11/34) advertise a home product, and 67.65% (23/34) are selling an
away product or home and away product. Of the commercials that portray men as central figures,
68.31% (97/142) advertise either an away product or an away and home product, whereas
31.69% (45/142) show a home product, which reflect the findings of Bretl and Cantor (1988).

Table 10 The Frequency of Product Industries Represented in World Cup Commercials

Category Total 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Apparel 22 1 3 6 1 5 2 5 2 5
Food / Beverage 45 11 1 8 0 6 0 16 0 3
Household Products 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Personal / Beauty 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
Telecommunications 11 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1
Consumer
Electronics
15 5 0 7 0 1 0 1 0 0
Restaurants 8 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
Automotive 20 8 2 8 0 4 0 0 0 0
Pharmaceutical /
Healthcare
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Retail Stores 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Banking, Finance
and Insurance
21 14 1 3 0 2 0 1 0 1
Travel 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
Other 11 4 7 2 0 3 1 2 0 0

Piepho 49

Analysis of the Central Figures’ State of Dress
During all world cup commercials, 25.13% (48/191) showed central figures wearing
professional clothing. Of those commercials, men were portrayed as the central figure 89.58%
(43/48) of the time, which is a statistically significant different than the frequency of a woman
dressed professionally, with p = .02208224, p < .05. Among the four state of dress categories,
women were portrayed in professional clothing the least frequently. This is not surprising since
women were cast as workers in only four central roles and were only placed in a business setting
or work environment twice.
The majority of World Cup commercials, 69.63% (133/191), showed central figures who
were casually dressed. This was the most frequent state of dress category for both women and
men, for 69.59% (103/148) of male central figures and 69.77% (30/43) of female central figures
were dressed casually. The present study’s result marks a significant increase over Dominick and
Rauch (1972), which found that 48% of women during primetime commercials appeared to be
dressed casually. A t-test at the .05 level, confirmed that the difference between casually dressed
male and female characters is not statistically significant, p = .07160752, p > .05.
The final two categories were not as prevalent during World Cup commercials. Only
5.25% (10/191) of commercials depicted a central figure in revealing clothing or in a state of
undress. However, 80% (8/10) of these commercials portrayed a female central figure in
revealing clothing. Although women were dressed in revealing clothing more often than men, the
difference of frequency is not significant, p = .09648243, p > .05. Furthermore, there were two
instances of a central figure being in a state of undress. In one commercial, the male central
figure took off his pants because he claimed to be too hot. The second commercial implied
nudity because a woman was shown engaging in what can be assumed as sexual intercourse. She
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was later shown putting on pants. However, since central figures were not commonly shown in
revealing clothing or in a state of undress, this may imply that a lower prevalence of
sexualization exists within World Cup commercials.

Table 11 The Frequency of State of Dress in World Cup Commercials

Analysis of the Presence of Sexualization
Overall, women were found to be the object of sexualization more often than men.
However, there were only 21 incidences of sexualization coded out of 167 commercials analyzed
during the Men’s World Cup tournaments, meaning this happened in 12.07% of commercials.
According to a t-test at the .05 level (p = 0.030943, p < .05), this is statistically significant. When
incidences of sexualization occurred, women were the object of sexualization 95.24% of the time
(20/21). However, only 38.1% (8/21) of the commercials emphasized sex appeal when a woman
was cast as the central figure. This accounts for 18.6% (8/43) of female central figures in all
World Cup commercials. There were no incidences of sexualization in commercials aired during
the women’s World Cup tournaments. The findings also cited a spike in sexualization of women
during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which accounted for 47.62% (10/21) of incidences.

Table 12 The Presence of Sexualization in World Cup Commercials
Category Total 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Professional 48 23 0 6 0 4 2 11 0 2
Casual 132 45 17 27 1 15 1 17 2 7
Revealing 9 0 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 1
Undress 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Sex 2018 2015 2014 2011 2010 2007 2006 2003 2002
Female 2 0 10 0 3 0 4 0 1
Male 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
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Breaking down the incidences of sexualization by product industry also provides valuable
insights. As previously concluded in the present study, commercials advertising away products
and home and away products tend to have strong male representation. Of the commercials
depicting sexualization, 47.62% (10/21) were associated with either of these product categories.
Although the frequency of sexualization in home products was higher, 52.38% (11/21), five
commercials were advertising traditionally male goods, such as men’s apparel and men’s
personal care products. Therefore, these results imply that sex was used to sell traditionally male
goods to an assumed male audience. Similar to the present study, Dominick and Rauch (1972)
found that in commercials advertising products usually purchased by men, 54% of women were
depicted as a sex object.

Table 13 The Presence of Sexualization by Product Industry in World Cup Commercials*

*Only men’s World Cup is shown since no incidences of sexualization occurred in women’s
World Cup commercials. Some product categories were omitted from chart because no
incidences of sexualization occurred.

Category 2018 2014 2010 2006 2002
Apparel 0 1 2 0 0
Food / Beverage 1 3 1 2 1
Personal / Beauty 1 0 0 2 0
Consumer Electronics 0 1 0 0 0
Restaurants 0 1 0 0 0
Automotive 0 3 0 0 0
Travel 0 1 0 0 0
Other 0 1 0 0 0
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DISCUSSION

The present study explored the presence of traditional gender stereotypes and roles within
commercials aired during the World Cup tournaments. Although gender in advertising has been a
topic of study for many researchers, there is limited research on gendered advertisements aired
during the FIFA World Cup. To provide a comprehensive assessment of this topic, commercials
aired during World Cup tournaments over a 16-year period were collected. The aim of this study
was to build upon previous research examining gender stereotypes within advertising and
provide more information about the presence of gender stereotypes in sports programming,
particularly the FIFA World Cup.
Consistent with other studies (e.g. McArthur & Resko, 1975; Dominick & Rauch, 1972;
Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Eisend, 2010; Hatzithomas et al., 2016), the results confirm that men are
depicted in central roles and as voice overs more frequently than women. Furthermore, these
results may suggest that women are generally underrepresented in sports programming
commercials, and especially during mega-sporting events. The reason for this discrepancy may
be because the sports world is still perceived as a heavily male dominated industry, with a higher
male viewership. However, female viewership of sports programming has experienced a
significant increase. For example, 46% of Super Bowl viewers in the U.S. are women
(Hatzithomas et al., 2016). Therefore, advertisers are overlooking an important segment of their
target audience by directing advertising messages strictly to male consumers.
Not only are women underrepresented within commercials, but advertising during the
women’s World Cup tournaments compared to the men’s tournaments are not as widely
archived, which resulted in a significantly smaller sample size. When searching for commercials
to analyze on YouTube, the author found companies that sponsor FIFA would list commercials
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aired during the 2014 Men’s World Cup and the 2018 Men’s World Cup but would not feature
comparable marketing material for the 2015 Women’s World Cup. This discrepancy is most
likely because sponsors were noticeably missing from the 2015 World Cup tournament
(Diamond, 2015). For example, FOX Sports made approximately $17 million in ads, compared
to the $529 million ESPN made during the 2014 Men’s World Cup (Diamond, 2015). The most
recent women’s World Cup tournament brought in nearly three times as much as in 2011
(Harwell, 2015). However, advertisers are missing an important opportunity to reach consumers.
The 2015 Women’s World Cup final was the most-watched soccer match in U.S. history
(Harwell, 2015), with 25.4 million viewers tuning in. This is more than the final game of the
2014 World Series, more than the average number of the 2015 NBA and NHL finals, and more
than any single men’s World Cup broadcast in U.S. history (Diamond, 2015).
However, beyond not being adequately represented as central figures, women are
depicted most frequently in roles and settings that defy gender stereotypes. In the sample, women
are more likely to be depicted in a role that is independent from having relationships with others.
This finding suggests that advertisers are finally casting women in roles that break the
traditionally feminine stereotype that perceives women to be solely interdependent. Women in
commercials are also being attributed with non-traditional forms of credibility. Previous studies
(Dominick & Rauch, 1972; McArthur & Resko, 1975; Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Craig, 1992;
Bartsch et al., 1999; Kaufman, 1999; Wolin, 2003; Ganahl et al., 2003; Eisend, 2010 ) cited that
women are mostly depicted as product users, which implies that women are perceived to lack an
inherent credibility and, therefore, must use a product to reinforce their authority. However, the
sample found that women are more often seen as credible because of their celebrity status, not as
a product user. This result echoes Klaus and Bailey (2008) who discovered that consumers
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evaluate ads and endorsers more favorably if female celebrities are featured. This implies a
notable shift in the credibility advertisers attribute to female spokespersons and central figures.
Additionally, the present sample confirmed that women are shown in more nontraditional
locales. Traditional gender roles typically pigeon-hole women in to domestic settings, including
the kitchen and bathroom. However, the findings imply that advertisers are choosing to show
women in settings, and subsequent roles, that reflect modern society and the changes made
through women’s empowerment movements.
Product industries are also reflecting the shift of modern society through broader gender
representation. Retail stores, personal and beauty, pharmaceutical and healthcare, and apparel
have traditionally been viewed as women’s product categories (Ganahl et al., 2003). The results
from the present study imply that women are starting to be represented in commercials for a
wider range of product categories. Although women are underrepresented in World Cup
commercials, their portrayal in away and home and away product categories outnumbers
commercials advertising home products. As reported in the results, of the commercials that
portray women as central figures, more than half advertise either a product in the away category
or home and away category.
Overall, these findings confirm that, although women are not equally represented in
commercials, female central figures are portrayed in roles that break through traditional gender
dynamics. Based on the findings, female empowerment through advertising seems to be
becoming more popular among marketers. Through these advertisements, young girls are being
exposed to different gender cues than previous generations, which reinforces the acceptability of
behaving outside of what is acceptable within their gender binary. Companies that use women’s
empowerment strategies in advertising campaigns are no longer risking profits because the
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messages are so well-received (Drake, 2017). In fact, these companies are being applauded and
awarded for openly challenging female gender stereotypes (Drake, 2017).
Unfortunately, while advertisers are starting to portray women more progressively, men
are consistently cornered into traditionally masculine roles and settings. For example, the sample
found that men are cast in roles that are relationship-centric in approximately 18% of
commercials. Furthermore, this seems to imply that men are intentionally cast in roles that do not
focus on having relationships with others, which falls under the masculine stereotype that men
are independent. When men were cast as fathers, they were mostly portrayed as the stereotypical
‘goofy dad.’ Therefore, this casts doubt on the possibility that men can be nurturing, loving sons,
fathers and husbands. Additionally, the majority of men in the sample are celebrities, specifically
professional athletes. As Klaus and Bailey (2008) noted, men are more often used in sport
celebrity advertising. In the sample, credibility of the male central figure is also most frequently
derived from his celebrity status. This presents an interesting paradigm where male professional
athletes inadvertently assert an influential power over society that is rooted in their masculinity
and fame. Men are typically placed in non-domestic settings, such as the great outdoors and a
work environment. These settings are selected to reinforce the traditionally masculine
characteristic that society has superimposed onto men. The results from this analysis may
suggest that advertisers are not ready, or willing, to place men in domestic settings, which would
reflect the shift in gender roles that has taken place in society over the past decade.
The lack of progression in male roles is also evident in the breakdown of product
industries. Although men are increasingly portrayed in commercials advertising home products,
the majority are cast in commercials for away products, as well as home and away products. Of
the commercials that portray men as central figures, less than 30% advertised a product used in
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the home. Most of the men were cast to sell products within the away product category or home
and away category. Therefore, the findings seem to confirm that the product industries within
these categories, such as restaurant, automotive, electronic, insurance, financial, etc., are most
commonly associated with men (Craig, 1992).
Within World Cup commercials, men are portrayed in stereotypically masculine roles and
settings, and are placed within their traditional binary categorization more often than women.
Similar to Gentry and Harrison (2010), the present sample did not present modern
representations of male roles in society. Therefore, unlike their female counterparts, young boys
are exposed to traditional portrayals of what it means to be members of their gender. Because of
this, boys are making inferences about their gender from highly masculine gender cues, which
reinforces one appropriate form of behavior. Not only does the reproduction of masculinity affect
young boys, it also influences the behavior of men. Sport is often used as a vehicle to define
what it means to be a man, and sports advertising reinforces these masculine ideologies to
capture the attention of the evasive young male consumer (Green & Van Oort, 2013). The
present sample supports the long-researched notion that advertising taps into the insecurities men
have about their masculinity in order to sell a product that will fix the aspect of their masculinity
that is broken (Green & Van Oort, 2013). Gentry and Harrison (2010) notes that the societally
idealized form of masculinity may marginalize some groups of men because it forces them into
confined roles, dampens their emotional freedom, hinders their ability to show intimacy and
vulnerability and forces them into constantly fearing they will not live up to the culturally agreed
upon masculine ideal. So, while advertisers are beginning to use empowerment to persuade the
purchasing behaviors of women, they seem to remain wholly committed to manipulating men’s
insecurities to influence their consumer patterns.
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The present study found that commercials aired during the World Cup consistently cast
models, both male and female, with mesomorphic physiques. Because the commercials were
aired during a sporting event, which values athleticism, health and wellness, the author predicted
a higher frequency of the use of mesomorphic body types, even though the frequency does not
accurately represent the population of the U.S. (Fowler & Thomas, 2015). The potential overuse
of mesomorphic body types in commercials might pressure men and women to obtain and
maintain unhealthy standards. Additionally, studies have shown that exposure to idealized body
types leads to heightened body dissatisfaction in both men and women (Baird & Grieve, 2006;
Agliata & Tantleff-Dunn, 2004; Gentry & Harrison, 2010; Peterson et al., 2009). While it is
important to emphasize health and wellness, advertisers may want to consider using models that
are more relatable to consumers.
The last significant finding of the present analysis suggests that women are less
frequently portrayed as an object of sexual gratification than identified in previous studies.
Within the sample of 191 commercials, there were only 21 incidences of sexualization or
objectification. As previously mentioned, a significant increase of sexualized content occurred
during the 2014 men’s World Cup in Brazil. This may be attributed to Brazil’s “international
image as a sexually free country and as a ‘sexual play-ground.’” (Bandyopadhyay &
Nascimento, 2010, p. 934). Internationally, Brazilian women are often portrayed as highly
sensual. According to Bandyopadhyay and Nascimento (2010), female sensuality in Brazil is
fantasized and fetishized by other countries. The perception that Brazil is a hyper-sexual country
is also commodified, and this was the case during the 2014 World Cup. For example, after the
Brazilian tourism board filed a complaint, adidas, the official apparel sponsor of FIFA, pulled t-
Piepho 58

shirts that used two provocative sex appeals. Although sex appeal strategies were used frequently
during the 2014 World Cup, this was not a consistent trend in the commercials analyzed.
Ultimately, the presence of sexualization during World Cup commercials would seem to
support the hypothesis that women will be presented in roles that defy traditional gender
stereotypes, such as serving as the object of sexual gratification. Overall, the percentage of
women portrayed in the role of a sex object in the present study significantly decreased from the
32% identified in Dominick and Rauch (1972). Therefore, the practice of using sex appeal as an
advertising strategy seems to be decreasing. However, when sex appeal is used as a strategy, the
advertised product is typically intended for a male consumer. This finding remains relatively
unchanged from Dominick and Rauch (1972).

FUTURE RESEARCH AND IMPLICATIONS

Generally, during soccer matches commercials are limited to the 15 minutes allotted for
halftime. However, in this instance, there was difficulty obtaining commercials to study because
of the desire to conduct a historical content analysis. Therefore, the sample size was limited to
examining commercials that were archived on the Internet, on platforms such as YouTube,
ispot.tv and adland.tv. To expand upon the present sample, future researchers could obtain
original broadcast recordings from the World Cup to analyze a broader scope of commercials
that reflects real-time viewership.
Additionally, the present study focused on examining gender stereotypes through role
portrayals, product associations, settings, etc. An opportunity for future research would be to
analyze gender stereotypes through the behavior or personality characteristics attributed to the
Piepho 59

central figures. Taking this one step further, future research could compare and contrast samples
of World Cup commercials aired in countries with differing levels of Hofstede’s Masculinity
versus Femininity Index. This examination might determine whether commercials reflect, or
mold the societal values associated with gender.
While the present study focuses specifically on gender roles and stereotypes in TV
commercials, future research could examine racial presentations of gender in advertising. This
would provide context as to whether gender stereotypes are consistent among races, or if they are
heightened in men and women of one race compared to men and women of another. A historical
content analysis would be beneficial to identify whether racial portrayals of gender stereotypes
have improved or worsened in relation to the racial tensions present in society at the time of the
commercial’s original airing.
The research alludes to a significant implication that is valuable to both professionals in
the advertising industry, as well as the broader scope of research. While today’s sports
advertising attempts to reflect the modern woman, it remains steadfast on portraying men in
traditionally masculine roles. Additionally, while women’s studies are important and should
remain a focus, it may be time to consider bringing more attention to men who experience
marginalization. The world constructed by men, for men is defined by power (Kaufman, 1994).
Much of what society associates with masculinity is the ability for a man to exercise power and
control (Kaufman, 1994). In this sense, power and masculinity are intrinsically linked. This is
amplified in the sporting world because masculinity and physical power are rewarded. Sport
reinforces the traditional ideology that masculinity is the only acceptable characteristic that a
man can project. Anything else is perceived as weak and powerless, which implies a lack of
control. Therefore, most women, who biologically lack masculine characteristics and physical
Piepho 60

power, are isolated and considered less than. However, men who do not possess an aura of
masculinity are also alienated. This should not be overlooked. While feminists and female
empowerment movements have rightfully fought society to consider women as equals to men,
those men who are marginalized by masculinity have been left in the shadows.
This phenomenon is reflected in the commercials examined in the present study. To
appeal to a broader consumer base, advertisers should consider storylines that portray
contemporary characters that break the dichotomy of masculinity and power. Using
nontraditional characters will attract attention from marginalized consumers. This approach will
also break through the noise of uncreative advertising that uses stereotyped role portrayals,
which are unimaginative forms of persuasion.

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APPENDIX

List of Commercials by Organization Name and Commercial Title
Men’s World Cup Tournaments
Russia 2018
• Adidas “Create the Answer”
• Budweiser “#LightUpTheWorldCup”
• McDonald's “We're with you”
• McDonald's “Opening Round”
• McDonald's “Quarterfinals”
• McDonald's “Finals”
• McDonald's “Smoke, Sass and Tang”
• Visa “Accepted”
• Visa “Don't Miss a Goal”
• Visa “Match Day Essentials”
• Visa “Press Conference”
• Visa “All Doors Are Open”
• Coca-Cola “#Ready With A Coca-Cola?”
• Coca-Cola “Full version”
• Coca-Cola “Share a Coke with a Friend”
• Pepsi “LIVE IT. LOVE IT.”
• Apple “How to shoot Soccer on iPhone X”
• Apple “Behind the Mac”
• Apple “Memory”
• Volkswagen “Jump on the Wagen”
• Volkswagen “Jump on the Wagen 2”
• Volkswagen “Jump on the Wagen Tiguan Brazil”
• Volkswagen “Bass”
• Volkswagen “Moods”
• 23 and Me “Roots for Your Roots”
• Powerade “That's some kind of power”
• Slack “The Collaboration Hub for Work”
• Slack “There's a channel for that: Sales”
• Slack “There's a channel for that: Marketing”
• Slack “There's a channel for that: Finance”
• Ram “Promise”
• Ram “Tomorrow”
• Ford “Summer Sales Event”
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• Rocket League “Do You Rocket?”
• GEICO “Soccer Celebration”
• Reese's “We'll Stop”
• Behr “Lasting Color”
• Bud Light “Early Game”
• Bud Light “The FIFA World Cup is Here”
• Qatar Airways “Dancing in the streets”
• Kia Motors “Never Outgrow Your Love for Kia”
• Kia Motors “Celebrate Together”
• Wells Fargo “Jumping Man: Card On/Off”
• Wells Fargo “Suspicious Card Activity with Landon Donovan”
• Gatorade “Everything Changes”
• Beats by Dre “Made Defiant: The Mixtape”
• Wish “Having time on your hands means shopping like the pros on Wish”
• Wish “What does Gigi Buffon do with time on his hands?”
• Wish “What does Tim Howard do with time on his hands?”
• Wish “What does Claudio Bravo do with time on his hands?”
• Wish “What does Gareth Bale do with time on his hands?”
• Wish “What does Robin Van Persie do with time on his hands?”
• Wish “What does Paul Pogba do with time on his hands?”
• Wish “Find Out What Neymar's Buying on Wish”
• Verizon “End of the First Half featuring Landon Donovan”
• Verizon “Swap Shirts with Landon Donovan”
• Verizon “Huge News ft. Thomas Middleditch”
• Verizon “Big Scoop ft. Thomas Middleditch”
• Progressive “Game Show Gary”
• Progressive “Big Jim”
• Progressive “Deserted”
• Progressive “The Safeys”
• Google “Just Say Hey Google”
• Amazon “Amazon Prime Day”
• IBM Cloud “Built for All Your Apps”
• Rocket Mortgage “Lingo featuring Keegan-Michael Key”
• LG “What's it going to take”
• Domino's “Ribbon Cutting”
• Spectrum “Soccer Season”
• UberEats “World Cup party for Andrea Pirlo”
• SoFi “Ambition”
• Old Spice “She Nose Best”
Brazil 2014
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• Budweiser “Believe as One”
• Budweiser “Celebrate as One”
• Castrol “Footkhana”
• McDonald's “House Divided”
• McDonald's “GOL!”
• Adidas “The Dream: All in or nothing”
• Adidas “The Wake Up Call”
• Adidas “Fast or Fail”
• Adidas “House Match”
• Adidas “I am Brazuca”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Adriana Lima Brings Futbol to a Sports Bar”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Adriana Lima Man Cave”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Adriana Lima Football vs Futbol”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Avoidance”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Boom”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Get In”
• Visa “Unlikely Fans/Everywhere you want to be”
• Visa “Restaurant featuring Zidane and Cannavaro”
• Visa “FIFA World Cup: United in Rivalry”
• Coca-Cola “One World, One Game”
• Emirates “All Time Greats”
• Samsung “The Training”
• Samsung “The Beginning”
• Samsung “Ronaldo”
• Samsung “Captain of #Galaxy11”
• Pepsi “Now is What You Make It”
• Pepsi “Futbol and Pepsi”
• Activia “La La La (Brazil 2014)”
• Nike “Risk Everything/Winner Stays”
• EA Sports “Landon Donovan - Always in the Game”
• EA Sports “The Next American Hero”
• Cup of Noodles “Soccer Samurai”
• Volkswagen “Greatest Hits”
• Beats by Dre “The Game Before the Game”
• Head & Shoulders “Play On”
• Gillette “Leo Messi and Roger Federer”
• T-Mobile “Shakira”
• ESPN “Ian Darke Calls a Date”
• ESPN “I believe that we will win”
• Gatorade “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”
Piepho 75

South Africa 2010
• Adidas “The Quest”
• Adidas “Star Wars Cantina”
• Coca-Cola “History of Celebration”
• Coca-Cola “Border Crossing”
• Powerade “Keep Playing”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Baby's Name”
• Hyundai-Kia Motors “Die Hard”
• Sony “Kaka 3D TV”
• Visa “The Evolution of Football”
• Visa “Go Football”
• Budweiser “Penalty Kick”
• Budweiser “Swap”
• Castrol “Cristiano Ronaldo”
• Nike “Write the Future”
• Pepsi “Oh Africa”
• ESPN “The Power of 10”
• ESPN “Martin Tyler”
• ESPN “England vs USA”
• Puma “Journey of Football”
• Dodge “Cars and Freedom”
• Adidas “F50 Lionel Messi vs. David Villa”
Germany 2006
• Adidas “Jose + 10”
• Coca-Cola “We All Speak Football”
• Emirates “Keep Discovering”
• Budweiser “Fans drinking the beer”
• Budweiser “German Language”
• Budweiser “What country are you?”
• Budweiser “USA Plays Tonight”
• Budweiser “Australia Impersonation”
• Budweiser “Hot”
• Budweiser “Offside?”
• Budweiser “Learning what a header is”
• Budweiser “Learn all the countries”
• Budweiser “Animal References”
• Budweiser “Soccer Terminology”
• Budweiser “Training for World Cup”
• Gillette “David Beckham”
Piepho 76

• Gillette “M3 Power”
• MasterCard “Football Fever”
• Philips “Ambilight”
• McDonald's “Line Up”
• Avaya “Global”
• Avaya “Freeze”
• ESPN “Closes the Shops/World Cup Anthem”
• ESPN “Sick Days”
• Gatorade “The Road”
• Nike “R10 Crossbar”
• Nike “Cristiano Ronaldo vs Zlatan Ibrahimovic”
• Nike “Never Grow Up”
• Nike “Ronaldo Joga bonita”
• Orbit “Ultimate Clean Up w/ Snoop Dogg”
• Pepsi “Oktoberfest”
Korea/Japan 2002
• Adidas “Footballitis”
• MasterCard “Football Fever”
• Yahoo! “Always On”
• Nike “The Secret Tournament: Equipo del Fuego vs. Tutto Bene”
• Nike “The Secret Tournament: Funk Seoul Bros. vs. OS Tornados”
• Nike “The Secret Tournament: Toros Locos vs. Cerberus”
• Nike “The Secret Tournament: Triple Espresso vs. The Onetouchables
• Pepsi “All-stars vs Sumos”
• Pepsi “Roberto Carlos”
• Pepsi “Brittney Spears”

Women’s World Cup Tournaments
Canada 2015
• Adidas “Be The Difference”
• Continental “US Women's Soccer”
• Nike “Better for It”
• Nike “American Woman”
• Chevrolet “The Beautiful Game: U.S. Women's National Team”
• Clorox “Mop”
• Bayer (Coppertone) “Soccer ft. Christen Press”
• American Express “The Journey Never Stops: Anthem Ft. Mindy Kaling”
• US Soccer/USWNT “Real Girls”
Piepho 77

• CREE “Abby Wambach Shoots the Lights Out”
• FIFA “No Barriers”
• FOX Sports “It's Not Over”
• FOX Sports “Alex has a score to settle”
• FOX Sports “America has a score to settle”
• FOX Sports “Two Starts”
• FOX Sports “Conqueror”
• Tampax “Alex Morgan: Confidence is Key”
• Tampax “Alex Morgan: Preparation is Everything”
• Built with Chocolate Milk “Kelley O'Hara”
Germany 2011
• Under Armour “Women's World Cup”
China 2007
• ESPN “Women's World Cup 2007 Promo”
• Nike “PR Magic ft. Rainn Wilson”
• Nike “Jim Mike ft. Rainn Wilson”
United States 2003
• Nike “Will we take on the world as one”
• Adidas “China vs. USA”

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Asset Metadata

Creator Piepho, Chloe Elena (author)

Core Title 16 years of gender role representations and stereotypes in FIFA World Cup commercials: a historical content analysis

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 11/09/2018

Defense Date 12/12/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Advertising,commercials,femininity,gender,gender roles,masculinity,OAI-PMH Harvest,stereotypes

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Yang, Aimei (committee chair), Carrington, Ben (committee member), Floto, Jennifer (committee member)

Creator Email piepho.chloe@gmail.com,piepho@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-103422

Unique identifier UC11676942

Identifier etd-PiephoChlo-6945.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-103422 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-PiephoChlo-6945-2.pdf

Dmrecord 103422

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Piepho, Chloe Elena

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA