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Advertising Express Magazine :
Portrayal of Women in Indian Advertisements : A Betrayal of their True Portrait
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Indian advertisements either treat women as an object to lure “male” consumers, or show her as a dependent and domestic servant. Women have long grown out of this profile, and our advertisements need to catch up faster.

 
 
 

A husband comes home very angry. He fails to get a promotion in his office, as he went in with a dirty collar line. His wife is upset. She then finds the right detergent to wash his clothes and her man gets his promotion. A father is worried about getting his daughter married she is dark complexioned. The mother assures him that she will be approved by the prospective alliance coming to see her next week. A fairness cream improves and brightens her features within a week's time and the girl is happily married.

A girl loses out on a date as she has pimples on her face. Using some cream removes her pimples and she gets back her boyfriend. There is this man who uses a deodorant to be followed like the Pied Piper was; but by women instead. Everybody in the family is hungry. The bhabhi is quick enough to prepare a wonderful snack using a ready-made food product. A noted actor walks into a house and asks for food. When served, he says that the plate is not clean enough. He then gives her a product and asks her to clean the plate. The plate is then sparkling clean.

There is a "traditional" bahu who uses a particular chai to please all the members of her family, while they are playing antakshari. Or the Bahu, who is doing everything dutifully from pressing the legs of her saas to mending her hubby's clothes, taking care of the kids and her sister-in-law, till she wears out her back and then the father-in-law advices her to use the pain balm so that she can get back to her back-breaking donkey work.

 
 
 

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