Award-winning advertisement analysis in the light of guide of gender equality in communication

Advertisements, whose main purpose is to make sales and profit, aim to change the attitudes and behaviors of consumers by influencing them. Advertisements, which are influenced by the society as well as having a high impact on the society, include the cultural values of the society in their content. Advertisements, especially tends to perpetuate and reproduce traditional gender roles. Gender roles are the meanings and responsibilities that are constructed by culture and that society imposes on men and women. In traditional societies, while gender roles strictly separate men and women from each other, this separation leads to the emergence of gender-based inequalities. As gender roles in society change and begin to transform, advertisements have also undergone a transformation, and the steps taken for gender-sensitive and egalitarian advertisements have increased. In line with this, in recent years, some organizations have published guides in order to encourage an egalitarian approach in communication. This research deals with the relationship between advertisements and gender. In the research, how gender roles are reflected in the advertisement was carried out by analyzing the award-winning advertisements of the brands of a selected organization. Here, the "guide of gender equality in communication" published by the institution was taken as a basis, and it was aimed to find an answer to the question of what the consistency between the actions and discourses of the institution. The scope of the research was limited to the Effie and Kristal Elma award-winning advertisements, and the advertisements that received awards in these events were analyzed by content analysis method. The research was limited to advertisements between the years 2017-2022. As a result of the research, it was determined that the consistency between the discourses and actions of the institution varied according to the categories. Although exaggerated stereotypes and a sexist attitude were avoided in the analyzed advertisements, it was observed that traditionalism was maintained in some categories. Keywords: Gender roles, advertisement, egalitarian guides