The Gender of Kinder-Chocolate : A Visual Analysis of TV Commercials and the Representation of Gender and Children

Abstract: This thesis examines the gender portrayal of gender in relation to children in TV commercials by the brand Kinder. Gender, Advertising and children are three topics that in relation to each other are a highly important study topic. While there currently are many studies on the analysis of the influence of advertising on children, less studies can be found on the influence of advertising showing children. Three commercials from 2012-2018 were chosen that showed human as well as non-human characters and how the commercials portrayed gender in relation to children were analyzed using visual analysis. Specifically, discourse analysis I and semiology helped analyzing the commercials and by the means of three themes, which were revealing to the portrayal of gender in the chosen commercials. Analysis of color, objects and appearance, behavior and relationship showed that characters in the commercial can grow in and out of gender and that different aspects are gender specific to age. Color wasused in the portrayal of girl’s/boy’s rooms, the objects/clothes they encounter and use showedgender specifics, and behavior and relationship also showed characteristics towards gender.