This Girl Can

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This Girl Can

This Girl Can is a non-commercially funded advert produced in 2016 by Sports England and funded by National Lottery.

Purpose

The purpose of the This Girl Can campaign was to break down stereotypes attached to women and their fear of being judged while taking part in sport.
The campaign was launched after research was gathered by Sports England to help reveal why fewer women aged 14-40 take participate in sport than men.

Sport England report

It was found that 2 million fewer women take part in sport than men.
13 million women said they would like to take part in more sport.
6 million women said they were not active at all.
The number one reason for not taking part was fear of being judged.

Impact

The impact after the campaign had been launched is that 1.6 million women have started to exercise and other brands, such as Nike, have started to advertise in a more body positive manner with motivational messages like ‘Better For It’, rather than focusing on looking good doing it.

Constructing meaning

Meaning is constructed in this advert through the use of technical, verbal and symbolic codes.
The main image is a centred, medium shot of a women in action.
The women is in her mid-thirties and is not a celebrity.
Because of this she can act as an audience surrogate.

Mis en scene

The woman is constructed to appear familiar through the use of mis en scene.
Her hair is messy and scraped back, her gym clothes are not designer and do not match.
The focus is on her being in the moment and enjoying it.

Focus

The women is the focus through the shallow focus, resulting in the people around her being out of focus.
This further emphasises that it is how she feels which is the focus and important thing to her.

Narrative and Verbal Codes

Narrative is constructed in this advert through the combination of image and text. Verbal codes help to create meaning in the advert.

Narrative

Narrative is constructed in this advert through the combination of image and text.
As the women is the only focus in this advert she is presented as the hero, as theorised in Propp’s narrative theory.

Narrative theory

As the women is shown to be an inspiration to the audience, it would place the audience as the damsels in distress.
This would suggest the audience need to be saved and the way to do this is embracing exercise.

Verbal codes

Verbal codes help to create meaning in the advert.
The mantra or slogan ‘Sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox’ is a simile and uses binary opposition (Levi Strauss) to emphasis how the feeling sport can give you is more important that the way you look while taking part.

The slogan

The word 'pig' is given negative connotations and has associations of ugliness, whereas the use of ‘fox’ suggests a feeling of sexiness and confidence.
The slogan can draw on historical views of women sweaty being unacceptable and needing to look beautiful all of the time, and instead rules it out through the juxtaposition of being confident and sexy like a fox.

Collectivity

The slogan is anchored by the use of a highly saturated image which can further reinforce the fact the women is hot and sweaty but enjoying it.
The word ‘girl’ is a collective noun and reinforces that the message and campaign is for all women, introducing a sense of unity.

Representation

The advert creates a countertypical representation of women. The imperative statement is very motivational and has connotations of determination.

Enigma

The brand logo for ‘This Girl Can’ is centred in the bottom third.
The imperative statement is very motivational and has connotations of determination.
The choice to limit the amount of information given on the advert can create a sense of enigma (Barthes), and encourage the audience to want to find out more.

#thisgirlcan

The hashtag #thisgirlcan in the top left third can offer a way for the audience to find out more about the campaign, as well as a way of getting involved and sharing their story.
The hashtag is an example of using convergence for viral marketing and offering an audience a sense of social cohesion.
The hashtag led the audience to the YouTube advert which is part of the This Girl Can larger campaign.

Representation

The advert creates a countertypical representation of women.
The advert challenges dominant ideology through rejecting traditional views of women needing to be attractive and relying on men.
The advert constructs an alternative ideology where the women is the hero of her story and she is independent and successful.

Purpose

The purpose of the advert and entire campaign is to give women confidence in their ability and to challenge the sexist perception that males dominate within sport.
The lack of photoshop and editing used to create a ‘perfect’ idea of women creates a positive image of real women and show them as being admirable.

1Overview

1.1Media Language

1.1.1Media Language

1.1.2Media Language 2

1.2Audience

1.2.1Audiences

1.2.2Audiences 2

1.2.3End of Topic Test - Media Language & Audience

1.3Representation

1.3.1Stereotypes

1.3.2Gender

1.3.3Audiences

1.4The Media Industry

1.4.1Media Industries

1.4.2Ownership

1.4.3Funding & Regulation

1.4.4End of Topic Test - Representation/Media Industry

2Component 1: Section A

2.1Magazines

2.1.1Magazines

2.1.2Pride

2.1.3Pride 2

2.2GQ

2.2.1Context

2.2.2Narrative

2.2.3Representation

2.3Advertising & Marketing

2.3.1Advertising & Marketing

2.3.2Analysing Adverts

2.3.3Analysing Adverts 2

2.3.4Theories & Principles

2.3.5End of Topic Test - Magazines & Advertising

2.4Print Advertisements

2.4.1Quality Street

2.4.2This Girl Can

2.5Film Posters (Marketing)

2.5.1Spectre

2.5.2The Man with The Golden Gun

2.5.3The Man with The Golden Gun 2

2.6Newspapers

2.6.1Ownership & Regulation

2.6.2News Selection

2.6.3Media Language

2.6.4Genres

2.6.5Newspaper Conventions

2.6.6Representation

2.6.7Audience

2.6.8Theories

2.6.9End of Topic Test - Newspapers

2.7The Sun

2.7.1Context

2.7.2Narrative

2.7.3Language & Images

2.8The Guardian

2.8.1The Guardian

2.8.2Narrative

2.8.3Language & Images

3Component 1: Section B

3.1Video Games

3.1.1Video Games

3.2Film

3.2.1The Big Six

3.2.2Technology

3.2.3End of Topic Test - Video Games & Films

3.3Radio

3.3.1The Radio Industry

3.3.2Categories of Radio Station

3.3.3Technology & Radio Audiences

3.3.4Theories

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Radio

3.4No Time To Die

3.4.1Context

3.4.2Narrative

3.4.3Representation

4Component 2: Section A

5Component 2: Section B

5.1Music Video

5.1.1Music Videos

5.1.2The Music Industry

5.2Michael Jackson

5.2.1‘Black or White’

5.3Taylor Swift

5.3.1Bad Blood

5.3.2Intertextual References

5.3.3Media Theories

5.3.4Representation

5.3.5Social Media

5.4Bruno Mars

5.4.1Uptown Funk

5.4.2Analysis

5.4.3End of Topic Test - Music Videos

5.5Lizzo

5.5.1Context

5.5.2'Good as Hell'

5.5.3Media Language

5.5.4Representation

5.5.5Audience

5.5.6Industry

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