Yogurt: A Barrier to Women's Success - Raritan Valley Community ...

8In addition to mocking how yogurt commercials depict women as beingoverly simplistic, Haskin’s comment also supports the data that Eagley andCarli found showing how few women are in higher up positions. Of thehighest paid executives of Fortune 500 companies, “only 6% are women”(153). Also, “only 2% of the CEOs are women and only 15% of the seats onthe boards of directors are held by women” (153). Instead of showingwomen enjoying yogurt while on the rise in their career or encouraging themto reach ambitious goals, some yogurt ads go so far as to show womendancing; just dancing. This would be the advertising genius of YoPlus, “thefunnest yogurt ever” (Haskins). Not only does this not help or encouragewomen to pursue successful careers, but it throws such ideas out thewindow. Such images make it hard for women to be taken seriously. Docommercials geared towards men ever depict them dancing at home, atwork, or even in the streets at just the thought of the product beingadvertised? I have not seen every commercial known to man, so “never”would not be a fair answer, but it’s safe to say that such ads are rare.In conclusion, yogurt commercials pose as a barrier to women’ssuccess. They present a clear divide between women and men by the factthat they are so gender specific and barely deal with men at all. Also, byshowing women as being airheaded and materialistic, these commercials addto the already existing challenges women face in the corporate world. Couldit be that these seemingly harmless ads are having a subconscious effect onwomen, keeping them from pursuing such higher up careers like being aCEO or holding a seat on the board of directors? That is most definitely apossibility. However, what is clear is that these ads are just a single turn inthe labyrinth that so many women travel to reach success.