Journal of Development Communication And Applied Theatre

Soap advertising in Nigeria occupies a unique place in the country's gender and beauty economy, selling not only soap cleanliness feature but also complexion, desirability, and social value, and reflecting stereotypes. This study critically examines gender stereotyping and the representation of Nigerian women in Hawaii Soap commercial. Anchored on Hall 1997‘s Representation Theory, Mulvey 1975; Tuchman et al, 1978; and Zoonen, 1994‘s Feminist Media Theory, and Fredrickson & Roberts‘s 1997 Objectification Theory. The study adopts a qualitative content analysis methodology to investigate how visual imagery, language, body presentation, costume, facial expression, camera framing, symbolism, and advertising narratives construct female identities, body display, voice authority, and complexion framing. Findings divulge that Hawaii Soap commercial actively construct particular meanings of femininity, by focusing on beauty, and attractiveness as central to women's identities, affirming Hall's (1997) view that media representations construct rather than merely reflect reality. The study concludes that advertising as a subset of mass media shapes not only product consumption but also cultural values, identities, and biases surrounding gender, race, class, and beauty. Consequently, the study recommends that relevant regulatory bodies or agencies such as the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) should undertake a review of their existing classification rules for televised advertisements and ensure exclusion of sexually suggestive imageries.

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