Radio Advert

2. 0 MVO Sometimes people put men in one box and women in
another. Men are strong and decisive. Women are soft and
emotional. Just because I wear a bra and mascara, why can’t I
be the one in charge? I suppose that’s why I joined the Ar… [At
this point the man’s voice morphs into a woman’s voice (same
age, same accent)]
0 FVO1 ...rmy.
0 Because here I’m seen for what I really am. A troop
commander.
0 FVO2 There’s more than one way to be the best. Search Army
jobs.
6 Army 'who I really am'
Agency J Walter Thompson
London
Creatives Jessica Weeks, Jo
Taylor
Sound engineer Andy
Humphries
Sound studio 750mph
Radio
Script

3. Audience
The main purpose of this advert is to widen the
audience of the ‘army recruits to both males and
females. Previously, this is an assumed male role, as
shown by the language use and how this is specifically
manipulated to show the sexist nature of this field.
The purpose of the two people being the same age and
the same accent highlights that gender shouldn’t make a
difference if the characters have the same ability to do
the job; this implies that both people would bring the
same benefits, even though one of them is female in a
“man’s” field of work.

4. Language
The choice of gender stereotypical language works
effectively to the purpose and the audience. For
example , the rhetorical question ‘just because I wear a
bra and mascara, why can’t I be the one in charge?’
suggests that despite gender differences, this doesn’t
mean that one gender is more capable because of
superficial differences. The lexical field of woman’s
items such as ‘bra’ and ‘mascara’ highlight that women
are seen as inferior due to this and that the army is seen
as a very manly job, which isolates females out of this
job.

5. Tone and Narrative
It had to be considered that the first part of the advert, which
is talking about the unfair prejudice that women cannot be in
the army, is spoken by a man. The purpose of this is to show
that even men within the army do not view women as weak
and unable to be ‘in charge’. The morphing of the males
voice to the woman highlights that they are equal in the army
(in terms of gender, not necessarily rank). The tone of the
advert seems somewhat accusatory at the beginning;
however, it becomes emotive at the end and shows that any
one can go into this job industry and move their way up the
ranks.

6. Voice Over
The voice over of the advert takes on a more instructive
tone than anecdotal. The declarative sentence ‘theres
more than one way to be the best’ suggests that there
are many fields within the army which a person can go
into and that they are bound to be ‘the best’ at one of
them. The superlative ‘best’ encourages the audience to
search it because everyone strives for the best and if it
seems attainable then they are more likely to try. The
ending imperative ‘search army jobs’ makes it seem
more like an instruction which fits with the topic but
also fit the purpose to persuade the audience.