STEREOTYPES AND STIGMAS OF OBESE IN ADVERTISEMENTS WITH APPEALS OF HUMOR

Abstract

Positive and negative stereotypes are present in marketing communications in everyday life to consumers indiscriminately. Taking in account the current epidemy of obesity worldwide, television advertisements that use obese individuals in stigmatized situations are no exception. This article analyzes, from the perspective of skinny consumers, the role played by fat people in commercials aired on television. Therefore, there were three focus groups with people who have seen advertisements in which the protagonist was a fat guy. There was initially a content analysis of a commercial collection and the research corpus in which it was built a representative figure of the “being fat” in these messages. The analyzes stressed that these protagonists present themselves in order to provoke laughter through humor. Because of this, stigmas as “comical”, “weird” and “weak” are formed from their stereotypes and roles. The question that remains is how far these interpretations may affect the brand image conveyed, considering that the obesity phenomenon is present in everyday life of most consumers.

Keywords
Television commercials; Fat people; Stigma