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Changing gears?
Gendered messages in Australian car
advertisements since the 1950s
Authors
1. Naomi Thomas, The University of Queensland, Australia,
n.thomas@uqconnect.edu.au
2. Dorina Pojani, The University of Queensland, Australia,
d.pojani@uq.edu.au
This is an Authors’ Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive
form, the Version of Record, has been published in Journal of Urbanism, 2022,
copyright Taylor and Francis, available online at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2022.2154079
Abstract
In Australia, a rapid adoption of personal vehicles from the mid-twentieth century onwards has
been, at least in part, related to increasingly targeted and pervasive advertising. The result is a
consolidation of automobility through exposure, as audiences consume persuasive messaging
at conscious and unconscious levels. The argument in this study is that the messaging in
Australian car advertisements in the past eight decades has been highly gendered, with women
often objectified, infantilised, or dismissed. Meanwhile men have been shown as being in
charge – of cars and of life. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of 24 high-profile car
advertisements shown on television since the 1950s. An improved understanding of the
relationships between gender, automobility, and advertising can be used to reconfigure
Australians’ cultural connection with cars and alter the latter’s influence on the built
environment.
Note: Accompanying photos and tables are at the end of this document.
Keywords
advertisements, commercials, gender, automobility, car culture, national identity,
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1 Introduction
Car culture (also known as automobility or over-reliance on automobiles) is ubiquitous in
Australia and the rest of the Anglosphere (Dobbs, 2007; Scholten, et al., 2012). It integrates
into other social constructs, including gender, modernity, sexuality, social class, and national
identity (Dobbs, 2005). Car marketing exploits these relationships to compel action (purchases)
from the audience – and by so doing reproduces and reinforces car dependence. A rapid
adoption of personal vehicles from the mid-twentieth century onwards has been, at least in part,
related to increasingly targeted and pervasive advertising (Messaris, 1997; Scholten &
Joelsson, 2019). The result is a consolidation of automobility through exposure, as audiences
consume persuasive messaging at conscious and unconscious levels (Messaris, 1997; Mouffe,
2013).
Our argument in this article is that the messaging in car advertisements in Australia in the past
eight decades has been not only persistent and omnipresent but also highly gendered, with
women often objectified, infantilised, or dismissed – their consumer power notwithstanding
(Howard 2010). Meanwhile men have been shown as being in charge – of cars and of life.
Gender can and has been used as an analytical tool across many disciplines including
transportation planning (Lykke, 2010). However, the literature connecting gender issues to
automobility and advertising is limited (a few exceptions are by Walsh, 2011; Howard, 2010;
Lees-Mafei, 2002). An improved understanding of these relationships can be used to
reconfigure Australians’ cultural connection with automobiles and alter the latter’s influence
on the built environment.
This analysis is based on a sample of high-profile car advertisements shown on television since
the 1950s. Ours is a cultural approach, which pays attention to representation: the way in which
the links between women, men, and cars are portrayed in TV ads – as opposed to a sociological
approach relying on surveys (see Dowling, 2000). Theoretically, the research sits at the
intersection of three major themes: automobility, gender, and advertising. These are discussed
below, before proceeding to the empirical portion of the study.
2. Theoretical context
2.1 Automobility: car culture
To appreciate the significant role of private vehicles in restructuring urban society, it is
important to acknowledge earlier forms of transportation. Horse carts, bicycles, and other
personal transport modes limited the decentralisation of urban development due to a lower
speed of travel and capacity to cover geography (Flink, 1990; Ingrassia, 2012). In the 19th
century, trams and trains represented the first great leaps in decentralisation. However, they
held fixed routes and therefore urban growth concentrated around stations (McShane, 1994).
As a result, cities remained compact in character. Even the invention of the car in the late 19th
century had little immediate impact on built form (Flink, 1990). Cities only began to spread in
the 1910s, as the introduction of standardised production lines reduced car costs (McShane,
1994).
The long boom era (1940s to 1970s) was characterised by rapid economic growth, stability,
natural population expansion, and mass car production (Flink, 1990; McShane, 1994). Growth
in wealth led to skyrocketing car ownership, facilitating suburbanisation in an unprecedented
way. The concept of the car-dependent, low-density dormitory suburb emerged in this era
(Ingrassia, 2012). Automobility – i.e., a state of over-reliance on automobiles – was solidified.
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Much of the Western world today is dependent on automobiles. Society has become
hypermobile, meaning that traveling long distances on a daily basis is not just necessary to
cross vast suburban distances served by minimal public transport; it is also expected (Kwan &
Schwanen, 2016). Once a luxury, car ownership and use have become “normal” among adults
and even older teenagers (Dobbs, 2005). In some communities, individuals are under peer
pressure to drive in order to avoid social exclusion or ostracization (Lucas, et al., 2015;
Paijmans and Pojani, 2021). Moreover, automobility is transmitted across generations.
Children inherit the values of car culture by observing the everyday interactions of their parents
and other adults (Baslington, 2009). This perpetuates car dependency.
In addition to social utility, cars have come to represent liberty, progress, identity, and status
(Flink, 1990; McShane, 1994; Lutz, et al., 2010; Ingrassia, 2012; Pojani et al., 2018). They are
a key component of both the American Dream and the Australian Dream (Ingrassia, 2012). The
availability of individual car transport defines the growth patterns of cities and marks the design
of physical space. Car infrastructure and related paraphernalia - roads, bridges, garages,
guardrails – are ubiquitous, producing unwalkable cityscapes as well as very poor urban
aesthetics. In environmental terms, cars have been disastrous. They foul the air, produce noise,
cause collisions, including many deadly ones, and consume excessive amounts of energy. In
addition, some literature has also established a link between cars and increased health risks
associated with a sedentary lifestyle, likening car use to addiction (Douglas, et al., 2011;
Ellaway, et al., 2016).
While in the past automobility was the province of men (i.e., the breadwinners commuting
from the suburbs to the CBD), in the daily reality of contemporary Western cities the car is
much more useful to women. The literature on transport and gender concurs that modern
women experience a more spatially dispersed lifestyle than men, making them more reliant on
driving (Scholten et al., 2012; Dobbs, 2005; Rosenbloom, 2004). Having a greater number of
commitments, including productive work, domestic chores, childcare, and so on (Mouffe,
2013), women are poor candidates for fixed route/fixed schedule public transport use
(Lanzendorf, 2010; Sharmeen et al., 2014; Scholten et al., 2012; Levy, 2013).
In many Western countries, Millennial women (those born in the early 1980s, who came of age
in the new millennium) have overtaken men in holding drivers’ licences (Hopkins &
Stephenson, 2014; Tilley & Houston, 2016). For the first time, women are experiencing greater
automobility than males in their cohort. Cars are now seen by women as key to achieving
personal goals. They have become essential to the gendered household economies and family
roles, including mothering (Dowling, 2000).
Advertising campaigns have represented and reinforced social values around automobility.
Starting in the 1950s, car advertisements became prevalent in newspapers, TV, and cinemas
(Flink, 1990). Advertisements influenced the attitude of the public toward cars, setting a tone
of excitement and desire around this new technology (Walsh, 2011). Some commentators
maintain that marketing played a central role in developing and sustaining automobile culture
(Walsh, 2011; Seo, et al., 2013).
2.2 Gender: historical concepts of ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’
Academic writings concerning gender are legion. The current consensus in feminist literature
is that gender is (mostly) a socially constructed, continuously evolving phenomenon (Purcell,
2000; Scholten & Joelsson, 2019) – rather than a rigid state matching the biological sex
assigned at birth. Expressions of gender exist on a spectrum and are related to various social
and environmental factors, including personal preference and culture (Kachel et al., 2016;
Francis, 2010; MacBride-Stewart et al., 2016; Butler, 1988).
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Given that this research employs a historical lens, it brings into view more dated and fixed
expressions of gender identity than might be seen today. A body of recent work has revealed
‘femininities’ and ‘masculinities’, plural (even feminine masculinities or masculine
femininities) and their relationship to hegemonic constructs (see Paechter, 2006). However, in
many cultures including mainstream Western culture, the historical notions of ‘masculinity’
and ‘femininity’, which are based on set gender-based roles, persist (Kessels, 2013; Francis,
2010).
These have been supported by a range of physical and behavioural characteristics and
expectations. Women have been expected to display “positive” motherly virtues, such as
emotion, nurture, empathy, and care. Alternatively, they have been negatively presented as
sexually available temptresses. Masculinity has not had this dual nature: in all cases it has
presumed intelligence, rationality, power, and authority (Dobbs, 2007; Mouffe, 2005). A “bad
boy” or rebellious image has also been acceptable for men (Howard, 2010).
If “good” women need to be withdrawn and reserved, men are allowed to be assertive and even
aggressive. Physically, the “ideal woman” is envisioned as beautiful, fair, and petite whereas
the “ideal man” is tall and muscular, and generally projects strength. While cartoonish,
traditional gender constructs are enshrined in policy; this is only gradually changing (Dobbs,
2007; Mouffe, 2005). At an individual level, tradition is preserved through a lack of exposure
to alternative viewpoints (MacBride-Stewart et al., 2016).
2.3 Advertising: techniques and metrics
Advertising is a “science” that connects psychology and art (Messaris, 1997; Moriarty, 1994).
The marketing industry employs recognisable cultural tropes to establish a mental connection
between a product and a positive reaction in the audience. In this way, advertisers hope to elicit
an immediate response from the audience, such as inspiring a purchase. A longer-term goal is
to create and maintain brand loyalty (Messaris, 1997; Messaris, 1994; Zayer et al., 2019; Seo
et al., 2013; Bazin, 1967).
Often set in real-world contexts, advertisements both reflect and shape local culture (Zayer et
al., 2019; Seo et al., 2013). On the one hand, they engage in cultural reinforcement, acting as
mirrors of existing values. But they also introduce novel cultural elements and maintain a
prolonged exposure to those (Goodman, 1976). An example is the promotion of youth culture
- through language, music, and clothing choices - even in advertisements where the product is
not specifically targeting younger demographics. In this manner, talking, dressing, or dancing
like young people may become an aspiration among older people with more purchasing power.
However, advertising techniques are known to be more effective when using cultural values
that align with both the product and its intended audience (Zayer, et al., 2019). Therefore, when
it comes to gender, most advertisements reinforce prevailing social constructs and norms,
including binary gender expression, rather than challenge those (Vecchiato et al., 2014; Bui,
2021). Marketers are less interested in social progress than in achieving key industry metrics
such as first-time and follow-up sales (Bui, 2021). To this end, gender-coding is employed.
Because women are more sensitive to language choices than men (Vecchiato et al., 2014; Bui,
2021), products marketed specifically to women tend to employ particular verbal cues. Existing
research suggests that the car is largely coded as ‘male’, given its associations with power, high
performance, grit, competition (racing), and forward movement (Vecchiato et al., 2014; Zayer,
et al., 2019). Advertisements targeting female audiences appear to highlight domestic functions
and safety, with links to the family unit (Messaris, 1994). They might do so in a subtle way –
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for example, by referring in car ads to unrelated feminised market sectors such as fashion,
cosmetics, kitchen gadgets, and fragrances (Lees-Maffei, 2002).
Another general marketing premise seem to be that “sex sells” (Zayer, et al., 2019). On this
basis, male-targeted advertising - of cars and other products - commonly display images of
attractive women clad in minimal clothing as a symbol of desire. As the car market became
more competitive in the 1980s and ‘90s, the industry came up with a series of outrageous, eye-
catching ads. “Obscene” content - including the objectification and sexualisation of the female
form - was used to elicit strong responses from the audience (Messaris, 1997; Jamieson, 1992).
Ensuing public outcry led advertisers to dissociate from explicit imagery; however, undertones
remain common (Bui, 2021; Butler, 1988).
Seen through this lens, the car marketing industry emerges as conservative and even regressive.
However, systematic research that links gender, automobility, and advertising is quite limited.
The most thorough analysis to date, by Walsh (2011), focuses on the historical context of post-
war America, with limited application to present-day Australia. Studies by Howard (2010) and
Lees-Mafei (2002) are similarly focused on the United States.
4. Methodology
4.1 Analytical framework
Studies that analyse advertisements are legion, and a body of literature that examines the
communication approaches used in planning, urban design, and architecture is emerging
(Pojani & Stead 2015, 2016). The analytical frameworks vary substantially depending on the
academic persuasion of the authors but also on the communicative modes used within a
particular branch of advertising (Dahl & Buhl, 1993; Moriarty, 1994; Jensen, 1995; Peirce,
1991; Meyrowitz, 1986). In this study of gendered messages in Australian car advertisements
since the 1950s, we adopt the framework proposed by Messaris (1997).
This author surmises that the fundamental characteristic which makes advertisements
successful is effective communication, and the communicative properties of an advertisement
are semantic and syntactic. Semantic elements include the text, music, movement, and imagery
used to convey meaning, thoughts, information, and commands to an audience (Danesi, 1994).
Among these, icons function as an analogy corresponding to a real object, which is not
supplied. For example, a scale model of a car is an icon. The model has enough identifying
features including form and some aspects of a car’s appearance, without being accurate in size.
Symbols refer to concepts established through social convention (Peirce, 1991). Symbols have
no objective similarity to an actual object; it is up to the audience to make associations. An
example of a symbol is a car brand or car type. While pickup trucks symbolise male gender, a
Toyota Prius may symbolise environmental concern. Language itself is a symbol too (Messaris,
1997). Finally, indexes refer to physical causation, communicating a past action by providing
a physical trace left by an object (Pierce, 1991) - for example, tyre marks on the pavement,
used to signify that a speeding car just left the scene, or lipstick marks on someone’s cheek to
signify a woman’s kiss.
Syntax describes the interrelationships between semantic elements. These can be propositional,
spatial, and temporal (Messaris, 1997). Verbal communication in advertising provides explicit
propositional syntax whereas visual imagery implicitly discloses propositions (Eco, 1975;
Krieger, 1984; Goodman, 1976). For example, advertising copy may explicitly seek to
convince the audience to perform a certain action (‘Call us today! Switch to e-cars!’) In
addition, visual or verbal contrasts, analogies, metaphors, hyperboles, and other tropes can be
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used to establish the relationship between the elements of an advertisement. By juxtaposing the
images of an automobile and a galloping horse, intangible concepts such as speed, power, and
even masculinity are implied. Temporal and spatial syntax communicates changes in time or
location. For example, an advertisement can visually depict the distance covered by a car
(Messaris, 1997). Alternatively, the advances in vehicle technology may be implied by showing
the evolution of the design of a car over time.
The interpretation of implicit syntax is informed by viewers’ personal experiences and shared
cultural experiences; therefore, it may vary from person to person. The marketing industry is
aware of the indeterminacy of syntactical interpretation and seeks to turn it into a strength by
using certain tropes consistently in advertisements. For example, people tend to associate
nature with freedom; cars are often shown as moving against a natural backdrop (as opposed
to a congested highway) so that people come to associate cars with freedom.
In advertising, the overarching syntactical message is the desirability of a product. However,
the specific articulation of this message into semantic elements differs substantially from one
campaign to another as advertisers seek originality (Jamieson, 1992; Gombrich, 1972;
Arnheim, 1969; Worth, 1982). For the purpose of this study, we categorise the combined
effects of semantic and syntactic properties into overarching themes (Eco, 1975). These themes
are then used to examine car advertisements over time and across brands.
4.2 Data and analysis
This study is based on a qualitative analysis of gendered messaging in car advertisements
served to the Australian public between January 1950 and December 2020. We reviewed
vehicle sales data1 to identify the top three bestselling car makes/models in Australia during
each post-war decade.2 Then one advertisement was selected for each of those three
makes/models. The selection criteria were the following: (a) advertisements had to be in video
format and (b) spoken words or music had to be predominantly in English. This sampling
method resulted in a longlist of 50 items and a shortlist of 34 items. The final sample included
24 items, listed in Table 1. These originated from ten automobile brands; as seen, Holden, the
only domestic car make (now discontinued) features heavily on the list. Most advertisements
were Australian in origin or altered to feature Australian narration. Some were only 20 seconds
long whereas other lasted up to a few minutes.
Where multiple advertisements for the same vehicle were released within one decade, the
selection was informed by the ‘significance’ of an ad. This was determined by research into
the reach of the advertisement: where it was shown (i.e., in cinemas, on television, over the
internet, and so on), how frequently it played, and how long the campaign lasted. Noteworthy
advertisements were preferred to lesser-known ones, based on audience recall of discourse,
imagery, or other features during and after cease of display. Additionally, advertisements were
assessed for quality based on picture and audio clarity. This was particularly relevant for pre-
1990 advertisements.
Thematic analysis proceeded based on the analytical framework discussed above. Each
advertisement was reviewed with a minimum of five replays to generate a list of semantic
icons, indexes, and symbols as they related to gender. The relationships between these semantic
properties were analysed to identify core syntactical properties. Implicit and propositional
syntax was the most relevant for this study, whereas spatial and temporal syntax played a lesser
role.
The findings follow below. We illustrate the text with stills from car advertisements. While
these serve as orientation, verbal content and sounds are obviously lost in static images.
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Readers are invited to click on the links provided in Table 1 in order to obtain the full the
narrative.
5. Findings
In combination, this analysis revealed four main themes: (1) cars as modernity and
‘masculinity’; (2) women and cars as objects of desire; (3) cars as gendered household items;
and (4) gendered Australianism and automobility – of which the first two were the most
enduring. All themes are unpacked below. While this study is qualitative, we present the
frequency and trends of themes and subthemes in Table 2 and Graph 1.
5.1 Cars as modernity and ‘masculinity’
As a new technology, cars were associated with modernism from the outset. Our argument is
that modernism itself is a masculine notion. Even the movement’s militaristic name, avant-
garde (vanguard), reveals its associations with the male gender and characteristics such as
competition and hierarchy. Modernists - - writers, painters, and musicians, as well as architects
and planners - advocated for change, progress, and (fast) forward movement. To achieve
fulfilment and personal development, the modern human (usually an “ideal male” archetype)
was expected to overcome the past, break up with long-standing communities, and valiantly
face the future (Heynen, 2005). In this context, early car models were framed as increasing
women’s freedom and expanding their reach (Scharff, 1992). Tradition was rejected by
modernists as repressive, stagnant, and sentimental (Heynen, 2005).
Around the world, modernist planners promoted a new urbanity as orderly as a well-oiled
machine - and supported by automobility. This presumed to liberate human societies from the
bonds of the past (Holston 1989). In terms of design, a sublimely “virile” aesthetic
characterised by simplicity, rationality, sobriety, and even asceticism came to be favoured in
the modern era (Heynen 2005). As an embodiment of these traits, the car came to be associated
with ‘manliness’ more strongly than with femininity (Barber, 2019). Certain automobile types,
such as trucks, came to be gendered as ‘masculine’ and their ownership came to symbolise
hegemonic masculinity, particularly within male-dominated industries - e.g., construction.
Meanwhile, compact, elegant vehicles were framed as “chick cars” (Barber, 2019; Howard,
2010).
How does this apply to car advertising in Australia? In the 1950s and ‘60s, car ads were highly
informative and story-like. In those stories, men and women were treated as two separate
groups with very different social roles and interests. In the 1970s, the advertisement
composition underwent a transition toward faster editing and dynamic camera angles,
associating a range of desirable images, such as flashy disco scenes, with the product (i.e., the
car). The advertising copy was particularly concerned with the ability of the car to enhance the
life of the buyer by making the male patron desirable and unrestricted. The syntax concerning
the vehicle shifted from ‘utility’ to the ability to ‘liberate’, granting men the freedom to be
young, social, and mobile.
Throughout the study period, the language associated with masculine figures in ads related to
‘performance’, vehicle ‘utility’ and ‘style’. The car itself, particularly when shown in
movement, was used to symbolise intangible properties such as speed, movement, and
progress. Additionally, male narration featured in twenty advertisements across the study
period. Through 2000, all the men depicted in car ads were white. Overall, the messaging
implied masculine and white authority over the automobile. The ads became somewhat more
diverse in the new Millennium, but persons of colour were never the centre of attention.
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In the earlier decades (1950s to 1980s), men were often cast as authoritative and in control
Language choices (explicit propositional syntax) empowering the masculine patron, such as
‘put your decision in the hands of an expert, … you!’ (a Ford ad from 1970) were representative
of cultural values around individualism and the sovereignty of the consumer. In one Holden ad
from the mid-1950s, a semantic choice was made to represent vehicle “scientists” as
exclusively male, featuring expert-like, distinguished lab-coat-wearing figures (Figure 1).
A trend towards more abstract themes in later advertisements (1990s to 2020s) was evident.
The syntax became less concerned with identifying specific characters – male or female – and
rather focused on the vehicle itself as an icon of modernity - its performance, appearance, and
interior features. Semantic elements relating to vehicle speed, road agility, luxury, and long-
distance endurance were used to portray this overall syntax.
A syntactic connection between cars and modernity was also established through architecture.
One Holden ad from the 1970s showed a car driving with the Sydney Opera House in the
background (Figure 2). This building - a multivenue performance art centre on a headland in
the Sydney Harbour – has been the ultimate icon of modernism in Australia, as well as a
masterpiece of 20th century expressionist architecture. Like a car, the building’s large precast
concrete shells reaching for the sky symbolise newness, futuristic vision, and momentum. Of
course, the trope of the empty city (except for the driver) is deceptive: large Australian cities,
Sydney in particular, suffer from high levels of traffic congestion.
Other syntactical choices focused on establishing a relationship between the car and its
contributions to Australia’s economic and industrial advancement – in other words, the
country’s future and livelihood. These approaches reflected the technophilia that came to
dominate the media starting in the 1990s (Lees-Maffei, 2002). A Toyota advertisement from
the 1990s capitalised on the fact that it had just reached ‘number one sales’ status with the
Camry model. The catch phrase ‘you don’t get to number one overnight’ was a nod to Toyota’s
extended presence in the Australian vehicle market but also to a hint that the market at the time
was cutthroat. Further semantic choices in the same ad, such as an iconic sign ‘This is where
the future’s being built’, were meant to reinforce the relationship between automobility and
progress (Figure 3).
5.2 Women and cars as objects of men’s desire
A core aim of vehicle marketing is to persuade an audience of the value, quality, and allure of
a product, and the industry has historically employed sexualised images of women to achieve
this aim (Lees-Maffei, 2002). In this study sample, themes relating to the quality of design and
the novelty of the cars being advertised were recurring. Emotive imagery was also present,
which associated the product with erotic desire and inspiration of envy in others. The language
choices used to convey the link between cars and desire were often gendered, expressing the
difference in masculine and feminine priorities in ascribing ‘value’ to an automobile. Often, an
underlying assumption (not necessarily true) was that men sought “power, control, physical
strength, sexual gratification, and dominance over women” (Howard, 2010:149).
Through the 1950s and 1960s, verbal narration was frequently used to illustrate in detail
superior vehicle design. Advertisements targeting a male audience employed propositional
syntax to outline specific vehicle elements, highlighting luxury materials. In the 1970s and ‘80,
as Australian society became more unequal, the iconography used in advertisements began to
equate vehicle products to perceptions of affluence and popularity within a social group.
Importantly, the masculine characters featured in ads from that era had the capacity to prioritise
recreation and attract beautiful women, associating the product with strong cultural values
around idealised, hedonistic lifestyles (Figure 4). Other commentators have made a similar
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point that in places with high levels of car-dependency, the car is understood, inter alia, as a
site of courtship, romance, and sex (Lewis, 1983). If earlier car advertisements had focused on
family and duty, later ads carry undertones of liberation from the ordinary. The characters seek
mobility, individuality, and admiration from others.
Through the 1970s and ‘80s, the sample was also characterised by overtly sexualised and
objectified feminine figures - sometimes clad in little more than a bikini. The male gaze
enveloped both the product (the car) and the woman within or nearby (Figure 5). This implicitly
marketed the product to men, although women were physically present in the ad. Starting in
the 1990s, the messaging around the quality of design became more implicit, with inferential
visual depictions used to define the product calibre. So did references to gender. The key syntax
linked a ‘shiny’ and sleek aesthetic to high speeds and long distances; these features targeted a
new class of “yuppie” consumers (Barber, 2019). The matte pastel colours of earlier eras, which
are more often associated with childhood or femininity, began to disappear. Similarly, the
advertising copy and imagery linked cars to male gender in a more subtle way than before. For
example, in a Hyundai ad from 2020 (Figure 6), the statement ‘performance never sleeps’
suggests male (sexual) endurance.
Another recurring theme – closely related to desire - was the inspiration of envy in other people
– both men and women. Typically, envy was expressed through explicit, propositional syntax,
in statements like ‘most people do [admire my car]’ (in a Morris ad from the mid-1950s) and
‘you’ve either got it, or you don’t’ (in a Holden ad from the early 1990s). The latter ad features
a large family traveling down a highway in a single car. A second, deteriorated vehicle pulls
up beside it conjuring the contrast between the two. The “comparison” vehicle is so small that
one person is riding on the roof. The narrator says, ‘you’ve either got it, or you don’t’
solidifying the comparison for the audience (Figure 7). In this example, the notion of envy is
camouflaged by humour.
A few, gender-based variations on the envy theme were evident. Where the car was meant to
inspire envy in other men, an attractive woman associated with the male car owners might
feature in the ad to amplify the envy. The woman in this case equated to the car itself. Where
the envying parties were other women, the car owner and her friends or acquaintances might
turn against one another.
A noteworthy example of this featured in a 2010 Toyota advertisement. Three women catch up
at a café, and eventually one of them gets up to leave. To the shock of the remaining women,
she unlocks a new Toyota Corolla. The women express strong admiration and desire for the
vehicle through intense facial expressions (Figure 8) and statements like ‘looks European,
doesn’t it!’ (Europe, in particular London, the metropole, has been historically associated with
refinement and superior taste in the Australian psyche.) The women make insulting comments
about the car owner: ‘she can’t afford that!’, ‘I wonder who bought it for her this time’, and
‘he probably thinks it makes her look more sophisticated’. These syntactical choices created
strong associations of quality and desirability in the product. Simultaneously, the propositions
reinforced existing gender-coded cultural expressions: women as “catty” and insincere friends
and men as gullible and easily manipulated through female beauty and sex appeal. While the
men were somewhat objectified too (as human ATMs), the ad clearly insinuated that it was still
them who retained the financial power to purchase expensive vehicles.
One could say that these types of ads engaged in a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy to undermine
female solidarity as women were gaining more rights in society, joining the workforce en
masse, and earning their own income. Interestingly, the “glamorous corporate woman” trope
(an icon of individual financial success) which abounded in US car ads in the 1980s and ‘90s
(Howard, 2010), was not present in our sample.
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5.3 Cars as gendered household items
In one portion of car ads, especially earlier ones, the feminine semantics were distinctly wifely,
docile, and passive – in other words, closely connected to the notion of ‘home’. The private
sphere of home and nurture was cemented as the “natural” realm of women in the 19th century,
when, for the first time in urban history, the place of work was physically separated from the
place of residence. While the relationship between home and work has evolved since then, its
gendered dimensions have persisted (Heynen 2005; Pojani 2021).
Through the 1950s and 1960s, verbal narration was frequently used to illustrate superior
vehicle design. However, the semantic and syntactical choices were highly gendered. Cars were
positioned as the means to achieve men’s transportation requirements: attending work or long-
distance travel. This made practical sense for advertisers at the time given that women’s car
purchases were curtailed due to discriminatory practices within banks and even the car industry
itself (Howard, 2010). Meanwhile, women were cast as “adjuncts” – e.g., passengers rather
than drivers (Lees-Maffei, 2002).
Where ads targeted men, the markers for quality were associated with overall vehicle
performance. Semantics relating to vehicle speed, road agility and long-distance endurance
were used to portray this overall syntax (see also Howard, 2010). Family functions, such as
transporting children, were typically detached from the core message of the advertisement
unless they were associated with a female character (Figure 9). The assumption was that
“automobile purchases remained the domain of men, who might solicit wives’ opinions on
paint color or fabrics, but [relied] on their own superior mechanical knowledge in making a
decision” (Howard, 2010:137).
Where women were central to the core messaging, they were distinguished by the patronising
title ‘woman driver’. Ads employed propositional syntax to outline utilitarian vehicle elements
such as safety, affordability, ease of steering, manoeuvrability, and large cabin size. A synthesis
of semantics identified common messages of ‘value for money’, ‘luxury at reduced costs’ and
affordable prices across new models of the same vehicle type (i.e., ‘new model, same great
price’). The size and configuration of backseats and boot space was always associated with
children and completion of domestic chores. The assumption was that these features would be
a priority for women as guardians of domesticity and managers of the household economy.
Another assumption was that women were less competent drivers and more fearful and timider
overall. This type of “folklore” and stereotyping was common in other car-dependent contexts
as well (see Berger 1986 on the USA). The overall syntax suggested that women were
secondary characters to the automobile. This approach infantilised women but also highlighted
cultural perceptions of gendered transport requirements in Australian settings. Advertising
syntax sought to communicate and reinforce an overarching relationship between “family
values” and the car. Other authors have commented that, where automobility is entrenched,
cars become part of the family ecology and a site of family life (Berger, 1992). Also, cars
become associated with (and even reinforce) normative and even “good” motherhood
(Dowling, 2000; Paijmans and Pojani, 2021).
From the 1980s onwards, the gendered syntax evolved, with character representation gradually
becoming more diverse and sophisticated. As cultural perceptions of gender over the study
period changed, female figures in car advertisements were no longer presented solely through
their relationships to male figures or children. Rather they began to show independent
motivation and individuality. This recognised women’s growing power as consumers but also
reflected a consumerist vision of women’s independence and even of the feminist movement.
11
Markers of femininity, such as conventional attractiveness, makeup, high heels, or demure
postures, remained present in ads (see Howard, 2010).
The depiction of family units in car advertisements ceased in the 2010s, reflecting fertility
decline and population aging in Australia. Where present, the semantic representations of
children remained remarkably static across the study period. Disregarding era-specific
clothing, child characters exhibited similar “bouncing excitement” at the prospect of a new
vehicle. Children were frequently shown as passengers in the backseat of the family car to
denote parental care responsibilities and the vehicle’s implicit commitment to safety. In the
1950s, child costuming choices were gendered; thereafter, and especially in the 1990s and
2000s, child characters were expressed as gender neutral. Where parental characters were
included, there was always a maternal figure but, in many instances, no paternal figure.
5.4 Gendered Australianism and automobility
Australians developed an ideal national identity in the first half of the twentieth century, once
the country became independent from Britain. A number of Australian identity markers were
widely deployed in car advertisements, in connection to gender. Australianism was identified
as a theme, although it appeared less frequently. Australian culture was shown as placing a
high value on the private vehicle: cars were credited with providing the Australian people the
freedom to overcome the vast distances of the continent and tame the wild landscape.
As in North America (Barber, 2019), cars were incorporated into the national mythology that
blends frontier imagery, the outdoors, and open landscapes to economic activities such as
farming or mining. One may say that the car itself was presented as a symbol of national
identity. However, national identity was associated with male gender whereas nature was
ascribed a somewhat inferior status (akin to women’s) as an entity to be subjugated. Despite
gender-coding, this syntax was an asset for marketers as it inspired a sense of loyalty and pride
from a significant body of patrons.
Several vehicle brands capitalised on the status of the car in Australian culture, in particular
the homegrown Holden, and its closest competitor Ford. For almost fifty years, the Holden
Commadore and the Ford Falcon fought for a place in the top three best-selling vehicles – and
one way to climb to the top was to associate themselves with Australianism. This was easier
for Holden as the only Australian-made car. Its propositional syntax was straightforward:
‘Australia’s own vehicle’.
Potentially more potent were the visual depictions of vehicles embedded in quintessential
Australian landscapes. Semantic elements included imagery of remote wilderness, intimidating
water bodies, rocky slopes, and tangled vegetation (Figure 10). Visual calling cards of iconic
native flora and fauna, such as eucalypti, kangaroos, and koalas, were also common. A Ford
Falcon TV commercial from the 1980s shows an actual falcon in flight. This communicated an
overall syntax of the car as an Australia-ready product and Australia as an exciting and unique
place to be explored by courageous (male) drivers. The imagery presented the land as
ahistorical, unpeopled, and uncontested (see Waitt and Lane, 2007) - which is problematic in a
country whose history includes genocide and land theft. Moreover, a depiction of the outback
as the quintessential Australian landscape is illusory: in a country that is nearly 90% urban, the
overwhelming majority of actual living arrangements are in suburban conurbations consisting
of single-family homes and shopping malls.
However, these findings must be understood in the context of a burgeoning national identity,
which was informed by the archetypically male image of early settlers: gritty, resilient, and
capable of battling an unfamiliar and unhospitable nature, enduring economic hardship, and
12
engaging in warfare with Indigenous inhabitants. Egalitarianism rather than class stratification,
thrift rather than consumption, and mutual support (“mateship”) were key identity aspects.
Comedy, dry humour, self-mockery, and satire were also important. Sports - swimming,
surfing, cricket, rugby - and the outdoors – hiking, camping, sailing - came to have a revered
status whereas intellectualism was generally shunned as a remnant of empire (Sharmeen, et al.,
2014). In reality, larger cars, trucks in particular, are a marker of “cashed up bogans” working
in the mining industry – i.e., uneducated men with consumer power, and their families (Pini et
al., 2012).
The phrase “the lucky country” was coined to denote Australia’s balmy weather and relaxed
lifestyle. In city planning, Australian identity was expressed as a utopia of sprawling, classless
suburbs, which have persevered into the present. In the second half of the twentieth century,
migratory influxes and globalisation produced a more internationalist and multicultural
outlook. The nation moved toward a reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Straights Island
peoples, on whose unceded land Australia was built. Nonetheless, a tendency for hyper-
masculinity is persistent in Australian culture (Sharmeen, et al., 2014).
Where cars were marketed in the context of cities, they were shown against the backdrop of
typically male interests, such as ball games. For example, a Holden advertisement, c. 1970,
featured a repeated catch phase, ‘football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars’. In
combination with visuals of sport and ‘outdoorsy’ nature shots, this advertisement was strongly
male-coded. The ad ended with ‘real Australians drive Holden cars’. The representation of
extended local families was typically used for comedic relief – rather than to imply luxury,
power, or performance. Large, hodgepodge groups piling into a single car conjured amusing
but also relatable visuals – and were in line with the Australian ethos of “making do” inherited
from the early settlement era.
Only in a few cases were women shown who did not conform to normative gender roles – but
rather acted as ‘one of the guys’. But even in these types of ads, the challenge to the usual
feminine tropes echoes the “the imagery and assumptions of traditional male-stream car
culture” (Lees-Maffei, 2010:369). A Toyota ad from 2020 featured 40 Hilux utes3 happening
upon each other in a mountainous landscape (Figure 11). The motorists (nearly all male)
conversed through their car windows, describing their Hilux adventures. One female character,
‘Jess’, was featured, who was dressed in camping clothes and was generally not representative
of traditional femininity. Jess towed a large motorboat, and when prompted by a male character
about ‘what’s happening?’ she responded ‘just taking my boat for a drive’ (a common sight on
Australian roads). This absurd scenario reinforced the concept that real Australian men are
supposed to drive and driving represents power and routine simultaneously. Also, automobility
symbolises a bonding device among men (and non-gender-normative women).
6. Conclusion
The advertisements analysed in this article span over a half century. During this period, at both
semantic and syntactic levels, car marketing in Australia has reflected existing social mores
and practices such as gender hierarchy and female subjugation. Cars have been associated with
both modernity and national identity, but the latter concepts have been envisioned in masculine
terms. Women, by contrast, have been variously cast as objects of men’s desire (akin to luxury
cars) or as household objects (akin to family cars).
Contemporary Australia is a very different place than it was in the post-war period. There are
also great regional differences in Australia, as well as a major urban-rural divide. In addition
to automobility, the period covered in the study also saw the expansion of television as a
13
household object, and more recently a shift to the internet and streaming. Yet, gendered
messaging in car ads has persisted. What shapes and influences this persistence?
One answer is that the advertising industry is fairly conservative. Advertisers have rarely acted
as heralders of social progress, for example by showing women in positions of authority over
men, and capable of making their own vehicle purchasing decisions. Gender coding has
diminished (or become more implicit) in later decades, as women are having more financial
power and are, in fact, driving as much or even more than men. The fact that regressive
messaging has not entirely disappeared reflects the fact that Australian society is still far from
achieving gender equality.
What is the way forward? Should consumers demand the inclusion of women on equal terms
in car ads? As urban planners, our answer is no. We are loath to recommend more car marketing
to the Australian public, even if it is gender-egalitarian. A sustainable future necessitates the
weaning of all genders from automobility altogether. Instead of viewing cars as an expression
of progress, freedom, liberation, development, and Australianism, we – as Australians and
inhabitants of the Earth – need to be exposed to non-profit advertising that portrays cars as a
scourge for the environment and for cities.
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17
Tables
Table 1. Data sample: top three most popular vehicles by decade and link to corresponding advertisement.
Decade
Most popular vehicle
Second most popular vehicle
Third most popular vehicle
1950s
VW Beetle
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=V4vRifGzSNI
Holden Commadore
https://m.youtube.com/watch
?v=IBE4DfeevKw
Morris Oxford
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=c2vtIxfniOE&list=PL3QJ
NEPLNgiZgTtR3JJwf_NqnUa
Mway3u
1960s
Holden Commadore
https://m.youtube.com/watch
?v=XUdbaT2jeQU
Ford Falcon
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=O1t7O6Pf7JE
BMC Mini
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=VogVQZjGt3M
1970s
Ford Falcon
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=OL3P1pP1wAQ
Holden Commadore
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=VGW-WX77zjY
Chrysler Charger
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=d5MKu8W8cGk&list=PL
3QJNEPLNgiaZP15Kt5iCx9oo
FBKP3f7B&index=2
1980s
Ford Falcon
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=xlv1HRJJ89E
Holden Commadore
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=eEG_1NSV4zY
Nissan Bluebird
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=P68-gVuEb28
1990s
Holden Commadore
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=yr0izRtOwu8
Ford Falcon
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=TRTSiL5Fdcw
Toyota Camry
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=yIdgha01Pnw
2000s
Holden Commadore
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=-iEyTZufAgs
Toyota Corolla
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=hiMRl0ctRKw
Ford Falcon
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=Vb6aOy_fAs4
2010s
Holden Commadore
https://m.youtube.com/watch
?v=H2iwyX8wc7o
Mazda 3
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=ndCjDbkLKUc
Toyota Corolla
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=IiVlcTqMOeA
2020s
Toyota Hilux
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=QBEUtjwjbEM
Mazda CX5
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=yCsfW7f1LuM
Hyundai i30
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=ePRRk8wtpOk
18
Table 2. Core themes and subthemes in advertisements.
Themes (no. of advertisements)*
Subthemes (no. of advertisements)*
Cars as modernity and ‘masculinity’ (47)
Traditional masculinity/femininity (20)
Authoritative men (14)
Novelty/modernity (13)
Women and cars as objects of men’s desire (48)
Quality and stylish design (22)
Desirability (16)
Objectification (6)
Envy (4)
Cars as gendered household items (33)
Children (9)
Affordability (7)
Domestic responsibilities (6)
Safety (6)
Extended families (3)
“Women drivers” (2)
Gendered Australianism and automobility (20)
Masculine national identity (12)
Landscape-ready vehicles (7)
Non-normative gender expression (1)
*Totals are greater than 24 as all advertisements contained multiple themes and subthemes.
19
Figures
Legend
Cars as modernity and ‘masculinity’
Women and cars as objects of men’s desire
Cars as gendered household items
Gendered Australianism and automobility
Graph 1. Subtheme trends during the study period.
20
Figure 1. Still from a 1956 Holden Commadore advertisement.
21
Figure 2. Still from a Holden Commadore advertisement, ca. 1970.
22
Figure 3. Still from a 1992 Toyota Camry advertisement.
23
Figure 4. Still from a 1970a Ford Falcon advertisement.
24
Figure 5. Still from a 1972 Ford Falcon advertisement.
25
Figure 6. Still from a 2020 Hyundai i30 advertisement.
26
Figure 7. Still form a 1990 Holden Commadore advertisement.
27
Figure 8. Still from a 2001 Toyota Corolla advertisement.
28
Figure 9. Still from a 1959 BMC Mini advertisement.
29
Figure 10. Still from a 1990 Ford Falcon advertisement.
30
Figure 11. Still from a 2020 Toyota Hilux advertisement.
31
Notes
1 Sales data were extracted from media sources, based on the publications released by the Federal Chamber of
Automotive Industries (FCAI). FCAI is the peak body for Australian vehicle distribution, recording data and
storing historical statistics regarding the automotive sector. Digital sales reports, known as ‘VFACTS’, can be
purchased for one-off access or by continuous subscription via a web browser at significant expense. However,
other automotive media organisations access VFACTS data and make them publicly available through news
articles and verified blog posts. For this study, the data was sourced through the media organisation Best Selling
Cars Blog, which supplies ranked Australian car sales data from 1946 to the present. This data source is
endorsed as valid by two independent organisations: PD Insurance Blog and Savings.com.au Financial Services.
2 Advertisements released in 2020 and 2021 were considered as representative of the 2020s decade.
3 Pickup trucks in Australian parlance.
