Jean Kilbourne is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising.

In the late 1960s, Jean began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, this approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs. According to Susan Faludi, “Jean Kilbourne’s work is pioneering and crucial to the dialogue of one of the most underexplored, yet most powerful, realms of American culture -advertising. We owe her a great debt.” Mary Pipher has called Kilbourne “our best, most compassionate teacher.”

“But many people do not fully realize that there are terrible consequences when people becoming things. … 

“Our need for social and personal change and power is often co-opted and trivialized into an adolescent and self-centered kind of rebellion.”

-public speaker, writer, filmmaker and activist who is  internationally recognized for her work on the image of women in advertising

“Ads sell more than products. They sell values, they sell images. They sell concepts of love and sexuality, of success and perhaps most important, of normalcy. To a great extent, they tell us who we should and shouldn’t be.”

“Women’s bodies continue to be dismembered in advertising. Over and over again just one part of the body is used to sell products, which is one of the most dehumanizing things you can do to someone. Not only is she a thing, but not one part of that things if focused on.”

• Public speaker, writer, filmaker
• adverts are becoming over-sexualised – compared to old adverts
• talks about representations

The advert was produced and released in 1967 which is the same period of time where equal pay act was introduced 1970.

Both men and women wore clothes for the jungle however the woman had more revealing clothing which depicts the sexualisation in that period.

The setting of the jungle is a tough environment which requires a tough male character.

It is also important to note that all of the models seem to be British and are all white. This is probably due to the fact that racism was still around around the time of this advert. Furthermore, the male model has muscular, hairy arms which further creates an extremely heterosexual advert.

Jean Kilbourne

“Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture.”
― Jean Kilbourne, So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood, and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids

studying images of women in advertising, Jean Kilbourne has transformed the way in which organizations and educational institutions around the world address the prevention of many public health problems including smoking, high-risk drinking, eating disorders, obesity, sexualization of children, and violence against women. In the late 1960s, she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and its impact on several public health issues, most notably violence against women and eating disorders. Ms. Kilbourne launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems – a radical and original idea at the time that is today mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs.

her speaking, writing, films, and videos have impacted the way in which we publicly communicate with each other about ideal beauty, the connection between the objectification of women and violence, the themes of liberation and weight control, the targeting of alcoholics by the alcohol industry, and the image of addiction as a love affair. Her first film Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women (and the remakes Still Killing Us Softly and Killing Us Softly 3) is among the most popular and widely used educational films of all time.

In addition to the many awards and honors she has received, Ms. Kilbourne has served as an authority on addictions, gender issues, and the media, and as an advisor to former United States Surgeons General, Dr. C. Everett Koop and Dr. Antonia Novello. She has also provided testimony for the United States Congress. She lectures at a wide range of conferences including those focusing on addictions and public health, violence, women, and the media, and has appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs to encourage an open dialogue that moves and empowers people to take action in their own and in society’s interest.