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Women as Home Caregivers: Gender Portrayal in OTC Drug Commercials

Concern has long been expressed over possible adverse effects of television advertising of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. This study investigated a sample of prime time network television ads to determine how gender portrayals differed in drug and non-drug commercials. Findings indicated that women were significantly more likely than men to appear as characters in drug ads than in ads for other products, and that they are frequently portrayed in these commercials as experts on home medical care, often as mothers caring for ill children. This supports the hypothesis that drug advertisers take advantage of stereotypical images of women as home medical caregivers. It also raises the question of whether female consumers are being encouraged by these ads to overuse OTC medications as a way of gaining the family's love and respect.