Changing role of women in Saudi advertising

Saudi vision 2030 brought many socio-economic reforms in Saudi Arabia, the advertising scenario in the Kingdom is also expected to change. Women's right to drive a car is one of the most significant iconic reforms any country might have witnessed during many decades. Traditionally, Saudi women are not encouraged to play a significant role in the local advertising scenario, but now things are changing. This research aims to examine the changing role of Saudi women in advertising. Major themes on the subject areas were derived from literature, and content analysis has been used as a primary analytical tool. Findings show there are three major themes in the data. The first theme reflects women portrayed in advertisements as a typical gender stereotype including women as a domesticated person, women as part of family, women in traditional dresses. The second theme is about women in adapted international ads for Saudi media including women with faceoff, remove women and re-construct the ad, replace women with product, cover the nude parts of women. Finally, the third visible theme shows changing women's roles in the Saudi advertising scenario