'Advertising doesn't sell things; all advertising does is change the way people think or feel' (Jeremy Bullmore). Evaluate this statement with reference to selected critical theories (past and present).
Advertising is a powerful far reaching tool used to promote commercial products. People across the world encounter some form of advertising everyday and have become oblivious to its power over their emotions and beliefs. Jeremy Bullmore said ‘Advertising doesn’t sell things; all advertising does is change the way we think or feel’ there are a variety of ways in which this statement can be read. Some would argue that advertising should effect the way we think and feel, whereas there are a large majority of people who would argue that advertising is unfair and should not play on peoples emotions.
Bullmore was in full support of the advertising we look for ourselves ‘Advertising that you and I go looking for is neither mysterious nor suspect. It is valued by all and resented by none’ (Bullmore, 1998, Page 5) he believed that because we chose to look for these advertisements that our emotions were protected and that we would not be forced into buying a product against our will. ‘It is the other kind... advertising that goes out looking for people; advertising that seeks to ambush us as we turn the pages of a magazine or the corner of the street.’ (Bullmore, 1998, Page 5) This has become more and more present in day-to-day life and is evident on the popular social networking site, Facebook. The site has started monitoring the pages its users visit the most, the results appear on the right hand side of the page in the form of small advertisements for products which have a subtle link to our interests. In effect, we are essentially doing the advertisers job by involuntarily telling them what interests we have and therefore what advertisements we should see. Bullmore describes it as advertising that ‘desperately needs to draw attention to itself because we’d never, voluntarily, go looking for it.’ (Bullmore, 1998, Page 5-6). The role of the social media in advertising has meant that companies have a direct connection to our online activity and can make links to other products which we do not necessarily wish to see.
A more critical opinion to Bullmore comes from Berger ‘We are now accustomed to being addressed by these images that we scarcely notice their total impact’ (Berger, 1972, page 130) The impact which advertising has can affect the way people feel significantly, primarily because we model ourselves on what the advertising community say is correct. Berger wrote ‘we accept the total system of publicity images as we accept climate’ (Berger, 1972, page 130) this is correct as it seems that society conforms to the common ideology even if they do not agree with it. With this comes the desire to fit into society and cultural groups. The biggest element with this issue is probably fashion advertising which is known for being perhaps the harshest in the industry. Advertisements from the world of fashion illustrate the ‘perfect’ image of a person, this image is widely known and aspired to by many people.The image which is forced on us by the fashion industry can result in self-esteem issues of people who feel they should look a certain way. A way in which advertising covers up their false representations is by manipulating the consumer into believing it is their choice to feel unhappy ‘it proposes to each of us that we transform ourselves, our lives, by buying something more’ (Berger, 1972, page 131).
Gramsci came up with the term ‘cultural hegemony’, he said ‘Hegemony in this case means the success of the dominant classes in presenting their definition of reality, their view on the world, in such a way that it is accepted by other classes as ‘common sense’. Gramsci is describing a notion which is still in place in this contemporary society, the dominant classes dictate what the majority should and should not agree with. With this comes the ‘general ‘consensus’..’ and ‘the only sensible way of seeing the world.’ (Gramsci) Similarly to Gramsci, Noam Chomsky wrote numerous books about the achievements of propaganda and how the media controls the masses. He believed that the information which people receive is filtered and dumbed down ‘the public must be barred from managing of their own affairs and the means of information must be kept narrowly and rigidly controlled’ (Chomsky, 2002, page 10) Although Gramsci describes the ‘dominant classes’ he also explains that there is not simply one dominant class but the a merging of a number of social classes. ‘There is not in any sense a single dominant class, but rather, a shifting and unstable alliance of different social classes’. (Gramsci) In this Gramsci and Chomsky address the issue of power and who is given the authority to decide what people should be interested in. This, again, raises the point of social class and how it seems the upper classes dominate and ‘rule’ the lower classes.
Gramsci believed that ‘there are on the one hand the dominant classes who seek to contain and incorporate all thought and behaviour within the terms and limits they set in accordance with their interests. On the other hand there are the dominated or subordinate classes who attempt to maintain and to further the validity and effectiveness of their own definitions of reality.’ (Gramsci) Gramsci implies that even though the lower classes do not agree with being ruled by the upper classes they conform anyway. Similar to this Chomsky wrote ‘There is first of all the class of citizens who have to take some active role in running general affairs. That’s the specialized class. They are the people who analyze, execute, make decisions, and run things...’ (Chomsky, 2002, Page 16) The suggestions running through this statement imply that the dominant classes believe that the majority do not have the intelligence to decide for themselves, ‘their function in democracy.. is to be ‘spectators’, not participants... The compelling moral principle is that the mass of the public are just too stupid to be able to understand things’ (Lippmann in Chomsky, 2002, Page 17). The implications of Lippmann’s theory are present in day-to-day life and massively in news publications, as there are certain newspapers which are meant for a specific ‘audience’ and class and therefore are filtered down so they can be understood by the public.
Lippmann called the majority ‘the bewildered herd’ (Lippmann in Chomsky, 2002, Page16) he believed that the dominant class lead the majority around and controlled the amount of freedom they could have in their decisions. ‘We have to tame the bewildered herd, not allow the bewildered herd to rage and trample and destroy things.’ (Lippmann in Chomsky, 2002, Page 18) The media would fall into the category which Chomsky describes as ‘the people with real power...the ones who own society’ (Chomsky, 2002, Page 18) it would seem that the people who own society have the influence to change the way people feel by simply using an ideology in an advertisement. This raises the question that if the majority have infact become a ‘bewildered herd’ is there any chance of them regaining their independence and deciding for themselves? Chomsky writes ‘Occasionally they are allowed to lend their weight to one or another member of the specialized class. In other words they’re allowed to say ‘We want you to be our leader’’ (Chomsky, 2002, Page 17) this could imply that the dominant classes making the decisions is now not a problem but is accepted as normality. advertising, like the dominant classes, could be seen as an attempt to tease and manipulate the masses by suggesting that they have made the decision to buy a product when infact they have simply fallen for the false promises set out by the industry.
Berger describes the promises advertising makes as ‘the promise not of pleasure, but of happiness’ (Berger, 1972, Page 132) with the introduction of different brands producing the same product, buying has now become a deciding factor of social class. Berger writes that ‘Happiness of being envied is glamour’ (Berger, 1972, Page 132) and that ‘Being envied is a solitary form of reassurance’ (Berger, 1972, Page 133) this implies that the upper class buy into the glorified brands in order to be envied by the lower classes which brings them happiness. ‘The sum of everything is money, to get money is to overcome anxiety. Alternatively the anxiety on which publicity plays is the fear that having nothing you will be nothing’ (Berger, 1972, Page 143) this denotes a previous point that people buy into a commodity culture in order to fit in with society but it is also a major feature in the advertising industry. As advertising plays on the consumers emotions it can cause people to worry about not being able to afford the products and brands which enable them to be a part of the group they aspire to be in.
Advertising regularly attaches itself to a popular event or person which people admire and love, this was present in the late 1800’s with the advert for Uncle Sam’s oven range (see Fig1) The brand purposely made reference to Independence day in order to play on the pride and emotions of the American people. In doing this the audience would first recognise the event and therefore make an unconscious mental link to the product. ‘This more, it proposes, will make us in some way richer-even though we will be poorer by having spent our money’ (Berger, 1972, page 131) The consumer believes that by buying the product they are buying into the pride an honor which comes with the independence of America, when in retrospect they are buying a very deviously advertised branded oven.
Representations of gender in the advertising industry raises some controversial questions. Laura Mulvey wrote ‘Women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact’ (Mulvey, 2009, Page 19) Women everyday are objectified by the media, they are either represented as a housewife or staged to look attractive. ‘The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly’ (Mulvey, 2009, Page 19) Mulvay addresses the ‘male gaze’ many times during her writings, she believes that women are objectified and negatively represented. However, though most women would see this as a negative representation there are a small group of women who would not be offended by this stereotype. One could argue that men are represented stereotypically, though it could be perceived as more positive, and they are also objectified like women. It could be said that stereotypes in general can be seen in both positive and negative ways depending on who is viewing it.
In many advertisements women are staged in a certain way to grab the attention of either a woman who aspires to be something different or a male who finds her attractive. Women are commonly used in male advertising to gain the attention of the audience by first attracting them to the female. ‘As Budd Boetticher has put it... She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance’ (Boetticher in Mulvey, 2009, Page 20) this implies that the use of a woman in male advertising is simply a way of attracting the attention of a male and creating some form of emotional connection between them. Mulvey describes this through the media of film, she believes that men project an image of themselves onto a character and therefore feel some form of emotion towards the woman. ‘The man controls the film fantasy and also emerges as the representative of power in a further sense: as the bearer of the look of the spectator, transferring it behind the screen to neutralise the extra diegetic tendencies represented by woman as spectacle.’ (Mulvey, 2009, Page 20) The implications of this statement are that men need the presence of a woman in order to go along with the narrative structure of a film.
There have been many debates about the treatment of women in advertising but little has been done to abolish the stereotype. As advertising must rely on stereotypes in order to grab their audiences attention stereotypical representations of gender are used in a wide number of campaigns. It has become very easy to simply rely on a stereotype to attract an audience. Two of the few companies which have not conformed to this ideology are Dove and Boots. In their more recent campaigns the companies main aim has been to attract real women by representing them in the correct light.
The Dove campaigns are famous for showing the real image of a woman rather than a young, size zero model. In one of their campaigns they feature six women who range from tall to short, slender to curvaceous and old to young, along with this they also include women from different ethnic backgrounds rather than a ‘typical’ white British woman (See Fig. 2). In the ad the women are all styled in different types of lingerie, some have chosen to cover their stomachs whereas others have them on display. This connotes that each woman possesses a different style and also suggests that women can wear lingerie no matter what their size, shape or age. The photograph used is taken against a plain white background which enables the attention of the audience to be solely on the women. This would be seen by many women as a positive representation as they are able to relate to the women being shown.
An advertisement showcasing a negative representation of a woman would be a Calvin Klein campaign featuring the popular movie actress, Eva Mendes (See Fig. 3). Her costume in the image is very suggestive as she is wearing small lingerie, stockings, suspenders and high heeled shoes. Her stance is also extremely sexualised as she is stood upright with legs parted and her hands on her hips. The connotations of this stance are primarily sexual with a secondary hint of empowerment. This advert could be viewed in a variety of ways with both males and females seeing it positively and negatively. A positive view would be that she is utilising her sexual presence in order to be noticed, some women might think that this is a way of the woman taking the negative stereotype and turning it around so that she has the power to control it.
Berger wrote ‘the social presence of a woman is different in kind from a that of a man. A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies... A man’s presence suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you... a woman’s presence expresses her own attitude to herself, and defines what can and cannot be done to her’ (Berger, 1972, Page 46) With these two factors working hand-in-hand the advertising industry cleverly plays on the male and female stereotype and how they work off each other. An example of this can be seen opposite the image of Mendes in the form of an image of the male model, Jamie Dornan, wearing nothing but boxer shorts. His body has been, like Mendes’, altered and his stance staged to look more attractive but there are substantial differences between the two people. Berger wrote ‘Men survey women before treating them. Consequently how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated’ (Berger, 1972, Page 46) this implies that if a woman chooses to buy into an ideology set in an advertisement then she wants to treated in the same way. This raises the question of how different genders would treat the woman shown.
With reference to the statement ‘Advertising doesn’t sell things; all advertising does is change the way we think or feel’ one would conclude that Bullmore is correct and that the effects can be perceived in both positive and negative ways. The implications of Bullmore’s view would be that the type advertising that changes the way we think and feel is a very negative form of communication and also seems to be the kind we do not voluntarily wish to see. Chomsky wrote ‘most people are guided by just emotion and impulse’ (Chomsky, 2009, Page 20) one would think that the strategies used in advertising play on this attribute and therefore achieve their purpose by manipulating the receivers.
Word Count - 2745 inc. Quotes
Fig 1.
Uncle Sam’s oven range (1876) [online image] Available from: <http://kc-hardingham1013-cts.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/critical-studies-image-analysis.html> [Assessed 7 Nov 2010]
Fig 2.
Dove, (2005) [online image] Available from : <http://dipitblack.com/2012/10/11/celebrate-your-curves/doves-popular-ad-campaign-that-used-real> [Assessed 11 Oct 2012].
Fig 3.
Calvin Klein Underwear (2009) [online image] Available from: <http://www.fashionwindows.net/2009/06/calvin-klein-fall-2009-global-ad-campaign/calvin-klein-underwear-fall-2009-ad-campaign-2/> [Assessed 18 June 2009]
Bibliography
Berger, J. (1972) ‘Ways of seeing’ London, British Broadcasting Corporation.
Bullmore, J. (1998) ‘Advertising and it’s audience’ [online] WPP Group. Available from: <http://www.wpp.com/NR/rdonlyres/ED5FD8FF-F951-4C77-8ADA-FB5E61C85587/0/advertising_and_its_audience.pdf>
Chomsky, N. (2002) 2nd edition ‘Media control. The spectacular achievements of propaganda’ New York, Seven Stories Press.
Gramsci, A. (N/A) ‘Hegemony’ [online] Available from: ,http://faculty.washington.edu/mlg/courses/definitions/hegemony.html>
Mulvey, L. (2009) 2nd edition, ‘Visual and other pleasures’ Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan.
Fig 1.
Uncle Sam’s oven range (1876) [online image] Available from: <http://kc-hardingham1013-cts.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/critical-studies-image-analysis.html> [Assessed 7 Nov 2010].
Fig 2.
Dove, (2005) [online image] Available from : <http://dipitblack.com/2012/10/11/celebrate-your-curves/doves-popular-ad-campaign-that-used-real> [Assessed 11 Oct 2012].
Fig 3.
Calvin Klein Underwear (2009) [online image] Available from: <http://www.fashionwindows.net/2009/06/calvin-klein-fall-2009-global-ad-campaign/calvin-klein-underwear-fall-2009-ad-campaign-2/> [Assessed 18 June 2009].
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