As a public relations major, advertising and marketing often make an appearance in my studies. Even if I wasn't studying the inner workings of the media world, I would still be bombarded daily with the final product. On average, the typical American person can see up to 5,000 ads in one day. (According to CBS.com, anyway)
Let's break that down. 5,000 ads. That's 208 ads an hour, or, around 4 ads a minute,or, a partial (half) an ad per second. Are you kidding me? Seriously? This probably has a lot to do with how media saturated our daily lives have become; television, radio, the internet, smart phones, tablets, e-readers, video gaming consoles, newspapers, billboards, product-wrapped automobiles, etc. But come on, that is still a sickeningly large amount for one individual to be exposed to in a 24 hour period. So what's with this obnoxious amount of advertising? Why do we allow this to permeate our society so thoroughly that America has become a marketing utopia?
According to our readings, "The desire for transfiguration of the self" was key to the flourishing of carnivalesque advertising. The transfiguration of the self. As Americans we have always been in search of a self-actualized identity, cultivating a perception of ourselves that we desire others to see, even if that is not what we truly are. We've painted on Blackface in search of exploring the exotic other, of drawing out the darker (no pun intended) aspects of our suppressed Puritanical culture (sexuality, blasphemy, political commentary, alcohol, etc.). We've played Indian to express our nationalism, clinging to what symbolism was already here when we arrived and were searching for something to classify ourselves apart from Europe and uniquely American. We are still left in search of self actualization because all these things existed apart from ourselves (White America) without us. What if the new mask wasn't visible to others? What if we could take a pill that would alter us, and only we would know, but it would still allow for us to become what we wanted to be on the exterior? Would we believe in magic, to obtain that sense of power? That is the magic of advertising, the willingness to suspend disbelief that someone finally managed to concoct the elusive magic bullet, that will solve our problems for us. A faceless identity we can cling to to allow us to become ourselves.
As a monesary aside, treasure seeking also contributed (and still does) to the success of "ancient" advertisement. Who doesn't want more money, to buy more "more"? Typically, the most elaborately constructed self has the most money, who then in turn buy more things and promote the idea of self worth through materialization.
Ultimately I think public relations analysts and advertising/marketing technicians are probably the most honest of humans. They recognize that human nature is openly shallow and keen to organize, avoidant of cognitive dissonance, and fond of routine. They freely acknowledge this and have found a way to profit off of it, for the better (in an ethical public relations career) or worse (see the sleazy PR guy stereotype) of those who buy into the ideology that products can make you feel good and add to your daily life.
Or that's what I tell myself so I can sleep at night.
It's so hard to believe how many ads are out there, and I don't know the actual statistics, but I'm sure 4 ads a minute isn't that hard. You made a great point at the end as well: "They freely acknowledge this and have found a way to profit off of it, for the better (in an ethical public relations career) or worse (see the sleazy PR guy stereotype) of those who buy into the ideology that products can make you feel good and add to your daily life."
ReplyDeleteThat's all that really matters now is publicizing, and I love that you tied all this in to your major as well. I don't think all the publicizing of ads, unfortunately, will die down, but it's crazy how many times a day there are ads. Even walking around campus, there is Tim Hortons, Starbucks, and even the greasy Willy C food is advertising. They are all making money off of their products and daily we have to see them, and most people can't resist the temptation for a coffee at Starbucks not because of the coffee, but because of the Starbucks name. Even if the coffee isn't great, people are still going to go there because of the product placement. It's a shame that no matter where we go, all these ads are flowing around us constantly.
I love the last part of your entry. Well said. I understand that advertising sometimes uses somethings to show off their product that disgust some people, or just piss some people off. But the fact is that we are all human and we do have the same urges and tendencies. The folks in marketing just know how to catch our eye. They use naked men and women and it works. That billboard advertising those jeans with that naked dude and chick gets so many more eyes looking at it than if it was just a boring pair of jeans. It doesn't matter whether you're disgusted or not. You looked, didn't you?
ReplyDeleteThis is nicely written, and very well-observed. As an American Studies student though, what I'd have liked you to explore is how and why Americans have this drive to self-transformation. You've given some excellent examples, but where in the national character does this impulse come from? And why is it, do you think, that we tend to be so fascinated so consistently the artificial means, masquerading as what we're not, finding transcendence in products? It's an interesting puzzle.
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