The Situation Jack Solomon ’s essay titled Masters of Desire: The culture of American Advertising was written in 1988. This piece is currently in the book Signs of Life in the USA which was edited by Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. This book was published in 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin’s. Jack Solomon is an English Professor at California State University, Northridge.…
Analysis Social Appeal of Rhetoric in Advertisements Nintendo and Sega marketing had adapted throughout the 80s and 90s by taking different approaches for several of their commercials and marketing. Nintendo’s first console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)attempted to market itself towards families, teens, and children. Advertisers for each brand would use rhetoric to appeal to each demographic based upon socially accepted trends In a Nintendo advertisement page, the targeted audience appears to be older teens based on the image illustrating a teenager using the product front and center to indicate its focus. (https://newhive.com/jennyodell/undead-technology-8) The teen is dressed in black with sunglasses to implement traits of which…
In Clair Carmichael’s intriguing and best-selling novel ‘Ads R Us’, it is set in a modern industrialised world in the near future where advertising is all prevalent in everything from individual new bulletin stories to particular classes in school. Barrett, a teenager boy, is raised in total isolation from mainstream society in a small separate eco-cult called Simplicity, but after the death of his guardian, he is sent to live with his cousin Taylor, whose parents are heavily involved in advertising in what is known as the Chattering World. Taylor’s parents see an opportunity to find out the effects of advertising on an untouched mind, and Barrett and Taylor find themselves embroiled in the darker side of this civilisation with advanced technology…
In Jack Solomon’s article, “Master’s of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”, he portrays that American nationals are partitioned upon elitism and populism. The contradiction between elitism and populism is the effects it portrays with today’s society of advertisements and media, and how it affects society itself. The logical inconsistency of this impact is all over the place. Today’s society is continuously revolving around the concept of advertisements and media, where we are consumed material each and every day. American advertisers show us a perspective that Americans believe to have the American dream of society nowadays.…
In Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black Politics, Lester Spence examines the predominance of neoliberalism in Black communities. He challenges policies over the last forty years, which produced profit under the guise of community development. Spence finds that the neoliberal policies have the worse impact on Black communities. This paper will argue that because of the idea of the hustle, charter schools, and Black political actors, urban Black communities remain tied to poverty because neoliberalism deprives dependent communities of resources in the false hope of the private sector or market using their resources to help society.…
In order to satirize the marketing industry, the Onion produced a parody of a stereotypical advertisement. While the work may appear to be a standard advertisement issued by a company, the language chosen and implied meaning give rise to parody. Marketing phrases are utilized to give the mock marketing ploy the feel of an actual advertisement, as phrases such as “stressed and sore-footed Americans everywhere are clamoring for the exciting new MagnaSoles shoe inserts,” yet the parody is revealed in the phrase, “no fewer than five forms of…
Hegemonic masculinity in advertising Aspects of identity and of masculinity are intersectional, so in order to understand hegemonic masculinity it is important to analyse it in terms of race as well as gender. The key function of advertising is to sell something, whether it is a product, service, lifestyle or message. The majority of advertisements depict life either as ‘normal’ or as ideal, thus it is telling that white men feature more prominently and more positively than men of colour in both television (Luyt, 2012) and magazines (Thomas, 2013). That white masculinity is seen as the default or most desirable form of masculinity highlights the racial aspect of hegemonic masculinity. Luyt (2012) analysed South African television advertisements…
“The Persuaders” is a documentary which investigates how the culture of advertising and marketing have changed and influenced American society. Advertising and marketing isn’t just away to influence people to buy products however it influences a person and everything around them including the culture in the United States and politics. The documentary shows how advertisers are trying to break from the clutter they have created and look for new ways to reach consumers. The documentary shows how advertising has shifted. The job of advertising before was to highlight and present what the product however now advertisers try to focus on what the product means.…
The 2009 film The Codes of Gender by Sut Jhally, shows how advertising effects the way society views these gender roles. Today, advertisements change our perception on how we believe men and women should behave. This paper will discuss how the sociological perspective has helped me to understand these gender codes, how these advertisements effect how I interact with other people and how other people interact with me. The sociological perspective has helped me to acknowledge the gender codes and the stereotypes that are made to go along with them.…
To manipulate an audience to believe certain ideas, companies use propaganda. Today’s society and the societies of the past use many forms of propaganda. A few types of propaganda include cardstacking, glittering generalities, bandwagon, assertion, testimonial, and plain folk. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, the Party adopts Big Brother as their main form of propaganda to manipulate and control the citizens of Oceania. Comparatively, in Skechers ad for their new Burst tennis shoes in Glamour magazine, propaganda benefits the company while it convinces the consumer to purchase their product.…
Hegemony is a process of coercion and consent. What does this mean, and how useful is it in explaining the role of culture in maintaining dominant ideologies? The expression ‘hegemony’ can be considered in a number of ways, the first and most apparent definition: a leader or representation of a certain ideology with the ability to gain control over another, weaker power. An example of this shown through history is the Soviet Union’s expansion over Eastern Europe, through the use of dictatorial powers.…
As a television, computer, smartphone, or any other multi-media device is in the possession of many people today, advertisements are seen by everyone on a daily basis. Whether it is for food, clothes, or even an advertisement for a big game, it is designed to appeal to the senses. The advertiser wants to make the viewer feel as if they can see, taste, touch, smell, and hear what is presented in front of them. It is all about appealing to the viewer’s senses and emotions. This is why advertisement’s one would see on a network like Comedy Central differs from what one would see on Cartoon Network.…
Advertising and Food choices: A risk for children? Advertising is a powerful tool, extremely developed, that tries to convey a persuasive message by an identified sponsor. The consumer society is influenced directly by these Ads, filling up the spaces of people lives, dominating media and public spaces with information about products or events. In his article, “Image-based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture”, Sut Jhally analyses the impact of advertising, and how it can define and shape our expectation regarding the meaning of products and objects. He points out that advertising uses a discourse that not just tell people about things, but also show how things are connected with important domains of people’s life.…
Everywhere we go nowadays, advertisements are prevalent all over; making it difficult to depict an underlying meaning seeing as you are constantly surrounded by them. Whether you are out and about, or sitting at home watching TV, products are constantly being displayed that you “need to get.” Some gimmicks and sayings that are used to promote these services or items are completely ridiculous, or even offending. There are many ads that have hidden messages that pertain to topics such as race, gender, class, and disability that can be stereotypical and insulting. A particular advertisement that caught my attention was an ad campaign from Suitsupply called “Toy Boys” which featured many pictures of men playing on blown up women's bodies like…
We can all admit that at one point in life we have caught ourselves following the latest trends. We assume the style is an idea that is in for the moment, that came randomly from someone or somewhere that does not concern us. When in actuality it derived from a culture far from where we are with a deeper and significant meaning. This is what is known as cultural appropriation. No matter if it is an accident or intentional, taking an idea or style that does not belong to our original culture is considered as cultural appropriation.…