Facets of American Popular Culture - Assignment Example

Facets of American popular culture In his essay, Jack Solomon analyzes the influence of the American culture on advertisements. The article, Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising targets to show that manufacturers are able to manipulate consumers’ preferences by appealing to their subconscious emotions. The link between ads and the consumers’ emotions is so strong that even their ideals are contradicted. For example, it is possible that one manufacturing line uses to very different advertisements to market two of their products. While one may be tilted to show the unity of Americans and, therefore, stir a sense of belonging, the other may be packaged in such a way that it spurs the need to feel ahead of the rest. His essay is a detailed analysis of the many examples of advertisements to support this claim. In this essay, the main aim is to show how these different facets of the American culture influence the nature of advertisements. America is considered the most egalitarian society of past and present age. In fact, it is the world’s largest democracy and, therefore, advocates for social equality of its citizens, a populist view. This is one of the two faces of the American dream, the other being an elitist view. This view of the American dream is widely exploited by manufacturers as a way of manipulating consumers to buy their products (Solomon, 543). The status of Americans’ fears, hopes, beliefs, and even desires provide a necessary opportunity for advertisers to make their advertisements appealing to the American people. The desire of the people to feel accepted in society is particularly exploited in such a way that consumers will want to identify with the product to ‘qualify’ as due citizens of the country. These advertisements are specially designed to create a symbolic association between the product and what the target consumers most covet. Manufacturers are, therefore, quick to point out that their products are made, or designed on American soil. One aspect of the American dream is that it encourages the desire to belong and feel part of the country’s culture. This aspect has been the subject of many advertisements that transform economic products into signs of belonging. The incorporation of such common icons of American culture as country music, farmyards and family picnics in an advert makes it more appealing to a broader audience. For instance, a Jack Daniel’s advertisement emphasizes the egalitarian and down-home nature of its product. The feeling of belonging to that culture can influence a buyer to purchase a Jack Daniel product as opposed to a Johnny Walker one that portrays a class of aristocracy. In another instance, the Aportek pharmacy introduced a new line of hair products by replacing the beauty picture advert with one showing hair blowing in the wind. The advert portrayed their shampoo as one that gave life to the hair of all Americans. In the face of international or foreign threat from other products, American manufacturers are quick to evoke the emotions of oneness and togetherness among the consumers. This populist advertising is particularly effective as the people forget their class and social differences to throw their weight behind the product being advertised. In a way, the consumers will be buying the product as a way of saying no to foreign intervention and aggression. In these adverts, popular personalities are put together with lowly citizens to come up with advertisements that show the togetherness of Americans. Chrysler and Chevrolet have successfully used this stance in the wake of Japanese automotive invasions. In this way, the manufacturers are able to woo consumers away from Japanese-made cars by appealing to their patriotic and loyalty sentiments. The culture of Americans winning, and winning together, is also incorporated in many modern adverts with references being made to past successes of the American people. One of the most exploited fields in this respect is the athletics discipline where heroes are used in advertisements to show the winning mentality of Americans. The cultural mood of America since the 1980’s is particularly reflected in the patriotic iconography of such campaigns. Advertisers have, for example, capitalized on the patriotic binge that was witnessed after the Vietnam War in which America was always seen to be going for gold in athletics. Perfume and deodorant commercials, for example, featured videos of triumphant American athletes throwing their hands up with armpits that had no sweat marks. In addition, Mc Donald’s chain store uses the aspect of patriotism in curbing foreign competition. The second face of the American dream is equally exploited by advertisers in a bid to convince consumers to buy the advertised products. Though the American dream calls for social equality and a populist view, it still encourages the citizens to walk quickly and cleave a way. This is the second and contradictory face of the American dream. It lures the people to rise above the others and bask in the glory of social distinction. In this way, it advocates for a competitively elitist society where everyone aims to increase their stakes of the American pie. This view of the American dream is equated to a football game where majority of the people are in the stands but deep down, they all want to be part of the participants or at least part of the cheerleaders’ team. The culture of wanting to ‘stand out’ is conspicuously evident in many of the advertisements that appear in American televisions. Advertisers are quick to transform products into signs that drive the people’s desire for success as envisioned in the American dream. Advertisements will, for example, be packaged in a way that shouts out that the product is special and is, therefore, intended for special people. Because America is not an aristocratic state where a class was identified by the physical and behavioral patterns of people, symbols and signs are used to represent a class. A person may thus be persuaded into buying a car that stands out from the one that his/her junior employees drive just for the sake of being seen as more expensive. In this respect, manufacturers will advertize their different products differently depending on the intended consumers (Solomon, pp. 546). It is particularly important to note, however, that these signs and symbols of status are not just manufactured by companies out of the blue but because consumers want them. The driving force, therefore, is not the manufacturers but the desire by the consumers to feel more important. Moreover, the desire to feel more important is more pronounced in democratic countries like America than in aristocratic countries. This is because the competitive state of democracies nurtures a desire for social distinction and a motivation to rise above the others. For instance, the Mercedes-Benz or a house in Beverly Hills is a sign of affluence in America. Manufacturers will, therefore, incorporate these aspects in marketing high-end products. A Mercedes-Benz advert, for example, would include a man driving in an ambient countryside away from the hustles of cities. In his essay, Solomon identified populism and elitism as the main facets of the American culture. In contrast, however, Mariah Burton in her essay, I won, I’m Sorry, identifies feminism as a big challenge to societal prosperity. This is because the American culture has instilled an inferiority complex on the female’s part. Though women wish to excel, they do not wish to surpass the expectations of men. In fact, she records accounts of women who confess to seeking men’s approval to feel that they have achieved in the society. The essay analyzes the perception that female superiority is dependent on catering and bowing to the male’s views. She critically criticizes the notion that females have to be number two, behind their male counterparts, for them to feel successful. The American culture has advanced the myth of male superiority something that the females still abide by. There is a negative perception that it is nicer to women when boys and men finish first. In fact, most women go to the extent of limiting their heights to conform to men’s height. Every woman would wish to be tall and elegant but is still concerned about being taller than her husband or even boyfriend. The writer paints the American culture as advocating for women to play the feminity game where they cannot win against the men. In the aforementioned culture, women are not to be aggressive or competitive. They should not desire to have the killer instinct to win and excel with all their hearts and soul. However, there is strength in playing the feminity game to a small extent as evidenced by the excellence of some triumphant women like Serena Williams. Feminity can be used as a defense against negative accusations, therefore, playing to the woman’s advantage. Feminine behavior and dressing can, for example, be used to tame aggression and mitigate against the affront of women’s victory. Through this, women can soften the hard edges of winning in a society that considers men superior to women. For example, triumphant women could grace their victories with beauty, smiles and modeling to gain male approval. The modern culture has not helped the situation either. Today, both men and women don earrings, but the society still expects females to practice feminity. This is clearly captured in scenarios where female athletes still show apologetic behavior via their dressing and behavior. Perhaps more encouraging in the midst of this adversaries is the fact that all these is taking a new trajectory. Recently, massive campaigns have been launched to portray women as second to none and to show that they too can compete like men. There is a new genre of athletes who are rising against the ancient myths of male superiority to set new trends in how women compete. An advertisement by Nike refers to the women competing in the Olympics as ‘wolves’ who are part of ‘our pack’. Advertisements have a compound influence on how the society perceives certain issues. For example, how ice hockey is portrayed as a boy sport while figure skating is a girl thing. In addition, other commercials proclaim that women can compete as conquerors and not just as cheerleaders. The use of advertisements to change the societal view of contemporary issues is largely emphasized in the essay. Particularly, the role of the media in changing the ‘male superiority’ myth and advancing for an equal society is lauded by all and sundry. Adverts from the Ministry of Sport are usually gender sensitive and encourage women to take an active role in sports. One such example is the one calling women to join the US Olympic team in 2010. While the first essay shows the influence of culture on the nature of advertisements in the televisions, the second one analyzes the role of advertisements in shaping and changing the culture of the American people. In his essay, Solomon identifies two main cultural influences on advertisements. Mariah, on the other hand, identifies ways in which advertisements have played a role in shaping the cultural and mythical aspects of the society. Works cited Solomon, J F. The Signs of Our Time: Semiotics, the Hidden Messages of Environments, Objects, and Cultural Images. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, 1988. Print. Read More