Crucible of Commercialism, Concept of the Melting Pot in Popular Advertising - Coursework Example

Sarah Bruer Writing 140 Crucible of Commercialism, Concept of the Melting Pot in Popular Advertising The concept of the Melting Pot in popular advertising attempts to appeal en masse to people of diverse racial backgrounds. Consulting the man who is attributed to the creation of the phrase, Rabbi Samuel Schulman has this to say about its meaning, "American democracy, in my mind, is a vast ‘single Melting Pot,’ in that it absorbs all races, brings out the common humanity in each, separates the gold from the dross and preserves only the gold" (Roberts 2007). The "Gold" was what Rabbi Schulman hoped cultivate in his 1907 Passover audience in New York city, but unfortunately the "Dross" is what we are dredging up in the use of the Melting Pot in modern advertising. Instead of appealing to the highest and best attributes, or the gold of the audience, modern advertising appeals to the lowest common denominator, the dross of the diverse audiences they are aimed at. In this analysis of the two ads chosen, the concept of the Melting Pot in advertising is found to be often poorly used, misunderstood and conveying the opposite meaning of its original concept by creating racial tension instead of harmony in an audience of diversity. The phrase Melting Pot made its way from Rabbi Schulmans sermon and into the popular culture in the form of a play entitled The Melting-Pot, by Jewish playwright Israel Zangwill. This drama debuted in Washington DC and then subsequently toured for a long period of time around the country (Barnhart 1997). Rabbi Schulman later commented about the differences between his original concept and that of the playwrights interpretation, "I coined the term, but I used it in a much different sense than Zangwill subsequently did" (Roberts 2007). In Zangwills play the inference of the phrase leans more towards the blending together of all racial and cultural elements and has more of an assimilationists overtone than Schulmans original concept. Several articles appearing in The New York Times throughout this period speak of the term the “American Melting Pot" and refer to it as a “mysterious force which blends all foreign elements in one homogeneous mass” (Roberts 2007). This concept has since been taken up as a standard for the culture and is taken as synonymous with the values and ideals of America and Americans. Consequently, at the onset there were already two vastly different interpretations of the phrase both by its creator and later by its progenitor. This dualism still exists today and is certainly apparent in popular advertising and throughout the culture at large. One side is the blending together and refining of all racial types into the "gold" or best characteristics of both and the second side is the blend that caters not to the "gold" but rather to the "dross," or the worst characteristics. Both the reviewed advertisements can be found in the September 2007 editions of Star Magazine and US Weekly, both are promotional advertisements for Television shows. The ad for The View ran in US Weekly (View 2007), a magazine with a largely diverse racial demographic and national as well as some international circulation; an audience that wants to see diversity, yet is certainly also attracted by controversy. The ad for the MTV Video Music Awards ran in Star Magazine (MTV 2007), a publication also targeting a racially diverse readership, but the circulation is somewhat more international, still with a focus primarily on the US market. On the surface both advertisements are promoting shows that are not necessarily geared toward a single race or ethnic background. Both advertisements have a mix of Caucasian and Black racial components, but the MTV ad also has Hispanic, Latino, Asian as well as Caucasian and Black representatives. The Views co-hosts and their respective racial backgrounds limit the ad to the target audience of Caucasians and African Americans. The MTV ad has a wider ranging field to choose from and selected to incorporate that diversity of racial backgrounds into their advertisement. This gives it a more racially diverse perspective. However, The View is certainly geared more toward the female demographic while the ad for MTV Video Music Awards is aimed at both genders. The Melting Pot perspectives in The View ad on first pass are actually quite vivid. The backdrop of the ad is New York City, where the original term was coined and whose city is virtually synonymous with the name. The ad certainly capitalizes on this aspect while promoting the announcement of a new Co-host, Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, an African American. The view of this ad is looking over the Hudson River to the New York Skyline where Ms. Goldberg and the other co-hosts Barbara Walters, Joy Behar and Elizabeth Hasslebeck (three Caucasians) appear to be dominating, each like a Godzilla, over the city. This is a powerful control statement mixing the name of the show with what the observer of the ad is doing, seeing The View of the New York Skyline over the River. At this point the ad appears to be using the highest and best Melting Pot strategy to appeal to the diverse racial makeup of their audience. I find this to be an agreeable and powerful use of the Melting Pot perspective. The use of color, on the other hand, is sending mixed messages. All of the hosts are dressed in shades of black. The statement made by this seems ambiguous and perhaps a little degrading in some sense. Is Ms. Goldberg trying to "fit in" by wearing black herself, trying to assimilate into that homogenous whole? Or, are the other hosts trying to make themselves feel more aligned with Ms. Goldberg or are they trying to fit into Ms. Goldbergs racial mold? Or worse, are they trying to hide behind that color? There is also something disconcerting in that the three Caucasian hosts are openly smiling while Ms. Goldberg has more of a smirk. It is almost as if there are already some racial tensions in the air here. Perhaps this is what this ad is truly about. The show has prospered in ratings with all the tension between some previous co-hosts such as Star Jones and Rosie Odonnell. This ad seems to promise more of the same and is, unfortunately, appealing to the lowest common denominator of the audience. Although the audience is certainly seeking this diverse racial component (the gold), the ad is pandering to the more popular need for seeking hostility (the dross). In essence this ad is using the Melting Pot strategy in a most inflammatory way, almost subconsciously so, making it all the worse. The observer is lulled into a rather breathtaking view of Manhattan, conjuring up the best of cities in this perspective. Here is a city where everyone is getting along and creating the best of all worlds in some sense. Then, upon deeper scrutiny, the ad becomes more of separator of races than a crucible of cooperation. For the marketing target of the ad, it is promoting what the show is really about, controversy, mistrust and an overall feeling of tension and apprehension. The next ad for the MTV Video Music awards seems at first to be the more democratic Melting Pot that Rabbi Schulman spoke of (Roberts 2007). In the four panels various racial types are represented as well as different genres of music. The panels themselves blend into one another, like windows in a department store. Obviously a younger demographic is being appealed to by the use of the bands represented and their popularity with teen and young adult audiences. However, this ad does have a mass appeal to many other age groups as well. The diversity in this ad, again, seems to be tending towards the highest and best use of the Melting Pot, the gold strategy, by showing racially diverse bands representing the height of their art. But here again, the color palette begins to give away some subtleties that separate rather than unify. The two panels that have the Foo Fighters, the Fall Out Boys and Rihanna have an almost tranquil color palette ranging from purple to red to pink and brown. The two bands are Caucasian while Rihanna is African American. Rhiannas pink dress appears to be helping her "blend" into the background in a panel where mostly Caucasians are present. This is similar to the use of black in the ad for the View. In another panel, Kanye West, an African American performer made controversial from his "George Bush Hates Black People" comment, is seen wearing a bright multicolored sweater. In the background is an indigo and gold tapestry that seems to create a different vibration in the scene. The last panel has Chris Brown wearing a bright orange backpack and in a somewhat aggressive "looking for a fight" stance. Now for a second time the audience is hoodwinked by the ad into thinking that this ad is promoting the best and highest values of the Melting Pot. On closer inspection it seems to be limiting those values and using that to inflame a more aggressive stance. In fact, reflecting this, appearing in the lower left panel one of the members of the group The Foo Fighters seems to be looking up with fear and even terror at the upper right panel with Mr. Kanye West in it. Is this ad trying to promote racial harmony and lift up the best of the Melting Pot values, or is it trying to create controversy at the expense of harmony? Do both these advertisements represent the American Melting Pot or are they creating more dissonance and separateness in the culture? Sadly, it appears that the latter may be true. The subtleties of color and position may not only be sneaking into the unconscious of the viewer, but the creators of the ad may be unaware of the full scope of their meaning. While trying to promote their show using controversy and racial tension, they are perhaps unwittingly fueling that fire in the American culture. In summary, both advertisements are aimed towards a diverse racial audience and both advertisements are promoting the advent of an upcoming television program or series. Their audience desires to see their diverse racial makeup represented in the ads and both ads accomplish this, to a point. Both are attempting to appeal to a mass-market audience, nationally as well as internationally as well as a racially diverse one. On first review of these advertisements they seem to be representing a very positive mix of elements supposedly promoting the positive virtues of the Melting Pot and its ideals. However, upon a closer inspection both advertisements fall quite short of this goal and even go as far as to circumvent the concept entirely. Therefore, in conclusion, yes the concept of the Melting Pot is certainly used throughout these advertisements, but unfortunately to the detriment of the essence of the term. While lulling one into a false sense of security that all is right with the racial mixture in the American world, one is then barraged with the underpinnings of dissent, dispute and even fear. We see in these advertisements that there is certainly a Melting Pot of different racial characteristics as well as many other cultural and social traits in these United States, but it seems that it is a condition that we simply have no control over. In fact these advertisements seem to be using their clout to capitalize on the friction between the races to help promote their own goals, of getting the most diverse viewer-ship possible. By appealing to that lowest common denominator of some of the baser instincts shared among all races and cultures as human beings, they do find a way to circumvent racial distinctions after all. Furthermore, by doing so they support an ideal that is directly opposite to the original hopes of the Melting Pot. Minimally the inspiration of the term was to mix together races and cultures in some form of harmonious whole, whether to find the best in both or at least a happy medium between them. These advertisements not only support the opposite of the "gold" strategy of the original intention of the Melting Pot, but also are certainly a catalyst to promote the "dross" strategy to the culture in the guise of a seemingly positive endorsement. One would hope that the more conscientious advertisers, perhaps a contradiction in terms, would find what the real gem in all this should be. The promotion and expression of the Melting Pot of everyday existence, where, by and large, these diverse racial constituents manage to get along, if not explicitly but implicitly, and at times even surpass the ideals of the Melting Pot. To quote from the Playwright, Israel Zangwills play: "America is God’s crucible...What is the glory of Rome and Jerusalem where all nations and races come to worship and look back, compared with the glory of America, where all races and nations come to labor and look forward!" (Roberts, 2007). Works Cited Barnhart, David and Metcalf, Alan. "Melting Pot." PBS.org. 1997. 09/10/2007 . MTV Video Music Awards. Advertisement. US Weekly. 10 Sept. 2007: 98. Roberts, Sam. "A Passover Sermon, a Play, and a Century of the Melting Pot ." The Jewish Theological Seminary. 7 April 2007. 10 Sept. 2007 . The View. Advertisement. Star Magazine. 10 Sept. 2007: 58-59. Read More