Advertising Heather Havrilesky Analysis

With social media playing a huge role in society, us Americans are becoming more materialistic. We are being influenced by people who give us these unrealistic expectations in life and always making us want more in life than what we have. We try living up to these expectations by buying elaborate accessories, when in reality they serve no purpose to us, making us feel empty on the inside.  Like Steinbeck said, “We trample friends, relatives and strangers who get in the way of our achieving it; and once we get it we shower in on psychoanalysts to try to find out why we are unhappy” (Steinbeck). Despite all of this, us Americans still claim to be realistic, yet we pay $800 for a phone just so we can be like everyone else. We buy name brand clothes that are overpriced. We pay $7 for a cup of coffee. The list goes on and on. The American Dream Steinbeck relates to is not something someone can buy, rather is it something you earn. As Steinbeck said, the American Dream is “yearnings toward what we wish were and hope we may be: wise, just, compassionate, and noble. The fact that we have this dream at all is perhaps an indication of its

Only a couple of decades ago, hard work and determination guided people to obtain a piece of the opportunity America is all about. Lately there is a surge in having our fifteen minutes of fame and work less, buy more. There are Americans who feel that materialism is the way to obtain true American happiness. TV ads bombard the population with information on what is truly needed to be the best. All media outlets convey how to be more like the famous. Commercials inform on how this star uses this phone and this athlete buys this car. In trying to assimilate to others, some continue to spend even though they cannot afford it. In “Framing Class, Vicarious Living,

Living the American dream was a part of the road to Suburbia. As soldiers were returning home from the wars, births were reaching record highs known as the baby boom. Just in the year 1957, a total of 4,308,000 babies were born.4 Desiring large families and great economic prosperity, the women’s role as mother and homemaker were built-up in movies and television and magazines. Ultimately, with additional “leisure time” at home, Americans bought televisions, nice record players, lawn mowers and other electronic products. Manufactures and advertising agencies jumped at the opportunity to profit on consumerism. “More and more, ad executives and designers turned to psychology to create new strategies for selling. Advertisers appealed to people’s desire for status and “belongingness” and strived to associate their products with those values.”5 The Baby Boomers that began the consumerism in the mid-1950’s socially altered the United States then and still do

     We live in a fast paced society that is ruled by mass media. Every day we are bombarded by images of, perfect bodies, beautiful hair, flawless skin, and ageless faces that flash at us like a slide show. These ideas and images are embedded in our minds throughout our lives. Advertisements select audience openly and subliminally, and target them with their product. They allude to the fact that in order to be like the people in this advertisement you must use their product. This is not a new approach, nor is it unique to this generation, but never has it been as widely used as it is today. There is an old saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' and what better way to tell someone about a product

In this essay, I will be analysing the 2008, £15 million Hovis TV advertisement. Filmed in Liverpool with a cast of over 750 extras, director Ringan Ledwidge portrays a young boy (13 year old Brian Mackie) buying a loaf of bread in 1886, which was when the first Hovis loaf of bread was sold, and then travelling with the bread tucked under him arm, through 12 decades in British History. The concept behind the advert is to show that Hovis has been around for 122 years and is a British Institution. For this reason, the advert lasts 122 seconds; each second depicting each year. The product is shown to be just as good, hence the slogan “As good today as it’s always been”.

Although my hypothesis may be accurate, what if we view it from an opposing point? What if Fitzgerald’s America is an inaccurate representation of the time? Berman (1994) explains how materialism in the society is the main cause of destruction to the American dream by “infecting all branches of thought”, and how commercialism is “infecting all branches of action”. (Berman, 1994). Ever since the post war, the society has been brainwashed by “seditious elements, ignorant, boisterous, treacherous, and dangerous” (Berman, 1994) ideas characterised as “new languages and thoughts into our population in immense quantities, interpenetrating and contaminating it in many ways” (Berman, 1994). Berman (1994) later illustrates the result of the maximised level of consumerism: “the tone of the public mind is to a woeful extent sordid, selfish, greedy.” This depicts the

is that leading in material gain” (Pidgeon 2). The American society has made its people focus so much on making money and material gain that the people forget the real things in life that matter, and the things that are actually achievable. People may think that money can achieve all goals in life, but in actuality it cannot because money cannot buy happiness nor can it fulfill all dreams. “From Jay Gatsby… to Tony Soprano… the woefully wealthy are among the seminal figures of literature, film and television… extolling the lifestyles of the rich and famous while exposing the sadness of celebrity” (Zane 1). The power of money and materialism make people forget about who oneself really is and lose a sense of selfhood. Money over powers the things

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

Americans have always lived in a paradox state of mind. “The American dream, in other words, has two faces; the one communally egalitarian, and the other, competitively elitists” (Solomon 161). Americans have always wanted to be equal (in a sense), but deep down everyone wants to be the “top dog”, and advertisers see that and take advantage of that desire. Advertisement companies take advantage of the strong desire people have to be in the top seat of American society and twist it with strong entertainment tactics to draw all types of consumers in.

"People must be trained to desire, to want new things even before the old had been entirely consumed […] Man's desires must overshadow his needs.", says Paul Mazur in response to the problem of overproduction post World War I during the second industrial revolution. The quote suggests that the American consumer culture takes its roots from the paradoxical consciousness between desires and needs. One may not call for a necessity but desire its symbolic associated value. As a result, products are tactically advertised through both rational and emotional appeal. By emphasizing the difference in social hierarchy and creating the needs for prominence and autonomy, Absolut advertisement manipulates the dual nature of the American dream to sell their

The commercial starts with the famous celebrity Jennifer Aniston, it shows the big Hollywood sign and then goes straight to Jennifer sitting in her office. The phone rings and says “Jen there are a lot of beauty brands that want you to represent them” and she says “really, who?”. Then it shows her doing her daily routines, walking out of yoga and getting a phone call and her saying “No they add to much fragrance”, her driving and saying “no they make you wear pink”, her back in her office saying “are you kidding?, no”, getting a phone call while sleeping and saying “no, not my style”, her walking her dog on the phone saying “no.” and lastly they show her pumping a bottle of Aveeno lotion onto her hands and moisturizing her arms and legs. She

Paintings aren’t as interesting as they used to be. Paintings became popular during the Renaissance era (14th century-17th century). Artists express their thoughts and emotions through their paintings. Paintings give off many messages, and the message someone receives correlates with their mindset. For example, the painting of the Last Supper, if viewers don’t have the mindset of a Christian then they would think everyone is mad at the guy in the middle (Jesus). Paintings are all about perception and what the viewers can take from the image mentally.

American culture changed since the turn of the 20th century at the foot of consumerism. Americans pre 20th century did not focus on the development of consumption, buying only the necessary items to sustain livable conditions. With the start of the industrial revolution rose mass consumption leading to Americans purchasing extravagant items like beauty, home decor and entertainment type products. Mass consumption blurred the socioeconomic classes and developed an identity that Americans in the working and middle class expressed similarly. With the rise of mass consumption came the selling of all those items that targeted specific groups of Americans and has developed into the advertisement we see today. The articles and movie provided addressed how mass consumption in America has changed and developed in the 20th to the 21st century by bringing about extravagant items, blurring the lines between the socioeconomic classes and bringing rise to target and creative advertisements that make up a lot of mass media we see today.

up about two thirds of the A4 sized advert. The picture is of a woman

When an advertiser places one of their advertisements into a newspaper, they want their advertisement to appeal to the readers of that particular magazine. They could have the exact same message, but considering their audience, they could make it more effective if they use a different strategy to market their product. This is very common for advertising strategies to change when the content of the magazine changes. You can relate the way that the magazine producers choose their ads by when Steve Craig says that "…program producers and schedulers must consider the target audience needs of their clients" (162). The types of advertisements are driven by the content of the magazine. Sports Illustrated provides a