Summary Using The American Paradox Against Its Own People

In the article “America and Americas: Is the American Dream Even Possible?”, written by John Steinbeck, he uses a series of paradoxes and generalities to show how Americans themselves are paradoxical and how they are never happy with what they have. For example, the author states “We fancy ourselves as hard-headed realists, but we will buy anything we see advertised, particularly on television, and we buy it not with reference to the quality or value of the product, but directly as a result of the number of times we have heard it mentioned” (Steinbeck). With the use of this paradox, Steinbeck is demonstrating how Americans claim to be realistic people, yet they will buy something that is unrealistic without even questioning it. “One of the

The main aspect of advertising is to ‘get more bang for the buck’, to make it aesthetically pleasing to the eye and gain the viewer’s attention. Throughout the years, advertising has varied in many ways from catchy slogans to iconic logos. Some may say there is nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, but what if one area is gaining the benefits slightly different than the others because of their boldness? American and European advertising are very different culturally as well as aesthetically. There has always been a cultural difference in the style of

For the longest time now, advertising has played a huge role in how we identify ourselves in the United States with the American culture, and how others identify themselves with all the cultures of the rest of the world as well. It guides us in making everyday decisions, such as what items we definitely need to invest our money on, how to dress in-vogue, and what mindset we should have to prosper the most. Although advertising does help make life easier for most, at the same time it has negative affects on the people of society as well. Advertisement discreetly manipulates the beliefs, morals, and values of our culture, and it does so in a way that most of the time we don’t even realize it’s happened. In order to reach our main goal of

In our society today a business is not a business without an advertisement. These advertisements advertise what American’s want and desire in their lives. According to Jack Solomon in his essay, “Master’s of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising,” Jack Solomon claims: “Because ours is a highly diverse, pluralistic society, various advertisements may say different things depending on their intended audiences, but in every case they say something about America, about the status of our hopes, fears, desires, and beliefs”(Solomon). Advertisers continue to promote the American dream of what a women’s body should look like. They advertise their products in hopes for consumers to buy them, so they can look like the models pictures in the ads. Behind these ads, advertisers tend to picture flawless unrealistic woman with the help of Photoshop. In our society today to look like a model is an American dream and can be the reasons why we fantasizes and buy these products being advertised. “America’s consumer economy runs on desire, and advertising stokes the engines by transforming common objects;signs of all things that Americans covet most”(Solomon).

“Introducing the lasted, newly improved widget… anyone whose anyone has one… it is a must have!” These words sound familiar? This is due in part, because advertising today has taken such extreme measures to persuade the American public; materialism has become the most prominent and universal mentality. The need to have the newest and best has become an instilled characteristic of the average citizen. How, you may wonder, has the advertising industry become such a powerful entity? The answer is that propaganda has always played a vital role in society; this is not a new concept. Throughout history propaganda/advertising has been to entice, elude, and manipulate people.

One of the great hypocrisies of American culture is found in its health care system. The United States claims in its Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and that all of these men have the inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Yet this is the same country that allows over 120 people to die each day because they are uninsured. How can this nation claim that all are created equal and have a right to life when they deny healthcare to those who cannot afford it? This issue has come on the scene relatively soon, having only truly been discussed beginning in the early 20th century. Since that time, a fear of socialism stemming from tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union throughout the century has placed a stigma on the concept of universal health care because it is similar to the Soviet’s socialized medicine. In recent years, President Obama made great strides toward universal health care by passing the Affordable Care Act, but some would argue that while America is on the right track, more can be done to care for the nation’s poor. Others argue that the economic impact of such policies could cause problems for America. Though creating a universal health care system has complex logistical and economic consequences, health care is an internationally acknowledged human right and should not be denied to the American people.

The rise in advertisement played a key role in the rise of consumption. Thanks to well-developed advertisement campaigns, America redefined what a necessity is. Advertisers encouraged Americans to actively work towards maintaining a high social standing. “Advertisers made no secret of their intention to promote novelty for its own sake, in the hope that consumers would exchange perfectly serviceable goods for goods that conformed to the latest fashions” (Lasch, 2000). Consumers devoured this advertisement scheme and began to rapidly increase their spending. Many advertisements for common, household products made claim that they could make the normal appear comparable to the high end. For example, Lux, a soap company, ran an ad in 1920 that depicted two women talking - one of the women complemented on the other on the quantity of sweaters she owned, only to find out that it is not a new sweater, but rather her old sweater that Lux soap made it look brand new (Lux)! Men and women alike began to believe

From the time of the colonial period to the early national period, hardships came about because of differing opinions and views on peoples’ rights. Slavery was a major issue for African Americans along with issues involving equality, race, and liberty. Slavery mainly arose because of the high demand for crops and goods as the world evolved. In the articles by Morgan, Breen and Innes, Holton, Levy, and Rothman the issues dealing with slavery, liberty, and equality are discussed. The main issue over the course of time dealt with the American paradox and how slavery made such an impact on society.

Conformity was once a common concept accepted by many Americans. Citizens were expected to participate in similar behavior, activities, and lifestyles. Advertisers used the desire to conform to societal ideologies in order to endorse and sell their products. However, during the 1950’s cultural revolution, Beats movement, individuals began dismissing the need to conform and began expressing their own individual endeavors. As the result of the rejection of collective conformity advertisers converted their strategies and began using freedom of expression as a ploy to get people to buy their products by promising them rebellion with said product. In the article “Commodify Your Dissent”, Thomas Frank examines the strategic ways advertisers

Heather Havrilesky sums up what is wrong with a lot of Americans in the first two paragraphs, in that we are never happy with what we have and always wanting more. If we would just step back and take it all in, we might all be surprised for at least a moment. “In show creator Matthew Weiner’s telling, the birth of the advertising age coincides directly with the birth of our discontent as a nation-and what got lost in the hustle were our souls” (Havrilesky 175). The 50’s and 60’s was the coming of age for advertising and the beginning of our dissatisfaction of our daily lives as Americans. Heather Havrilesky says “Slowly we come to view our own lives as inconsequential, grubby, even intolerable” (170). We see this as every day, as Americans

What does it take for people to notice the poison they are being fed? Is it the alarming death toll of obese people, or the deaths of people who suffer major health issues due to consuming from these corrupted processed food companies? America has a problem, people would rather spend less money and get plenty of food that is bad to their health rather than spending more money on groceries that would create a healthy meal. To contribute to this issue people always find a way to make products bigger and inexpensive to consumers. The processes food producers try to make it affordable to the everyday person so they will consume the product, and since its hyper palatable they’ll come back for more constantly.

The Super Bowl is a big deal for many Americans, with merely 103 million viewers this year alone. It has become tradition for friends and families to gather for this nationally televised football game. While watching the football game may be entertaining, many people are focused mainly on the commercials. Major advertisers spend almost 5 million dollars for 30 seconds of television time. With money, these commercials also take a lot of time and effort, and advertisers have to be sure that they represent America and its people well. Sometimes they show the negative sides of Americans in order to provide entertainment. These commercials imply that Americans are unhealthy, ignorant, and unmotivated.

When an American views an advertisement, his or her subconscious mind depicts details and discovers hidden motives. Advertisements urge Americans to analyze their lifestyle, societal expectations, and realize how they portray the archetype of an American. Although a bad American offers society some positive contributions, he or she faces disorganization, and self-satisfaction, and unbalanced priorities regarding his or her spiritual, social, and work life. Bad Americans also strive to achieve credibility. Whereas, a good American contributes to the welfare of others through his or her self-sacrificing nature and handles balanced priorities. Societal expectations also impact whether or not one portrays a good or bad American. In a

The smooth taste of American Contradiction is intended for a broad market so that anyone of legal drinking age may enjoy. Male, female, no one is excluded but, American Contradiction’s advertising will be focused more towards the male segment of the available market. The target market of age for American Contradiction is 21 plus. This approach targets all, of age individuals and businesses that can purchase the product. The reason for this all-inclusive targeting is based on an analysis of the distilling industry, which reports an overall trend in increased per capita spending on alcohol (Stivaros, 2015). The income level of a target consumer of American Contradiction is based on the per capita of disposable income, which is roughly defined

In contrast, Ameritrade undercuts the advertisement’s allure and connection to customer’s by isolating its audience through the perpetuation of a commonly held American