Consumption and Advertising

Back in 1900, expositions were all the rage. An exposition, you see, was a rather large fair, and this one in particular was in Paris to celebrate the arrival of a new century. Now, according to Rosalynd Williams in her essay entitled Dream Worlds of Consumption, the purpose of these gatherings were to, as they said back then, “teach a 'lesson of things.'" In this case, "things" means the new scientific knowledge just established, and the "lesson" being the social benefits this newfound knowledge could bring. 

This exposition, though, had a longer lasting impact on society because it led to the creation of the department store. This allowed people to browse and look at whatever they wanted. It was free advertising because the prices were set, and consumers didn't need to buy things at that time. Potential buyers were just that, potential. They could be just looking now so they could plan to get something later on. Companies could put out their products for everyone to see, and even if someone didn't buy the product, they now knew of the product/company, and had it in mind for purchases later on. 

Advertisers soon learned that most people wanted to hear certain things, and that was why they developed a rhetoric of "mass man". People wanted the truth, and the truth is what usually would and will lead people to become successful. But the truth itself can be boring, so why not spice it up a bit. Basically, the truth, with a little showmanship, is what really caught the eye of most consumers. The point being made here is that as advertising evolved, so did the consumer society. This is simply because consumer society was not just growing compliance with mass media, but because as mass media grew it established itself within the new society. Jackson Lears' essay Advertising And The Idea of Mass Society, stated a quote from a 1912 issue of Judicious Advertising in which a contributor described advertising as "the spark to the selling engine." Things could not be sold and the economy would not work without advertisement.

Advertising today is more of the same; grab people's attention and get them to invest in your product. While skimming through a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine (the one I bought just because reigning NHL MVP and hockey demi-god Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was on the cover), I noticed an advertisement that caught my eye. In huge, white, block letters outlined in purple, I saw what appeared to be three words:"FEELIN' KINDA SUNDAY". When looking closer, I noticed that above the three purple outlined words was a, much, smaller sentence reading "IT'S ONLY SATURDAY NIGHT, BUT I'M." Now, that’s what got my attention initially. What secondarily got my attention would be the well-dressed woman (blonde and good looking, what else could she be, but not my type, too chauvinistic, I guess), looking in the mirror while using her make-up to apply war paint to look like a football player. It's an ad for State Farm because at the bottom of the page, in even smaller letters, the page reads "When you're there, State Farm's there, for the best day of the week.” There is also the State Farm logo with an NFL Logo below because not only is State Farm a sponsor of the NFL, but a damn proud sponsor at that. My initial reaction was that this company is only trying to get men who are attracted to the woman and possibly some people looking for insurance, and also that it was stupid.

The advertisement looks the way it does so it can grab the reader’s attention and drag him/her in. To do this it uses two key elements, the first being the large letters (which especially grabbed my attention because I’m ADHD and it was shiny, big and purple) and, of course, the blonde bombshell applying the war paint to her face. This applies to the fact that most advertisers believe that sex sells in this society, which it does. It also applies to the ideals that Americans love football, something few would disagree with. There are so many media outlets devoted to football that it's ridiculous. And as non-sensical as this may sound, it applies to the dreams of the society that doesn't believe all women should just stay home. It's applying to the dreams that women can be big sports fans, dress nice and go out, and of course, the dream that insurance companies will be there for your needs on weekends.

The advertising looks promising because State Farm is brought upon three different parts of the page; the web site is listed on the bottom left, State Farm is mentioned under the giant block letters, and the logo and name are on the bottom right corner. People who are looking for insurance will look at this and remember the name to look it up.

After carefully studying the image, my thoughts on it have changed—although just slightly, while I still think that State Farm was just trying to get people (sigh...men) to see the woman and immediately want to get or at least look up their insurance rates and policies, I now feel that the advertisers who created it were quite smart, and that the ad was not stupid at all. In fact it was very clever. It was trying to get people to realize that these guys are always there (like a good neighbor), even on weekends when everyone is either out socializing or watching football. I now feel that it succeeded in its goals of catching the reader’s attention, getting the message about its policy out, and, of course, making sure everyone knows they are a proud sponsor of the NFL. Then again, though, these days everyone seems to be a proud sponsor of the NFL, I wonder why can't someone be the proud sponsor of me?