‘Advertising doesn’t sell
things; all advertising does it change the way people think or feel’ (Jeremy
Bullmore). Evaluate this statement with reference to selected critical theories
(past and present)
There is no denying that
advertising and advertisers bare a strategic gift in making promises to change
a consumer’s lifestyle for the better. In many cases, advertising firms
manipulatively capitalise on a viewers fear, self-conscious or perhaps a highly
anticipated event, for example the Olympics or the Presidential Election,
playing on the interest that the public have on it. As a result, advertising is
forever changing depending on the time of year, the weather, the economic
climate, fashion, health, and the list goes on. Mark Twain said that “Many a
small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising”, which
supports that advertising revolves around the superficial, whether to make a
member of the public look better, or to make them feel better. Jeremy
Bullmore’s quote is a fairly mild-mannered explanation for why advertising is
so important to marketers. Realistically, the advertising that depends on the
manipulation of others is a reflection of how the product could never sell
without it.
Multiple theories have emerged as
a result of the study of the power of persuasive energy in advertising; none
quite as opinionated or convincing as those art critic John Berger discusses in
his 1972 BBC programme ‘Ways of Seeing’. His theories explore the idea that
advertising exhibits an alternative and more desirable way of life which
“stimulate our imagination by memory or anticipation”. While his opinions are
quite audacious, when explained it’s difficult not to be inclined towards them.
He compares advertisements with traditional paintings and demonstrates the
“disconnection between each page” of a magazine, jumping from one trivial
advertisement to natural disaster and back to an ad again, blurring the usually
distinctive line between what is reality and what is imagination.
The last instalment of Berger’s
‘Ways of Seeing’ focuses heavily on publicity and advertising and the
importance of “manufacturing glamour” through publicity. He explores the idea
that many advertisements prompt the viewer to be transformed but, more
importantly to be enviable to others, as “being envied constitutes glamour”.
Without jealousy from others, glamour cannot exist. This alters the
relationship one would have with the people around me, that “relationships
become radiant because of our new possessions, but only such radiance can be
achieved if we have money. This urges each of us to scramble competitively to
get money” (Berger, J., 1972, Ways of Seeing – Advertising, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmgGT3th_oI, Part 1). This attitude paints the idea of money in a
magical way, and plays upon a fear of being undesirable, prompting people to
stop at nothing to be wealthy and, subsequently, envied.
Berger manages to shift the focus
of what people might think of the advertising world; not a collection of
creative’s using their imaginations to better a product, but a group of
strategic dictators, bending and stretching the real properties of a product.
This breaks all the way down to such things as layout and colour, discussed in
‘Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising’ (Williamson, J.,
1994, London, Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd). In the ‘Currency Of Signs’
section, Williamson states “use of colour is simply technique, used primarily
in pictorial advertising, to make correlations between a product and other
things”, showing that advertisers try and use colours and layout to make a
connection to something that might make the viewer happy or sad to reflect the
nature of the product or campaign.
This technique features heavily in
charity advertisements such as Cancer Research or Wateraid. Cancer Research
bases it’s adverts on statistics, and with such a high and ever increasing
level of Cancer patients the number of people that are affected by it in some
way or another is huge, enabling them to use emotional vices. They know that
people who have been affected would never want to go through the same or others
to have to, prompting them to donate, For example Cancer
Research released a television ad in July 2011, featuring families reactions to
being told a member ha cancer, and their recovery thanks to Cancer Research (Fig. 1). Similarly, charity campaigns like Wateraid
are masters of triggering guilt in the British public, most of which have no
problem accessing water. No matter what the product, advertisers want to
provoke a reaction by finding common ground with the public.
However, effective these
advertisements are, they lack variation and when based on the ads alone it is
hard to create a distinction between them. “The first function of an
advertisement is to create a differentiation between one particular product and
others in the same category. It does this by providing the product with an
‘image’; this image only succeeds in differentiating between products in so far
as it is part of a system of differences” (Williamson, J., 1994, Decoding
Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising, London, Marion Boyars
Publishers Ltd). All Forms of advertising are essentially competition between
products that bare similarities to each other. Advertising will never focus on
the negative qualities of a product, and only on the positive so when a product
is thought of as ‘too good to be true’ that’s because it isn’t true. Ads that
try to promote their product above any other in the same category uses ‘expert’
opinions and surveys to make theirs seem flawless.
Use of surveys is common in
advertising but they will only be exhibited in the advert if the results are
positive. A perfect example of manipulative use of surveys in advertising, as much as we don't like to admit it, is within many charity advertisements including the Cancer Research ad, which attempts to withdraw guilt from the viewer with their statistics, forcing them to compare them to their own lives. Similarly, the recent television ad for Avon A-F33 anti-wrinkle cream claims that after
seven days use, one hundred percent of the women who tried it noticed a
reduction in the wrinkles on their face. While this may be true, not once does
the ad mention how many women were involved in the testing, for all the
audience knows, when it could have been as little as five women, promoting the
idea that this product could not sell with providing some sort of ‘proof’ to
consumers that is works. However all this example proves is that “advertising
is not judged by what it says, it’s judged by what people think it says”
(Roman, K., Mass, J., 2005, How To Advertise, St. Martins Griffin). These are
the types of superficial ads referred to Berger discusses the fact that
products themselves are “neutral” so they need to be “inserted into some sort
of context to make it arresting”. These are the products that can’t sell when
left to their own devices.
Advertisements like these try
desperately to tap into a consumer’s self-conscious, fear of aging, fear of
getting fat, and ultimately “fear of being undesirable” (Berger, J., 1972, Ways
of Seeing – Advertising, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmgGT3th_oI, Part 2). They use techniques and focus of a
particular emotion, which captures a viewer and can temporarily change the way
that person looks, feels and thinks about themselves. All advertisers have to
rely on is the ridiculous need of the public to be up-to-date and to exude some
sort of superiority, and these methods date back to the “Postwar prosperity of
the late 1940s and early 1950s, which seemed to many to create a culture in
which consumers tried to climb the social ladder by buying more and more modern
products. A creative revolution ensued in which ads focused on product features
that implied social acceptance, style, luxury and success” (Arens, W., Contemporary Advertising, 2010, page.
45). When this sort of method is
put into practice effectively, it can eliminate it’s competition because any
sort of advertising that “resonates emotionally stands more chance of inducing
a change in beliefs, values, motives, wants and desires than one based on logic
alone” (O’Shaughnessy, J., O’Shaughnessy, N, 2003, Persuasion in Advertising,
Routledge, p.32).
Such power that a product can gain
through the right advertising is portrayed ideally by the first Christmas Coca-Cola
ad, featuring Santa Claus in 1931 (Fig. 2). Before this iconic print ad, Santa
had been portrayed in greens, browns and whites, and white Coca-Cola did not
yet have the power to just change this tradition on it’s own, it made Santa a
chubby and jolly figure and played a huge role in the addition of the red suit
due the overwhelming popularity of the print ad (Fig.3). “An important
influence on the media element of the mix is how well a medium works with the
style or mood of the particular message" (Arens, W., 2010, Contemporary
Advertising, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, p.323), and this campaign did just that, by
playing on a Christmas atmosphere and changing it.
“Advertising messages differ in
many ways. Some are simple messages: “’Just Do It (Nike). Others make emotional
or sensual appeals to people’s needs and wants: ‘The great taste of fruit
squared’ (Jolly Rancher candles).” (Arens, W., 2012, Contemporary Advertising,
McGraw-Hill/Irwin, P.323). Some campaigns are opposite in nature and product
but when compared in terms of campaign, many are similarly overwhelming. Two
product giants I think are a faultless example of this are Nike Sports and Paco
Rabanne frangrances, specifically the ‘1 Million’ fragrance, opposite ends of
the spectrum in terms of product and although one is more ridiculously
unrealistic than the other, they both boil down to striking their viewers fear
of being undesirable and need to be envied.
Despite the fact that Nike ads try
to tap into a natural and healthy attitude, they are as manipulative as the
rest. They differ in the target audience to reach so many people, from a more
natural approach, encouraging people to be healthy and using young, attractive
subjects, to tapping into a competitive edge that so many people have. As one
of the biggest brands in the world, with such a memorable ‘Just Do It’ slogan
and noticeable ‘Swoosh’ logo, it has a huge amount of power over the sports
world. Several times in a year, whenever there is a sporting event, Nike is
able to exert this power. Some of the most captivating and passionate examples
are the advertisements for the Nike Stadium that were brandished on the wall of
Selfridges, featuring celebratory footballers (Fig. 4-7). The vibrant designs
by HelloVon are, for many people so relatable, especially since teams like
Manchester United have 659 million fans worldwide, all of which will have experienced
the levels of excitement, anticipation and euphoria that oozes out of the
images. Even those who aren’t football fans can relate to the kind of passion
and pride that others feel in those kind of moments, captured perfectly in the
colours and detailed muscle definition.
On a more superficial side, lies
almost every perfume and make up campaign around the world, each implying that
their product leads to a better and more luxurious life. Although the examples
of this are endless, the TV advert for Paco Rabanne’s ‘1 million’ fragrance is one
of the much more shallow of men’s fragrance advertisements, which ordinarily
tend to be ever so slightly more stripped down and simple than women’s. Paco
Rabanne was originally a French fashion house founded in 1966 by Fancisco
“Paco” Rabaneda Cuervo, a fashion designer known for the unconventional
materials he used like metal and paper. The fragrances were designed to embody
the same eclectic style (Fig. 8-10).
The whole ad hints at the idea of
wealth and popularity with women, with brief shots of high-class, expensive
looking cars and people photographing the featured man. Rabanne is not
advertising an aftershave; he is exhibiting a lifestyle and attitude. Even the
speed at which the 30-second ad jumps from one shot to another is portraying a
busy and bustling lifestyle of a celebrity. Between the not-so-subtle shots of
women grabbing the man from behind in desperation, the glamour oozing out of
the gold fireworks, the shots of casino tables, the women responding to his
attention grabbing finger clicking and the fact that the product shines gold
through the black and white advert, the reasons for buying this product are
endless. However, what people don’t seem to see is that instead of this product
resulting in immediate wealth and popularity, one will only be fifty pounds
poorer.
With a very different approach,
Nike TV ads also try to portray and hint at a certain lifestyle, but what they
consider to be a natural one. However in spite of encouraging what could be
considered to be some healthy competition, the Men Vs Women Challenge in 2009
was also deemed sexist and immature, mainly by women who don’t exercise. Those
arguing the latter seem to be forgetting that Nike is a sports brand, directed
at those who are or could be interested.
In 2006 Nike launched Nike+,
designed so that, when wearing the accompanying shoes, the runners data and
stats, including time, pace and distance, will be wirelessly transmitted to an IPod
Nano, IPod Touch or a Nike+ SportsBand. In 2008 these stats could be logged on
to the Nike+ website, which allowed the Men Vs Women Challenge to be followed
worldwide. The TV advert for this campaign included Roger Federer, Eva
Longoria, Paula Radcliffe, and Fernando Torres, a variety that allowed the
watchers to be able to recognise at least one of them (Fig. 11-12). This
collaboration with Apple products made the campaign unavoidable, as did the
ease at which people could keep up to date with it. While blogs and news
websites launched a battle of the sexes, the TV ad remained neutral, never once
claiming that one could run faster than the other but just encouraging people
to run. This is clear in the smiling faces and jokey nature of the runners when
over taking one another, and the missing finish line, not showing a winner at
all.
When this TV ad is compared with
the Nike Stadium advertisements, it does exhibit some variation in the spirit
and vibe of the Nike campaigns as they vary, while the print ad for the Paco
Rabanne fragrances maintains the money hungry attitude, which is consistent
throughout the entire campaign. This ad features the woman with the same man
from the TV ad, and persists with the woman grabbing at the man, although with
less desperation and more possession in her grip than the other. The woman’s
hand gesture suggests that by holding onto this man in the way that she does is
of some sort of value, namely wealth. The combination of their hungry facial
expressions, ridiculous body language, expensive and glamorous attire and the
shining product and type amid the black and white image, gives off the
impression that this product needs promoting, immediately making it seem tacky,
instead of sophisticated or alluring.
The delusional aspect of this ad
seems reminiscent of smoking advertisements pre-1991, before it was banned in
the EU. All of these ads featured well-off, good-looking businessmen
and glamorous young women smoking cigarettes, usually accompanied by a slogan
designed to tap into the viewers self-consciousness (Fig. 13-15). The
advertisements for Philip Morris cigarettes claim to be made “for those with
keen young tastes” and Du Maurier cigarettes “for people with a taste for
something better”. Both of these sentences depict elements of status and class,
as people want to be part of that elite “with a taste for something better”.
Similarly, in the More cigarette ad, the advertisers claim that the cigarette
is “more you” and, combined with the image of the woman riding the bicycle,
implies that “more you” is prettier, healthier and more fashionable like the
featured woman. Berger claimed, “Publicity promises
happiness, happiness gained by being envied by others, and this is glamour.” In
many cases, with the right advertising, any product can be painted in this
light.
Returning to Rabanne’s ‘1 million’
fragrance, the over-indulgence doesn’t stop with their print and television
advertisements. The website for the fragrance immediately confronts the viewer
and pushes them to join the ‘Million Club’, offering privileges to members and
the opportunity to win gifts and possibly a diamond when a member collects four
Million Club emblems (Fig. 16). The shining type and huge image of a diamond
that are emblazoned on the home page trick viewers into believing that, with
the potential promise of a diamond, they will benefit hugely from becoming a
member, embodying the glamour of the man and woman modelling the fragrance.
It may seem that these two
campaigns differ hugely but despite the magnitude of differences between them,
the techniques they used to get their products on the market bare little
distinction, proving that advertising seems to adhere to some sort of universal
formula. Publicity as a whole is made up of convincing but empty promises and
it “replaces the present with the activity of an imaginary future, all pictures
conjured up by publicity” (Berger, J., 1972, Ways Of Seeing, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmgGT3th_oI, Part 4). In this generation, people don’t just want
a pair of shoes or an aftershave; they want the
pair of shoes and the aftershave, so
advertisers are left with little choice but to sell a lifestyle over just a
product. They toy with a consumers fear, most commonly the fear of becoming
“faceless, almost non existent” with the absence of these glamorised products,
and since advertising relies so dependently on the publics ability to feel
envious towards others, without a universal sense of social envy, glamour as a
whole could not exist and as a result, this style of advertising could never
exist.
Bibliography
Williamson, J., 1994, Decoding
Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising, London, Marion Boyars
Publishers Ltd
Roman, K., Mass J., 2005, How To
Advertise, St. Martins Griffin
O’Shaughnessy, J., O’Shaughnessy,
N, 2003, Persuasion in Advertising, Routledge
Arens, W., 2010, Contemporary
Advertising, McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Wright, R., 1999, Advertising, 1st
Edition, Financial Times
Solomon, M., (2008), The Truth About
Wha Customers Want’, 1st
Edition, Financial Times
Images:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4-7
Fig 8-10
Fig. 11-12
Fig. 13-15
Fig. 16
