This week for our Communication 463 course we were discussing advertisements in the media. There was a lot of great conversations about ads and how it shapes our society. Though I do have a lot to say on this particular topic, I will start with something I found interesting from our text. In Chapter 22 titled, "Image-Based Culture" the writer discussed on advertisements that have made us change cultural concepts.
I was blown away by this idea that an Ad man made me look at symbols differently, until I read about N.W. Ayers. This was an advertising group that came up with the concept, "A diamond is forever". In the late 1930's they pushed for the diamond to become an essential part to the engagement ring. They made a simple act of true love become a highly financial gain. Now, with women in American culture craving a huge rock on there finger, because Ad men made they believe that means they are loved. This is a super crazy ideal that now is a norm, and makes jewelers very successful individuals.
Just look at the most popular brand in jewelery Tiffany. I started looking at there website to see how they continue to indulge in this fantasy, that when a man stays forever...he gives you a very expensive ring. They have a link to another website, that is sponsored by them about true love.
http://www.whatmakeslovetrue.com/
This website gives more consumers a push to purchase these rings because it is a symbol of true love. This just shows me that in our image-based culture, a ring like this is acceptable though it is not a norm. That Ad man did get something right all those years ago because in our capitalist society a diamond from Tiffany, is what makes love forever...right?
References:
Dines, G. (2011). Gender, Race, and Class in Media (3rd ed., pp. 199-205). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE publication.
It reminds me of the idea of eggs too. Eggs were not always considered a breakfast food. It wasn't until the egg companies were suffering and an ad campaign was made to increase revenue. The ad campaign was able to successfully create the socialized idea that eggs are considered only "breakfast food." In other countries eggs are not considered only a breakfast food such as egg fu young which is considered a mean for dinner or egg drop soup. Learning about how we are socialized to accept certain natural concepts about our world is eye opening. It makes be begin to question everything around me that I have once considered normal. How much of my ideas about life has been socialzed? How much of these ideas have I internalized into my identity?
ReplyDeleteYeah those are interesting questions to look into but I am not sure how I feel about realizing what has been socially constructed. It is just nice to know that the norms in our society can be questioned but not forced. I would rather observe it, then challenge it.
ReplyDeleteinteresting post, Jenny. You took a passage from our reading, extended it on your own, then questioned how it is relevant to your life. . . Also interesting is your response to Viviana: how you would rather observe the world, than challenge it. . . Does this apply to all issues, or only certain ones?
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