Advertising

I recently wrote a paper for my sociology class about advertising. I wanted to share it to see if I could get some feed back about it. Here it is....

 

Advertising: Influence on Society

By:Nichole Bennett

How influential is advertising to people when they are exposed to it every day? When people look at advertisement whether it be on TV, radio, internet or even in magazines they influence people into buying certain products.  They can influence people by making them think that if they buy a certain product it can make the happier person, a more attractive person and even a better person. Kids are being influenced at an even younger age than ever before. According to an article Parents Buy, but Kids Rule, kids are being influenced 24/7by advertising. They are seeing 20,000-40,000 articles a year. (Evans, 2003)That is a lot of advertising going into influential young minds. This paper will describe 10 advertisements and how society is influenced by the advertisements. Some of the ads will include Coca-Cola, Axe cologne, Volkswagen and McDonalds. This essay will describe the influence the ads have on society and how people perceive them.

The first advertisement that is going to be talked about is a print ad about Playstation. The ad is the Playstation controller buttons displayed on the side of a mountain side like the Hollywood sign. The ad is based off of an iconic American symbol. A symbol according to Society: the Basics written by John J. Macionis is “anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share a culture.” They used the Hollywood sign to catch the audience’s attention as well as using bright colors. Playstation also added a slogan in the ad saying “Live in your world, Play in ours.” This means to the audience that if you purchase their product you will be able to escape reality and go into a world that they create for you. It is shown mostly in video game magazines so the audience that this ad is for is men. Men perceive this ad more openly because they can relate to the controller buttons and remind them that they can step into an alternate reality at the click of a button.  The ad does influence men to go out and purchase the Playstation products like the company intended.

The second ad that will be discussed in relation to how society perceives it is the Axe Anarchy print ad. It is a based on all nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is communication using body movements, gestures and facial expressions rather than speech. (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) The ad is an attractive man that is dressed as a welder and a pretty woman dressed in a nice dress and high heels. He is holding a blow torch and she is holding a bag of fireworks suggesting that they are going to create sparks together from the scents they are wearing from axe. The slogan for this ad is “Unleash the chaos.” That means that once they meet they will in fact ignite the bag full of fireworks creating the chaos described. This ad is influencing society through sexual appeal to both men and women. It is showing that people will be more attracted to you if you purchase their product. People will go out to buy the product making them feel that they are more sexually attractive to people.

The third ad that will be talked about is a Nikon S60 camera print ad. When describing this advertisement it has a humor aspect that is very apparent.  The ad is of the camera screen pointed to a man getting his picture taken next to a big tree. The humor in the ad is that man doesn’t see the other faces in the tree but the camera picks them up. The slogan for this ad says “The Nikon S60 can detect up to 12 faces.” According to Macionis “humor arises from the contradictions, ambiguities, and double meanings found in differing definitions of the same situation.” (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) This applies to the ad because people will see the humor in the ad and relate to the comical affect of the ad. That is how people will react to the ad. They will remember the humor of the ad when they go and look for a camera and remember that it has a feature that they want. That was Nikons intention so they will buy their product.

The fourth ad that will be talked about is a print ad about Play-Doh. The ad is very simple to describe. It is a brightly colored pink and lime green hatchet. The slogan for the ad says “safe no matter what you make.” That suggests that the ad is not only aimed at children but also towards their parents. The reason why it’s aimed toward parents also is because it needs to show the parent that the product is safe for their child. Macionis suggests that children are taught their families values and skills through what their parents use to make the child a well adjusted person. (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) Play-Doh is suggesting that if a parent purchases their product the child can develop their skills in a safe environment. That is going to be well received by parents because they always want the best for their children.

The fifth ad that will be discussed is a ad for Coca-Cola. The ad is print that was run through many different magazines. The ad is of three glass bottles of Coca-Cola that demonstrate the three of the stages that movies have gone through. The bottles start out as black and white, then move to color and finally into 3-D. It has the slogan “125 years at the movies.” That shows people that Coca-Cola is a product that has been through the many changes that culture goes through but Coca-Cola has remained the same. Coca-Cola is considered to be material culture. Material culture defined by Macionis is “the physical things created by members of society…” (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) Coca-Cola is part of American culture. This ad shows the audience that Coca-Cola is a dependable product that they can get anywhere because Coca-Cola will go through the changes culture goes through but it will remain the same.

The sixth ad that will be discussed is the TV ad that is about the New 2012 Dodge Dart. The TV ad is a very high paced ad. It goes through the process of how the inventor of the car went into making the Dodge Dart. The music that plays in the background is very fast paced to catch and keep the audience’s attention. The ad is geared more toward men with the way the advertisement goes on about describing the way the car is made such as the speed and the high tech features of the car. The slogan for the TV ad is “How to change cars forever.” This as is shows one of the ways that culture is changing. Macionis say “invention, the process of creating new cultural elements.” (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) This ad is showing how the invention of this car will help shape culture. People will see the ad as if they buy the car they will be advancing with technology which will help with the changing culture.

 Coca-Cola has many famous TV ads that people can relate to. The seventh ad that will be talked about is a Diet Coke ad that is played on TV. The description of the ad starts off with a man sitting in traffic which people can relate to because it’s something everyone has been through. The ad then goes into a frame of the diet coke can and a man reaching for it. The man then takes a sip of the diet coke and then he slowly starts to move forward in traffic.  The slogan at the beginning of the ad is “a little drive, for the ride to work.” And at the end of the TV ad it says “Stay extraordinary. Diet Coke.” This slogan says to people that you can drink diet coke to make your life a little bit more extraordinary. The ad is trying to sell diet coke in a way that will make people think that it will start their mornings off better than if they didn’t have diet coke.

                The eighth TV ad that will be discussed is an ad put out by McDonalds. The description of the ad starts with the McDonalds slogan “I’m lovin it”. It then zooms in on a man’s face he seems to be staring at someone. The camera then focuses on a woman with music that sounds like they are falling for each other. The camera goes between the two of them a couple times with the man in the back ground saying “chicken piece nuggets”. Then the screen is now focused on the man and an older man steps out from behind him. The older gentlemen says “Lovely girl. Caught your eye. Looks like the 20 piece nugget is only 4.99. Go over and share them. The conversation begins.” The younger man says “That’s pretty smart.” Then the older man says “I’ve been around.” The screen the goes to a screen that shows some of the food that is offered at McDonalds. Then the end shot is the two younger people sitting at a table enjoying a 20 piece chicken nugget meal.  Then it shows “I’m lovin it.” The McDonalds ad is trying to sell both items off of the menu as well as trying to sell the audience the idea of happiness if they purchase the items. People will relate to the ad because they want to be able to find the happiness that McDonalds is trying to show and they also want a meal for a deal which McDonalds is also selling.

                The ninth TV ad is a Volkswagen commercial. The description is the ad starting with a little darth vader walking down a hallway. It also has the signature star wars song associated with darth vader. First the mini vader starts to try and use the force to more the workout machine. Then he tries to move his dog. He then tries to move the washer and dryer machine. He then makes his way into his sister’s room and tries to move her baby doll. Then he keeps trying to move the dog by following it around the house. Then his mom makes him a sandwich that she moves toward him while he tries to use the force. Then the Volkswagen pulls into the driveway. His dad gets out of the car. The boy seems to be running toward him but he really is running toward the car. He starts to use his force and the car starts to run. It makes it seem like the little vader started the car but really his dad had started the car from inside with his keys. The end screen says “the all-new 2012 Passat.” Then the Volkswagen logo with “Das Auto” underneath it. This ad is very relatable to people because of the fact that it was referencing a very recognizable character from a popular movie franchise. This ad is also has a sense of eurocentrism. Macionis says that “eurocentrism is the dominance of European culture patterns.” (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) The fact that the ad uses the words “Das Auto” in it also shows that it has a European influence. There are many reason why this commercial was so popular was because it was so relatable to the people that watched it. Volkswagen succeeded in making a commercial that would be likeable enough to have people remember the product and want to go out and buy the Passat.

                The tenth and the last TV ad that will be discussed is a Gillette ad. The description of the ad starts with the first scene. It is a shot of Adrian Brody getting ready for the day. It shows him shaving with the razor that says “styler”. Then the screen goes to Gael Garcia Bernal getting ready. It shows him using the same razor to get ready.  Then it goes to André 3000 getting ready. It also shows him using the same razor to get ready. Then all three of them start to walk down the street together. It says they are “masters of style”. Then it goes into different types of razors that it works as. Then the ad shows three women walking by staring at them and the men look back at them. Then it goes on saying the name of the razor and then the slogan is “Gillette. The best a man can get.” This ad is a very sexual ad. It shows men that they can look like the famous actors if they use that brand of razor to get ready which will in turn get women to be attracted to them. People will perceive this ad in a different way. Macionis says “men focus on the product being advertised and women often focus on the men.” (Macionis, 2013, 2011, 2009) Gillette uses that aspect very effectively by concentrating on the way people focus on different aspects of TV ads causing people to purchase the product based on the ad.

                Advertising is a very important way to sell products to people. Companies will spend millions of dollars to play an ad during the Super Bowl just because it will be viewed by millions of people.  People are very influential and based on the ads that were described companies can tailor ads based on the consumers needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Evans, D. &. (2003). PARENTS BUY, BUT KIDS RULE. Asia's Media & Marketing Newspaper, 22-23.

Macionis, J. J. (2013, 2011, 2009). Socciety: The Basics. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.