I'm Loving It. Got Milk? Just Do It. Easy, Breezy, Beautiful.
What is it about these phrases that makes them almost instantaneously recognizable? Advertisements. In today's society, the average human is exposed to, on average, somewhere between 250 and 3000 advertisements a day (Abu-Saud, 2013). In the 2004 documentary Supersize Me, a group of children interviewed more readily recognized Ronald McDonald than George Washington or Jesus. But how did we get to be this way? Man didn't show up on earth with a shopping list. In today's society, its incredibly difficult to imagine a world, or even more so an America without the abundance of sales pitches being thrown at individuals daily. Advertisements meld the public view of either products or entire social movements, but Americans meld advertisements right back.
The earliest forms of advertising after the Civil War came in the form of the Sears-Roebuck catalog. Westward expansion brought a whole new form of clientele: the ones that couldn't get everything they needed in their local store. These were the people that relied on advertisements to tell them exactly what they were getting. because of this, advertisements were informative and plain. However, the grandness of the catalog was not in the quality of advertisements, but in the sheer amounts of products being advertised. one of the first products that required creativity for a sell was cigarettes. During the civil war, industrialization boomed in the south. afterwards, the industrial south could create their own product from the cash crop that had been growing since early American history. Cigarette companies like Duke advertised with fancy art, but were still limited in size and of course color. As Americans spread westward, advertisements had to do so as well. With the growth of name brands and bigger forms of industrialization, advertisement had to adapt and find more reasons for people to buy their product and not the other guy's.
Duke was one of the early brand names, but many were soon to follow in the early 20th century. Big names started to emerge such as Hershey, Wrigley's, and Nabisco. Now that people knew a product just by the name, advertisements didn't have to tell its audience what was sold. Instead, advertisements started the shift towards selling a feeling. Advertisements were no longer just explanations.
Products weren't the only thing that needed advertising- wars took the same approach. In a similar way to selling a product on a feeling, advertisements were used to sell American unity. World War I advertisements mostly were rallying people to support the war effort by use of the American flag and weren't particularly emotional. They stressed duty and relied heavily on patriotic imagery. By World War II, much more than that was needed, and human emotion took center stage. Rosie the Riveter gave women a role model, and told them they were strong enough to fill the jobs left by their men. The Kid in Upper 4 gave a face to the anonymous soldier fighting for the freedom of America and the world. Both of these wars are examples of American culture coming across in advertising.
After these wars, the American Dream took hold in all forms of advertising, and it particular, the car. People wanted stability, a home in the suburbs, a happy marriage. Car advertisements sold all of these. Cars could give you glamour, adventure, even family. However, the dark side of this was the American dream was limited to those who wanted a family and who wanted to appear wealthy. Americans were a diverse population of people that could not fit into the categories that car advertisements placed them into. But the suburban movement and desire for stability in a nuclear family was reflected.
The 1960's were considered by many the golden age of advertising. Advertising started to take the form that is more recognized today. Clever slogans, recognizable and mass media ads, and simplistic pictures. Now advertisements combine explanation and emotion. with so many different largely recognizable brands, agencies emerged, and had to fight for which advertisement sold a product better, not which sold a better product. But, as culture is often reflected, the civil rights movement brought a call for diversifying the overly suburban and white America displayed in advertisements. Although steps were made, the fight for equality in advertisements is a battle still being fought in modern times.
Advertisements surround the modern American. They invade social and political life and convince us of what will make us happy, but they also mimic the culture of the times and the desire of the people. Advertising and the population are deeply intertwined, and this blog is an exploration of that bond.
Works Cited
Abu-Saud, Ziad. "The Dogma of Advertising and Consumerism." Huffington Post. Huffington Post UK, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock. The Con, 2004. DVD.
What is it about these phrases that makes them almost instantaneously recognizable? Advertisements. In today's society, the average human is exposed to, on average, somewhere between 250 and 3000 advertisements a day (Abu-Saud, 2013). In the 2004 documentary Supersize Me, a group of children interviewed more readily recognized Ronald McDonald than George Washington or Jesus. But how did we get to be this way? Man didn't show up on earth with a shopping list. In today's society, its incredibly difficult to imagine a world, or even more so an America without the abundance of sales pitches being thrown at individuals daily. Advertisements meld the public view of either products or entire social movements, but Americans meld advertisements right back.
The earliest forms of advertising after the Civil War came in the form of the Sears-Roebuck catalog. Westward expansion brought a whole new form of clientele: the ones that couldn't get everything they needed in their local store. These were the people that relied on advertisements to tell them exactly what they were getting. because of this, advertisements were informative and plain. However, the grandness of the catalog was not in the quality of advertisements, but in the sheer amounts of products being advertised. one of the first products that required creativity for a sell was cigarettes. During the civil war, industrialization boomed in the south. afterwards, the industrial south could create their own product from the cash crop that had been growing since early American history. Cigarette companies like Duke advertised with fancy art, but were still limited in size and of course color. As Americans spread westward, advertisements had to do so as well. With the growth of name brands and bigger forms of industrialization, advertisement had to adapt and find more reasons for people to buy their product and not the other guy's.
Duke was one of the early brand names, but many were soon to follow in the early 20th century. Big names started to emerge such as Hershey, Wrigley's, and Nabisco. Now that people knew a product just by the name, advertisements didn't have to tell its audience what was sold. Instead, advertisements started the shift towards selling a feeling. Advertisements were no longer just explanations.
Products weren't the only thing that needed advertising- wars took the same approach. In a similar way to selling a product on a feeling, advertisements were used to sell American unity. World War I advertisements mostly were rallying people to support the war effort by use of the American flag and weren't particularly emotional. They stressed duty and relied heavily on patriotic imagery. By World War II, much more than that was needed, and human emotion took center stage. Rosie the Riveter gave women a role model, and told them they were strong enough to fill the jobs left by their men. The Kid in Upper 4 gave a face to the anonymous soldier fighting for the freedom of America and the world. Both of these wars are examples of American culture coming across in advertising.
After these wars, the American Dream took hold in all forms of advertising, and it particular, the car. People wanted stability, a home in the suburbs, a happy marriage. Car advertisements sold all of these. Cars could give you glamour, adventure, even family. However, the dark side of this was the American dream was limited to those who wanted a family and who wanted to appear wealthy. Americans were a diverse population of people that could not fit into the categories that car advertisements placed them into. But the suburban movement and desire for stability in a nuclear family was reflected.
The 1960's were considered by many the golden age of advertising. Advertising started to take the form that is more recognized today. Clever slogans, recognizable and mass media ads, and simplistic pictures. Now advertisements combine explanation and emotion. with so many different largely recognizable brands, agencies emerged, and had to fight for which advertisement sold a product better, not which sold a better product. But, as culture is often reflected, the civil rights movement brought a call for diversifying the overly suburban and white America displayed in advertisements. Although steps were made, the fight for equality in advertisements is a battle still being fought in modern times.
Advertisements surround the modern American. They invade social and political life and convince us of what will make us happy, but they also mimic the culture of the times and the desire of the people. Advertising and the population are deeply intertwined, and this blog is an exploration of that bond.
Works Cited
Abu-Saud, Ziad. "The Dogma of Advertising and Consumerism." Huffington Post. Huffington Post UK, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock. The Con, 2004. DVD.