ZUR 393k: Effects of Mass Media Raymond Williams,“Advertising:The Magic System” Sut Jhally,“Advertising as Religion” Outline: 1. preliminaries: Maslow’s hierarchy, fragmentation, use value vs. exchange value, materialism 2. four stages of advertising (Williams) 3. four patterns of advertising (Jhally) final exam study guide and rules most ads work by blending/blurring levels • not “sex” found in ads, but “sexuality” • not a physiological need, but -- in Maslow’s terms -- love/belonging or self-esteem needs “sex sells” fragmentation and objectification • sexuality defined narrowly • sexualized body is fragmented and turned into an object of the gaze “use value” vs.“exchange value” • use value linked to the physical properties of the object, e.g. its material function or utility “use value” vs.“exchange value” • exchange value involves a transaction, turning an object into a commodity to be bartered or sold “use value” vs.“exchange value” • exchange value is abstracted from use value, but usually tied to the amount of (invisible) labor required to produce the commodity “use value” vs.“exchange value” • exchange value is abstracted from use value, but usually tied to the amount of (invisible) labor required to produce the commodity materialism “The problem I sensed was not hedonism, but the lack of it, and not materialism, but the spread of indifference toward a material world where things were reduced to disposable commodities” (T.J. Jackson Lears, 1994, p, 6) materialism http://apps.npr.org/tshirt/#/title https://www.youtube.com/ watch? v=r2Zod7Sd3rQ&list=PLp- wXwmbv3z8aAJrhyttiqPMiK y0WVJym STAGE ONE: Simple Announcement • full page with no white space • emphasis on information: e.g. product type, characteristics, price, location Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) 1849 I sat up during the evening, reading by the light of the fire the scraps of newspapers in which some party had wrapped their luncheon; the prices current in New York and Boston, the advertisements, and the singular editorials that some had seen fit to publish. . . . I read these things at a vast advantage there, and it seemed to me that the advertisements were greatly the best, the most useful, natural, and respectable. Almost all the opinions and sentiments expressed were so little considered, so shallow and flimsy, that I thought the very texture of the paper must be weaker in that part and tear the more easily. The advertisements . . . were more closely allied to nature, and were respectable in some measure as tide and meteorological tables are. . . . For commerce is really as interesting as nature. (H.D.Thoreau, AWeek on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, 1849, 150-51) STAGE TWO: Early Illustrations • maintains emphasis on product information • woodblock prints added • depictions of product • metaphorical associations (1885) 1890s STAGE THREE: Catch-phrase • phrase matched with product to enhance memory/association • tactic pioneered with patent medicines Patent Medicines a.k.a. nostrum remedium (“our remedy”) • mass-produced product in search of a national market • questionable efficacy,“secret” ingredient(s) • opium extracts, cocaine, morphine, laudanum, grain alcohol • “female complaints” = pregnancy (tansy, pennyroyal for self-induced abortion) The Hucksters (1947) parity products • no real difference in terms of efficacy • advertisers attempt to create emotional differences via branding, e.g. differences in what a product means STAGE FOUR: Attack Personal Relationships • “psychological warfare” • aim: make consumers feel insecure about themselves (body, hair, clothing, etc.), their relationships with others (social acumen, acceptability), and the health and well-being of their children 1922 1926 ca 1920 1919 ca 1947 1941 1921 1925 ca 2008 Wheeler-Lea Amendment (1938) • banned advertising claims that were “explicitly false” • further replace information-based claims with emotional appeals • greater emphasis on images • result:“increased glamour and indirect assertion” (Stole, p. 95) STAGE FIVE: Advertising Presented as News (or Entertainment) • publicity for films (stories/ interviews with stars, screenwriters, directors, etc.) http://www.moviefone.com/december-movie-release-schedule http://www.vogue.com/13368193/jennifer-lawrence-december-2015-cover-hunger-games/ http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-12/01/star-wars-force-awakens-millennium-falcon http:// www.hollywood reporter.com/ news/sundance- politics-guns- isis- north-846994 http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/ • gossip columns • news topics http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology http:// www.cbsnews .com/news/ how-to- watch- victorias- secret- fashion- show-2015/ WhatWomenWant (2001) 4 stages of advertising copy (Jhally) • idolatry • iconology • narcissism • totem Four Stages of Advertising STAGE ONE: IDOLATRY • veneration of products • products shown as over-sized • surrounded by a halo of light or with beams of light radiating outward • adoring throngs/enthralled individuals Four Stages of Advertising STAGE TWO: ICONOLOGY • mid-ground between worship of goods and worship of meaning • shift from a focus on the product to a focus on the consumer • product and people both as embodiment of social values Four Stages of Advertising STAGE THREE: NARCISSISM • product reflects the desires of the individual • product transforms the individual’s existence • people undergo sudden physical transformation • object entraps or entices others Four Stages of Advertising STAGE FOUR: TOTEM • goods serve as a sign of group affiliation • products are badges of group membership • products give magical access to previously closed world