Becoming Modern Through Advertising

        As public image and industrialization continued to grow well into the twentieth century, advertising and its agencies paved the way for modernity. Roland Marchand explains that to be modern simply means to have a characteristic of the present time or time not long gone past. With this definition, it is easy to understand how advertising was a catalyst for modernity of the American dream in the 1920's. Wartime propaganda and early marketing campaigns proved the benefits of advertising, and it quickly grew into a position of power and status as mass-media began enabling a national American culture (Marchand, 4). With the rise of popularity and frequency of advertisements, Americans suddenly had a new medium for discovering identity and learning what it meant to be 'modern'. 
While advertising continued to grow, so did consumption. Ads were able to stimulate ideas of what is 'new and desirable , and encouraged the public to purchase. There was a public fear that the speed of life would surge past them, and their neighbors would leave them behind. The fears of a new speed of life made people quicker to embrace ideas, or reject ideas just as quick. According to ad agent of the time Earnest Elmo Calkins, this made advertising invaluable because a manufacturer could quickly refocus his attack. Trademarks and brand loyalty also boomed. Because of the immense need of the people to stay modern and keep up with the times, by the end of 1920 sixty percent of auto, radio, and other electric purchases was made on consumer credit. 
Through modernity and an increase in the necessity of 'stuff', sociologist Daniel Bell insisted the the world of coordination and bureaucracy was one in which men were often treated as things because one can more easily coordinate things than men (Marchand, 12). Many Americans felt disconnected from economic and social relationships and lost faith in communal, ethical, or religious meaning. Essentially, there seemed to be a lack of a secure sense of self. This allowed advertising a great opportunity, as mass-media was widespread and able to give the people clues or advice on what happiness was. The inferiority complex of many people was able to reshape the ways of advertising, shifting from marketing products to marketing emotion with individual appeal. Instead of focusing on the general public, ad men shaped their ads as if they were marketing their product to an individual. As President Calvin Coolidge said, advertising men were molding the human mind (Marchand, 9). What made advertising modern was the discovery by these 'apostles of modernity' of techniques for empathizing with the public's imperfect acceptance of modernity, with its resistance to the perfect rationalization and bureaucratization of life (Marchand, 13).
While focusing on the individual, advertisements also incorporated different social situations as reasons why a certain product is a must. Scare copy advertising was popular. Giving an example of a social failure opened a window to present a product as a necessity, only there for you in your greatest times of need. Listerine advertisements warned against the possibility of losing a hot date because of halitosis. They and Fleischmann's yeast both used medical benefits to market their products, another popular strategy of the 1920's. One other notable marketing strategy was employed by Kotex, who realized they could be successfully thorough without unnecessary detail. They could leave it up to the reader to decide the more intimate context of the ad and situation depicted. Through all of these, advertisements focused on dramatic realism, showing consumer satisfaction as a result of a product instead of focusing on the product itself.
      It is interesting that even in 2013, many of the same techniques are being employed in the commercials and advertisements we see every day. It seems that nearly every advertisement focuses on emotional appeal. Why else would we buy a product? It sure would not sell if it made the consumer unhappy. Many products still use health as a selling point - cosmetics, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, etc. The scare tactic is not as common, although it is still relevant as well, such as the Orbit 'Dirty Mouth' campaign. There is also an overwhelming sway towards individual marketing. Online advertising is heavily individualized. Data on users' frequented websites allows ad agencies to target each user specifically on their interests. There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the legality of data sharing and privacy of social network sites in regards to advertising agencies and marketing strategies. Finally, if the people of the 1920's felt life was too fast and were at a loss of identity, where does that leave the people of 2013?

Children Are the Future... of Advertising

            Having a face to identify products with is an important facet of American advertising, that much is plain to see based on the variety of corporate logos that overwhelm shoppers whenever they visit the grocery store or turn on the television.  Heck, the main reason thousands (if not millions) watch the Super Bowl these days isn't for the game itself, but for the advertising that takes place during the match.  What caused the advertising industry to grow into the mass media juggernaut that it is today is the culmination of over a century of shrewd business decisions and careful trend monitoring.  Whether that monitoring comes from viewership numbers, sales, or word of mouth passed around the internet, it still has a major effect upon future adverts.

            One of the observations that interested me the most in the Blaszczyk reading for this week actually concerned advertising towards children.  As opposed to the adult (who was far more likely to think about the long term when it came to consuming), "advertisers began to imagine the child as a consumer with more immediate desires, as a customer in the short term" (Blaszczyk, 129).  This of course explains the nature of many children's commercials: flashy, catchy wording/music, cute (for girls)/cool (for boys) product, and repeated incentives to beg parents for said item.  It's a small wonder that children always seem so greedy at times, they've been practically addicted to the rush that comes from obtaining the latest and greatest toy... until next month's model comes out.

            This in turn helps explain the reason why certain kids' TV shows remain in syndication.  Shows stay on the air based upon their viewing numbers, which is why shows such as SpongeBob Squarepants have been around for over a decade in some cases: kids love them.  The parent companies for these shows in turn make a killing off of licensed merchandise that they advertise to children during the commercial breaks for these same shows.  It's an interesting example of a symbiotic relationship based on positive reinforcement: popular show gets toys that sell in large numbers which encourages the company to keep the show running in order to sell more toys.

Source: Blaszczyk, Regina. American Consumer Society, 1865-2005: From Hearth to HDTV. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson Inc., 2009. Print.

By: Andrew Sullivan

Sex Sells

Sex Sells

            Why did you buy that article of clothing from the mall or why did you buy the make up and deodorant?  Most of us can live without all of these goods that we buy everyday, so why do we spend our money on them?  The answer the majority of the time is because we want to look and smell attractive so we can catch the eye of someone.  It has been prevalent through the semester and life that people want to be like these “picture perfect” people they see in the media, because that is what people want in a significant other.  Why else would women wear corsets and put on make up while men spend money on cars and clothes.  While reading the chapter in Blaszczyk’s book I was surprised to see the first ad to use sex to sell their product was for soap.  In chapter four of American Consumer Society, Blaszczyk writes, “Helen Resor cut her teeth on the Woodbury’s Facial Soap advertising and the memorable tag line, ‘A Skin You Love to Touch.’ The Woodbury campaign was the first ‘sex appeal’ series in American advertising,” (Blaszczyk, 121).  With this ad the soap company used a couple holding and touching each other to push their slogan.  What they are selling is just soap they had been selling for years, but it suddenly became the mindset they were selling that if you used their soap you will be desirable.  Later Blaszczyk writes “, as Thompson and other agencies fed on women’s unspoken longings, converting mundane convenience products like soap, hand lotion, and perfume into tools for self-transformation” (Blaszczyk, 123).  These advertisements are not selling us their product anymore, but more of what their product supposedly will make us become.  In this more contemporary world that we live in now it was much more prevalent.  It is hard to drive down any street without seeing a person half naked and completely photoshopped.  These ads are trying to penetrate our minds saying the person in the advertisement could be us if we purchase their product.   The slideshow and video show examples on how companies are distorting our mind on how these products will benefit us.

http://www.slideshare.net/SalesPop/10-reasons-on-why-sex-sells

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U&noredirect=1

Blaszczyk, Regina Lee. American Consumer Society, 1865-2005: From Hearth to HDTV. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2009. Print.

Dress to Impress

So in the book Blaszczyk talks about the beautiful Carrie Bradshaw, and I must say she is fabulous! Anyways, Carrie is the prime example of every young woman. Living by herself in New York, with the world at her fingertips. She has beautiful, and has the most amazing clothes. Like it said in the book “she never wore the same clothes twice.” Carrie is a young woman that had a lot of money and a nice job.

          

  Carrie is like the 21^st century version of the women in the early 1900’s. Everyone wanted to have nice clothes and nice things to show off to their neighbors, but not everyone could afford it. Everyone wanted to be like a young Carrie but times were different back then.    

           

The style was different in the early 1900’s. It definitely was not as bright and colorful as Miss Bradshaw’s but they had the same ideas. Women would buy nice lovely little corsets that they would use to break their ribs (to give them a womanly shape). They would buy their clothes to represent social class. They would buy clothes that would make them look like they are in a higher class then they actually are. When you are a young woman you want to attract a nice man. So why not lie about your social class to get a man that was in a higher class than you?                                   

           

Ready- to- Wear was an easy way to wear some of the same clothes as people from a higher class. Again anyone could look the same and Ready- to- Wear was the way to make that happen. Another thing that showed class was the white collars. The higher the collar the higher position you had at work. The point of the collar was so men did not have to change their shirts, just the collars.  

The Consuming Habits of Men Versus Women

                            The Consuming Habits of Men Versus Women
In Chapter 12 of Consumer Society in American History: A Reader, Mark A. Swiencicki details the Pre-Depression era consumerist habits of males compared with their female counterparts. In his article, Swienciki analyzes statistical data to assert that despite conventional wisdom of the time, men had an equal, possibly greater, impact on the consumer market in comparison with women . He continues on to describe a consumer market that  may have erroneously viewed women as primary consumers because “the emphasis on the acquisition of goods rather than on their ultimate consumption has overemphasized women’s role in the consumption process”( Swiencicki, 208). Based on his analysis of consumption habits of men in the Pre-Depression era which included drinking, visiting men‘s clubs and viewing sporting events, Swiencicki states that “the monetary value of men’s consumption may have been about twice as large as woman’s” (Swiencicki, 208).
Fast forward about 80 years from the end of the Pre-Depression era and there still seems to be a stigma that suggests that consumerism is merely a feminine activity. While there is no doubt in the fact that women have a powerful and positive impact on the world of consumerism, there can be no denying that men have their place in realm of consumption. The fact of the matter is that men and women exist and participate in two completely different areas of consumerism. While both sexes use consumerism as a vehicle of social expression, they do it in stark contrast of each other.
In terms of consumerism, females are most likely to be found at a shopping mall and/or department store with their friends shopping for the newest trends in fashion and entertainment. In a sociological sense, it’s a kind of rite of passage for females to peruse the mall with their peers in search of the latest fashion trends. What really separates female consumption from that of males, is that they tend to consume goods rather than services.
While men are less likely to visit a shopping mall to find material goods that often exert their consumerism in terms of consuming services. There’s an old saying that history tends to repeat itself and this statement appears to hold true in terms of male consumption habits. Just as previous generations did in the Pre-Depression era, men tend to consume services such as drinking at a bar, going to a baseball game or playing a round of golf at a local course.
In conclusion, there definitely appears to be an interesting dynamic in the consumption habits of women compared to those of men, especially in the realm of leisure. Women tend to shop with their friends as a social activity while men prefer going to a sporting event as their own form of socialization. Although this seems a simple dichotomy, why is that the consumption of services appears to be overshadowed by the consumption of goods?


Cited Sources:
Mark, Swiencicki A. Consumer Society in American History: A Reader. Ed. Lawrence B. Glickman. Ithica,  NY: Cornell UP, 1999. Print.

Tyler Tucker

Creating the Perfect Body: Then and Now

Body image plays a vital role in the clothing that we purchase and wear. Someone with low self-esteem does not go out and purchase tight t-shirts and skinny jeans if they do not feel that their body image fits this mold. Our personal views on body image stem from the media. This idea of the “perfect body” is something that was even attempting to be achieved by both men and women during the Victorian Era. “New fashion mandates affected men and women up and down the social ladder, most of whom adjusted their bodies, lifestyles, and clothing to ‘fit in’.” (Blaszczyk 71) This idea holds true in our society today as well.
We often times compare our bodies to those of celebrities such as Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, Jennifer Aniston, and Jessica Biel. For men, we feel that it’s necessary to achieve the fitness model body. This holds true during the Victorian Era as well. “To succeed in his job, the Victorian breadwinner had to stay in shape and be alert, unsentimental, and healthy.” (Blaszczyk 57) This body type was and still is considered to be the highest achievement. Strong dark suits were worn at this time to make a man look masculine (even though he may just be faking it). Celebrities of today daunt similar suits while on the Red Carpet, wearing suits tailored in order to show that they are in fact more muscular than us watching at home.
Women’s couture played a vital role at this time as well. The upper class had opportunities to travel to Paris to obtain the most luxurious of fabrics to create magnificent dresses. Underneath these dresses were corsets so tight, that they created the “hourglass shape” that was desired by women of all social classes. Today, the ideal body image is somewhat unattainable, unless you are a celebrity or supermodel. The look of most supermodels of today is what I would consider to be unhealthy. Tall and thin, so thin that in fact you can see most of their ribs. According to A. Poorani, “Through a century of advertising images, however, thinness gradually became the standard of feminine beauty. The typical fashion model today is not 10 percent lighter than her ‘‘normal’’ feminine counterpart but 23 percent lighter. So the average American woman between eighteen and thirty-four years of age has only a 7 percent chance of being as slim as a fashion or runway model. A typical fashion photographer’s model is slimmer than 93 percent of women her age.” (7)
To summarize, men and women have always had an ideal body image that they have always worked so hard to obtain. This image, although seemingly unattainable, is imminent with the media holding celebrities to such a high standard. Body image will forever be an issue with people of all ages because of this idea of the “perfect body”.

Works Cited

Blaszczyk, Regina Lee. American Consumer Society, 1865-2005: From Hearth to HDTV. Wheeling, IL:                     Harlan Davidson, 2009. Print.

Poorani, A. "Who Determines The Ideal Body? A Summary Of Research Findings On Body Image." New Media & Mass Communication 2.(2012): 1-12. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 7 Feb. 2013.

--Todd Gottschall

The Cost of the American Dream

The history of American Consumerism is can easily be tracked parallel to the growth in popularity of credit cards. In the early 1930’s, a movement called the American Dream was born. American’s began dreaming of a world where people could have everything they wanted. Today, American’s are still dreaming the same dream, however few have achieved it.

Instead of earning money to live the American Dream, people started maxing out their credit cards. Student loans are weighing on families and mass credit card debt is rising.

In order live a middle class lifestyle; you must have a well paying job. Most mid to high-level corporate jobs require a minimum of a 4-year college degree to apply. Higher-level executive level jobs may require post-graduate education. While striving to achieve the American Dream, student loans are crushing the financial foundations of America.

Many college students are graduating with upwards of 60,000 dollars in dept. Because of the unstable economy, parents are struggling to pay tuition bills. Between 2008-2010, tuition rates went up 15%-40%. This was caused by states losing tax revenue and cutting support for public universities.

Today’s “entry-level” position requires at least one internship and as much experience as possible. These lower level positions often do not pay. Some college graduates are even resorting to taking second unpaid internships to gain experience after college.

These “American Dreamers” are left with only a degree and an empty pocket to begin their lives. Though, this does not stop them from reaching into their checkbooks and on to the American Dream. Young men and women are constantly comparing their selves to their friends and neighbors. The idea of keeping up with the Jones’ is ever present in today’s society. Americans are addicted to shopping. Malls have longer hours, some stores stay open 24 hours a day.

We need to take time to reflect on our purchases. Realize the possibility of an Impossible American Dream. Stop comparing ourselves to everyone around us. Push forward for credit education. And help make higher education as possibility for every American.

Logemann, J. (2008). Different Paths to Mass Consumption: Consumer Credit in the United States and West Germany during the 1950s and '60s. Journal Of Social History, 41(3), 525-559.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2012-07-03/student-loans-debt-crisis/56006496/1

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7601/do-you-shop-to-get-high.html

http://www.npr.org/series/153503213/american-dreams-lost-and-found

Sexuality: An Advertising Medium to Mass Consumption

We all know the concept that “Sex Sells” is not a new form of advertising that we are not exposed to everyday. We are constantly being shown images of pretty, slender, and scantily clad women and men in the ads from our favorite brands like Budweiser, Victoria Secret, Calvin Klein, and Abercrombie and Fitch being used as a means to sell us products and services on the most primal of all levels. A prime example of sexual advertising can be easily drawn from some of the recent Superbowl 47 commercials. Take the GoDaddy.com commercial for say. What was a beautiful woman making out with a nerdy and less attractive adolescent really selling us? Website domain rites like what the company is built on or was it something else? I think we all know that sex and appeals to sexual intimacy amongst genders is constantly being used to manipulate and to guide our consumer habits even if we are not quick to admit it. Jeannette Mulvey, editor of the Business News Daily, an online journal for trends in business and consumption, further explains the impact of sexual advertisements and expands upon the notion of sex being used as a medium to encourage mass consumption as she says, “"Advertisers use sex because it can be very effective," said researcher Tom Reichert, professor and head of the department of advertising and public relations in the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.” Sex sells because it attracts attention. People are hard-wired to notice sexually relevant information, so ads with sexual content get noticed."’ (Mulvey).  According to the The American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences (AABSS), there is actual science behind why sexual advertisements are not just effective in the selling of products, but also why both genders are so responsive to sexual advertisements. Carol M. Shepherd, from the National University in La Jolla, California, explains these scientific specific gender reactions and the power of sexual advertisements on the typical consumer in the AABSS as she says, “Whereas men are stimulated by the immediate physical sexuality in the ads, women

seem to be more stimulated by the sexuality for the romantic aspect of it. Men want to get the

women. Women want the sexuality for the promise of the future. Research has shown that

both sexes are almost equally aroused by the nudity exhibited in these advertisements” (Shepherd, 3).

 The funny thing is that appealing to the taboo of sex and the implication of sexual intercourse is not a new or modern means to advertise and sell products. Instead sexual advertising had its true modern start on the posters and advertisements for dance halls, movie theaters, and amusements parks of the late Victorian Era and the Early Twentieth Century, which used the new notion of heterosocial behavior and interactions between the sexes as a means to not only lure in the working female and working male consumer, but to also implant this new notion of the acceptability of challenging social norms and respectability and thus making gender relations an encouraged form of leisure instead of the taboo and unrespectable form perceived by the middle and upper classes of this period . A perfect example of using sex, cultural taboo at this time, as a means to appeal to the mass consumerist culture of the working class comes from some of the advertisements for the more racy and risqué West Brighton amusements of Coney Island. Kathy Peiss in her novel, Cheap Amusements, explains how West Brighton entrepreneurs would use the notion of sexual intimacy to advertise their rides as she said, “Many sideshows promoted familiarity between the sexes, romance, and titillation to attract crowds of young women and men” (Peiss, 133). One of my favorite advertisements that Peiss quoted from was from an ad trying to draw the young working class to the Cannon Coaster at West Brighton Park which used the come on, “Will she throw her arms around your neck and yell? Well, I guess, yes” (Peiss, 133). Other prime examples of these raw forms of advertising using the suggestiveness of sex and inter-gender mingling came from the rides The Canals of Venice and the Tunnel of Love in which the entrepreneurs attributed their success to the sexual intimacies their rides promoted as they said, “The men like it because it gives them a chance to hug the girls, the girls like it because it gives them a chance to get hugged” (Peiss, 134). Due to the success of sexual suggestive rides and attractions that gave patrons the opportunity to touch other sexes in a socially acceptable local, sex as a form of advertisement not only expanded in the mass consumption world of the Amusement park, but it became the primary subject used to lure patrons in at George Tilyou’s Steeplechase Park. Upon describing, Steeplechase Park, Peiss is quick to depict how Tilyou used heterosocial relations as a means of distinguishing his park from the more respectable amusement parks of the middle class like Luna and Dreamland at Coney Island. Peiss portrays how Tilyou took advantage of this new era of sexual exploration in the working class as she explains how Tilyou would explicitly appeal to sex as a means of getting the working class patrons on his rides as she explains Tilyou’s Barrel of Love ride and his accompanied advertisement for it: “Similarly, the Barrel of Love was a slowly revolving drum that forced those in it to tumble into each other. Tilyou’s intentions were made clear in this advertisement, “Talk about love in a cottage! This has it beat in a mile” (Peiss, 134-135).

By depicting the prevalence of sex being used as the most popular advertising medium for the working class and the mass culture, Peiss is not only introducing the exploitation of sexual suggestiveness as a means of promoting mass consumption in the Victorian and Early Twentieth century eras in the dance hall, movie, and amusement park industries, but she is also linking this pattern of sexual exploitation to the basics of American and World Advertisements of today. 

The Tunnel of Love at Tilyou's Steeplechase Park

Cannon Coaster at Tilyou's steeplechase Park

The Heterosocial Atmosphere at Tilyou's Steeplechase Park

             My question to the consumers of the world is if this appeal to sex and gender relations will be ever-present in our advertisements and will continually draw us in as consumers by the rawest forms of our emotions? Or will there come a time when the advertising market has become so overcrowded with sexual images, that the naked female and naked male body will no longer be an effective means to the consumer pocketbook. I know I would like an advertising revolution to occur in which the focus goes back to advertising quality goods and services and that advertisers would cease in putting subliminal messages in every ad we encounter, but I think I might just be wishful thinking. Sadly, I believe the appeal to sex and to sexual intercourse will be an ever-present means of advertisement until it either loses its appeal and success in the consumer market or until a new generation of consumers makes a conscious decision to put an end to the hold the sexual advertisement has on people and their disposable income.

Works Cited

Mulvey, Jeanette. "Why Sex Sells...More Than Ever." BusinessNewsDaily.com. N.p., 7 June

2012. Web. 09 Feb. 2013.

Peiss, Kathy Lee. Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-century

New York. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1986.

Shepherd, Carol M. "The Influence of Sex in Advertising." The American Association of

Behavioral and Social Sciences 14 (2011): n. pag. Web. 9 Feb. 2013. <http://aabss.org/Perspectives2011/CarolShepherdTheInfluenceofSexinAdvertising.pdf>.

Link to Commercial

Link to GoDaddy.com Commercial http://videos.godaddy.com/

-Michelle Tobeson