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?