I love commercials. Well, I love good commercials. I mean the secret’s pretty much out of the bag when it comes to the advertising industry. Everyone knows that what the commercial promises is not what you actually get when you buy the product. The public has finally realized that those 30 second clips are planned out in every way from the casting of the actor, to the lighting, down to the precise way the performer is instructed to handle the product. It’s all done in the name of fantasy; to create a fantasy around the product so that in fact, when you purchase the product you are not buying the product. You are buying (or buying into) the fantasy created around that product.
Hence the smoking ads that have been pulled from television and most magazines. They always feature people at a beach party having a good time playing volleyball. All involved are somehow blessed with perfect teeth and skin. In reality most people addicted to nicotine can’t get enough wind to play volleyball and most have stained teeth before approaching thirty. But the ad is a fantasy. Everyone doesn’t live near the beach; everyone’s not coordinated enough to play volleyball; everyone doesn’t have a beautiful smile. But anybody with a couple bucks and an I.D. can buy a pack of KOOLs. That’s the catch.
I’m not trying to beat up on the tobacco industry. Everyone does it. Look at feminine hygiene product commercials. It’s usually a spot featuring smiling, thin women doing cartwheels or twirling around in white dresses. Any woman (or probably any man who has ever lived with a woman) realizes that there is nothing twirl-worthy about that time of the month. Most people realize it’s painful, uncomfortable and an overall nuisance made even more horrible for it’s predictability. But you pick up that box of Playtex, even if it’s just for a brief moment, for a second you are claiming that menstrual happiness that the ad girls have for yourself. As consumers we love that moment of capitulation when we give into the fantasy, even if on some level we know it’s not real.
Well lately there seems to be a new trend in the ad industry. It’s kind of a play on identity politics rather than a simple construction of fantasy. I noticed it a while back with the McDonald’s specialty coffee ads. They blatantly mock the stereotype of espresso drinkers--into indie-films, speak French for no reason, etc. McDonald’s commercials claimed that with their cappuccinos you could maintain your down-to-earth American persona while still enjoying a snooty coffee drink. I found these commercials to be hilarious not to mention fascinating. The idea that by choosing a mocha from Mickey Dees instead of Starbucks you could avoid betraying your middle class American roots is just rife with cultural and political meaning. Just the kind of stuff an anthropology geek like myself loves to ponder. Although I did find the commercials vaguely offensive to the mocha drinking, indie-flick watching intellectual that lives closeted behind my ’average Jane’ façade.
Now I see Pepsi has jumped on this band wagon. Their newest radio spots feature their new diet drink Pepsi MAX. It’s targeted toward men. The point is that as a man you can drink Pepsi MAX without being ashamed of drinking a diet soda, which apparently has come to be associated with femininity. According to the commercial it can be as embarrassing as buying feminine hygiene products for your girlfriend. But with Pepsi MAX you can buy and consume a diet soda and still feel like a MAN so that you can do other manly things with the saved calories like “eat bacon”. Hahahaha … what?
Hence the smoking ads that have been pulled from television and most magazines. They always feature people at a beach party having a good time playing volleyball. All involved are somehow blessed with perfect teeth and skin. In reality most people addicted to nicotine can’t get enough wind to play volleyball and most have stained teeth before approaching thirty. But the ad is a fantasy. Everyone doesn’t live near the beach; everyone’s not coordinated enough to play volleyball; everyone doesn’t have a beautiful smile. But anybody with a couple bucks and an I.D. can buy a pack of KOOLs. That’s the catch.
I’m not trying to beat up on the tobacco industry. Everyone does it. Look at feminine hygiene product commercials. It’s usually a spot featuring smiling, thin women doing cartwheels or twirling around in white dresses. Any woman (or probably any man who has ever lived with a woman) realizes that there is nothing twirl-worthy about that time of the month. Most people realize it’s painful, uncomfortable and an overall nuisance made even more horrible for it’s predictability. But you pick up that box of Playtex, even if it’s just for a brief moment, for a second you are claiming that menstrual happiness that the ad girls have for yourself. As consumers we love that moment of capitulation when we give into the fantasy, even if on some level we know it’s not real.
Well lately there seems to be a new trend in the ad industry. It’s kind of a play on identity politics rather than a simple construction of fantasy. I noticed it a while back with the McDonald’s specialty coffee ads. They blatantly mock the stereotype of espresso drinkers--into indie-films, speak French for no reason, etc. McDonald’s commercials claimed that with their cappuccinos you could maintain your down-to-earth American persona while still enjoying a snooty coffee drink. I found these commercials to be hilarious not to mention fascinating. The idea that by choosing a mocha from Mickey Dees instead of Starbucks you could avoid betraying your middle class American roots is just rife with cultural and political meaning. Just the kind of stuff an anthropology geek like myself loves to ponder. Although I did find the commercials vaguely offensive to the mocha drinking, indie-flick watching intellectual that lives closeted behind my ’average Jane’ façade.
Now I see Pepsi has jumped on this band wagon. Their newest radio spots feature their new diet drink Pepsi MAX. It’s targeted toward men. The point is that as a man you can drink Pepsi MAX without being ashamed of drinking a diet soda, which apparently has come to be associated with femininity. According to the commercial it can be as embarrassing as buying feminine hygiene products for your girlfriend. But with Pepsi MAX you can buy and consume a diet soda and still feel like a MAN so that you can do other manly things with the saved calories like “eat bacon”. Hahahaha … what?
Seriously, these ads were cute at first but now I find the trend disturbing. By making fun of preconceived notions about class and gender these commercials seem to be reaffirming the validity of these stereotypes rather than challenging or debunking them. I’m already anxious for the next trend in advertising so that I can stop hearing these commercials. Their creators probably think they’re being very clever and perhaps a tad subversive by ironically playing on stereotypes. Uh, no, but nice try guys.
copyright © February 19, 2009 by Sha'Donna A. Woods, All Rights Reserved
copyright © February 19, 2009 by Sha'Donna A. Woods, All Rights Reserved
