Class 7: Advertising

Question 1

19th Century and earlier

Answer 1

literal description of product

ex. cricket tents

Question 2

Late 19th - early 20th century

Answer 2

consumption as a way of solving social problems

ex. pears soap: consumption as a way of solving personal and social problems, lysol using metaphors that offend women

Question 3

1930s

Answer 3

advertising began to reflect the qualities and values that were important to consumers

ex. Coke and Santa Clause: reflecting qualities and values that were important to the consumer

Question 4

1950s

Answer 4

advertisements began to promote images of the product that consumers could identify with

ex. woman and fridge: promotion of images of the product with which consumers could identify

Question 5

Post 1960s

Answer 5

advertising became more concerned with invoking subliminal and unconscious desires

ex. you get the pacer car you get the women: subliminal and unconscious desire

Question 6

Implied Narrative

Answer 6

ex. Jasper’s Market (hand made apple pie, freshly picked apples, grandma’s table cloth, “Jasper” sounds more human)

Question 7

Intertextuality

Answer 7

ex. the Rock’s movie quote “you can’t handle the tooth” and quote from different movie “you can’t handle the truth”

Question 8

Anchorage

Answer 8

involves text

ex. BMW used cars ad with text of woman “you know youre not the first. But do you really care?”

Question 9

Problems with semiotics

Answer 9

1. It’s not enough
2. Différance
3. Langue and parole

Question 10

Zawisza-Riley: Advertising

Answer 10

• are we persuaded by advertising because we’re apathetic/passive or is advertising just reenforcing our already existing preferences?
• illusion of invulnerability to advertising
• cultivation theory

Question 11

illusion of invulnerability to advertising

Answer 11

based on responses of study participants

Question 12

cultivation theory

Answer 12

repeatedly exposing consumers to tv content cultivates audiences’ perceptions of both norms and their behaviour

Question 13

Evidence of “face-ism” in student drawings

Answer 13

regardless of the sex of the students drawing the figure, male figures were bigger and more etailed than female faces

Question 14

Do we rate faces

Answer 14

• intelligence, ambition, physical appearance
• spontaneous reactions found perceived higher rate of intelligence and ambition in male images

Question 15

Wording of ads based on job

Answer 15

• “We are determined to deliver superior medical treatment tailored to each individual” OR “We are committed to providing top quality health care that is sympathetic to the needs of our patients”
• jobs were less appealing to women and employers were unaware it was impacting who applied

Question 16

Other Impacts

Answer 16

• we know it impacts women, but how do these ads about women impact men?
• seeing women through gendered stereotypes

ex. e.g. car, beer, etc. ads, video games

Question 17

Old Spice and Masculinity

Answer 17

male oriented products are referred to as “grooming”

Question 18

Metrosexual

Answer 18

urban heterosexual male given to enhancing his personal appearance by fastidious grooming, beauty treatments, and fashionable clothes

ex. Studio 5ive a makeup company for men

Question 19

Rhetoric of Advertising

Answer 19

• a consumerist ideology here that depends on our perceiving ourselves as defective, not good enough, and the rhetoric of advertising continually finds new ways to do this
• therefore a system that is masked by the rhetoric of personal empowerment (e.g. improve your appearance = more empowerment, but what you’re really being told is you are inadequate the way you are)