Análise de texto_Resposta modelo 2
An
Analysis of “Ads: Keeping Up with the Joneses” a chapter from Understanding
Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan
Sofia Teixeira
The
excerpt in question, taken from “Ads: Keeping Upset with the Joneses”, a
chapter from Marshall McLuhan’s book Understanding Media: The Extensions of
Man deals with several concepts within the subject of advertising, two of
which I will focus on: the fact that ads are not for “conscious consumption”
and the use of stereotypes, “established attitudes” and “shared experiences” as
the main tools in fabricating an advertisement. I will be analyzing these
concepts throughout this paper, whilst connecting them with the rest of the
chapter in question and with the advertising industry in modern times.
In
this particular excerpt, McLuhan argues that “ads are not meant for conscious
consumption” and that they are “subliminal pills for the unconscious” that
exercise a “hypnotic spell” (p. 252) – in other words, one is not meant to
rationally analyze a commercial but to be influenced by its underlying message.
Throughout “Ads: Keeping Upset with the Joneses”, the author points out that
the advertising industry spends billions on “research and testing of reactions”
(p. 253) which ultimately results in carefully prepared advertisements that
attempt to speak to people’s motives and desires in the most subtle way
possible. The author strengthens this argument by also pointing out that “any
ad put into a new setting is funny” because “any ad consciously attended to is
comical” (p. 252) – ads are not meant to be read rationally, rather they are
meant to reach into our desires and needs as a consumer. The way advertisers do
so is by gathering what is a certain community’s “shared experience” or feelings,
and to use that to their advantage.
Earlier
on in the chapter, the author also compared ads to brain-washing, because they
attempt to reflect the audience’s needs and desires (or, better still, they try
to create a need or desire in the audience), and they repeat the representation
of these desires through stereotypes which “push the principle of noise all the
way to the plateau of persuasion” (p. 251). Indeed, the author highlights the
use of emotion, public stereotypes and “sets” of “established attitudes” in the
making of these advertisements to best reflect the desires of those targeted by
them – “if ads were to depart from the center of this shared experience, they
would collapse at once, by losing all hold on our feelings” (p.253) – an
emotional response (laughter, nostalgia, etc.) is then essential in
advertisements.
One
special case relating to advertising is that of movies (and in modern-day, TV
shows as well), which McLuhan describes as “non-stop ads” – “whatever any actor
or actress wore or used or ate was such an ad as had never been dreamed of” (p.
256). In fact, according to the author, whose opinion I subscribe, – movies are
not only a reflection of society but also a medium that sets new trends and
needs working as constant advertising. This is especially relevant in the world
of advertising today when the era of streaming is upon us and movies and TV
shows are as successful as ever. Being “nonstop ads” is one of their primary
functions, especially those produced in big studios, with large budgets. People
consume more movies and TV shows than they ever have and though streaming
services like Netflix do not have “direct” ads, they do paid “product
placement”[1] on their shows – further
supporting McLuhan’s statements.
Additionally,
McLuhan also wrote that “historians and archaeologists will one day discover
that the ads of our time are the richest and most faithful daily reflections
that any society ever made of its entire range of activities”, which is an
interesting conclusion. As it has been established throughout the chapter, ads
are a reflection of a society’s desires since they are built on stereotypes,
established attitudes and shared experiences. It is then safe to conclude that
ads are a reflection of the particular society they attempt to target. However,
one can also point out that this representation through ads is not as “rich”
and “faithful” as it could be due to their stereotypical and repetitive nature that
fails to represent several members of a society, as well as underrepresent
others. On the other hand, ads do represent a particular society’s prejudices –
one example of this would be of a recent Philadelphia cheese commercial that
represented single fathers as irresponsible, thus reflecting society’s view of
single fathers as faulty parents.
The
book in which this chapter is inserted in was written in 1964, but the ideas it
presents are still very much valid in contemporary culture. Truly, advertisement
is, more than ever, present everywhere in this age of screens, and the notion
that “ads are not meant for conscious consumption”, that they are reflections
of society’s desires – as well as their creators –, and that they do so via
stereotypes and emotional responses, is very much alive.
Bibliography
McLuhan, Marshall. “Ads: Keeping Upset with the Joneses",
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. pp. 250–257.
Accessed 1 March 2020.
Rose, S. (2014, June 24). “As Seen on TV: Why Product
Placement is Bigger Than Ever”. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/24/breaking-bad-tv-product-placement
Accessed
7 March 2020.
[1] Rose, S. (2014, June 24). “As
Seen on TV: Why Product Placement is Bigger Than Ever”. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/24/breaking-bad-tv-product-placement
Comments
Post a Comment