Advertisements and their Advertiser

When talking about consumer privacy and the fact that internet tracking is so sophisticated now that there are actual algorithms used to track purchases is a scary involvement to some consumers. The fact that a store can track your purchases, use these purchases to catalog you, and use this information to send you benefits to help you save money on their products is also somewhat ingenious. Technology, as I said before, is an evolving creature that has no boundaries. It does not take in account privacy or laws. It does not abide by any rules. It’s just there. As consumers we need to set lines and borders on what’s right and what is wrong. You wouldn’t let a rabid dog go running around the neighborhood without a leach on would you? Technology is kind of like that. It doesn’t mean to hurt people or harm them; it doesn’t know better. But if you teach it and set some ground rules you’ll get a better behaved dog- same goes with technology and its uses.

On the matter of technology, let’s dive into advertisements. We are presented with them every day, bombard after bombard of “buy my product and make my company happy” commercials and ad’s. But advertisers are becoming smarter and efficient with their tactics. Advertisers target the products that will appeal to a certain age group or gender by using their loss of privacy as a key method. Now this could have a negative and positive outcome. Let’s start with the positive. Our loss of privacy when dealing with companies and stores can be put to use by showing us ads that will appeal individually to the consumer. This could be less time consuming and helpful towards this targeted audience. Companies waste less money and we get to see ads that could be potentially used. But the negative outcome is what concerns me as the consumer.

 I’m too young to buy beer. So when I see a hot chick in a bar serving a guy a “refreshing” beer it makes me uncomfortable. Even though I can’t buy the product yet, (not saying that I want to but the example sake) I still don’t see why a hot guy couldn’t be handing a girl a beer. When you walk into a bar you see both groups of guys and girls. You may not always see the hot bartender but that shouldn’t be an expectation when you go out.

Leaning on this example, stereotypes enforced by advertisers is another negative outcome. We shouldn’t trust this. I mean come on! Guys aren’t the only people on the planet to drink beer! Ever hear girls can do the same thing guys can and vice versa? Pushing this stereotype and gender class is useless. Advertisers need to stop pushing these ideas into viewer.  It’s as if we still have advertisers from the 1950’s creating commercials for this day and age. Times have change advertisers, get on board.

Dairy Queen's Bliss

What is the first thought that crosses your mind when you see this? Where are my keys? Oh I’m on a diet I can’t possibly have something as sugary as that! Or is it more like the company is trying to show me something appetizing that I want but don’t necessary need? It’s most likely not the latter one, at least for the majority of the viewers. When I see this advertisement it makes me cheerful and excited. I remember when I was a kid that getting ice cream was a big treat and only received after I accomplished something good in school. That feeling of deserving something because I worked hard to get there was more of the reward than the ice cream itself. The treat was just a simple reminder of where hard work and dedication got me.  But as I grew up I didn’t get an A on a test for a Oreo blizzard. I realized I needed to get a good grade on my tests if I wanted to be a successful student.  Now when I, myself, buy ice cream I don’t buy it because I got an A on a test but simply because I have a sweet tooth. 

But there is something else that Daily Queen is trying to sell you. What do you feel when you take a bite of that cold, frosty delicacy? You feel good. You start to feel happy and bubbly with each bite. You start to forget about all the problems and worries you had early that day and just focus on the gooey, creamy taste in your mouth. What Daily Queen is really selling is more than a simple desert. Daily Queen is selling you pleasure and bliss in a substance that fits in a 16oz cup. The only issue with this is that eventually you’ll get to the bottom of the treat and yet all you’re problems and worries are still alive and well. 

An idea that was discussed in the “The Rise of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch,” that I stood out to me was the example that James W. Cook when he said “neither the producers nor the consumers of this culture maintained complete control.” James W. Cook said this is his book Arts of Deception: Playing with Fraud in the Age of Barnum which discussed culture going beyond race, gender, or social classes. With his statement, I have to agree to what he is saying. Culture is thrown in our faces every day from magazines, blogs, commercials, and social networking sites. Basically anything technological can get its hands on. Culture is something that is not controllable not matter by what social economic class its audience is in. But culture can be shaped and manipulated by people.  After studying popular culture for a few weeks I can see the manipulated ways it pulls people in. The magazines showing skinny fit women, the commercials showing gourmet food that we need in our cabinets, and the video games that show the players killing people without the feeling of remorse and guilt that real life people would display. Seeing all this makes you see the in the society you live in; where women are not praised for being smart but for being pretty and where children are seen killing people and getting angry when their isn’t enough gore. And what does it come down to? Ratings? Sales? Money?

 After seeing and studying all of this, popular culture doesn’t just show you what the latest fashion is or what is the biggest show on TV, but shows you a society that you were raised in. What values and beliefs it tries to instills in you and what should be expected of you as the consumer. By studying popular culture we see not only the ways it tries to grab you in but ways to get you out and see the bigger picture and effect it has on people.