“Defend the Role Advertising Plays in Contemporary Society”.
Advertising as an industry receives some harsh criticism, and is viewed by many with much scepticism and cynicism. For example it is widely believed that advertisers have the ability to tap into the human mind in order to influence and manipulate the “helpless consumer/spectator/subject, who is incapable of resisting” (Nava, 1997: p.36) a particular product or brand. However, in my view not enough is made of the vital role advertising plays in society and the positive effects it has. For this essay I am going to look at the positive effects of capitalism and advertising, and how advertising plays a key part creating a successful, prosperous and motivated society. Furthermore I will look at how advertising gives us as individuals a feeling of identity and belonging, and how it provides each of us with our own role and place, both as individuals and within our own chosen social groups. I am going to look the methods advertisers use in order to motivate us, stimulate our minds, give us the freedom to decide who we are, and how advertisers also communicate vital message by raising awareness of social, political and health issues. By addressing each of these points in my essay I will prove that all the negativity surrounding the role of advertising is unjust and unfair, and that the industry plays an important role in the well being of contemporary society.
The first defence of advertising is that it helps to maintain a successful economy. We the western world today live in a mainly capitalist society, where “the expansion of commodity production throughout the twentieth century has given rise to the vast accumulation of material culture in the form of consumer goods” (Du Gay, 1997: p.86). One of the main ideas that exist within capitalism is that we all live, work, survive within means/ends calculus - we all strive to spend less to get more. By this I mean that we all, whether it is employers or consumers, strive to spend as little as possible, whilst at the same time maximise value/output. There are views that this means/ends calculus gives rise to potential exploitation. For example in a factory, the owner, who is often never involved in the production process, employs production workers to carry out many of the production tasks. These workers spend every day performing the same mundane tasks in order to earn what is often, a relatively small wage. The factory owner, despite often not being involved in the physically demanding production process, is the main beneficiary of any profits the company will make. By comparison the production worker will often receive a fraction of what the factory owner earns in their wages or salary. Whilst production workers may not earn as much as a factory owner, they still have a vital role to play, as by working they are taking up their role within the capitalist system and are therefore earning the right to spend on their money on the many consumer products and services available to us, as well as paying bills and living expenses. By earning enough money to live comfortably, the factory worker has the necessary extra capital to spend on products and services they want, as well as what they need, “which in turn has led to the growing importance of leisure and consumption activities” (Du Gay, 1997: p.87). This has had a positive knock on effect on society as the rising importance and production of consumer goods and services also creates several further employment opportunities in industries such as retail, travel and leisure. Whilst capitalism is not everyone’s idea of how society should be run, without capitalism we would have a society with no motivation, no determination to succeed and no goals to achieve, resulting in high unemployment and an extremely poor economic climate. Living within a capitalist society is in my opinion a fair and rational way to exist, as if a person is prepared to work hard to earn a living, he or she is entitled to spend their excess money on products and items they enjoy as a reward. Theorist John Berger states; “Publicity is the life of this culture – in so far as without publicity capitalism could not survive” (Berger, 1973: p.154). This quote gives emphasises to the notion that advertising has a vital role to play within capitalism, as without advertising, a capitalist society could not sustain and support itself. Advertising promotes the desire and striving for personal betterment, which is crucial to the continuation of capitalism. It is through advertising that we are made aware of the vast quantities of products and services at our disposal, as it promotes a product or brand, to such an extent that it will inspire a person to work hard, in order that he or she can have the luxury of purchasing these products or services that the advertisers are promoting. It is the high levels of product or brand promotion that advertising creates, which “has the effect of concentrating the mind on the increasing commodified nature of cultural goods and services, and emphasises the increasingly important role of consumption in peoples everyday lives” (Du Gay, 1997: p.87). Without the vast levels of product and service promotion advertising creates, society would not come into contact with consumer products and will not be aware of what they can strive to buy and the rewards that hard work will bring, thus losing the impetus and will to work hard and earn an income. This will in effect cause society to lose focus, vision, and determination to achieve its goals, eventually resulting in high unemployment and an economic crisis, as a feeling will be created that is not worth working hard if there are no rewards to be had.
Within capitalism we also are provided with a great deal of freedom and a huge variety of choice, far greater than the choices given within a state governed by communism or fascism for example. The same freedom of choices can be expressed through advertising and branding. We the consumer, are not forced to buy into a particular brand, promotion or ideology. We have the freedom to pick and choose which brand or product we wish to buy into to satisfy both our needs and innermost desires. This is idea is reinforced by theorist MacRury in “Buy this Book”, when he states that “Consumer motivations are not thought of as necessarily rational, nor are they imagined to be hopelessly irrational. They are not simply the indulgence of a perpetual whimsicality nor are they entirely determined by marketers. Consumption needs not to be thought of simply as compliance with a false urge to satisfy false needs. It is possible instead to envisage a space in which, potentially, advertising and consumption make some contribution to various needs for social and unconscious self-expression” (MacRury, 1997: p240).
Another positive factor of advertising is that it gives everyone in today’s society a feeling of belonging. It is human nature for us to not want to feel abnormal. We all want to be part of a group, way of thinking, have something to be able to relate to etc. Through advertising we are able to give ourselves an identity. It is through advertising that brands are created, and it is these brands that help us to decide who we are, both individually and as part of a group. Each and every one of us feels the need to fit in and belong, whist at the same time be individual and have our own ways of thinking, looking etc. “There is no law that says we must receive an ad’s meaning in a uniform manner or precisely the way intended by the producer. People can respond differently to different ad’s according to their language, imagery and modes of address” (Dyer, 1982: p.77). I enjoy driving my Ford Fiesta, wearing Diesel and Old Glory clothing, working on my Dell computer and using Sony Erickson mobile phone. Each of these items is an example of a successful brand. It is brands like these that make up my personality, allows me to show what type of person I am and how I chose to live my life. They allow me to express my individuality, as well as allow me to be part of numerous social groups. They give me a feeling that I belong and allow me to take up my own place within society. Without branding the feeling of identity would be lost, as it is through branding we have the ability to pick and chose what type of person we are, from the clothes that we wear through to the mobile phone network we use. If brands such as Nike,
It is through advertising that we are provided with our social roles. Whilst stereotyping can often be construed as a negative and bigoted way of thinking, we more often than not fall into categories without realising, and advertisers are aware of this, as it is through stereotyping that we can decide what type of social group we belong to. It is through stereotyping that we as individuals gain that feeling of belonging, as described by Stuart Price, when he states that “A stereotype is the product of social construction, growing from group relations; an individual is assigned to a group and the supposed attributes of that group are applied to that individual” (Price, 1997: p.219). For example, a typical “Chav” would wear brands such as Rockport shoes, Thomas Burberry shirts or Kappa tracksuits. Whilst it would sound stereotypical to suggest this, if you as an individual choose to be part of this social group, it is widely perceived that these are the type of brands you would purchase. Whereas if you considered yourself new aged, sophisticated and trendy, you would probably decided to purchase and wear brands which are currently in fashion, such as Diesel or Replay. The book ‘Subculture: The Meaning of Style’ by Dick Hebdige explains how social groups are formed and how individuals within these various social groups decorate themselves to display their own style, emotions and beliefs. This example centres round the punk rocker. Hebdige explains “We can now look more closely at the relationship between experience, expression and signification in subculture; at the whole question of style and our reading of style. To return to our example, we have seen how the punk style fitted together homologically precisely through its lack of fit (hole tee-shirt, spitting, applause, bin-liner garment, anarchy, order) – by its refusal to cohere around a readily identifiable set of central values. It cohered, instead, illiptically through a chain of conspicuous absences. It was characterised by its unlocatedness – its blankness” (Hebdige, 1979: p.120). Whilst this all may sound grossly stereotypical, it is in fact exactly how we attach ourselves to a social group, and helps us to become who we are. Without this element of stereotyping, created through advertising, we as individuals would not have that feeling of belonging, and would not know our place in society. The idea of stereotyping being used as a way of creating a feeling of belonging also backed up by Allport in the book The Complete Media and Communication Handbook, in which he states “The human mind must think with the aid of categories” (Allport cited in Price, 1997: p.219).
Advertising can also have a major influence over the way society responds to various social and political issues, such as child abuse, animal cruelty or health awareness. “Charities and religious and political organisations make use of PR because of the news value of much of their work” (Brierley, 1995: p.46). People who work in advertising are masters of getting inside the head of its audience. They have the ability to manipulate and influence how we spend our money, what sort of products and brands we buy etc. They do this by tapping into our subconscious and pressing our many different buttons in order to have the desired effect. Advertisers “often use the same persuasive techniques of commercial advertising” (Dyer, 1982: p.5) to create a campaign in which to deliver a powerful message, such as a plea from a charity organisation. The advertisers have the skills required to reach out to the audience and raise awareness of such issues by “using reports and research findings to stimulate publicity” (Brierley, 1995: p.46). This will result in the audience contributing valuable donations to the various charity organisations, which in turn allows them to continue their work in the age-old fight against diseases, cruelty and poverty. For example, one of the scenes in the Cancer Research UK £2 a month appeal television campaign, first screened 4 June 2003, shows a small child hooked up to a drip, taking her painful medication to help combat her terrible illness (see appendix 1). “By writing soap opera style commercials, or just using plain shock tactics” (Brierley, 1995: p.47) like the scenes used in the Cancer Research campaign, the advertisers create an overwhelming feeling of sympathy amongst its audience, which in turn convinces the viewer to give a donation to the charity, as they would not want the feeling of guilt they would have by ignoring the organisations plea. To underline the importance of advertising to charities such as Cancer Research UK, the organisation’s official website states that “Cancer Research UK use the medium of television advertising as this reaches a larger audience than any other way of fundraising. This also increases awareness and helps to increase support of our world class research. The initial cost of this method of advertising is high, but the support from either new or existing supporters outweighs the initial spend”. This sort of advertising can occasionally have adverse effects, in the way that it could potentially cause people to rebel against what they are being told i.e. inadvertently cause child abuse, or copy cat incidents, or possibly go overstep the mark with the desire to shock, such as the Barnardo’s anti-drug ad (see appendix 2), a controversial press campaign, that displayed an infant holding a heroin filled syringe “which caused uproar when it was launched in 2000. Several newspapers refused to carry the ad for fear of offending readers” (Brierley 1995: p223). However a carefully crafted advertising campaign such as the one used for Cancer Research
After exploring several ideas surrounding the positive effects advertising has on contemporary society, I can draw the conclusion that the advertising industry indeed has a vital role to play. The world we live in today would be a very different place without advertising, a place where we as a collective group would have no drive, no ambition, no goals and no determination to better ourselves. It is factors like these, which allow us to survive, grow and prosper, and these factors would not exist without the promotion that advertising creates. I have also seen how advertising is vital to us in the way that it allows us as individuals to form our own identities by promoting brands and products. It is through advertising that we are given the freedom of choice, as brand and product promotion give us as individuals the power to become who we are and who we want to be. It allows us to form our own opinions, and gives us the option to decide what social group we belong to and how we live our lives. Advertising can also be considered a vital tool in the fight against crime, poverty, disease and cruelty. Without the power of advertising charities would lose an extremely powerful weapon and it would become a very difficult task for organisations to deliver their often-vital messages. I feel that the advertising industry contributes a great deal to the economy, is an excellent method of communication in the way that it has the ability to reach out and talk to millions and really get inside our heads, and also allows us as individuals to become who we are and what we want to be. Without advertising we would live in a huge recession, a society with no ambition and high unemployment. We as individuals would not have the ability to form opinions would not have the choice to decide who or what we are, resulting in a distinct lack of personality within society. When considering the points I have covered I have no doubt that society would be in a much poorer state should the advertising industry cease to exist.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
2003 Cancer Research
Appendix 2
2000 Barnardo’s Anti-Drug Print Campaign
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Bibliography
- Berger J, (1972), Ways of Seeing,
- Brierley, S, (1995), The Advertising Handbook,
- Du Gay, P, (1997), Doing Cultural Studies; The Story of the Sony Walkman, Sage
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Dyer, G, (1982), Advertising as Communication, Metheun
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Hebdidge, D, (1979), Subculture: Meaning of Style,
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Nava, M, Blake, A, McCrury, I and Richards, B, (1997), Buy This Book
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Price, S, (1997), The Complete Media and Communication Handbook,
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Webography