Illustrating Polysemy And Advertisers influence

Miguel E. sent us these interesting images and text. They may help illustrate the notion of polysemy and the importance of how our interpretation of images is influenced by copy.

Thanks Miguel! Found here.

1908 Schlitz Ad: Beer Is Good for You!

This ad is from April, 1908:


Beer as a healthy tonic--I'm surprised beer companies haven't returned to this, now that we're obsessed with whole grains again. Apparently they also used to call Schlitz "liquid bread."

Thanks to Larry H. at the Los Angeles Times Daily Mirror blog!

Perplexing Censorship

WARNING: As you scroll down, this post is not safe for work.

We've posted about Tom Ford's most recent provocative campaign (see here), but Urban Artiste drew our attention to an interesting development. The Italian Advertising Institute has banned one of his ads for being too "vulgar," "sexually implicit," "beyond bad taste," and an "offensive gesture which insults women and the dignity of all" (quotes found at The Daily Telegraph). Which ad?

Not this one (found here):



Nope, not this one either (found here):



Nope, not even this one (found here):



Or this one (found here):



Nope, they banned this one (found here):



To be fair, I can't find out much information on this. I don't even know for sure if the other ads circulated in Italy (though I don't know of any reason why they wouldn't be). I'd love your speculations as to why the last would be singled out for censorship, as well as any additional information you hear about the ban.

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The Reification Of Race

Toothpaste and tampons designed with your skin color "in mind." MultiCult Classics says:

OK, Pantene offers products designed with Black women in mind. But Crest, Always and Tampax?

Also, apparently the black that is beautiful is light-skinned, with supposedly "European" facial features. See also: black models that don't look black.

UPDATE: In the comments, Brian asked what I mean by "reification." Thanks for the question, Brian! I mean "treating an abstraction as if it were real." And, yep, race isn't real. See racial categories as a historical artifact and check out this great website by the American Anthropological Association.

As I re-read... the contradiction between the two last paragraphs (black models that look white and there's no such thing as black and white) is awesomely reflective of the reality of its race and its simultaneous non-reality!

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Sometimes A Parking Brake Is Just A Parking Brake... Just Not This Time

Also not-so-subliminal.

Found where sex sells via Blog of Stench.

Absolut Vodka Mexican Ad Sparks Controversy in U.S.

This Absolut vodka ad (found here), which ran in Mexico, has caused quite the stir here in the U.S., since it implies than in a perfect world much of the U.S. would still be part of Mexico. A number of groups in the U.S. are boycotting Absolut. This is one of those cases where an ad aimed at once audience (Mexicans) is noticed by another audience it was never meant for.

Similarly, though I could be wrong, I bet most straight male Miller Light drinkers aren't aware of these ads and wouldn't be thrilled with them.

Using Girl-on-Girl Action to Attract Men

I have a feeling this ad is not meant for lesbians (the other half of the page showed a half-naked woman; both were for mainstream, non-lesbian-oriented clubs). This might be useful for discussing different attitudes toward gays and lesbians--it is difficult to imagine an ad of two men kissing aimed at straight women. In this case, women kissing is not about THEIR sexual pleasure, but about that of the audience--presumably straight men. The assumption accompanying images such as these, of course, is that the women are not actually lesbians--they'll still be sexually available to men. This is another difference in cultural views of gays and lesbians--lesbians' sexual orientation is often doubted (they just need to find the right man) in a way gay men's usually isn't.

From Las Vegas Weekly.

Obsession for Men AdBusters Spoof

From AdBusters.

Resident Evil 5: Africa Is the Dark Continent

Here is the trailer for Resident Evil 5, which is not yet on the market:



The player is the sole white person in a dismal, threatening city, apparently in Africa. The locals engage in torture (which we see in some detail) and gleefully cheer at a hanging. At one point the hero is accosted by an angry mob, all of whom just make gutteral, animal-like sounds. In a beleagured voice he tells us he just doesn't know "if it's all worth fighting for. Who knows?" Oh, the white man's burden, indeed!

Thanks once again, Patrick C.!

For Your Consideration

I found both of these ads in QVegas, a magazine for the GLBT community.

I will leave it to you, dear reader, to decide if there are sexual innuendos at play here.

The "Pornification" Of Teen Life

A colleague of mine likes to refer to the "pornification" of American culture. What do we think of this new promo poster for the popular teen show Gossip Girl?



Btw, OMFG means "Oh my F*(%ing God."

Thanks to an Anonymous commenter for this tip!

Home Made Simple Squad: Women Take Joy in Cleaning

The Home Made Simple Squad is a new ad campaign for Proctor & Gamble cleaning products. Five women make up the Squad. Here is one of them:

This is Lori. From her bio:

'I love to entertain in my home, and when people come over, I want them to walk
in and immediately feel welcome and comfortable. So I make sure my house is
always looking good and smelling fresh.' Lori, 37, prides herself on her clean
and well-organized home that’s always 'company-ready'. Lori is disciplined about
more than just caring for her home – she’s also recently lost 95 lbs, and keeps
fit with a regimen of healthy eating, power walking and yoga.

So not only is she a good housekeeper, she keeps herself fit and trim, too!

Although all of the bios mention that the women have children and are busy, not a single one mentions a husband, partner, or other adult who might have some role in keeping a house clean. Or, for that matter, making the kids clean up after themselves.

Thanks to an anonymous commenter on another post for bringing my attention to this one!

Commodifying Personal Change

These images get at a common message in ads--changing your life or becoming a different person isn't about self-reflection and effort, it's just about buying the right product.

Also see this, this, this, this, this, and this.

Miller Lite Ads Aimed at GLBT Community

I found these two Miller Lite ads in QVegas, a magazine aimed at the GLBT community.

It would be interesting to pair with these ads for Skyy vodka to illustrate how companies make different ads to target different audiences. If you find an ad offensive or dumb, it's not necessarily an ineffective ad, it's that you probably aren't the target consumer and it's not supposed to appeal to you.

GlamGuns Website Combines Cutesy Cartoon Characters with Military Equipment

All the above images come from Glamguns.com.

Of course, if you try to buy any of these items you'll end up at the Amazon page for this book:

A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms, by Linda Hutcheon.

Thanks for the link, Breck C.!

Polysemy And The Marketer's Aim

These three ads for yogurt ran in Brazil. They are supposed to inspire revulsion. Their tagline is:

“Forget about it. Men’s preference will never change. Fit Light Yogurt.”

Many have commented that these women look hot, not repulsive. So the images might be useful for inspiring a discussion about polysemy and the fact that advertisers can't control how their images are perceived.

Alternatively, they might work differently in Brazil than the U.S. Any thoughts?

Database of Old Ads

The John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History at Duke University has a trove of old ads available at Ad*Access.

Thanks for the link, Martin W.!

How Advertisers Tailor Messages

Since most of us only consume the media aimed, more or less, at us, we rarely see how the same product is often marketed very differently to different audiences. These two ads (found here) are for the "general market" and the gay male market respectively. They tell a story about how the advertisers perceive straight and gay masculinities.

Text: "When you walk into a bar, you're on stage. Good luck."

Text: "It's a bar, not a catwalk. Good luck."

Sexualizing and Gendering Food

I especially like this one of a turkey in a bikini:

And I guess this cow is sexy because she's got her tongue out and her butt turned toward the viewer:

Organic food is sexualized too:

I think this one creeps me out the most:

Connecting cars, masculinity, and meat:

These all come from Carol J.Adams's website. She's the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory.

There's also this ad. And these images.

Selling Domiciles With Dames

Copyranter has pointed me to a recent spate of ads for homes, apartments, and condos that use the idea of accessible women, or otherwise use sexuality, to sell their product.



Also in using women's sexual availability to sell real estate.