Blog 1

I chose to use advertisements created by Nissan/Infiniti.  Jack Solomon's ideas about elitism and belonging show through in these advertisements showcasing the Infiniti G series, both sedan and coupe.  The reason for me choosing to do this blog on a car commercial is because it is the car I personally own.  I thought it would be interesting to look further into how the advertisers over at Nissan utilize some, if not all of the aspects of what Solomon was talking about in his "Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising" essay.  It is a possibility that the advertisement subconsciously made me want to buy that car, rather than one of their competitor's cars.  I picked a commercial from 2008, to show how they chose to display their advertisement around the time my car was made.  This older advertisement is interesting, because it makes you think that the Infiniti G35 coupe could be for anybody, but also not really at the same time by targeting the thrill seekers.  It is simple and complex at the same time. I also have picked one of their more recent advertisements that aired eleven months ago, because I thought it demonstrated the fantasy aspect of the advertiser manipulation explained by Solomon. 

Now, I will focus on the first and earlier advertisement.  The video starts off with a married couple holding their newborn baby boy in front of a shaky video camera.  This demonstrates the technique utilized by advertisers called “new realism” to make the audience think that the commercial is real, straight up, etc. because they want you to believe you are getting just the facts.  The commercial continues on showing a plethora of short home video clips of the little boy growing up, but at the same time he is always doing adventurous, thrill-seeker type activities.  Then, the grown up boy, obviously now a man, is in the beautiful G35 coupe driving alone down a highway bridge accelerating into the horizon.  It is this act of driving alone on the highway at high speeds that creates a sense of elitism and exclusiveness about their car.  I believe the advertisers are doing this so it makes any common, suburban, middle class person want to be that thrill seeking “lone wolf”, as Solomon describes it.  The advertisers want to subconsciously trigger your fantasy like thoughts and desires of being in a car like that, preferably theirs of course.  They purposely exploit your “American dream” desires so the consumer will purchase an Infiniti rather than any other car.  They want you to feel a certain and special type of way when you see an Infiniti.  Their goal is to make you believe that you belong in an Infiniti, ultimately leading to the purchase.  This is directly related to Solomon’s idea of elitism and belonging. 

Infiniti switched up their marketing scheme and adapted to changing times, which led to their newer commercial for the G37.  In the car, there is a couple that is rather good looking.  The woman is especially beautiful because Infiniti wants the male audience to think of beauty when they see the car.  They utilize sex appeal.  Just as Solomon explains, the couple never actually looks directly at the camera, creating the sense of elitism that you are special if you are in this car.  The man behind the wheel is casually driving right in the middle of a Formula One race, showing how the car is extremely fast, agile, sleek and overall just an extraordinary car it is.  This also taps into your unconscious desires because who would not want to drive as fast as racecar drivers in your own car.  The whole commercial is about elitism.  From the beautiful couple that both sexes would be attracted to from the consumer point of view, to the fast racing on a Formula One track with actual drivers, to the handling we see as it drives and by just the look of the car, although I prefer my coupe, the advertisers make it seem like the G series is in a class of its own.  Their slogan, “Luxury should inspire confidence at every turn, no matter what road you take” is masterfully crafted to make the audience really reflect upon what they just saw and read.  It sounds so remarkable and is a perfect ending to their highly appealing commercial.  It is just icing on the cake, making you want to drive one even more than you did just by watching the commercial. To be in one is exclusive and special, and that is essentially what the consumer wants and what the advertisers want you to feel and think. 

Both of these commercials exploited the consumer’s wants and desires and are prime examples of Solomon’s philosophies.  Infiniti clearly is doing something right in terms of marketing and selling their products.  Infiniti is a popular luxury car that is only increasing in popularity as time goes on.  This goes to show that the advertising firm they hired to create their commercials absolutely know what they are doing when it comes to making their audience feel special and making their car appeal to them.  Successful marketing is key when it comes to selling their cars.  These commercials are primary examples of how Solomon describes elitism and belonging. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h7SntpRZwZs#t=12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4QgCF5SoQ

Blog 2

There is a great deal of diverse advertisements that utilize certain aspects of the human body that are purposely accentuated in order to subconsciously attract their audience into purchasing their product.  I chose to blog about a Tom Ford cologne advertisement that is extraordinarily blatant and obvious that they are using a woman to captivate the attention of the male viewer.

Desire is a strong emotion that advertising agencies use to attempt to manipulate and exploit in the minds of their audience to make them feel a certain way.  It is almost as if they are tricking your subconscious into making you want to buy that product.  Solomon speaks on such acts in his “Masters of desire” essay.  Solomon states, “’Manipulate’ is the word here, not ‘persuade’; for advertising campaigns are not sources of product information, they are exercises in behavior modification.”  These advertisers are playing with your head because “America is a nation of fantasizers”.  Advertisers know what your desires and fantasies are, therefore allowing them to do things such as have nude females pose with a product aimed toward a male consumer base.  You would then associate the product, in this case cologne, with your sexual desires, which is something you think about a decent amount at random points throughout the day.  For advertisers, it is all about tapping into your subconscious desires to make their money.  Just as Solomon suggests, as long as your subconscious remains your subconscious, advertisers will continue to exploit it to manipulate you.

 The advertisement is comprised of three different, but similar, pictures of an oiled up female, who is obviously beautiful.  In the largest picture, the model has a bottle of Tom Ford’s first fragrance for men between her breasts, with her own hands covering her nipples.  Her fingernails are painted red.  This is significant because men are more attracted to a woman who is wearing the color red somewhere on her body, according to a breakthrough study conducted by the University of Rochester.  Her fingernails are a main piece of the ad since you notice them almost immediately, especially because they are just hardly covering her nipples, causing the male audience to statistically be pre-determinedly more attracted to the ad than if her nails were painted any other color, or not painted at all.  In the smaller pictures, the fragrance bottle is placed between the model’s legs, covering her vagina.  In the picture on the left side, the advertisers do not show any nipple, but rather cropping the image so close to the nipple you can view about half of her entire breasts.  Her legs are also spread open, and her hands are placed in a seductive manner upon her body, which is also the case for the other two pictures.  The ad is unashamedly sex oriented. 

“Sex never fails as an attention getter” and “advertisers like to bet on a sure thing” are statements that Solomon included in his essay.  Sex and sexuality in an advertisement is a compulsive force that acts to get your full attention, hook, line and sinker.  Solomon also mentions that a substantial amount of sexual oriented advertisements are created out of desperation by returning to the sure thing in order to ensure that the client is getting their money’s worth.  I feel it is impossible to determine whether or not this is the case with this certain advertisement, based on the fact that we have no way of knowing what the ad company was thinking.

In relation to Devor, this ad coincides with her quote, “feminine styles of dress likewise display subordinate status through greater restriction of the free movement of the body, greater exposure of the bare skin, and an emphasis on sexual characteristics.”  This ad in particular deals more with the two latter statements. The woman in the ad is literally completely naked, covered only by the bottle of cologne and her hands.  She is exuding sexuality, promiscuity, attraction and desirability, which helps urge the male audience to purchase Tom Ford’s cologne.  This advertisement is a prime example of how advertisers are using desire to construct a stereotypical notion of gender through the usage of an extremely provocative image.  A link to the advertisement is here: http://adland.tv/files/imagecache/postimage/media/print/tomforformen.jpg

A link to the University of Rochester’s psychological study on how wearing red enhances men’s attraction to women is here: http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3268