The two advertisements I chose reflect the changing nature of American corporations, from tangible, goods-based production, to the new global economy of ideas and technology. The first ad, a Bethlehem Steel promotion of one of their new plants shows a company that had long been a titan of industry showing that it was keeping up with the times by opening a new, modern plant that would manufactures steel for the modern elements of life, from the larger things more commonly associated with industrial steel, such as bridges and buildings, to items around the home like gardening tools and air conditioning units. The ad is somewhat like a public service announcement for Bethlehem Steel, showing how the company is doing its part to keep the economy humming seamlessly. The ad is somewhat ironic in that, while promoting Bethlehem Steel’s investment in new plants, one of the causes for the decline of the American steel industry was the fact that most of the steel-making was done in obsolescent, turn-of-the-century plants, as opposed to modern plants built after World War II in Japan and Germany.
The second ad, by aerospace company Rockwell International, is an early example of the move in the modern marketplace for large corporations to have as their main product less tangible things such as ideas. Even IBM, for years America’s computing monolith, has as its primary business consulting, although they still manufacture computers. Rockwell points to it’s nine straight years of increased earnings and 20.3% Return on Equity as evidence of the competence of Rockwell management, and are now offering their services to other companies primed to take on the new economy. The emphasis on increased earnings belies the coming trend of publicly-traded companies having more and more demanded of them, profits-wise, by increasingly aggressive stockholders. Rockwell would also be termed as what David Beers would refer to as a “blue sky company,” and in retrospect, is positioning itself for the post-Cold War economy in which companies that had made defense contracting their bread and butter for the last forty years needed to diversify in the face of competition and greatly reduced government subsidy. In the same vein, though, the earnings rise that Rockwell touts may or may not be tied to the buildup in defense spending during the Reagan Administration.
The second ad, by aerospace company Rockwell International, is an early example of the move in the modern marketplace for large corporations to have as their main product less tangible things such as ideas. Even IBM, for years America’s computing monolith, has as its primary business consulting, although they still manufacture computers. Rockwell points to it’s nine straight years of increased earnings and 20.3% Return on Equity as evidence of the competence of Rockwell management, and are now offering their services to other companies primed to take on the new economy. The emphasis on increased earnings belies the coming trend of publicly-traded companies having more and more demanded of them, profits-wise, by increasingly aggressive stockholders. Rockwell would also be termed as what David Beers would refer to as a “blue sky company,” and in retrospect, is positioning itself for the post-Cold War economy in which companies that had made defense contracting their bread and butter for the last forty years needed to diversify in the face of competition and greatly reduced government subsidy. In the same vein, though, the earnings rise that Rockwell touts may or may not be tied to the buildup in defense spending during the Reagan Administration.
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