Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Changes in Amtrak Advertisment- 1971-1981
Saturday, April 26, 2008
NYT Article: What does it mean to be an American?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Natural Resources and Environmentalism
"There are no simple solutions," Caterpillar, TIME magazine (April 17, 1978), p. 18).
In these two advertisements we can see how the growth of the environmental movement changed the way people thought about and depicted natural resource use and environmental issues. The 1968 Hooker Chemical Corporation advertisement from TIME depicts a sizzling porterhouse alongside a phosphorous mine. The ad brags that cows fed on feed grown in high phosphorous fertilizer grow bigger and need less feed. The chemical company has no qualms about associating food with fertilizer nor does it hide a big crane scooping out a giant mound of dirt. The advertisement aims to show how chemical/technological control of nature leads to a satisfying life for the consumer.
By 1978 this technocentric view of nature had been challenged by environmentalists. Companies involved in natural resource extraction had to be much more cautious and considerate about the way they depicted their relationship to the environment. In the Caterpillar advertisement, also from TIME, the image of a destructive machine plowing through the earth has been replaced with a scenic image of a man and woman chatting by a dam and reservoir. The actual product the company makes is nowhere to be seen. Instead Caterpillar is responding to environmentalists' concerns and trying to appear responsible. They understand that people are concerned with wildlife but want to remind the viewer that dams are providing energy to people. Rather than focus on resource extraction and construction, the advertisement says that Caterpillar is involved in "land conservation and water management". This advertisement shows a shift in attitudes towards corporations and environmental responsibility.
The image also employs traditional assumptions about gender to make its point. The environmentalist is a woman holding a charcoal drawing pad. Her gender apparently prohibits her from seeing the greater picture. She speaks colloquially and emotionally, ("That dam messed up the valley's wildlife.") while the man speaks technically and rationally ("That dam can generate power to light 30,000 homes.").
Cars, Women, and Advertising 1964-1977
Dodge ad, Time Magazine, February 1964, p.33
The first ad (1964) shows a lovely woman and her presumed significant other. On the top, the woman poses curled up in the driver's seat, but in the lower section, the man is driving. The shift is mildly sexist, and reminiscent of depictions of women in cars in 1950s (see this earlier post for an example).
The text and sleek image of the car emphasize its luxury and beauty: the text calls it "lavish" and claims that "such fineries" were not just "for the country club set". The ad chooses to show the convertible (a traditionally more youthful/sexy/fun option in a car) rather than the hardtop version of the car mentioned in the text, further accentuating the sexy sleek image the ad is trying to sell.
Datsun ad, Time Magazine, March 1977, p. 97
The second ad (1977) shows a woman with a tennis racket and a dog in the back. This sporty, independent image of a woman corresponds to the rise of feminism through the 60s and 70s.
The most significant difference between car ads in 1964 and 1977 is the emphasis on gas mileage, due to the energy crisis that plagued the US throughout the 1970s, peaking in 1973 and 1979. The efficient gas mileage of the car is heavily advertised, and the features are described as "those other things" and given only a paragraph of description. The ad also mentions the EPA, which was founded in 1970 and started evaluating gas mileage in 1972. The 70s in general were marked by an increase environmental consciousness; combined with the gas shortage, it's no wonder that the ad relies on the car's fuel efficiency as a primary selling point.
Alcohol, the great American vice
“Miller High Life: Pleasure for Everyone!” TIME magazine (May 8, 1965), p. 45.
In this advertisement for Miller High Life, four older white men are enjoying a beer while they take a break from golfing. The image is accompanied by the caption, “Pleasure for everyone!”
The men are gathered closely around a table: their uniform appearance and the intimacy insinuated by their overlapping figures, suggests that the group is closed to outsiders. Their bodies form a kind of wall that acts to keep others out of their gathering and away from the “High Life” which is guarded at the center of their circle. Their backs face everywhere, except the viewer. While there is a space at the table for the viewer to “join” them, they do not engage the reader with their gazes. The viewer is at once privileged to be a part of their meeting, but looking at the image offers a certain sense of voyeurism, like gazing at something unattainable.
This group of men is enjoying a golden beverage; the “High Life.” Everyone in the photograph is a white man, and golf is also traditionally a country club, white man’s game. Thus, the scenario is from a man space, from a boys-club, from the clubhouse, from the country club. These are all elite spaces, where only special, privileged people congregate. To join them and partake in the “High Life,” one would need to be a part of this group. The image demonstrates the social situation at the beginning of the 1960’s; the “high life” was only available to wealthy white men.
Yet, the caption insists “Pleasure for everyone” (emphasis added). In this situation, “everyone” refers to older white men of the upper-middle-class. The four men are taking a break together; this image emphasizes their cohesiveness and unity as a group.
The scene maintains the one-narrative thrust which carried over from the 1950’s, and illustrates the particular Americanism championed in the early Cold War period, that of the elite, governing group.
“Campari: 9 out of every 10,000 Americans prefer Campari.” The New Yorker (July 9, 1979), back cover.
In this advertisement for Campari, nine photos of consumers accompany a studio shot of a full glass and bottle of Campari. The nine “Americans” are pictured individually, each followed by their own testimony, or “Campari Quip.” By picturing the Campari drinkers separately, this advertisement does not attempt to construct a prototypic scenario in which people should enjoy the product, as with the ad for Miller High Life. Since each consumer is pictured with hir “Campari Quip,” the advertisement gives voice to those who are pictured, presenting many narratives.
Also, unlike the previous picture, the people look directly at the viewer, to engage hir and include hir in the conversation about Campari. The advertisement even invites Campari drinkers to send in their own snapshot and “Campari Quip.”
This advertisement, which comes after the Rights Revolution of the 1960’s, reflects the push for individual rights, and the rights of individuals to participate in consumer life. Furthermore, the statistic offered–9 out of every 10,000–is not a statistic that defines a majority but instead a very, very small minority, .0009%. This advertisement demonstrates the movement during and after the 1960’s to recognize minority groups or groups who were previously marginalized as meaningful members of American society.
This advertisement shows a success of the Women’s Liberation Movement. In the earlier image, not only are there no women, but there is no possibility that a woman could join that group. In the second advertisement, of the nine people pictured, six of them are women. Their images fall under the heading of “Americans.” Now we see that women are recognized as representative Americans. As opposed to the America proposed in the first image, women are now included in a term like “everyone.” This advertisement is from 1979, seven years after the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced.
However, neither image includes African Americans or any other racial minority. Despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964)–as opposed to the death of the Equal Rights Amendment (1972-1982)–black Americans are still excluded from constructions of “Americans” and “everyone.” While I will maintain that the second image shows a shift from the focus on an archetypal and idyllic Americanism to recognition of the multifacetedness of the American experience as it is lived by individuals, the scope of the American remained incredibly small. While the advertisement does recognize and make use of the societal recognition of multiple narratives, it chooses to give voice only to the white narrative.
The Evolution of Drug Use from 1969 to 1989: From Radical Youth Culture to Violent Drug Conflicts in Minority Communities
“Drugs Hit the Young,” Time Magazine, Sept. 26, 1969, Cover
This image was published during the peak of the hippie movement, away from the social activism of the sixties and towards the pursuit of personal pleasures in the 1970’s. The shattered and psychedelic image of the generic
“The Lonely War,” Time , Sept 11, 1989, Cover.
This image shows significant changes in the evolution of drugs in society. In contrast to the image from 1969, this image assumes that the traditional family unit is much less relevant and has increasingly become a single-parent institution specifically in “drug-infested neighborhoods across