Advertisment and Ownership Presentation Summary

       Prior to the 1920's, advertisements were mostly simple lines of text detailing the specifications of a product, drawing in the viewer's eye with a catchy headliner. After the appearance of Edward Bernays, the "father of public relations," advertisements became less obvious and more insidious. Rather than appeal to a consumers need of a product, Bernays used specific images and themes to activate subconscious impulses. Rather than buy a car for it's gas-mileage, consumers were beginning to purchase items because of the freedom it grants, the relative attractiveness it provides, or even a sense of belonging within the consumerist structure of society.

     Currently, cars are still a male centered industry, despite women's equal if not greater involvement. In advertising, cars are used to further idealize the typical American family, with typical American Values. A recent BMW commercial depicts a man coming home to his family, very clearly tired after a day of work at a cooperate job. He is dressed in a button up and ties and appears tired and stressed. As he pulls into the driveway, he receives a text displayed on the screen of his BMW from his wife telling him her mother is there. Naturally, the man’s reaction is to throw the car quickly in reverse and leave, so that he does not have to see the begrudged mother in-law. His wife continues to send angry and upset texts. However, the man does not care because he is saved by his new, expensive, and high tech BMW. This commercial specifically delves in to stereotypes such as women being emotional,men hating their mother in-laws, and men with good jobs having nice cars.

    Another recent commercial includes Amber Seyer and the Nissan Juke. This commercial depicts model Amber Seyer passively sitting in her underwear, juxtaposed against a Nissan Juke. A group of men, hooked up to some type of brain activity monitor stand behind her, gazing back and forth between the car and the women. Caught in a quandary, the men cannot decide which one is more important. This commercial depicts women as a mens’ objects, posing: Can have a hot chick and a hot car? Advertisements like this both give both ownership and entitlement to men and perpetuate gender stereotypes in order to sell a product.

     Now these methods are not restricted to solely cars. All advertisers use these methods in effort to sell their products. Advertisers build and take advantage of cultural norm and stereotypes to sell products. The future of advertisement calls for better and more diverse representation of race, age and gender. We need more realism in our media, and abolishing of the mythical “WASP oriented world” we are constantly seeing portrayed in advertisements and the objectifying of women. However, in recent years there has been progress. Major companies have begun to move in a brighter direction with advertisements that have more positive and realistic imagery, such as Ford and Campbell's soup's #realreallife campaign.