Do you think advertising continues to rely on the same parables that Marchand describes? Can you give an example of a new advertising parable or describe how an old one has been modified? It will help to link to a particular ad, whether a still photograph or a moving image.
8 thoughts on “The Great Parables”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Advertisements are trying to sell a product. They will be framed to appeal to specific audiences. I agree with Connor that the desires of the consumer have not changed drastically but yet the way the products are advertised are more dynamic. Marchand illustrates why the early twenties were a turning point in advertising, the most central reason being the shift in the ads themselves from being product-centered to consumer-centered, where the product is a solution to a consumer problem. This is still true today, the ads that are shown will somehow convey to the consumer that their life will be easier should they buy this product. The problems of today’s society have changed from the issues that were troubling society in the 1920s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys9NrD6hwp4
In this corona commercial, the ad shows that corona is relaxing to drink. In today’s fast paced lifestyle, people will be traveling more and have more work to do so any time relaxation time is a plus. There is no description of taste or what the product is. It is focused on the consumer’s life rather than what the product is.
I believe that in today’s commercials, rather than exaggerating how great something will make your life or how solid of a first impression one can make with a certain product like Marchand’s “First Impression Parable” they try to take the comedic route in selling their item. In advertisements that utilize comedy, I think they are just trying to captivate the audience and get a reaction out of someone. However, I do not believe that advertisements today use the same strategies across the board. I believe that there are a wide variety of tactics used today and some include characteristics that Marchand describes such as this snickers commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbpFpjLVabA that uses the suspended belief and exaggeration of how one feels when they are hungry and makes it seem like if one eats a snickers while they are hungry they will instantly feel great. I do not think that advertisements are trying to show ways to live successful lives and products that help one be successful nowadays as they did in the early 20’s and 30’s, but they are more so focusing on capturing the viewers attention with a unique video clip or comedic situation such as this beeper commercial that has nothing to do with beepers but is just funny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L-RGUm-ZKA.
In my opinion, present day marketing is a mixture of Marchand’s parables of yesteryear and a new style marketing that has emerged in the present. Consumers in the present are more aware of advertisers schemes. It is harder to sell a product with the message that the product will drastically change your life for the better. Instead many products assert themselves as higher class items that are better than their competition. For example, this well known jeweler commercial that insists that their jewelry is in some way superior to others and the classiest thing to buy for your significant other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fYXa_W6OXk this is an example of Marchand’s parables working in conjunction with the present day type of advertising. An example of the shift to new advertising would be this Skittles commercial that relies on humor and a weird sense of creativity to push their brand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmF9ylLDBIY
I agree with both Liam and Nick that the advertising parables outlined by Marchand have largely disappeared in modern day advertising. Today, I believe, that many people understand that a single product will not change their lives completely, but rather these products that are advertised are there to make it more simple and slightly ease some stresses. Many advertisements are trying to explain why their product might be better than a competitor’s slightly different product. For example, in this T-mobile commercial they are trying to attract customers because their network will make an already popular product, the iPhone, just a little bit better than everyone else’s iPhone. (http://9to5mac.com/2013/04/12/t-mobile-launches-its-first-iphone-commercial-as-it-officially-begins-selling-the-99-iphone-5/) Although these parables may not be as predominant in modern day, products are still advertised in order to improve one’s life, just now it is not as drastic of a life change.
I agree with the previous comments and also feel that the advertisements of today’s world focus more on brands and the associated lifestyle that comes with the respective brand. Advertisements these days are also more about new creative and funky ideas, as opposed to straightforward messages of the previous decades. I feel society has matured overtime and kind of become immune to advertisements that promise a better life, or some sort of positive outcome from buying the product.
In this commercial for Southern Comfort liqueur, http://youtu.be/3qfBiz64Axs it shows a completely out of shape man wearing a speedo. While clearly this ad is meant to be comical, it also introduces the new tagline of “whatevers comfortable” so the ad actually works. This ad was done by Wieden and Kennedy in New York, and while not the most influential or award winning commercial, it certainly creates a rise for the product. This goes to show that advertising of today’s age is usually less concerned with forcing messages and opinions on people and more focused on positioning the product and targeting a specific audience.
I believe that to an extent advertising still uses the same parables that Marchand describes. The thoughts and desires of the consumer have not changed greatly over time. People are still attracted to a product that will drasticall change their lives. People still dream about living the extravagant lives of the wealthy and social elite and advertising targets that dream. The product that allows them to feel that satisfaction is attractive to people. If you take a look at this Old Spice commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QChi_AOtSOo
This simple soap item can make you smell like this good looking and elitist man. The commercial suggests that the way you smell is what stands between you and being the man in the commercial. Buying old spice can completely change the way your girlfriend will think about you. The commercial mentions boat rides on yachts, diamonds, and expensive tickets… all things that the upper class has that the middle class desires- and buy purchasing old spice body wash you can have a taste of it.
I would agree with Liam that the parables Marchand discusses have mostly fallen away – modern America is already accustomed to the consumer culture and do not need to be told complicated stories to justify and explain the new products and lifestyle that the parable advertisements were selling. Today, many ads convey a message even simpler than the parables, like “this product will make your life better because it is sexier/cheaper/more fun than what’s in your current life.” Still, some of the themes of today’s ads are similar to the parable themes. Take this Chevy Malibu commercial, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4_f9EGwbOY: the first line is “a little confidence goes a long way,” which is similar to the messages of Marchand’s Parable of the First Impression. Just like the hygiene products and clothing of the early 20th century, the Malibu “put confidence in [the] heart” of the man who drives it.
I don’t think that modern advertising uses the same type of parables that Marchand describes in his essay. The advertisements that he describes use the overdramatized parables to allow its viewers to see that using this product or looking a certain way is what stands in between them and success or a better way of life. These adds come from a period where the growing middle-class was distinguishing itself through material possession, and were made to “equat[e] other people’s judgements with correct standard of appearance, cleanliness, taste, and modernity.” They suggested a vast improvement in way of life through the simple purchase of sock garters, or shaving cream, which today would likely be received as a drastic overestimation. Current advertisements operate differently in that they are made to distinguish a certain product within a larger pool of options and project an increased amount of saving, connivence, or comfort that comes from the use of that product. This commercial for Swiffer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXVmC7lM-M0, which is centered around giving people “A little more time” doesn’t offer the stay-at-home mom time for a vacation, rather it simply suggests that she will now have time to read a magazine. I think the difference between the two eras lies in the large improvements in average way of life throughout the country. So instead of promising life changing results companies are offering marginal changes that make an already good life a little bit better.