Since I have an interest in mining with it's political and social connections and since mining is in the news again (New Zealanders trapped this time) here are some images from the UK mining strike. The strike took place 1984-1985, around about the time I was born, in a not so dissimilar economic climate to today.
Oh and an example of some great advertising from Saatchi when he was known for this and not for art...
All images were obtained from a google search, please click on the image to find source, No copyright infringement intended.
I am finding myself thinking about advertisements a little more than ever before. I think I thought I tuned them out, but of course that is what everyone says, either way they never really bothered me.
Increasingly they have been p*ssing me off and sparking a sparkling variety of emotions. Perhaps it is because I am curious as to how media influences people not only in what they purchase but in who they are, particularly in regards to gender based identities. Perhaps it is because I watch Mad Men which is set in a New York 1960s ad agency. Perhaps it is because I watch The Apprentice which usually has tasks involving the development of ad campaigns. This causes me to imagine the thought process behind the things I see. (I am not sure if it is even a semi accurate portrayal of how things get done but I suspect the shots of cringing graphic designers copying and pasting up the stereotypical ideas of idiots-with-egos might be realistic.)
I hate being sold a lifestyle and I hate being told what it is to be a woman but somehow I love this John Lewis ad. I first learned of the campaign at the Guardian a while back. John Lewis is a British department store that is known as an old reliable. It is unique in that its employees are referred to a partners as they all have a share in the company. It's selling point is that it is a fair, consistent and people orientated company. The developers Adam & Eve communicated this with emotive success.
Usually women in television adverts are very one dimensional. They are often characters informed heavily by Sex & the City style lifestyles. Shoes and bags and cocktails with the girls kind of thing. Although the female lead in the advert is not challenging stereotypes, she is portrayed as a complete human being. She is an innocent child, a beautiful wife, a caring mother, an ambition career woman and a stylish elderly person. Woman are too often dehumanized in the media by being represented as incomplete people. I think this plays a huge role in the objectification of woman and so, in violence against women too.
Or perhaps it is the golden light, the Billy Joel cover and the stylish elderly lady that has me.
Nestle is bringing back the fond favorite Milky Bar kid with the great and catchy slogan "Ungrown up" and the introduction of a bar with raisins. That's all shit obviously, but look, don't these milky bar grown ups look like they are in an Andy Warhol costume? Hah!
I am finding myself increasingly aware of advertisements on television. It is hard not too since they seem to be broadcasted louder than the programmes. In the past I did not pay too much (conscious) attention to them. Perhaps now that I increasingly spend less time with people I am becoming more aware of my own thoughts and less accustomed to popular culture. The latest ad to catch my eye is for a new car. The Volvo advertisement heavily features scenes from the newest installment of a certain vampire tween franchise. Now unless you are even more detached from society than I am, you will know that this is the book come film saga Twilight.
The ad is blatantly made for an American audience that is more familiar and less sensitive to cringy television. I am not entirely sure what the message is (I am not entirely sure there needs to be a message), it is all too American style cheese to sink in. I think it is a lifestyle advertisement, the kind where the adverts sums up who you are and tells you how to live yours life with purpose and for the moment. The feel of it really is not suitable for a European audience.
However the more pressing question is "who is this advert aimed at"? I have a few adult Twilight fan friends but it is my understanding that it is a tweenage to teenage sort of thing. How many teens here are in the market for a new car? I do not drive and do not know many who do drive, but media has taught me that Volvo is thought of as a reliable car. Just the kind a middle class (or what I would consider very wealthy) American parent would buy their sweet sixteen daughter. The main teen market interested in cars here is the seventeen-year-old boy racer. Since they like to drive by my apartment at night I know that they like to mess up ten-year-old cars with noisy sawn off exhaust pipes and 1000 euro body kits that cause the car to get stuck on speed bumps.
I can't quite find the exact advert played here but here is a link to a similar one.
For the record I do not dislike Twilight. I have never seen or read it. It seems "too much"
for me though. I like to get my sexy vampire kicks from the shocking (it shocked me), more adult and very clever True Blood.
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