An Optimistic Look at Advertisements and Culture

Shel Burton 

sb800216@ohio.edu

I've always been deeply fascinated by advertising. Advertisements are a reflection of society and its values, albeit an exaggerated one. It was the father of advertising, David Ogilvy, who said: "If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think." Of course more than language goes into advertising, but what Olgivy touches on is something advertisers have never stopped striving for. Whether it's Clairol getting women in the 1950s to buy hair dye using the slogan, "Does she or doesn't she?" or the iconic "Hump Day" Geico ad, advertisers are always trying to think and speak like the consumer. 

Living in a new technological frontier, the culture of the consumer has changed and so has the culture of society. What's reflected back through advertising is an amalgamation of idealized values, hopes, and futures. For all its faults, missteps, and intrusions, I feel a certain level of appreciation for today's advertisements. 

Picture source: postcron.com

Now more than ever purpose sells a product; transparency and communication are vital. There's a reason two-way communication marketing, a form of marketing where the brand and the consumer respond directly to each other, is considered crucial for most media. Living in a world of fake news, fake ads, deep fakes, trust is extremely valuable and the punishment for deceit can be swift and overwhelming. 

Advertisers have taken steps to reflect America's diverse reality and champion new, important causes--an example being L'Oreal. In March, the company launched a campaign committed to ending sexual harassment. The ads encouraging bystanders to safely intervene during sexual harassment situations, including a link to lessons on how to properly help others. 

Like many consumers before me, I wonder: "Are companies co-opting social issues to sell a product?" And while the answer is clearly a resounding "Yes!" I can't help but feel grateful that social issues like climate change, racism, homophobia, and economic disparity are valued enough to be considered "marketable." Social issues aren't trendy fads that can be replaced interchangeably with crackle nail polish and Google Glass, but their marketability means they're in the consciousness of our society. In many ways, it's a sign of progress. 

If I refer back to Ogilvy's quote, a good advertisement thinks and speaks like the people it's trying to persuade, and if that's true, many of today's crucial advertisements are either intentionally or unintentionally striving for a more accepting future. Obviously, there are blunders and debacles, but at least--in some aspects--we seem to be on the right track.