Manahill Waheed
Professor Mary Samuelson
English Composition 3
26 January 2023
Reinforcing the American Dream in Advertising
The American Dream promises all people regardless of their gender, ethnicity, or social status the opportunity to obtain personal success through determination. In the ideal society, people are valued equally and provided with freedom of choice to succeed. However, the free market economy and capitalism in the United States is proclaiming the increase in inequality and widen the gap between different social classes. With wealth concentrated in the top 10% of the population, people hardly have chances to boost their social status or control over their decision. The advertising industry is one example of how large corporations
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In an advertisement for Rolex watches, they implemented the Democracy of Goods, persuading the viewers with the quality and technology of their product and advising how it represents an aristocratic status (Rolex). The advertisement used shades in color to emphasize masculinity, appealing to male potential buyers. The slogan implies access to the most advanced technology to attract customers through using data on how the product can also function well under extreme conditions, in this case, 660 feet under the sea. The advertisement also created Inclusivity by mentioning the product is “fitting all levels”. The poster uses the hand of an adolescent to represent the age spectrum. It also implies that it is accessible throughout the hierarchy and it will be a worthy purchase based on the quality of the product. The semiotic representation in this piece of advertisement is tied to the brand's core values of longevity, reliability, and continuity, which are directly delivered to the viewer through semiotic representation.Rolex is implying egalitarianism through possession and encouraging competitive consumption of purchasing luxurious product, by emphasizing the aristocracy of their product can be shared …show more content…
With the adolescent community being the dominant users of the product, since they cannot make the purchase themselves, the Lego company is appealing to the parents instead. In this advertisement of Lego, the company is implying the lego puzzle can support children’s intellectual development by stating “Lego builds kids”, as they show a picture of a child building lego and seems to be learning in the process of crafting (Lego). They use a light background and bright colors of the tails to emphasize the product and the child, attracting attention to the connection between the two, which is the action of learning while playing. As we can see in the picture, the child is only around 8 years old, they are still in the stage of exploring the world instead of focusing on developing their intellectual skills. I believe in this context, they are implying to the parents that they should start training their children at an earlier stage with Lego, using their fear of having their children fall behind others. Therefore I believe this advertisement manifests the myth of meritocracy. Meritocracy is a term that is strongly associated with the American Dream, how people can achieve success based on their abilities, usually proved through levels of