Symbolism In Advertising

From the moment we open our eyes, we are surrounded by the visual effects that influence our self-consciousness and the way we perceive our environment. These phenomena are also known as advertisements or commercials. They are everywhere: radio, magazines, newspapers, taxi doors, movies and the Internet. You just can not escape them. There is probably not going to be one day where you are not going to find some form of advertisement in your daily life. Their main intent is to lure a potential buyer in their content without his consent. Marketing became so invasive that at every turn it can be in our faces, penetrating through our visual and auditory perceptions while establishing residence in our minds for many years to come. Why are

This phenomenon is also known as a status symbol. Social stratification creates a status hierarchy, in which some goods are preferred over others and are used to categorize their owner’s social class. Jack Solomon writes about the advertising issue in his

“Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”. In this essay he reflects on the fake image that is portrayed inside of our societies. He states, “Status symbols are signs that identify their possessors’ place in a social hierarchy, markers of rank and prestige. We can all think of any number of status symbols -Rolls Royces, Beverly Hills mansions, even Shar Pei puppies”

(Solomon 401). The author is acknowledging the importance of this issue because people tend to consume things that they do not need in their lives but their possession of these objects makes them better off in a hierarchy standing. Status symbols telegraph to the others what we can afford to consume. That is the message that Pepsi is trying to send in this three-minute commercial that was aired during Super Bowl in 2004. Super bowl ads are designated to resonate with the target market. These ads communicate more than just the product; trust, loyalty and

These advertisements use different methods of convincing and their influence is irresistible. Just like prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the cave”, we are told every day to invest our time and interests into the subject of these advertisements, and to acquire the forms of reality that they serve us. “Allegory of the cave” is even truer than it was back then. We today are being controlled by the media. Advertisements for one control us. Advertisements are set up to make sure that the consumer wants to buy the product. Propaganda is used everywhere and it is a direct example of this allegory. The companies use false advertising, glittering generalization, and many other techniques to brainwash people into buying these products. We are still in the cave deeper now than ever and we are all puppets to modern society and we are waiting for that person to step out into the light and bring us out of this rut that we call