CoP: Essay Revisited

'Advertising doesn't sell things; all advertising does is change the way people think or feel'
(Jeremy Bullmore)
Evaluate this statement with reference to selected critical theories (past and present)

"In our urban world, in the streets that we walk, the buses that we take, in the magazines that we read, on walls, on screens, we are surrounded by images of an alternative way of life. We may remember or forget theses images, but briefly we take them in, and for a moment they stimulate our imagination either by way of memory or anticipation but where is this other way of life?"

‘Ways of Seeing’, 1972 (‘Ways of Seeing-Advertising ¼ www.youtube.com) reviewed how advertising glamorised products and goods proposing to us in a consumerism society that we should change ourselves or lives by buying more, suggesting it will make us richer in life even though it really will make us poorer. The images created in these advertisements are supposed to represent and be directed at our lives and us but in fact represent something quite distant from reality and in fact enforce a glamorised fantasy upon our subconscious. John Berger is quite accurate in saying:

“Glamour is for everybody who believes they can be glamorous, or, perhaps, more accurately, everybody who finds that they cannot afford not to be glamorous.”

as we are now more than ever manipulated by societies norms and values where a social envy is created and we become fearful of rejection from the world. Advertising strive from this as 

“Without social envy, glamour cannot exist.” (John Berger) and glamour is what sells us into a lifestyle that becomes our obsession as it encourages our imagination to think that this fantasy could be possible. Therefore Jeremy Bullmore would be correct in saying that advertising does change the way people think or feel however there has to be a consideration for the full intention of this in advertising, the intention to sell things. By analysing his statement using past advertisements and critical theories this essay will demonstrate how society and advertising go hand in hand to manipulate the public into buying, thinking and feeling differently.

In favour of Jeremy Bullmore's statement, advertising encourages emotions within us and alters the way we think or feel. ‘‘Persuasion in Advertising’ (J. O’Shaughnessy & N.J. O’Shaughnessy, 2004, p.27) states: 

"Emotion is a factor in persuasive advertising that aims to change viewpoints and not simply to demonstrate the logical implications of data. In the grip of an emotion, a person not only feels differently, but tends to think differently. Advertising that resonates emotionally stands more chance of inducing a change in beliefs and values/motives/wants/desires than one based on logic alone.” 

By adding emotion and altering peoples beliefs and values advertising can tap into peoples conscious and change how they think or feel however with one purpose in mind. Advertisers use these techniques of manipulation to create a fantasy world to the audience that they then crave for due to societies structure. The purpose of doing this is that in the fantasy comes a product or good that makes the life what it is, therefore selling a product through a lifestyle by personifying it. Bullmore would be correct about advertising having a strong focus in altering peoples feelings and thinking but be wrong in suggesting that is all it does. Berger's 'Ways of Seeing' makes this connection by pointing out the glamorisation of products and goods that suggest a social fantasy full of desires and hopes. The potential for advertising to arouse emotions within us is strong as suggested in "Persuasion in Advertising":

“Anything that concerns us has the potential to arouse our emotions and, as Margalit says, emotions engage us with their objects in such a way as to make them loose their neutrality: they become marked by being lovable, disgusting, exciting, fearful and so on.”(J. O’Shaughnessy & N.J. O’Shaughnessy, 2004, p.27)

Chanel No.5 perfume is an excellent display of personifying a product and using the potential to arouse emotion, those of the heartstrings of a woman in particular, to sell high end, expensive perfume. One of there most famous and one of the most expensive and elaborate advertisements of all time, with a budget of $42 million and renown Baz Luhrmann directing, is a perfect example for how advertisements personify objects into a fantasy of emotion and just how far advertisers go to reach their market (nicole kidman chanel commercial, www.youtube.com). With famous actress Nicole Kidman featuring in what only would be seen as a film trailer, except for of course the excessive product placement of Chanel No.5 recognisable logo, this sophisticated tv advertisement challenges the fragrance market and offers their product as a chance for serenity, an escape from life with the promise of love and romance. More importantly it offers a different way of life and this to the modern woman weighed down with the stress of a career, family and sustaining the ideals of society is what she can only hope for and comes as a relief to her. Realistically it will only lose her money, she will receive a bottle of fragranced water and still be stressed with her life but advertisers have got what they intended, they've altered the audiences feelings and way of thinking and convinced them that with having this high end label attached to them they will of exceeded in life and be the top of society. They continue using this ideal as seen in there most recent of TV advertisements (CHANEL NO.5 COMMERCIAL AVEC/WITH AUDREY TAUTOU / DIRECTED BY JEAN PIERRE JEUNET, www.youtube.com)  featuring yet an even more alluring woman, Audrey Tautou, a french actress, which already hints at romance and incredible beauty that is branded alongside the French city of Paris, but is complimented by the song 'Im a fool to want you' by Billie Holiday, selling the magic and romance of the night train ever more as the story revolves around the mesmerising effect of the scent in the woman's wake on a man who could only be described as typically and unnaturally attractive. All this is instigating and building towards the inevitable manipulation of the audience’s emotions in the direction of the desired life and the product that gets them there. This is a perfect example of Berger's urban world where we are taken in by are imagination yet where is this way of life, the night train, the man? 

Jeremy Bullmore in his 2003 edition of 'Behind the Scenes in Advertising Mark III' (P.14) states:

"The truth of the matter is that people enjoy being persuaded being courted, being wooed, being wanted." and he'd be correct in saying this as its clear that this communication is intended to influence someone and the audience know they are targeted by the industry yet they allow themselves to be manipulated and buy into what there being told to buy into. Through publicity they appeal to a way of life we aspire to but have not yet achieved suggesting that if we buy our life will be different and our home/relationships will become luminous due to our new possessions. Playing upon fear and the rules of the dream, those who don't have the power and lack of glamour, become faceless and using techniques such as the 'weasel claim' and 'unfinished claim' advertisements give you promises and threatens you with not being seen as desirable and being unenviable. John Berger sums this up in his documentary 'Ways of Seeing':

"It suggests you are inadequate as you are but consoles you with a promise of a dream."

This is probably one of the most important factors in advertising within shifting peoples feelings and thinking in a direction best suited to the industry and it would appear clear that although Jeremy Bullmore says that all advertising does is change the way people think or feel it does in fact intend to do this with the purpose of selling, it just being a device used along with many to influence and control society as a whole encouraging what’s already been embedded in our nature.

In opposition to Bullmore's theory of advertising not selling we see in the DeBeers 1948 advertising campaign, ’A diamond is forever’ (A Diamond is Forever TV commercial "Theatre" (2001), www.youtube.com) a clear intention of using manipulation of emotions in order to sell a product. Due to the diamond decreasing in price and there efforts to revive the industry through advertising, even to this day, 64 years on, a diamond is forever in our mind as a symbol of love, attached to various occasions such as engagement, birthday and anniversary. All at fault to a series of clever advertising we were convinced into this imagery of wealth, success and rarity from a diamond and emotionally manipulated into conforming to celebrate our love in the expensive taste of such item with the threat of feeling inadequate, rejected from main society or even being abandoned by that ‘love’ for not showing your love enough if you weren't to conform to that ideal. Using the base of couples and occasions, over the years DeBeers has made diamonds worldwide luxurious, a stage in life of utter happiness as well as success and most importantly a promise we now expect. This due to the declining price of diamonds and the sought to reverse it with an advertising campaign has led to a goal that no one could of thought would be achieved. DeBeers themselves summed up there accomplishment in a successful statement from their history:

“The diamond became an integral part of the modern-day ceremony of love, engagement and the celebration of enduring relationships. Through De Beers the diamond has come to speak a universal language, conveying its message of love, rarity and desire.” (http://www.debeers.com/culture/current-news-and-events/9108230c-8a7f-4c43-bad6-b7699374c534/a-diamond-is-forever)

All this stemming from an advertising campaign that strengthened the association of diamonds with romance and established a link between diamonds and the scared tradition of a religious wedding through manipulation of image in order to increase sales. By simply using scenes of life changing events and actors reactions people have succumbed to this image and the diamond industry is worth millions. Jeremy Bullmore statement is far from realising the full potential and intentions of advertising to sell products or goods by changing peoples thinking and feeling and the DeBeers campaign is a successful and vividly accurate example of showing how the two can together can create a effect on society.

In conclusion to the theory “Advertising doesn’t sell things; all advertising does is change the way people think or feel” (Jeremy Bullmore) it has to be said that advertising doesn’t just sell things and doesn’t just change the way people think or feel but the two go hand in hand. In part you have to agree with Jeremy Bullmore that largely through the years the manipulation of feelings and thinking is becoming more prominent as the market becomes more of challenge to fight for and evidently advertisements more than ever attack our inner most desires and hopes. However, obviously not everybody out there is partial to being so easily manipulated but in reality everybody who has values and beliefs whether based on societies values and norms or their own basis, they have them and “Whenever something strongly resonates with values, its produces an emotional reaction.” (J. O’Shaughnessy & N.J. O’Shaughnessy, 2004, p.64). With emotion comes the opportunity to change feelings and thinking, therefore comes the ability to enhance persuasion. Persuasion being the power in which to sell something. It has be evidenced that advertising isn't one or the other as introduced in Bullmores statement and in reflection from looking at different theories, the advertising industry use our human qualities to do there job, to advertise products and to sell products.