Advertising!

We are surrounded by advertisement every second of our lives.  It's all over the internet, plastered on practically every outdoor surface, and even worn by people on a daily basis.  But, is it really saying anything?  I'm currently taking a class about the effects of media on society, and we just talked about how the switch from print to electronic media has changed our society.  I started thinking about it, and  there's a big difference in advertisements!

Let's take a look at an ad from the 1950s:

It's an ad for a Zenith remote control.  Immediately the differences between that and today's advertisements are extremely clear.  First of all, almost half of the ad is writing!  The fact that it is too small in the picture to read is beside the point.  Most people nowadays would never take the time to read that much information just for an ad.  But we can assume that the writing explains the benefits of this remote and all of the great things it can do.  Now let's look at a new ad from the time of technology.

It's just a picture.  Aside from the tiny little logo in the upper right hand corner for Adidas, it's just a picture of a woman working out.  What does that say about the product?  I can't even tell what the product is!  Maybe it's that if you buy Adidas you'll become a fit young woman?  I have no idea.  The point is, ads used to have a statement.  The first ad would have explained the benefits of the product, and you could either agree or disagree with it, and make an argument for why you feel that way.  I could ask "Is this ad true or false?"and you could give me an answer.  If I asked the same question for the second ad, it makes no sense.  You can't say whether a picture is true or false, it's just a picture.  So by taking away the statements in their ads, companies are effectively removing our ability to engage in discourse about it.  This is true with commercials also.  Think about all of the McDonald's commercials out there that show a happy family eating McDonald's.  What is the statement in that?  I can't disagree that a happy family might eat McDonald's, so there is really no way to thoughtfully agree or disagree with advertisements anymore.  Now advertisements aren't judged on their truthfulness or what ideas they present, but how aesthetically pleasing they are.  Do you guys think this is a problem, or just a progression in society?

Rhetoric or Reality?

    Prior to this class, I had really never given the idea of rhetoric any thought.  Frankly, I had no idea what it was.  Now that I’ve been introduced to it, I’ve already noticed it being used and brought up in the media.  The other night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he interviewed the former Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty.  (The interview can be seen here: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-january-12-2011/exclusive---tim-pawlenty-extended-interview)  Jon Stewart asked Tim Pawlenty whether the rhetoric used to describe the Obama administration actually represents true beliefs held by republicans, or whether it is just a tactic used to create fear and gain votes.  He brought up a very good point that the Bush administration created new national mandates such as “No Child Left Behind,” and there was not much outrage, yet the Obama administration creates a health care bill, and people accuse it as being tyrannical.  The republicans even named a new bill the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.”
    The two administrations are generally very similar to each other, yet the rhetoric used to describe Obama and his actions are far more harsh and serious than that which were used to describe Bush.  Because the realities are so similar but the rhetoric used are so different, the rhetoric must be playing some other role than just discussing the topics.  Maybe people are scared about the state of our economy right now and are therefore reacting more strongly to changes.  Maybe politicians and people in the media know that people are worried, and are creating more reasons to worry for the sake of gaining votes.  Maybe people actually feel more strongly about the actions of the Obama administration.  If so, why would that be the case?  Are politicians trying to scare people into voting for them, or is it something else entirely?