The Body
Message prompt

A commodity is a product that is not appreciated for its true value. Commodities are used to impress others. Both male and female bodies have become commodities themselves. People are often not appreciated for their true value. Very frequently, they are not treasured for their personality, intelligence, or sense of humor. Instead, too much attention is paid to their appearance. Though not always true, looks are typically considered to be the most important aspect of a person. Women and men therefore must devote a lot of time to their body. The most common reason for working out is not to stay healthy, but to look good. That is why steroids and eating disorders have become somewhat common today. Many people feel it is necessary to harm their bodies in order to look attractive by society’s standards. People are not valued because they are kind or loving. Instead, people are valued if they are considered beautiful. Thus, the human body has become a commodity.

The fact that the body is a commodity is disgusting. People should never be judged by their appearance. The way someone looks is not what is important. It only matters if someone is a good person. People should be treasured for their intelligence or personality. After all, it is much better to befriend a nice, fun person rather than someone entirely concerned with their looks. Just because someone does not meet society’s idea of beauty does not mean they are any worse of a person. It should never matter how someone looks, and therefore it is a horrible thing for the body to be considered a commodity. A body should never be used to impress others - character should be used to impress others.

Celebrity
Medium prompt

A medium is defined as a mean of general communication or information. A few common mediums are radios, televisions, and photographs. However, Neal Gabler believes that none of the aforementioned is the biggest medium. In his essay, Gabler writes, “life itself has become the dominant medium of the new century.” This quote supports the idea behind celebrities. In many ways, celebrities have become the biggest way of spreading information. They can, intentionally or not, send out messages to the public. They have more influence that televisions, radios, and photographs do.

An example of this would be supermodels. Models typically put out an image of a skinny body, and are considered to be beautiful. As a result of this, many women of the public want to be skinny. Countless women feel that they need to look like a model if they are to be considered attractive. Models are therefore advertising the idea that women are most beautiful if they are thin. They are sending out a message to the public, just as a television or radio would.

Another example of this is what celebrities wear. Average people see what celebrities wear. Consequently, many want to copy the celebrity and dress the same way. Celebrities have set countless trends because the public feels it is “cool” to dress the way a celebrity does. People also want to look the way certain celebrities look. Britney Spears have their own perfume, Jennifer Lopez has her own clothing line, and the Olsen twins created their own cosmetics. Girls then want to smell like Spears, dress like Lopez, and wear the same makeup as the Olsens. These celebrities are, therefore, influencing people. They are giving the public an idea on what they should look or smell like. They are sending out a message just like a television would. Only Gabler believes that celebrities have grown to possess more power than televisions and other standard mediums. If one takes time to think about, he or she may realize that Gabler is on to something. After all, try to get through a single day without seeing a celebrity advertise a message, whether it is intentional or not.

The Mall
Message prompt

The Mall of America is the country’s biggest shopping center. It boasts of 44 escalators and 17 elevators, 14,000 hot dogs sold per week, and a size of 78 acres. The mall is proof of the idea that “Not only is shopping melting into everything, everything is melting into shopping.” Malls used to be rare, and whatever malls there were contained only stores and food courts. Over time, however, malls have become much more common. Not only that, but they have become much bigger as well. The Mall of America is an example that shopping is becoming bigger than it ever was. In fact, shopping is currently so big that The Mall of America eventually hopes to become a symbol of the country. This proves the idea that shopping is melting to everything. However, The Mall of America also proves that everything is melting into shopping.

The Mall of America does not only consist of seemingly endless stores and food chains; it has several different activities as well. In the chapter, there are pictures containing an ice skating rink and an amusement park ride. Malls have grown to contain different attractions now and something for every member of the family to do. There are various things being added to malls to attract more consumers. The Mall of America hopes to become as significant to the nation as Disneyland is. A mall cannot do that with only stores and food courts. Therefore, the mall proves that not only is shopping melting into everything, everything is being added to shopping.

Selling America
Medium prompt

The American flag is an important part of our culture. It symbolizes our nation and the American way. The flag stands for freedom. It is something that should be used only to show one’s pride in the country. Since 9/11, the American flag has become ubiquitous. In the days following the tragic event, the flag was found everywhere one looked, even on products. Two examples the chapter cites are a pizza box and a bikini. In my opinion, it is not appropriate for these two products to display the American flag.

The American flag should be used only to show patriotism. It is possible that the two aforementioned products are only using the flag to convince Americans that they are patriotic in an attempt to attract more customers After all, a proud American would much rather buy from a patriotic company who displays the flag on their product, rather than a company who does not seem as proud of the country. This makes the use of the American flag seem completely disrespectful. They use the flag to sell a product and further their financial success. This is not only disrespecting the flag, but America itself. I believe that companies need to appreciate their nation more and find a better way to sell their products.

Advertising Morality
Message prompt

An important part of any advertisement is the picture. Most ads found in the chapter contain images that dominate the text. “The Enforcer” advertisement, for example, contains a picture that completely takes over the text. In fact, the text is written in small font and placed at the very bottom. Most people probably do not take the time to read the text, but merely observe the picture. Another example of this is the “Children Aren’t Born Violent” ad. There is a photo of a young child’s face. Across his eyes is a bar containing smaller images of violence, which represents the violence he has seen in his life. Again, most of the text is written in small font and this time, placed at the very top. Like the first example, most people probably do not actually read this text. Instead, they probably only notice the picture. One advertisement that is not dominated by the picture is “You’re Running Because You Want That Raise”. Though it features a large picture, the text is more dominating and attracts much more attention with the different sizes and colors.

The picture in each advertisement is not always clear. As aforementioned, the text is not always noticeable. Therefore the ad heavily relies on the image to get the message across to the audience. However, most pictures do not clearly identify exactly what the advertisement is trying to say. A good example of this is “Father”. In this particular ad, a young man is shown smiling with small text scrolled across the middle of the advertisement. If someone were to look at the picture without paying attention to the text, they might think it was advertising something about college. After all, it looks like the kind of happy student college brochures are always showing. Yet the text shows that the boy has messed up by using drugs, and now he is a father. No one would be able to guess that just by looking at the image. This advertisement heavily depends on text to convey its message. A quick glimpse by a passerby of the ad will not leave a lasting message in someone’s head.

How to Make an Add
Method prompt

The nonprofit organization Adbusters created a guideline to follow when creating an advertisement. In this guideline, the company suggests potential advertisers to make their objective completely clear to the audience, as well as know exactly who they want their audience to be. The company stresses the important of a large visual, stating that 70% of people notice the visual. Adbusters also adds that one must have a good headline, as 30% of people notice that, while only 5% read the body copy. The final point Adbusters gives is not to make the advertisement cluttered. While creating an ad, less is always more.

Miss Clairol’s “Does she…or doesn’t she?” advertisement strictly follows Adbusters’ guidelines. It first follows the company’s advice by creating a large visual. The picture for Miss Clairol focuses on a middle-aged woman with shiny, well-styled hair close to a child. If a woman around the same age or mother were to pass by this advertisement, it is likely she would stop after seeing the visual. The picture is more the half the ad, and thus very noticeable. Yet more importantly, it shows women that even they, as mothers, can have nice hair. The picture is showing that just because a woman becomes a mother, that does not mean she can no longer take good care of her hair. The visual proves that Miss Clairol knows exactly who their audience is, and they successfully attract their specific audience. The picture does a great job luring in their audience, just as Adbusters pointed out was necessary for a good ad.

“Does she…or doesn’t she?” also follows the guidelines because it has a good headline. The headline is located directly under the main visual. It reads, “Hair color so natural only her hairdresser knows for sure!” The headline clearly reveals what the product is about. It immediately explains to the audience that Miss Clairol will color a woman’s hair so naturally that nobody else will be able to tell it is not her real color. The headline makes the product look good and sound like it works well. It also makes women potentially want to try the product for themselves. Finally, the advertisement does not appear cluttered. There is nothing too fancy, nor too many words or pictures. It is simple and gets its point across. The advertisement strictly follows Adbusters’ advice, which explains why it has become one of the most successful campaigns of all time.