The World According To Commercials (2)

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In the world of commercials, avenging guardians of the social order exist to ferret out those who fail to use the sanctioned products. Nosy neighbors and socially superior guests are ever alert to spot the smell of a cat or a cigar, or to comment snidely about spots on glasses, dull dishes, or dust on the furniture.

The characters that live out their lives in the 30- to 60-second world of the broad-cast ads and in the pages of print ads seek and obtain almost instant gratification. Problems arise and are met. Promises of product performance are made and kept. All of this occurs in a very brief time span. The answer to Links Of London Charms all of the problems, needs, and expectations in the ads is ultimately found in the purchase of some product. The link between problem and solution is clear and unequivocal. Not only is the gratification instant, but it also occurs as a result of the product advertised. In contrast, our lives are more complicated and more ambiguous than the lives of advertising's population.

Characters in ads are also what psychologists ...
... would describe as "other-directed." Characters seek the approval of others in ads. When that approval is withheld, crises ensue. Neighbors detect odors in the house, and a crisis erupts; an air freshener is the answer. Parents detect spots on drinking glasses, and a crisis occurs; a new dishwashing product eases the tension. Acquaintances spot "ring around the collar," and the family is thrown into turmoil. Clothes washing product resolves the crisis. In each of these instances, the others disapprove not only of the condition (the ring, the odor, the spots) but also implicitly, if not explicitly, of the ad's protagonist because of the condition. It is not only the product that ultimately wins approval in the ad but also the person who uses the product.

The need for social approval is strongly felt by all of us. It is a need that advertising exploits. In the process of exploiting the need, advertising reinforces it, legitimizes it, and enhances it.

In one sense, advertising is powerfully conservative—it is loath to offend; it rein-forces institutional values. In another sense, advertising is radical because it holds out a world full of products and promises the good life to those who buy them. Yet the mass media reach many who lack the money to buy the products. Ads are materialistic. Purchase and consumption of material goods are glorified in commercial ads. Our assumptions that ads are created to sell products are so deeply ingrained that we distrust ads created to enhance the image of a corporation, which claim that "this corporation is a good citizen of the community." The notion that a manufacturer might pay to bring us a noncommercial message is suspect because until recently Links Of London Bracelets we had seen few such ads. In fact, the manufacturer is still selling a product. The product here is the company's good name, and when we respect it, the advertiser can link it to the product line and urge us to buy.

The acquisition of material goods brings happiness in the ads; material goods are satisfying. Because the ads simplify, we do not see other factors that make a happy ending possible; we do not see those factors that make the happy ending impossible even with the product or see the unhappiness that may be caused by the product.