Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture Advertising’s Impact on American Character and Society Arthur Asa Berger ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC Lanham * Boulder » New York » OxfordROWMAN & LITTLEFEELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Pablished inthe United Stier of America by Rowman & Litefild Publhery, Ine 4720 toston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706 reper coward com 2 id's Copse Read, Cursor Hill, Oxford OX2 9}, Engh Copyright © 2000 by Rownsn & Livefeld Publishers, Ine Aneatliee version of chapter, ended “1984: The Commercial” originally appeared sn Arhor Arn Berger's Paitil Culte and Pable Opinion (Pactavesy. NJ Pransoe- sion, 1989}. Reprinted by pemnisson of Transaction Publishers. Al right reserved All ngs msened, No part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in 2 ‘enneal system, ot uznsnitted in any form or by any meant, slctroni, mechani- cal, photocopying cording, or otherwite, without the paar permission of the poblcher, British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Berger, Arthur Ass, 1933 ‘Ads, fds. and consumer culture: advernng’s impact om American character and society / Aahur Asa Berge pcm. Inches bibliographical references and index, ISBN 0-7425-0030-6 (ak. paper) — ISBIN 0.7425.0031-4 (pbk ak, pape) 1 Adveresing United States 2 Popular cultare—United States. 3, Consmer ‘sdocation United States. [Tit loging-in-Publication Data (_Hr23 438 2 659.1082 0973 —dedT 00035296, Printed in the United States of Americt BP The paper used in this publication meets the minimise Fequitementsof Ame ican Natio Seadaed for Information Sciencer-Permancice of Pape for Printed Library Materia, ANSI/NISO 23948-1992 Some measure of greed exiss unconsciously in everyone. Ic represents an aspect of the desire to live, one which is mingled and fused a the with the impulse 0 tus outset of i aggression and destructiveness outside oarselves against others, and as such it persists unconsciously ‘throughout lif. By is very nature itis endless and never asuaged: and being a form of the impulse to live, it ceases only with death ‘The longing or greed for good things ean relate to any and every smaginable kind of good—nmaterial postesions, bodily or mental gifs, advantages and privileges; bur, beside the actual gratfications they may bring, in the depths of our minds they uldimately signify one thing. re ourselves good, worthy of love, or respect and honour, They stand a proofi:o us, if we gee them, that and full of good, and so are in return Thus they serve as proof and insurances against our fears of ‘which make us fel ‘emptiness inside ourselves, of of our evil impuls bad and fll of badness to ourselves and others. ‘Joan Riviere, “Hate, Greed and Aggression”Advertisements sanctify, signify, mythologize, and fantasize. They uphold some of the exsting economic and political structures and subvert others, Not anly does advertising shape American culture: t shapes Americans’ images of themselves, Katherine Toland Frith, Undressing the Aa Reading Cue in Advertsing ‘The loyal customer is worth more than the sum af her purchases. A fhithful General Motors customer can be worth $276,000 over her lifeime, including the 1 or more vehicles bought plus word-of- ‘mouth endorsement making friends and relatives more likely to con- sider GM product Greg Farell, “Marketers Put 2 Price on Your Life” ADVERTISING IN AMERICAN SOCIETY A Serial site punting Is a $20 bilion a year indusey in the United States and employs a goodly number of the brightest and most creative people in American society and other societies a5 well (often at very high salaries, to boot). Curiously, people who work in the industry have difficulty proving that it works—especially in the long term. ADVERTISING AS A PUZZLEMENT One advertising executive told me that “half of the money people spond on advertising is wasted ... but we don't know which half."Albo, advertising agencies are forced to talk out of both sides of their mouths at the same time, They have to convince clients that advertising is really effec- ‘ive—in generating sales, holding on to the customers a company already has, or attracting new customers. But when governmental agencies or con- sumer groups ask advertising agencies about what they do when it comes to advertising products such as cigarettes and alcohol, for instance, the advertising agencies argue that they have very ltde impact on people. The situation seems to be that although nobody in the business world ' certain how adverting works, thore is a consensus that itis necessary and that campaigns are worth the enormous amount of money they often cost, Thus, for example, commercials broadcast during the 1998 Super ‘Bowl cost approximately $1.3 million for thirty seconds, and the cost of ‘commercials during the 2000 Super Bowl was around §2 million for a thiry-second spot. ‘We must always keep in mind the difference between the cost of making a television commercial and the cost of purchasing airtime to show 4 commercial. It might cost $350,000 to make a thirty-second commer- cial (igure 1.1) but purchasing the airtime mighe run into the millions of dobiats, Naturally, advertisers want to run effective commercials, so it's 1