Analysis Of Jack Solomon's Masters Of Desire: The Culture Of American Advertising

Superior Essays
Many of today’s advertisements in America are trying to sell power to the consumers. With the goal to make profit and have consumers fall in love with products and services, advertisers make sure that they can persuade buyers to purchase their products. Numerous advertisements emphasize the importance of aristocracy and upper social class in their advertisements to stress the necessity of power to stand above the high social standards rather than the luxury of power that does not push many to have. In an advertisement by Audi, it creates a sense of power and superiority with the elegant model, the Boston Terrier dog, the clean and structured architecture, and the noticeable Audi Q7 vehicle. The ad’s campaign also represents an American craving …show more content…
In Jack Solomon’s “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”, Solomon talks about the American Dream being an American paradox in American’s culture. Solomon describes the American Dream with “two faces: the one communally egalitarian and the other competitively elitist. This contradiction is not accident; it is fundamental to the structure of American society. Even as America’s great myth of equality celebrates the virtues of mom, apple pie, and the girl or boy next door, it also lures us to achieve social distinction, to rise above the crowd and bask alone in the glory” (Solomon 167). With Americans, populism means sharing the wealth amongst everyone and not being above everyone, but elitism means that people desire to be the most powerful and successful compared to the rest. The reason why these two fit along with the American dream and why they are a paradox is because everyone wants to share the wealth, but at the same time everyone wants to be better than the rest of the Americans. The Audi campaign utilizes images of both populism and …show more content…
The model is shown wearing all white: shoes, purse, dress, coat, and glasses. Usually when people wear white they represent perfection. Nothing seems out of place with her, since even her hair is intact. It would seem as if her belongings gave her confidence, but the Audi Q7 proves otherwise. She looks at the Audi Q7 because she knows that it is more powerful than anything she has ever seen before. She is probably taking a good look at the car to know that that is the car she wants to purchase. There are different types of consumers, and the model happens to be the actualizer. In the article, “What We Are to Advertiser”, James B. Twitchell describes actualizers as them being “at the top of the pyramid” and already having luxurious items or already planning on buying luxurious items (Twitchell 179). It is interesting because although actualizers are a type of consumers; they do not share a concern or care about advertisers because they do not need them to make purchases because they are well educated, well-traveled, and have acquired tastes and standards and are probably more informed than the ad

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Jack Solomon’s article, “Master’s of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”, he portrays that American nationals are partitioned upon elitism and populism. The contradiction between elitism and populism is the effects it portrays with today’s society of advertisements and media, and how it affects society itself. The logical inconsistency of this impact is all over the place. Today’s society is continuously revolving around the concept of advertisements and media, where we are consumed material each and every day. American advertisers show us a perspective that Americans believe to have the American dream of society nowadays.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A common image of the typical American is one of a person striving for money, status, and material possessions. This is not only an idea conveyed by non-Americans, but often by Americans themselves who consider this goal to be “The American Dream”. I believe such an extremely marginalized image is, in reality, considerably unfair and unrealistic. It sets short and strict guidelines on what should be considered success and prosperity. To me, the American dream is, at heart, an ideal of true happiness in life, and that happiness is dependant on a fluctuation of balance in all our societal functions.…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is the American dream? Many search for this “dream” of fortune only to be disappointed. We live in a capitalist society. Capitalism is “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit” (Lecture “Labor Theory: Karl Marx” 28th of January). As long as we are living in this system there will always be a hierarchy of classes.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The American Dream,” states historian James Truslow Adams, “is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” It is known as the common goal amongst many that thrive in America; although, that is not always the case. In the years since Adams himself first coined the term, opposing sides have grown to relate the American Dream with the corruption that follows its devastating failure, accounting for so much despair in America. They believe that people who live their life solely to achieve this “ultimate goal” will be overall unsatisfied, as the highfaluting American Dream is conclusively unattainable. However, in his article “Keeping the American Dream Alive is Your Responsibility and Mine,” author Cameron Smith disagrees, stating that we cannot give up our hope—it is our…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is a strategy employed by advertisers to maneuver and have an effect on their customers. Advertisements promote and idealized lifestyle, and manipulate the person that reads, to an unquestionable extent into trusting whatever that is announced is indeed true. First impression can take a significant role and the media has taken a part in it when it comes to physical appearance. Joyce Hopkins’s part in this reading, is a women…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American dream is dying, claims US News's David Brodwin. The formula used in this article is one used across many fields. This formula is the CER formula or claim, evidence, and reasoning formula. In this paper the author uses a strong thematic statement as his claim, social economic research as evidence, dramatic writing to evoke emotion, as well as to reason to strengthen the statistics he uses. The American dream first and foremost, in this writing, is an expression of the idea that anyone can climb the rungs of the social economic ladder and be the epitome of the American “rags to riches” motif.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The author of this essay, David Wallechinsky, uses different styles to attempt the reader into believing his claim that the American Dream is no longer something achievable. “ PARADE surveyed that more than 2,200 Americans, of whom fully 84% described themselves as belonging to the middle class , regardless of where they live ( living costs are higher in some regions) or the size their household.” ( Wallechinsky 60) Logos is portrayed throughout the essay to provide credible evidence to the…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Persuaders Analysis

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “The Persuaders” is a documentary which investigates how the culture of advertising and marketing have changed and influenced American society. Advertising and marketing isn’t just away to influence people to buy products however it influences a person and everything around them including the culture in the United States and politics. The documentary shows how advertisers are trying to break from the clutter they have created and look for new ways to reach consumers. The documentary shows how advertising has shifted. The job of advertising before was to highlight and present what the product however now advertisers try to focus on what the product means.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Marco Rubis, the senator of Florida, once said “The American dream is a term that is often used but also often misunderstood. It isn’t really about becoming rich or famous. It is about things much simpler and more fundamental than that.” In some sense, Rubis’ words shed some light on the ideology concerning the American dream; people often perceive wealth and fame as the sole testament in acquiring the American dream, and due to these misconceptions, believe the death of the American dream. However, that is false.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, most individuals do not acknowledge that the responsible ones for these crimes is the ideology of the “American Dream.”. Since, minority need to obtain an alternative route to the American Dream they create their own branch of consumerism. For example Bourgois conveys how these individuals seek the American Dream but must do it with the underground economy, "... the underground economy in order to try to get their piece of pie as fast as possible. "…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sex in advertising has never been about selling sex it has been about selling the product. Sex in advertising is tool that it used to grab their attention, and get the consumer to recall the advertisement when they are in the store trying to find the best product for their money. The way Elliot Springs was using sex in advertising was creating buzz, and getting more and more people to look for the advertisements to see what happened next. This rises the question of what methods of using sex in advertising are the worst and at what point does it go too far.…

    • 103 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    V. T. Grace N. Maniu Aylen Rounds English 101 August 12th, 2015 Dead and Gone: The American Dream What is a dream? Is a dream something that can’t be attained? Will a dream always be just an idea? The “American Dream” is often seen as a pathway to large homes, expensive cars and lots of money, however, the “American Dream” for Americans has always been defined as an ideal that every United States citizen or resident should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and through taking initiative. Citizens of today however, believe the American Dream is dead and is impossible achieve because of the factors that stand in the way of their opportunity to rise and create that dream.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even though advertising is a different language than the usual language people here on a daily basis it is very simple to depict if one would just dissect it a little bit. “O’Neill talks about how it is the viewer’s responsibility to understand the meaning behind what…

    • 1536 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction: Marketing is the core of any successful business. It assists in spreading awareness about the company’s product to its customers, potential customers and the community by advertising and promoting the company’s good or service. A very fundamental part of marketing is branding. Branding provides the company’s products with the opportunity of being uniquely recognized; and distinguished between it and other companies’ products as well as acquiring a respectable reputation among their competitors, customers and community nationally and internationally. Also, through marketing the company can determine which good or service appropriate best for their customer’s which creates diversity among their audience.…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s society it seems like everywhere you look, whether it is a billboard or a commercial, sex is the prime tactic that advertisers use. Any maker, researcher or advertiser will tell you that sex sells, but why? If you look at advertising this tactic has been used for decades, so this is nothing new. Advertisers have been using sex as the main focal point since the late 1800’s with the earliest advertisement for sex being published in 1871 by Pearl Tobacco (Kay, 2014). The ad displays a naked woman.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays