While sitting on my couch staring at the TV after a long day during the first week of November, I was awakened from my mindless coma by what could only be explained as an explosion of noise, colors, and music blaring from the screen toward me. Without knowing what had just happened, and feeling a little attacked, I caught a glimpse of the “Gap” logo and the sound of cheery holiday voices before it ended. I quickly grabbed my computer and looked up the commercial in order to fully comprehend what I had just experienced. After a couple of views I no longer felt attacked, but was strangely frustrated. (If you haven’t seen the commercial please view it here now or you will be confused with what will follow). I wasn’t frustrated by what can only be described as holiday pluralism at its best, what upset me was what followed. From the TV screen, within an advertisement, this was stated, “eighty-six the rules, you do what just feels right, and you do whatever you wantukah and to all a cheery night.” Then a simple message flies up on your screen, “ready for holiday cheer…‘Gap’.” Feeling confused and frustrated all at the same time, I wondered…when did what we want start to control us? When did doing what we want equal a cheery night? And when did Christmas and the holiday season become all about us? As the I thought, the answer became clear, when our wants become our god.
The Friday following Thanksgiving is traditionally known as “Black Friday,” one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Black Friday receives this title because of the assumption that companies move from operating in the “red,” or deficit, to in the “black,” or profit. Usually this is the biggest shopping day of the year. People wake up early or do not sleep at all in order to stand in line for the special deals. This Black Friday will most likely not be any different, but some things have changed. Has this holiday season approaches, many people living in “the red,” or should I say, living in debt. This reality has a direct relationship to another thing that has changed, the marketing strategies of major companies this Christmas. Companies are no longer trying to sell consumers products that they “need” or even “want,” they have gone so far as to sell products as happiness, or a type of instant cheer. It is as if by purchasing products from major companies consumers will not only be happy, but that these products will solve everyone’s personal issues.
This is not an uncommon strategy in the marketing world, in fact there is a name for it—branding. Just think about your average beer commercial. Normally you will see a group of “pretty people” gathered together all drinking a certain type of beer (I am not condoning or opposing the drinking of alcohol, I am using this sample commercial because they are generally the best known among consumers.) The main idea these commercials are trying to communicate to consumers is that if you drink this beer you will have as much fun, be around and maybe even be as “pretty” as these people are.
Other commercials are meant to inform us about a product; take for instance the MGD 64 beer, “with 64 calories in one bottle.” The point of the commercial is to one, inform consumers that this product exists, and two, to tell us that if we drink other competing products we are taking in more calories. Therefore upon a trip to the market to purchase beer one will think to themselves, “oh yea, MGD has that new beer with only 64 calories and I do no want all the calories that come with other alcoholic beverages, so I will buy MGD 64.”
This year’s commercials are taking a step in a new direction; they are no longer just selling you a product, they are telling you out rightly what to do to make your life better. Just like in the “Gap” commercial, telling you to “do whatever you wantukah, do what just feels right.” (On a side note, I hope that Jewish people around the world are upset by the insensitive combination of want and Hanukkah. In reality, all companies are trying to do is to sell you their product so that they will no longer be in “the red.” If one was to translate Gap’s message to the consumer, it would read something like this: spend money on what feels right, buy whatever you want, it does not matter if you are lacking in funds, after all, it is all about holiday cheer.
Take for instance the following “Best Buy” commercial for the holidays. (Link) As the “Best Buy” employees/ carolers sing to you, they create a scenario in your mind where there is conflict. They then proceed to solve the conflict by telling you that if you purchase this computer package, all your family computer issues will be solved. They sing to their listeners, if you buy this product there will be “no waiting, and no fighting, and shouting, no bad biting… only love and hugging, and a sweet loving family!” The genius of this commercial is that Best Buy creates a scenario, develop its plots, and solves issues with no characters at all except the ones you create in your own head. Through this strategy, no empathy is required on the part of the viewer in order to understand the message. Storytelling with no character development or faces, allows the audience to create their own characters, made up of their only family. Therefore as the story unfolds, the viewers literally will play out this conflict within their own family life, at the end seeing the resolution “Best Buy” wants them to see. In reality is it pure psychological genius on the part of the marketers at “Best Buy,” yet what strikes me is what causes the issue in the first place, want. During the commercial the fight in the family occurs because everyone wants what they cannot have. Instead of solving the issue by teaching your kids to be patient and share, “Best Buy” tells us that all our wants can be fulfilled, only for the price of $1199. When did parenting becoming about fulfilling everyone’s wants, over raising children who where patient, kind, loving, and sharing?
So what if consumers are so in debt that they cannot afford to purchase products all at once? Well, K-Mart has solved that issue for you, just use their layaway purchasing demonstrated in this commercial. All you have to do is pay a little each week, further allowing consumers to go into debt. What the commercial does not tell you is that “the Service Fee ($5) plus Cancellation Fee ($10), or 10% down payment (whichever is greater) is collected when merchandise is put into layaway” per item you contractually enter into. (content.kmart.com/ue/home/Kmart_Layaway.pdf) This means that you are, in fact, paying more for the items you are purchasing than if you just bought them outright. Yet, K-Mart does not really care about that, all they want is for you to purchase their products so that they will get out of the “red,” no matter if you fall deeper into the “red.” So, in reality, what commercial is saying to consumers is that it does not matter if you cannot pay for everything outright, having gifts for the holidays is far more important than financial stability.
(Part 2, coming Wednesday morning)
No comments:
Post a Comment