I always payed attention in advertisements and fashion in a very critical way and the fact that people buy without questioning any ideology fashioners and advertisers sell amazes me.I was going to publish a post I did but decided to take a look on what others were thinking about this phenomenon and came across with this post at the blog Comu1000 by Judy Griffiths.
She is not updating but I hope she comes back because she has a very good collection of posts.
This is one of them:
Ideologies
"Dear readers,
The time has come for me to attempt to shine a light upon the generalised and stereotypical fortresses of ideology that advertising constructs itself behind. Through the construction of ideologies, advertisers create a paradigm that we as receivers of a text feel we need to accept and adhere to. It is a powerful marketing tool, influencing consumers to believe that they are a piece of the puzzle without giving them the time to consider whether they even want to be a part of the puzzle.
Take my first example here, Lamborghini Tractors. It may come as a surprise to some people that the luxury car brand Lamborghini manufactures tractors, but in fact that is how the brand began. The brand Lamborghini itself is an ideology that produces connotations aligned with luxury, reputation, prestige, design, style and expense. What this advertisement attempts to do is transfer this ideology onto its tractors. The woman in the picture aligns with the mainstream connotations of the Lamborghini brand, while she stands next to a farmer that represents the utility of the tractors.
In my second example, the fashion brand Sisley depicts a rather controversial image. The advertisement is built upon the fashion ideology, however also borrows ideology from the drug world. This advertisement constructs itself to lure receivers into a world of high fashion and drug abuse as though it is an elite world. As ideologies do, this advertisement orients viewers to accept this behaviour as fashionable without giving an option otherwise. The sender offers the receiver of this text to interprellate the role; the image offers the viewer an invitation into a very ‘exclusive’ world.
Ideologies assume a lot from us as consumers, and more often than not we are oblivious to the social relations that are pushed upon us; we allow ideologies to shape our thoughts and distort our opinions. It is important for us, as consumers, to step back from this stereotypical chaos and attempt to disengage with ideologies at times in order to make better informed decisions and opinions. So my question to you this week is: Do you think that you are easily influenced by ideologies constructed in advertising?"
Take care friends.
J