- Parth Sharma, Emy Merin Joy.
(This article was written as a classroom assignment under the guidance of Dr. C. Vipin Kumar for the course "A Beginner's Guide to Cultural Studies" at The English and Foreign Languages University, Lucknow Campus)
Introduction
No society in history can match the output of a capitalist society. Once produced, goods have to be distributed and consumed. Then the problem of a capitalist society is not production but consumption. It thus introduced advertising which saw the full development of an organized system of commercial information and persuasion, as part of the modern distributive system. Advertising is the most visible expression of willed coexistence of very new technology and very old social forms. It may seem very candid and transparent at the superficial level but in reality they are never innocent. Advertising images have clear intentionality at their core – they are constructed to convey specific meanings and specific messages. They are a medium and form of marketing communication used for encouraging, persuading, manipulating an audience and driving the consumer behavior towards a commercial, political or ideological offering in a capitalist society by targeting their cultural affiliations
The central concern of this assignment is a critique of advertising which rivets more on culture than on the merchandise. Advertisements communicate different messages in diverse dimensions. Images convey "truth" of the advertisement and promises the pleasure of the product will bring. A study of the photographic images would try to grasp the politics of photography at the level of interactions with discourse, its collusion with the state and its institutions and its determinations by investment and apparatus1. They also appeal to the 'conscious' and 'unconscious' which are not necessarily separated in the picture.
Advertising is rather a “system of magic” which relates to, according to Raymond Williams, “the attitudes and social thinking of a ‘consumer’ society”[1]. To achieve this end and to reinforce our claims, we will here analyze two public advertisements. The first, a moving advertisement of Fair and Lovely Ayurvedic fairness cream[2] and the second a print advertisement of Union Bank of India, reproduced here, promising reduced home and car loans.
Fair and Lovely Ayurvedic:
(To watch the advertisement click here )
The moving advertisement of the fairness cream begins with the image of a young 'typical Indian' girl who is dark complexioned and is wearing a 'saree', accompanied by her 'pandit' father mistakenly enter a 'modern beauty company' for doing 'puja'. The receptionist identifies the girl as 'pre-modern' and challenges the 'power' of Ayurveda which inspires the 'pandit' father to 'beautify' his daughter. The image of the 'new fair beautiful face' sets the icon of 'real beauty' and we, the viewers, immediately, consciously or unconsciously set that image as the 'standard of beauty' that one should adopt. The concept of beauty arises then and there - fairness, shape of the body, dressing style etc. contributes to the understanding of 'beauty'. Nearly in all such advertisements it is this beauty that enables the girl to achieve her goals, gain confidence, empower herself other social benefits like wedding, job etc and most importantly, all of this with a patriarchal support. It is noticeable that in such advertisements the girl belongs to an upper class or upper middle class who 'happened to born' with a dark complexion and the product is invariably suggested to her either by father or boyfriend. The main implication is towards 'fairness' and other benefits only that particular product can provide. It insinuates the idea that white is beautiful and black is inferior.
The images of the ayurvedic products in the advertisement try to convince the audience about the authenticity of the product and to show the 'real magic' of Ayurveda, especially Indians who have strong beliefs in the heritage and years old 'sacred tradition'. Through images of sandal, tulsi,saffron etc. they communicate with the audience the message that they are using 'pure', authentic ayurvedic ingredients and the product is in a way connected to the 'Indian culture'. 'Indian culture' which includes Vedas, Sanskrit mantras etc has always been associated with upper caste Brahmins. It has always been a Brahmin who studied Vedas and learned the 'secret' of fairness which is '5000 years old' as shown in the advertisement and revealed it to the world who 'cannot' step into the premises of Sanskrit learning and Vedas. Not only Sanskrit but Ayurveda itself is casteist and also sexist. 'Knowledge hidden in the esoteric inner sanctum' has been forbidden to the lower caste population and women for a long time and in the case of a lower caste woman the discrimination is two-fold, on the grounds of caste and gender[3]. All the non-Brahmins are under the 'generosity' of the Brahmins who share the 'Vedic secrets' with them. Since years, the Indian traditional culture and literature are the monopoly of Brahmins. The presence of a Brahmin pandit and Sanskrit vocals in the advertisement reinforce this idea of casteist monopoly.
The frontal image of the model in the advertisement creates the icon which we can only identify with an upper caste or an upper-class depiction and not even a trace of lower class or a Dalit can be identified. The image which represents the women in the entire society, in this advertisement, invariably has the 'physicality' of an upper caste woman. The mainstream representation in advertisements always focuses on the privileged ones as its icons and an independent representation of a Dalit or a lower caste identity is not yet completely visible in the public sphere. It is always under the agency of an upper caste representation and the disadvantaged and marginalized are ignored here. It should not be understood as the presence of a Dalit figure is a must in every advertisement but what matters to us is the understanding of such representations as icons in an unconscious level of the individual who watches it.
Union Bank of India
A Hindi idiom in bold on a contrasting background in English script, “Dono Haath mein Laddu”, is what draws the viewers’ attention towards the advertisement. The idiom is carefully chosen to attract Indians who would leave no chance but to enquire what is it that helps them “butter their bread on both sides” which is the nearest equivalent of the Hindi idiom. The advertisement by promising something which gives all profit and no loss would definitely get the viewer curious. The curiosity is then built up or laid to rest, depending upon the viewer if he/she is a potential buyer or consumer who was looking for a way out to buy a house or a car, by the main subtitle which informs us of the tidings i.e. reduced interest rates.
The general ambience of the advertisement is made very homely, peaceful and natural with trees, green grass, a clear sky and sunlight shining on the models. The basic design of the advertisement is divided into two unequal halves, a visual and a textual, with the dominant part being the image which is emblematic of the fact that the advertisers exploit the cultural space more than advertising their product for influencing the consumers. The use of the word ‘home’ (the place where we live and feel we belong to) rather than a house (a particular type of building, technically speaking the actual product for loan) also signifies the cultural inclination of advertising. The visual depictions are in tandem with the standards of happiness.
The ‘home’ in the image is a bungalow which is usually a prototype of a ‘dream home’. The car appears to be a mid-range saloon with a registration code of a metropolitan city, Mumbai in this case. Both the bungalow and the car are symbolic of the material goodness that something as abstract as a loan can bring about. The models are a middle-aged male and a comparatively younger and shorter female, reinforcing a culturally and socially accepted norm. They are fair skinned and well groomed. The relationship that is portrayed is probably of a couple with beaming smiles on their faces which symbolize a happy family. Both the models form the frontal image of the advertisement and are typified as a happy family which is complete after owning a house and a car. The posers appear to be belonging to upper-class or middle-upper class under a decent income group which also constitutes the main target audience. The male has his left-hand spread and pointing to the background suggesting possible possession or ownership which was possible only because of the loan and implies the same future for the viewer.
The second half of the advertisement is overtly textual .The interest rate is highlighted with an asterisk which is barely visible and the footnote further smaller in size to be rendered invisible which says “For loans up to Rs 75 lakh”, which is a limitation and hence disguised. The subheading of increased maximum tenure and no prepayment penalty puts forth the idea of a more accessible and flexible loan agreement. The ones about an early sanction of loan try to clear the air about the loan and its procedures which are conceived to be very tiring, monotonous and prolonged. The “Top up loan facility” is for giving a sense of security to the borrower for a future loan in case of a financial crunch. The “Online Loan Application Facility” which is centrally placed and highlighted gives a technologically advanced image of the bank and has the connotation of its target audience which is competent enough to avail such facilities. The “app” feature at the bottom which takes a considerable space in the small advertisement also just strengthens the banks’ ‘with-the-times’ image rather than assisting the advertisement and again implicates its target audience which possesses smartphones.
The logo of the bank symbolizes a ‘union’ between the bankers and their clients. The bank taps the opportunity to portray itself as something more than just a commercial bank but as an organization concerned with upholding the clients’ interest, fostering social relationships and comradeship over its business goals. This view is reinforced with the bank’s tagline which also focuses on ‘people’ inside the bank and their benevolence. The bank exhibits itself as something which prefers people over profit. The name of the bank appears both in Hindi and English depicting the synchronization of an upheld tradition and nationality with a faithful loyalty to neoliberal attitudes. Altogether the terms laid in the advertisement are supposed to be true and honest. If anything fails to be in agreement and aims at conflict, then “Conditions apply”, written perpendicular to the axial orientation of the advertisement in an almost invisible font is there at their disposal.
The banks juxtapose the needs and wants by creating a demand. By showing iconized images they stir up demands among consumers. They target them backhandedly by giving them an image of a perfect lifestyle which they could not afford, but will be able to now, with their home and car loan schemes. Thus, when buying a house or a car, they assure that you do not only buy an object you buy social respect, discrimination, health, beauty, success, and power to control the environment.
Conclusion
Advertisements are catered by people who belong to all classes including non-middle class. It is often said that our society is materialist and advertising reflects this. If we were sensibly materialist, in that part of our living in which we use things, we should find most advertisements to be of insane irrelevance. But advertising with its emphasis on 'bringing the good things of life' takes a crucial cultural quality of its modern form. The material object being sold is never enough. Many people who watch these advertisements, especially the middle-class, consume these advertisements and prefer discrimination as an attempt to replicate its world and ideology which is representative of the upper-caste or class 'norms'. The understanding of the politics of the situation should inform our activism to make it better able to resist the power of the visual and fight the subjection it engenders, as it insidiously shapes us and the structure of our perceptions of society3. Advertisements have long been used to influence the consumers towards the companies’ interests availing benefits. Advertisers take a hostile stance towards their target – psychology and sociology are used against the system. The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them[4].
Notes:
[2] The advertisement can be watched athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPIVb8CobT0 (last accessed on 30 March 2014)
[3]K.Satyanarayana and Susie Tharu(Eds.) Pawde, Kumud."The Story of My Sanskrit".. The Exercise of Freedom: An Introduction to Dalit Writing. New Delhi: Navayana Publishing Pvt Ltd.2013. Print.
.[4] Adorno. Theodor W, Horkheimer Max. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception”. Dialectic of Enlightenment. London: Verso. 1997. Print
:References
1. Adorno. Theodor W, Horkheimer Max. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception”. Dialectic of Enlightenment. London: Verso. 1997. Print.
2. Anand Zachariah, R. Srivatsan and Susie Tharu (Eds.). Towards a Critical Medical Practice: Reflections on the Dilemmas of Medical Culture Today. Chennai:Orient Black Swan.2010.Print.
3. K.Satyanarayana and Susie Tharu(Eds.). The Exercise of Freedom: An Introduction to Dalit Writing. New Delhi: Navayana Publishing Pvt Ltd.2013. Print.
4. Srivatsan. R. “Photography and Society: Icon Building in Action”. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.26, No.11/12, Annual Number (March.1991). pp771-788. Print.
5. Williams, Raymond. Culture and Materialism. London: Verso.2005. Print.
A Critique of Advertising
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