(Note: Sorry for the weird underlines-it does that after I posted pictures. And sorry for the horrible quality of the photos I took!)
During Thanksgiving break, I had the pleasurable (sarcasm) experience of going to the Providence Place Mall with my brother Sam this past vacation. To be frank, I used to LOVE going to this mall. Delia's was my favorite place for clothes, and hello-Sephora!
This time, it was all about business. I made a spontaneous decision to document storefront ads as well as magazines through the eye of a consumer analyst. People: Take note-this is SO much fun! People might look at you funny, but who cares, right?
I thought I'd share some of the standout ads and headlines I saw.
The ubiquitous Abrocrombie and Fitch storefront. I guess the black shades make it seem like an upscale beach house that only the elite are invited to. And don't forget the bare-chested man with his finger in his mouth. If that isn't selling sex, then I don't know what is.
Here we see cradle-to-grave marketing with Abrocrombie and Fitch for Kids. The puppy was clearly used because it resembles youth and home life....and who can forget the phrase, "I've been good this year" that I am sure we all wrote to Santa when we were little. But look closely at the outfit on the left. A skirt that short for a nine year-old girl? Next to that was a pair of extremely short denim "Daisy Dukes". It is unacceptable what Abrocrombie is getting away with, and even more disconcerting that parents actually buy this stuff.
A little different but still intelligent in its marketing skills is Build a Bear. We have lots of bright colors (yellow is gender-neutral, of course) and bears everywhere. I like the idea of seeing a bear get built and having the chance to customize it, but I feel like this concept is taking advantage of our wallets. Those things are expensive! Of course children will also feel compelled to have every single outfit under the sun, which adds more pressure to the parents.
Here is an advertisement at Claire's. I used to shop at Claire's until I was maybe 11? And yet the extremely thin models look like they are 18. At least there is some diversity. However, young girls will aspire to these accessories-obsessed, vapid models.
The "Hello Bombshell" storefront is appalling. This is one half of the storefront, the other, shown below it, is targeted to a younger age group. Is Victoria's Secret calling us, the consumers, bombshells? How can anyone feel like a "bombshell" when she is looking at a pin-thin but voluptuous model who is Photoshopped to perfection? Victoria's secret used to market to solely adult women, and now the targeted market is getting younger and younger. The marketers know that anything pink, polka-dotted, sweatpant-style, numbered (references high school team athletic wear) is going to lure in young girls. And at the same time, they feature these thin, overtly sexual models as well. How are girls supposed to feel when they are faced with such a dichotomy?
Above is the Apple storefront. As you can see, these are giant sized "books" and common icons such as ABC and an old fashion "television". Apple is clearly targeting the aesthetic, retro but avante-garde intellectual group with this form of advertising. However, it is amazing to see how many young children there were in the store. Surely they aren't interested in reading The Tipping Point, but to Apple, that doesn't matter. They already have youngsters hooked on their products because of their streamlined and colorful design.
Don't forget the Beatles! It's as if they are alive! No wait....they are cardboard cutouts...
Now, onto the magazines and books:
Here is an ad for Self Magazine about the new Tone-Up shoes that are the latest craze. Apparently they "lift your butt and thin your legs", but that just sounds like pseudoscience to me. This ad also objectifies women, because one, it is crude (I immediately saw it as "Love your Ass") and secondly, it's defining women solely by their body parts.
In relation to the ad above, this was an article in the same issue of Self featuring exercise moves using these shoes. As we discussed in our class, here is a perfect example of how editors purposefully feature products that were in advertisements near the article. I wouldn't have noticed this before I took this class, and seeing it now is creepy.
This Guess Seductive perfume ad was featured in TEEN VOGUE. Also, it was in regular Vogue. Here, they are exposing young readers to ads that they will see all throughout adulthood as well. This woman looks 30, not 13. It's also blatently selling sex, beginning with the perfume's name and ending with the nudity and the shades in the background.
This is a Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue Perfume ad, featured on the first page of Vogue. As we discussed, this location is extremely important for the magazine, and therefore, emphasizes the message of Vogue: You are considered beautiful if you are blond, tan, thin, and have your mouth half open. Clearly, there is no diversity or size acceptance in this ad to speak of.
Apparently celebrities all majored in English because they are writing books as fast as they are creating perfumes...Anyways, here we have those famous-for-doing-nothing Kardashian sisters who provide us women with all of their sage advice. I don't think that following their advice is such a great idea....
Point #1: Generating Girl Power, in my opinion, is awesome, but not when the whole chapter is about narcissism and selling your body. I don't think Kim understands what Girl Power means. Or maybe, that concept was created by the media to convince us young women that it indeed is a form of feminism. Not so much.
Point #2: "Spoiled But Not Spoiled Brats"....Have you not seen their show? They are such brats, I've gotta be blunt with this one. And also, since when was being regular spoiled a good thing either?
Apparently Ricky Martin thinks that the whole world is obsessed with him, because he even "wrote" a book (cough, ghost writer) titled, ME. Very original....Though I guess you can't expect much more from a celebrity. I thought this book was an interesting reflection on our society's own narcissism: Through Facebook, Twitter, and on and on....
Overall, this was a fun experience. Fun meaning that I discovered things I would not have noticed before. However, at the same time, it is sad to see how much marketers are selling us beyond the products, and that most average Americans don't realize this. This is where education comes in. Doing this taught me how important it is to have a keen eye on what's before me, but also, to share my findings with other people.
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