Decnstruction of Barcardi Advertiesmetnes
It seems like everywhere you turn these days there is some beer or hard alcohol advertisement showing up in magazines or on television carrying promises of success and eternal happiness if you use their product. While flipping through several magazines I came upon a series of ads for Bacardi Rum. In the ads a bunch of happy go lucky twenty somethings are shown partying enjoying various drinks in a club environment. In each ad there is a catchy little slogan tailored especially for the situation running across the bottom of the page such as: "Cubicles by day. Bacardi by night," "Trading floor by day. Bacardi by night.," and "Buttoned up by day. Bacardi by night." While many might dismiss these ads as cute and hip there is much more influence resting behind the words and pictures that cover the page. By deconstructing, or looking at all the pieces that make up the ad, the messages and marketing techniques that are used in selling the product come to the surface. This technique is is modeled after the work of Susan Douglas whose essay "Narcissism and Liberation" tore apart and reveled the selling strategies of the cosmetics industry. Here, the cultural myth that "drinking is cool" is played upon. In this case the most obvious
Today now more that ever, advertisers are are using more resources, techniques, these publications. "Details," for example, is notorious for having scantly clad women on the cover of the magazine. This marketing technique draws in men of all ages to their pages. You may have to be twenty one to drink but there is certainly no age restrictions for reading this magazine. For teens and those others who are still legal not old enough to drink it may promote experimentation and limited thought about the negative effects that alcohol can have on a person. It is clear that these and other alcohol ads are having a part in corrupting the nations youth by given them false ideas about the way the world works. and money in order to sell a product. According to the Center for Media Studies alcohol advertisers devote over seven hundred million dollars a year to promotion of their products. Increasingly, alcohol companies are launching massive web sites that promote "the good times" more than promoting the actual product. When at the Bacardi web site there was a disclaimer that that material contained with in the web page should only be viewed by persons over the age of twenty one. There was no age verification system so someone like myself who is only eighteen years old could have full access to the site. What was even more interesting was that the material contained at the web site did not differ dramatically from the material being published in magazines. In both cases there were pictures of people drinking and socializing along with the stupid little slogans for the product. Essentially, Bacardi is admitting that the material it presents about it's product is not appropriate for any one under the legal drinking age yet the same material is being published in magazines that everybody, regardless of age, has full access to. there hands. From a young age children can establish a connection between socialization and alcohol. For an added dose of irony, the captions mention cubicles and trading floors are but just the opposite is being shown with crowds and a dance floor where everybody is having the time of their lives.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Happy Approach, Health Details, Narcissism Liberation, Essentially Bacardi, Bacardi Rum, Media Studies, Advertising Federation, America Imagine, Bacardi Increasingly, Building Construction, alcohol industry, day bacardi, day bacardi night, bacardi night, material published magazines, sell product, material contained, material published, contained web, actual product, published magazines, material contained web, legal drinking age, alcohol companies,
Approximate Word count = 1519
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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