Totemism In Advertising

According to Dr. Michael Strangelove, the current style of advertising is reflective of Totemism; the association of mystical, magic-like qualities  with the use of products. Totemism is very prominent in advertisements for beauty products targeted at women. These products claim to have magical properties that alter one’s physical appearance e.g., having shinnier hair or longer, thicker eye lashes. Such ads persuade consumers to purchase beautifying products that have the mysterious and amazing capacity to achieve the unachievable.

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Principles Clothing

Dr. Michael Strangelove spoke of the perception of messages and the different ways to decode text and images during his lecture on July 27, 2009. He cites the work of Sociolologist Stuart Hall. Hall’s Theory of Encoding and Decoding is a reception theory which positions the decoding of media content by audiences as differentiated between 3 types of readings, i.e., dominant, oppositional or negotiated. The message received from this advertisement can be perceived as one or many of the following:

1) Women should dress and act a certain way in order to fit society’s description of a woman. Women with class wear Principals Clothing. This is an example of a dominant reading.

2) Women who like to have fun and rebel against society’s rules of morality would not enjoy Principals Clothing. This is an example of an oppositional reading.

3) Principals Clothing is targeting upper-class women with this advertisement. However, they choose to do it in a way that suggests that women who do not wear their clothing will be rejected by society. This is an example of a negotiated reading.

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Revlon’s ‘Feel like a Woman’ lipstick

As Professor Michael Strangelove has highlighted during several of his class discussions, advertisers are constantly aiming to persuade the masses to think a certain way. Revlon, a well know female beauty product company, has released many advertisements and commercials that lead women to believe that their products will make them more beautiful and attractive. An example of this can be seen through the video clip above. The ad shows several beautiful and physically fit women gracefully applying Revlon’s ‘Liquid Lip’, while Shania Twain belts out her classic song ‘Feel Like A Woman’. The advertisement, with the help of Shania Twain’s song, is sending the message that you can feel like the ultimate woman while wearing their product. The advertisment goes on to imply that you can still accomplish daily female tasks, for example taking care of a baby, while being incredibly attractive due to their new lipstick. Revlon is promoting the idea that regardless of what kind of life you lead as a woman, this product will help you carry out your daily lives with grace and beauty, much like the actresses in the commerical.

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