Essay 3

Reflective Practice

The purpose of my visual investigation and first two essays was to explore how and why brands use celebrity endorsements within their advertisements. The quote I responded to for the first essay was a discussion about capitalism and consumerism; therefore choosing to study big corporate companies and how they advertise seemed only appropriate in response to this quote. The essays and visual response focus heavily on Pepsi as a brand, particularly how in 2012, they paid Beyoncé $50 million for a partnership deal in the hope it would expand her creative ambitions within her music career. The intention for my visual investigation was to create a set of advertisements using similar techniques of culture jamming used by Ad Busters, a form of activism that attacks large corporate businesses to tell the truth, rather than the distorted views shown to the public by these companies. It was important to consider what impact these adverts would have when presented to a consumer audience because they are the ones buying products from the company, so making them feel uncomfortable or in shock when presented with the information was a significant factor. When researching into celebrity endorsements used by companies, it was immediately made clear that consumers would be more drawn into a product if there was a celebrity on the front, ‘Branding enables us to define ourselves in terms of a shorthand that is immediately comprehensible to the world around us.’ (Olins, 2004, p27) Advertising is a way of manipulation, filled with a false sense of identity for the consumer, making this clear in the way the adverts were created would allow the individual to reconsider Pepsi’s intentions. By including typography on the advertisements it allowed the important information to become wider known by the public, the $50 million was always going to be a shocking amount to any consumer as, ‘Brands are increasingly disingenuous and duplicitous in their relentless pursuit of our money and they will stop at nothing in their overwhelming imperative to manipulate us.’ (Patterson, 2006, p215) With the play on words of Beyoncé’s Flawless song, (I woke up like this cos Pepsi paid me $50 million) it gave the adverts an interesting approach in terms of connecting with the wide audience, without them being just dull and informative. The typography used on the adverts is Futura, used by artist Barbara Kruger and the guerilla girls, not only does this like to contextual research and the visual analysis essay, it allows the advertisements to have a strong, lasting impression on passers by as bold typography is used for high impact and standing out against others. During the design process, the consideration of the target audience was always a high priority, alongside where the adverts would actually be placed. The target audience was tricky to define completely because Pepsi are a company that don’t always target a small age group, more along the lines of 18-40, with this in mind it meant there were not many limitations of the adverts contents but the inclusion of Beyoncé is more likely to catch the attention of a younger audience. This would not be considered a problem as the advertisements are designed to be on large billboards in busy cities like Leeds and London, therefore a high percentage of 18-30 year olds would pay close attention to them and look at themselves as consumers within this capitalist society. When it came to designing the initial prototypes, it was imminently clear that relying on Pepsi’s existing packaging would not be as successful as thinking outside of the box and not going for the obvious, although Ad Busters almost re-brand adverts, it was important to stay away from this and not copy their ideas otherwise it would become un-original. From the group critique exercises on the prototypes, it was suggested to include imagery from Beyoncé’s music videos or existing posters; this was an interesting approach because the main aim was to address the flaws within Pepsi, especially its advertising. However, using imagery of Beyoncé within the advertisements highlighted the fact her celebrity status was being taken advantage of in order for Pepsi to make money. Due to Beyoncé’s high celebrity status, it creates another argument that, ‘Nothing would be consumed unless the marketplace arouse and seduce consumerist desires.’ (Bauman, 1999, p395) Therefore trying to almost play on this with the advertisements created for the outcomes meant the inclusion of Beyoncé imagery will attract the attention of the public, almost forcing them to pay attention and read the adverts, playing to the ‘mainstream commercial culture’ (Olins, 2004, p207) Olins states due to brandings nature changing.

Overall, there is a clear link between each piece of work produced for this module, the initial quote allowed the theme of capitalism and consumerism to be explored 'Although on the surface the nature of design may appear to be relatively inconsequential, it might well be said to play a formative role in the history of capitalism and, in turn, in the social expression of capitalist practices.' The main theme that carries through each piece of work is how brands use celebrity endorsements within their advertising in order to create maximum profit. Through this, the exploration of consumerism within the 21^st century has played a huge part and the research into Pepsi and their advertisement strategies has been beneficial in order to back up the points being made and overall the advertisements produced. The relations of the written pieces compared to the visual outcomes are a success as they closely link ideas and research carried out into aspects like culture jamming and Ad Busters, in order for them to have maximum impact on the everyday consumer.