We
are drawn to consume because we are so widely exposed to the adverts and
branding we see around us. They influence our choices as a consumer and are
often fueled by how they are presented to us; a celebrity on the front of the
advert is more likely going to persuade the consumer to buy the product,
creating more excitement around the brand compared to a plain, regular advert.
As
mentioned in my previous essay, Beyoncé signed a 50 million pound deal with
Pepsi, however she has also done work with Coca-Cola, again another
multi-billion pound company. It could be argued that both companies took
advantage of her high celebrity status in order to get maximum money from their
advertising, ‘The two companies
have spent over $330 million on campaigns involving entertainment and sports
figures. The Times notes that both brands each spent $148 million on domestic
advertising in the first six months of 2012.’[1]
Ultimately proving that companies like Coca-Cola will stop at nothing to feed
off our consumer culture to gain maximum profit. The colours in this specific Coca-Cola advert come across as
almost seductive; red ignites connotations of love and passion, acting as a
lure to draw in consumers to buy the product. As this would have been widely
viewed by an American audience it would of received a lot of attention,
especially as they have so many platforms to broadcast their adverts and
Beyoncé is considered an important influential figure by the USA. Since the
1930’s ‘the press developed into the leading medium, a position that was
sustained over generations’[2],
thus meaning it became increasingly easy for them to take advantage of adverts
using celebrities to earn maximum profit. This certain image immediately
conjures the idea of consumerism and brand competition because its slogan is
challenging other drink companies insisting they are ‘refreshingly better’,
especially with the use of Beyoncé.
The colour differences between the two adverts are the most
noticeable dissimilarity; although they use their logo colours therefore their
brand identity the Pepsi advert doesn’t have the same seductive charm about it.
I think the tone of this advert is completely different, it has a much more
consumerist and capitalist feel to it, due to the image of Beyoncé having lots of
Pepsi cans in the trolley. To me, this harbors up connotations of mass
consumption, encouraging the audience to buy excessive amounts of Pepsi.
However, this also reflects negatively on Beyoncé herself as she is allowing
her status to advocate to our needs as a highly consumerist culture. Her stance
and clothing highlight Pepsi are taking advantage of having a female model pose
for their advert as she is luring the consumer into buying not only the drink
but the brand itself. It could be argued that this advert falls into the
category of the male gaze, objectifying Beyoncé in order to sell products,
while presenting her in a seductive light. Going back to the book review of
“Consumerism as a way of life”, Bauman himself says ‘everything is a potential
object of consumption’[3]
and ‘a major function of consumerism is to produce consumers’[4],
this is exactly what Pepsi are doing with this advert, they know they have a
huge audience to attract so they are taking their audience and seducing them to
become huge consumers of their product.
Moreover, I have chosen to look at the work of Barbara Kruger for
the final image, this particular piece of works relates to the consumerist
themes I have been exploring. “I Shop Therefore I Am”, immediately brings to
mind the idea of consumption, especially materialistic consumption, it is
saying that we are what we buy into, you buy a brand then you become part of
that brand. Olins himself says, ‘The brand wasn’t in the shop. It was the shop.
And the brand was also the staff in the shop.’[5] It
is interesting that Kruger’s image was created in 1987, as it still has an
incredible amount of relevance today, highlighting our society has now been
consumers for generations now and we are obsessed with materialistic objects. A
similar bold red colour has been used on this image and Coca-Cola’s
advertisement, giving them both a striking impact when viewed by an audience,
therefore immediately grabbing attention. Kruger’s work consistently uses this
shade of red to evoke emotion from the audience, in this case it could be
debated anger is created due to the images ideological message. Her work
challenged consumerism, greed and powers, which lead it to being driven by the
mass media and it began to bring a change within society at that time with how
people were viewing the media. Sadly, however the impact her work did have has
not been as long term or to as wide of an audience as some would of hoped,
everything she criticised by the media is still being created with branding and
advertising today.
[1] Makarechi, K. (2012). Beyoncé &
Pepsi Ink $50 Million Deal With A Twist. Available:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/beyonce-pepsi-deal-50-million_n_2270365.html
[3] Bauman, Zygmunt (1999). Reviewed Work:
Consumerism as a Way of Life. London: Oxford University Press. 395.
[4] Bauman, Zygmunt (1999). Reviewed Work:
Consumerism as a Way of Life. London: Oxford University Press. 395.
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