A Tommy Hilfiger Advertisement that Insults America

1330 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Media influence on public perception

A Tommy Hilfiger Advertisement that Insults America

There are a lot different types of sitcoms, and other types of advertising out there in this day in age. The one ad that fell upon my eyes, and pulled me enough its way to persuade me to write a paper on is a Tommy Hilfiger Advertisement. This advertisement is a true way to show how much advertisement has become demoralizing, and appealing to the eye. “They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love, and sexuality, popularity and normalcy”. (Kilbourne, 178)

Advertising has taken many different methods throughout history to attract people to its products. Advertisers use television, newspapers, magazines, and many other methods. It uses different types of color, and measures to attract people. They try to put many different objects and things with their product that actually half of the time does not even belong. The most charming ads sometimes even stick in our minds for long periods of time. That is a goal of the advertiser. To make an ad that sticks in someone’s mind. These days though, advertising has been so plagued by false advertisement.

The reason I picked the ad I did is because of how much false advertisement, and deception the picture is portraying. Firstly I will describe everything in the picture. It’s an ad advertising a fragrance from Tommy Hilfiger. There is an American flag in the background. There is an American flag covered couch people are sitting on. There is a big house in the background. There are six people total in the picture. Each person is wearing all Tommy Hilfiger brand clothes. The people are a mix in between different cultures as well. Plus the people all generally look very good. Then lastly, the caption reads as “the real American fragrance”.

Can you see how offensive it is already? What kind of baloney is it that they would use the American symbol in three different ways just to represent their product? The America flag represents so much to everyone in United States. It represents “freedom”. It reminds different people of many different things. It can range from memories of all the past battles brave men have fought so that this land still remains ours, or it could have many other dynamic meanings to other people. How dare this ad uses the American flag with its advertising scheme. Tommy Hilfiger has nothing to...

... middle of paper ...

...m it seems like. “Style is a personal choice.” (Trimbur, 215) We should make our own choices as adults, and as teenagers. We should look pass the fancy clothes, the stereotypes, and the brand name, and buy clothes that define ourselves. That colors the character that is behind us, not the character that advertisers encourages us to be.

Bibliography:

1. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Diana George and John

Trimbur. “They sell values, images, and concepts of success and worth, love, and

sexuality, popularity and normalcy”. (Kilbourne, 178)

2. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Diana George and John

Trimbur. “Media images are so persuasive, they can easily become prototypes of

style, class, or even profession.” (Brownmiller, 209)

3. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Diana George and John

Trimbur. They are each generally exposed to over 2,000 ads a day as Kilbourne

states. (Kilbourne, 178)

4. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Diana George and John

Trimbur. “Style is a personal choice.” (Trimbur, 215)

Show More
Related

  • Jib Fowles 'Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals'

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    n today's world it`s practically normal to see every kind of ad, and they are everywhere! In the article “Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals” By author and professor Jib Fowles. Who claims that advertisers give “form” to people’s deep-lying desires, and picturing state of being that individuals yearn for…” stated by Professor Fowls. I will describe the fifteen apples that advertisers use when trying to sway to the public to buy their product. These apples are the following… sex, affiliation, nurture, guidance, aggress, achieve, dominate, dominate, prominence, attention, autonomy, escape, feeling safe,aesthetic sensation, curiosity, and Physiological needs. By observing some magazines which are frequently bought, I will examine three full page advertisements to to see what of the fifteen appeals are working in each ad to convey that desire.

    Read More

  • Charmin Toilet Paper Ad

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Bossy Boot

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    This advertisement shows us logos by making people think about domestic violence. When you look at the big boot, obviously worn by a man is stepping on top of a small women’s shoe, it automatically makes you think about domestic violence. As quoted, “When he controls your life, it’s no longer your life.” This quote is powerful and directly speaks to the women who are in controlling abusive relationships. It also speaks to people who know someone who is being abused and that they should speak out. It pulls you into the sad scene with the dark lighting all around almost making it seem suffocating, which causes the small woman’s shoe to seem unimportant, compared to the big muddy boot that is trapping it. It logically makes someone

    Read More

  • Football Commercials

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ad opens with “America the Beautiful” being sung in English while every few seconds after that the song changes to a different language. It depicts children, teenagers, and adults of all cultures enjoying the adventures and combined principles of America, while essentially being brought together by Coca Cola. “The song was sung in English, Tagalog, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and Senegalese-French. The commercial also featured a gay family” (Hillburn). Since this ad was released, Coca Cola has received extensive feedback (negative and positive) through social websites. The negative feedback provides proof that prejudice and discrimination are still a valid concern within America’s borders and beyond. There is an article released by “Voice of America” that goes in depth with the reactions of Americans towards this commercial.

    Read More

  • What We Are To Advertising James Twitchell Analysis

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    “What We are to Advertisers” by James B. Twitchell is a short article that emphasize how advertisement attracts audience magically. From the quote, “ Mass production means mass marketing, and mass marketing means the creation of mass stereotypes” James points out of how the world appear to be. The advertisers seems to be psychologically abuse to the public for them to be successful in their industry. Base on the way the society act, dress and thinks, we fantasize something ridiculous and only our imagination can only make it close to a reality. With that in mind, the industry of advertisements will immediately think of a way to try and sell their product to us.

    Read More

  • The Challenge Between Civilization and Savagery in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, all of the boys go through some struggle with civilization and savagery. Jack is the one who makes the biggest change in the book. He goes from civil straight to savage. William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies", uses symbolism and allegories to show how Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and Simon struggle with civilization and savagery.

    Read More

  • 84 Lumber Ad Analysis Essay

    469 Words  | 1 Pages

    The ad targeted people of all demographics. Emotional moments were put into the ad so they could connect with everyone. A few examples were when the little girl gave the American flag to her mother or when they found the door to America. Thousands of people would've watched the commercial and many did see the original ad, 84 Lumber tried to have most of the US view it so everyone could share their opinions on immigration. Even though some people thought of the ad as controversial, it

    Read More

  • Lord Of Flies

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, is an allegorical novel that shows the destructive nature of human beings. Through the breakdown of the society formed by innocent kids who survived the plane wreck, Golding shows that there are many basic human traits that can lead to the destruction of the society. However, the most predominant human trait that leads to the destruction of the society in the Lord of the flies is the struggle for power, the disposition toward savageness and the fear of the unknown.

    Read More

  • Analysis of an Advertising Campaign

    2004 Words  | 5 Pages

    Analysis of an Advertising Campaign We are swarmed by advertising. Companies constantly battle to compete for the sale of their product. Adverts appear in every form of media including radio; television; Internet; billboards; newspaper; flyers and magazines. The advertiser wants us to buy their product above their competitors. The basic aim of advertising is to convince the target audience that their product is the best in the field and superior to the other products of similarity.

    Read More

  • Advertisements

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    We see advertisements all around us. They are on television, in magazines, on the Internet, and plastered up on large billboards everywhere. Ads are nothing new. Many individuals have noticed them all of their lives and have just come to accept them. Advertisers use many subliminal techniques to get the advertisements to work on consumers. Many people don’t realize how effective ads really are. One example is an advertisement for High Definition Television from Samsung. It appears in an issue of Entertainment Weekly, a very popular magazine concerning movies, music, books, and other various media. The magazine would appeal to almost anyone, from a fifteen-year-old movie addict to a sixty-five-year-old soap opera lover. Therefore the ad for the Samsung television will interest a wide array of people. This ad contains many attracting features and uses its words cunningly in order to make its product sound much more exciting and much better than any television would ever be.

    Read More

  • Advertising is Informative, Yet Manipulative

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nowadays, advertisements are everywhere embedded in our daily life. They are powerful resources that inform people the latest news about a particular product or brand in many different ways. Most of the people are being able to get more information and detail of a product from media, radio stations, newspapers and internet. Even though advertising is a big informative source, it also can be considered as a marketing tool to control the mind and desires of the consumers to manipulate and persuade them to buy things they do not need.

    Read More

  • Analysis of McDonald’s Corporation Advertising

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advertising generally tries to sell the things that consumers want even if they should not wish for them. Adverting things that consumers do not yearn for is not effective use of the advertiser’s money. A majority of what advertisers sell consists of customer items like food, clothing, cars and services-- things that people desire to have. On the other hand it is believed by some advertising experts that the greatest influence in advertising happens in choosing a brand at the point of sale.

    Read More

  • David Beckham Advertising Analysis

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Advertising is simply everywhere, it is something that we can not avoid. Although we might ignore it when we are walking down the street, there is always something wanting to catch our attention. We have advertisements through radio, television, magazines, newspapers, and even on billboards. It has gotten increasingly popular in today 's economy because of how companies uniquely promote their product. These advertisements are created to introduce the goods and services to an audience to try and inspire them into buying their product. Therefore; when companies promote an effective advertisement, customers usually engage in a way if it appeals to their wants and needs. "The Essence of Breitling" ad in Fortune magazine

    Read More

  • Advertisement: An Illusion

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advertisements are pieces of art or literary work that are meant to make the viewer or reader associate to the activity or product represented on the advertisement. According to Kurtz and Dave (2010), in so doing, they aim at either increasing the demand of the product, to inform the consumer of the existence, or to differentiate that product from other existing one in the market. Therefore, the advertiser’s aim should at all times try as much as possible to stay relevant and to the point.

    Read More

  • Advertising: Information or Manipulation?

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today’s difficult economy who can afford to spend their hard-earned money carelessly? Americans want good quality and low prices, and businesses that advertise their product make saving money possible. Advertising was created for one reason, so businesses could make known their product (Black, Hashimzade, and Myles). Some consumers may argue that advertising is not informative, but that it is manipulative because some advertisements make false claims. Fortunately, there are regulations and consumer rights that promote truth in advertising. Consumers must embrace their rights to keep advertising the way it is meant to be. Advertising is meant to be informative and not manipulative, and consumers play a great role in promoting truth in advertising.

    Read More

More about A Tommy Hilfiger Advertisement that Insults America

Open Document