Subliminal Messages

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Subliminal Messages

You pick up your new monthís edition of Time magazine from the breakfast table, and begin flipping through the pages. Before you get a chance to read the article on the next war, you come across an advertisement of Marlboro cigarettes; however, you see no cigarettes in the ad, just a picture of a beautiful sunset over a desert-cross. Advertisements such as these are viewed everywhere, where nature is the object being sold. Each nature representation is always selling different messages, making the real product more convincing to buy for the consumers.

One hierarchy newspaper advertisement contained a job offer with a photo of a tiger prowling through the woods, ready to capture its prey. The phrase stated "Are you hungry for success?" The ad is giving the viewer a chance to grab the job position as if it's the final job he/she will ever need to "survive." The viewer is symbolized by the tiger, ready to ìattack." The job position is also offering money and a vacation (to success). The reference domain given by this image is the feeling of power, success, and superiority (Atlanta Constitution).

Another magazine ad was selling perfume, displaying a picture of the sky above, clear and blue and perfect, white clouds. This pastoral picture encompasses the entire ad, showing nothing else except for a few words at the bottom. Not even the name of the perfume was printed in the picture. The company of the perfume is distributing a scent which will make consumers feel natural, original, and heavenly; and right beside it, the picture is distributing happiness, openness, truth, peacefulness, and independence as side gifts to anyone who buys the perfume (Glamour).

The third advertisement includes a black and...

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...be considered completely unnatural; but then again, managing parks could be seen as purely natural. To be able to define a definite line between what is natural and unnatural is impossible. What clearly marks the boundary for nature not possessing its original, natural condition? Even the untouched environments have no limit to what is considered ìuntouched.î Society carries its culture around everywhere it goes, therefore, nature is being touched in some form by culture. Cultureís existence is bequeathed to nature, significantly or insignificantly; all questioning to what extent can nature inherit culture to remain ìnaturalî. Usually, it is the objects that are ìnaturalî which contain natural links, as shown in advertisements. Nonetheless, whether natural or unnatural, the Male-Female dichotomy will continuously be reflected throughout the Nature-Culture dichotomy.

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