How social class and gender affect what we drive
Social class and gender can be determined based on what kind of vehicle you drive. Although there are many stereotypes relating cars to their drivers which involve social class and race. It can determine that you are the type of person who likes to be in control. What you drive might determine how you feel about the environment or what kind of race or culture an individual comes from. Society also puts a lot of stock in what kind of car a consumer buys. You see advertisements in the media all the time trying to make it sound like this car was meant for you. Too often people’s first impression of you is what you drive instead of who you are.
Car advertisements are everywhere in the media, news, and decide what car fits your social class. They force it into your head that you are not whole until you have the car of your dreams. Advertisers like Cadillac and Mercedes make people of wealth think they need to spend tons of money for this luxury car just to establish themselves and show their wealth. They advertised on the media that...
Other commercials, according to Solomon, thrive on fitting in. The Chevrolet commercials have a slogan that makes one feel to be American, one must by American. Chevrolet's slogan is 'The Heartbeat of America.'; Car commercials also have targeted markets also. For a truck commercial, they will show a truck getting all dirty and going through an obstacle. This is targeted towards men because most men find these things appealing. For a luxury car commercial the mood or the commercial is nice and pleasant, the car is on a country road (representing one driving to there country home). These cars were once targeted towards upper class people, but now they are targeted towards everyone according to Solomon. A commercial strives on the ever so enduring drive for Americans to have better things and climb up the social status ladder. Marketers know this, so they place normal, average, everyday looking people in their commercials to let middle class people know that they can have the car, too.
The society has a tendency to develop assumptions about individuals based on their race, income levels and even gender. One of the major stereotypic notions is based on the roles and position that
...ife magazine from 1951, the advertisement for general motors shows a bunch of cars in what appears to be a wealthy town, and says that the general motor is the key to a richer life. Another advertisement from 1951, pictures a red shiny car with a woman in the background who seems to be wealthy based on her clothes, and at the bottom, it says that a beautiful dream can come true. What the car advertisements are saying about class is that the wealthy are the ones that own these enjoyable materialistic objects, because no where in the advertisements are there people who appear to be poor; the advertisements only include people who seem to be wealthy or at least middle class. The advertisements are trying to express, that by owning one of these cars it can give one status and power. Fundamentally, the companies are trying to sell the lifestyle that the car can give.
Overall if it wasn't for my ethnicity, religion, and income I would not be the person I am today with the same values and morals. It is apparent social classes are revolved around income and power and people are born into social class but that does not mean a person has to stay in that social class. As for myself being raised a catholic Latina, with working middle class parents my destiny does not have to be the same. Sociologically, social structure affects almost everything in our life from our ambitions to our social life and the way we interact with others. sociological imagination helps us to understand the effects of social forces on our lives.
It is believed that there is a tension between social classes in America. Typically, people of lower classes choose to imitate those of higher social status. As a result, advertisers have a tendency to take advantage of this tension in order to profit from people of the lower and middle classes. In “The American Upper Class,” G. William Domhoff says that “exhibiting high social status… is a way of exercising power” (Domhoff p.34),” which is something important to all social classes. According to Judi Puritz Cook, author of “Consumer Culture…Sales Discourse,” advertisements in print as well as in visual media seem to create “the promise of status mobility through consumption (Cook p.373).” In the article, Puritz explains how television programs on channels such as the Home Shopping Network are examples of how the media exploits the anxiety caused by social standing.
He talks about how great America is and how all Americans are hard working. In this commercial, the targeted demographic was basically the spokesperson for the ad: blue and white collar white men who believe they are the backbone of the country. In the Ford commercial, there is a parallel to not only the spokesperson, but the how they got to their present, and the values they have in life. The spokesperson for Cadillac is a well known actor was in his mid fifties, white, and male. This appeals to a majority of America with power who are already well off. However, in the Ford commercial, the spokesperson is young, black, and female. She represents the minorities in the aspect of gender, nationality, and the millennials. Another parallel is how the man in the Cadillac commercial showed off his house, car, and family throughout the commercial. It was clear that he had money and did not necessarily work to achieve it. In the Ford commercial, the woman started off at her job, then changed into a professional outfit. Rather than boasting about the things she has, she showed how hard work got her to where she
“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.
Everyone has heard the saying don’t judge a book by a cover. Sadly every minute of the day someone gets judged because of assumptions that are not correct. These assumptions overtime eventually lead to stereotypes. A stereotype is an image or idea of a particular type of person. Stereotyping a person is seen in many differents aspects such as race, groups, beliefs, appearance, etc. An individual may ask why people are stereotyped or stereotype. In reality stereotyping helps people categorize the different type of people. It narrows down the options of who one might want to associate with. Stereotyping can have its negatives, it makes people ignore how others really are. It may lead to a person not wanting to hang out with another person because of the stereotype that persons group has. Everyday the general public use cars for the means of transportation. But what about when people use their car for more than transportation, car enthusiasts often modify their cars to their likings. Enthusiasts often join car clubs to share their common interests with other car enthusiasts. Often the people in car clubs have a stereotype of being juvenile, racing a lot, low-life bums, and ghetto when actually most do not have those characteristics.
consumption of the car but this backs up the point that the Chrysler is a car for a sensible family person because that is the kind of person who would show interest in the economics of the car. Both of the adverts have main points that they want you to focus on as well. soon as you look at them, on the Chrysler advert the first thing they want you to focus on is the name of the car and the price which are
Car manufacturers are one type of company that are making the most of product placement, and are signing deals with broadcasting networks and film producers to have their vehicles appearing and characters talking about all the amazing features of a specific car model.
We see cars in our everyday lives, as transportation and sometimes even toys and model cars. So what else are they used for? Advertising is a big thing that cars do; for instance NASCAR FANS can see the most advertising just by flicking the tv on and watching what they like to see. They have different sponsors that they represent as advertising(Automotive History). Without your name being on a business card it can be broadcasted on a car that thousands of people can see as you drive by. It also made the market for different items much more competitive. For instance, going back to NASCAR, Jimmy Johnson represents Lowes and Joey Lagano represents the Home Depot. Therefore, if a customer were to like lowes better than The Home Depot the may like the driver Jimmy Johnson more. The Automobile shaped the cities we live in today, by the roads that surround the suburbs, and only some had to take the train or ride a bike, while others were able to just hope in their car and go where ever they please. When the car first appeared to the middle class public, it was a big deal because it was not just an upper class...
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.
Welcome to the automotive world, the last holdout in the battle against political correctness. This is one of the few places left where one can make a statement about women and men and not be assaulted with court cases or be accused of being a bigot. In the automotive media, it is still acceptable to represent men in business suits driving luxury vehicles, and to show mothers driving their kids in a minivan. There is one simple reason that the automotive media has remained unadulterated by political correctness—money. As a private industry, both car manufacturers and aftermarket companies have one goal, to sell cars and car related products, and to make money while doing so. As such, these companies use marketing techniques that will most effective reach their target market, which is the true populace, not the world envisioned by political correctness(hereafter to be referred to as PC). For this reason, the marketing techniques used by the automotive industry give us a more realistic view of society and how men and women view themselves.
Society has stamped an image into the minds of people of how the role of each gender should be played out. There are two recognized types of gender, a man and a woman, however there are many types of gender roles a man or a woman may assume or be placed into by society. The ideas of how one should act and behave are often times ascribed by their gender by society, but these ascribed statuses and roles are sometimes un-welcomed, and people will assume who they want to be as individuals by going against the stereotypes set forth by society. This paper will examine these roles in terms of how society sees men and women stereotypically, and how men and women view themselves and each other in terms of stereotypes that are typically ascribed, as well as their own opinions with a survey administered to ten individuals. What I hope to prove is that despite stereotypes playing a predominant role within our society, and thus influencing what people believe about each other in terms of their same and opposite genders, people within our society are able to go against these ascribed stereotypes and be who they want and it be okay. Through use of the survey and my own personal history dealing with gender stereotyping I think I can give a clear idea as to how stereotypes envelope our society, and how people and breaking free from those stereotypes to be more individualistic.
Similarly, numerous advertisements on mass media has also created adverse impacts on society. Critics substantiate this fact by giving argument that advertising of expensive products cause sense of depravity in the poor people. In addition, daily thousands of advertisements are destined to an individual through different mind process of a person.