Summary and Reflection Literature on “American Ads, American Values”

Summary and Reflection
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Subject and Section
October 25, 2018
Summary
The article written by Weiss, entitled “American Ads, American Values” shows how marketing materials these days are created with how companies see their customers, as well as how the customers see themselves. In the article, different types of advertisements that have been released in the past few years have been examined closely based on their appeal to their target market. For example, one of the commercials that said to be intriguing was that of the Cadillac ELR. It was in this commercial when the main character, Neal McDonough, was portrayed as the classic American Achiever, with the hint of a superiority complex. This commercial, according to the author tries to suggest an ‘idealistic version’ of Americans, which is one that deserves all the luxuries in life for always giving their best. However, since most Americans do not have this kind of mentality and prefer a ‘family-centric life’ (as opposed to living a huge mansion), Weiss and other critiques have found this commercial to be obnoxious. Nonetheless, the greater takeaway in this example is the perception of the companies about consumers. Similarly, it was discussed how other brands have also appealed to this idealism based on how consumers want to see themselves. In another example, the author has cited the case of Coke and Chili which are companies always emphasized the importance of community and happiness. Consequently, both of their ads have shown values that are ‘pro-community’ and ‘kinship,’ which then gives the idea to their consumers that consuming their products is almost synonymous to caring for others. All in all, Weiss’ article has shown that...