The Power of Media

Emotions are powerful things; they can lead people to perform kind acts of generosity, they can make people cry, smile, laugh, or even commit murder. So what would happen if someone found a way to manipulate the emotions of the general mass and use it to their advantage? The power of the media is so hard to resist because it appeals to the emotions of the general population by associating them with their products and brands, making people feel as if they can relate to the actors in the commercials a little, or maybe just envy them and the lifestyles they portray. The Pepsi commercial with Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Pink is an excellent example of how advertising companies use man’s basic desire to displace those emotions onto the Pepsi product. In his book, ‘Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs’, Chuck Klosterman looks at the subtle messages from the media influence human interactions in life. A final example of how advertising companies use human emotions to sell their products can be seen through the banned Master Card commercial.
Viewers are greeted at the beginning of the Pepsi ad ‘We Will Rock You’ with an enthusiastic crowd awaiting a bloody show of sport promised by gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. As the commercial progresses they are shown brief clips of three well known celebrities posing in the guise of female gladiators. This in itself is unusual because in ancient Rome, women wouldn’t have been allowed to participate in any of the fights hosted at the Coliseum. One could say that the commercial strives to appeal to women by providing a picture of female empowerment over the male emperor. They are angry about the fact that he covets all the cans of Pepsi and refuse to share it. This belief is strengthened when the three women (Britney Spears, Beyonce, and Pink) throw down their weapons refusing to fight, and instead start to challenge the emperor (Enrique Iglesias) with the anachronistic song ‘We Will Rock You’. This message of female empowerment is enforced at the end of the commercial when the emperor loses all of his Pepsi, and is made to look foolish by falling head on into the arena, while the three women stand towering near him in strong, powerful poses, now in possession of all the Pepsi.
While women are made to appear empowered in this commercial, they are also used as images of sexual appeal to get male consumers interested in the product. It has been proven countless times before that “sex sells”, and Pepsi re-enforces this message by making sure to capture many shots of the aspects of these three women that men would find most appealing. These include shots of their gluteus maximus’ (sometimes even shaking provocatively), some shots of their legs, but mostly shots that manage to capture from right below their bust line to their faces. The whole “sex sells” message is also re-enforced by the fact that their bodies are glistening with what could be sweat, or body oils to insinuate a more sensual image. So while women may be made to think that there is some sense of female empowerment in this commercial, the question arises that at what lengths do they have to go to achieve this empowerment? Pepsi is telling its female consumers that in order for them to get power and recognition, they must wear less and bear more; otherwise they will be ignored and powerless. The Pepsi Company is basically encouraging and endorsing the “midriff” trend started by teen pop idol Britney Spears a few years before, encouraging young girls to flaunt their sexuality because it is the only thing that will get them what they want in life anymore. In this particular commercial, Pepsi illustrates that you can only gain and keep power by owning Pepsi products, which is shown when the emperor “falls from his thrown” after his Pepsi soft drinks are taken away.
The song itself that was chosen to represent the ad appeals to the American frame of mind which rebels against any form of monarchy. It was a good choice in terms of songs that could relate to and awaken patriotic feelings in Americans. Not only that, but it was a well known song among two-three generations at least, and induced a sort of adrenaline rush in the viewer with its up beat, feet stamping, hands clapping tempo.
The Pepsi commercial didn’t only appeal to younger audiences ranging from their teens to mid-twenties though. With its historical setting and scenery in time, it provided an excuse for older viewers (mostly male) to watch all the sensual shots and get drawn into it, without giving away their true feelings. Instead of coming right out and saying that they enjoyed the commercial because it had “hot girls and nice boobs”, they could instead pretend to take a more scholarly interest and discuss the fact that the setting happened to be the Roman Coliseum, a particularly famous piece of historical architecture.
Chuck Klosterman’s book, ‘Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs’, looks at the media and how the subtle messages it contain influences human interactions in life. While there is a lot of material on how people allow their lives to be shaped and molded by what the media deems as normal and acceptable, there was one chapter that examined how the media had a huge influence on the people themselves. In chapter three (‘what happens when people stop being polite’) of ‘Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs’, Klosterman compares people and how they act to past seasons of The Real World. He talks about how the producers of The Real World “weren’t sampling the youth of America – they were intentionally creating it”. A few paragraphs later, Klosterman goes into detail about how before reality TV, there was never a sure fire way to figure out someone’s personality, about how when you thought you had someone figured out, they’d prove you wrong because people used to be unique and not all defined by one of about seven different personalities maximum.
“…By now, everyone I know is one of seven defined strangers, inevitably
hoping to represent a predefined demographic (pg 28)…I started noticing
the cast members on RW 3 were not like people from my past. Instead, they
seemed like the new people I was meeting in the present (pg 35)…I kept meet-
ing people who were like old Real World characters (pg 29)…”
There is a sense that Klosterman may be trying to say that the media brainwashes people to get them to act the way the media tries to sell. They may not be aware of it, but they’ll unconsciously start to recite and practice information the media has drilled into them. The habits they use when talking to people, the personalities they like to claim are unique, are all “borrowed” from what they’ve seen in the media.
“…You know things you never tried to remember…One day, you just suddenly realize
that it’s something you know. And – somehow – there’s a cold logic to it. It’s an ex-
tension of your own life, even though you never tried to make it that way (pg 28-29)…
I kept meeting people who were like old Real World characters…They play The Puck
Role. In any given situation, they will provide The Puck Perspective…If nothing else,
The Real World has provided avenues for world views that are both specialized and
Universal, and it has particularly validated world views that are patently unreasonable
(pg 29)…”
The Banned Master Card commercial is an example of how advertising companies use human emotions to sell their products. At the beginning of the commercial, the viewer is greeted by the typical end of a date scene. Boy has taken girl out for a date, boy is now saying goodnight to girl, and just when you think boy is going to kiss girl, boy does the unthinkable and asks girl to give him a blowjob. This commercial plays on the human emotions of anticipation, and surprise. There is a feeling of shock and surprise because it’s just not something expected from a commercial ad. A night out on the town ending with a request for oral sex is something that people would expect from an “adult show”, as Rogers on Demand chooses to classify porn. It is definitely a far cry from the days when dates usually ended in just a tentative kiss good-bye, or even one with a lot of tongue and displaced saliva! Needless to say, this is not what Master Card usually classifies as “Priceless”, like say, “a night out on the town ($75), or “getting the nerve to ask such a question/actually using a line like that (a $12 bottle of wine). So it’s only natural that the viewer starts to anticipate what might happen next. The advertising group at Master Card uses people’s anticipation and curiosity to draw them into the commercial by having the dialogue between the teenagers drag out a little before finally getting to the part of the commercial that is “Priceless”. Just the viewers start to think that the commercial might end with either the boy getting a blowjob, or just turned down by the girl, the master minds at Master Card throw in a twist: “…Dad says to go ahead and give him a blowjob. Or I can do it. Or if need be, he’ll
come down himself and do it. But for god’s sake, tell him to take his hand off the intercom.”
This commercial uses the human emotion of excitement. It relates to people who love the feeling of an adrenaline rush, and who like the excitement of doing things that will probably get them in trouble (or at least cause them embarrassment) if they are caught. Master Card ends this commercial with the line: “…Having a girlfriend whose father has a sense of humour: Priceless…” Master Card is telling people that if they sign up as clients, they will start to lead more exciting lives, and could possibly experience “Priceless” moments such as this.
The media is a piece of postmodern art drawn on a vast canvas that is forever expanding. Like many great pieces of art before it, it has the power to displace human emotions onto the image it is displaying, to draw in every unsuspecting victim that looks its way. This can be seen through the “We Will Rock You” commercial by Pepsi, featuring Beyonce, Britney Spears, and Pink. Chuck Klosterman also talks about how the subtle messages contained in media influence human interactions in life. A final example of the power the media has over human beings can be seen in one of the banned Priceless commercials by Master Card.