Steve Rainwater Essays - Marketing, Advertising,

Steve Rainwater 10-19-98 Mrs. Maynard English 1A The Advertisement "Wear it and be Happy," What is behind the words of advertisement? Besides how many different ads tell us the same thing, "buy, buy, buy." It seems like today, that all ads are summing up, that if you use their product, then your life will be better. Ads are supposed to attract the reader's eyes, just like this advertisement caught my eye with the quote. In the Clinique "Happy" ad, their quote is "wear it and be happy," but how can a perfume make you happy. Sure it may smell good and get you a compliment or two, but it is not going to make your life any easier or take away any of that non-wanted stress. So what is in an advertisement? This advertisement is trying to sell a product to a perfume buyer. At the same time, it's telling you something that it is completely incapable of doing, which is making you happy. It is working and this is what an advertisement is supposed do, sell. This advertisement, as I said in the paragraph above, caught my attention with their quote. The quote is about being happy and forces you to glance at the picture on the ad verse the bottle that they are trying to sell, which will probably be a one hundred-pound, beautiful model who is happy because she has everything that is out of the usual. On this advertisement they have this beautiful model with a big beautiful smile being kissed by this handsome man. It implies that if you wear this perfume then you will be just as happy as this woman on the cover does and possibly have good looking guys just like her. Well this is why I find advertisements somewhat ridiculous. When young girls look through these magazines and see these ads, it begins to influence them for what they are supposed to look like and be like. As these girls grow up, they will become more and more depressed because they won't have those size zero waists, those big fake breasts, or that perfect complexion. Instead the y will be bulimic, or possibly anorexic just so they can look and feel like these models do. What is an advertisement? Is it a picture of the product by itself in a single colored back round? Or could it be a picture of the product in use? Well the majority of advertisements today are not of the advertisement itself. It is normally of models and or roll models in a picture with the product showing that they use it, so it would be "cool" for you to also. Here is a product that must do something or else people won't buy it. For instance, this ad is of perfume and it does something, it smells. So to spice up the ad, they through in a girl being kissed by a guy who seems to be in glee. The product is not in the picture but it is on the side of the page next to the name. The girl just bought this perfume and because it smells good, she's happy and is falling in love. I believe this is what the advertiser wants people to think when buying his product, and why blame him, he's out there just like every other business man for only one reason, to make money. Advertisements can be good and bad in two ways. They can show the product off without being stereotypical, or they can show the perfect model doing something in the ad without really advertising it. This advertisement in particular gets me thinking to where really you don't need a model. If a product, such as perfume, is going to sell, it's going to sell due to it's reputation of having a good smell and not what kind of models you have advertising it. In conclusion, I choose this ad because I feel that there isn't a perfume on the market that can change a person's personality. If someone is going to be happy, then it's going to be because something or someone makes them happy by an act of kindness and not a smell.

The Female Breast In History Essays - Clothing, 19th-century Fashion

The Female Breast In History Essays - Clothing, 19th-century Fashion The Female Breast In History The Female Breast and the History of Western Civilization Throughout the ages, the female body has been revered as a work of art and beauty and as a source of life, from which all people are born. The breast is one of the most predominate features of a woman and stands out as a symbol of womanliness and livelihood. Eroticism, nourishment, abundance, hunger, feminine power, as well as feminine subservience, are different contradicting themes of the breast played out in time. Different repeating views of its importance and the way it should be displayed are used to reflect upon the views of women of the time and life in Western society in general. At times, it is near-worshipped as a sign of sexuality, or as a sign of nourishment. Other times it is secured down, sometimes a sign of the inferiority of women or, conversely, as a sign of women's liberation and their equality to men. Whether it is intentional or subconscious, how the breast is viewed throughout history is a direct reflection of the views of the time. Legends about the breast have appeared in a variety of cultures. Greek, Indian, and Native American myth all contain stories which involve biting a breast. For example, Hercules was said to have gotten his extra-human strength from biting the breast of Hera as an infant. This and other such stories can be symbolic of an attack on Mother Nature or the earth goddess, and of man's ability to overcome her (Latteier 146). Women with multiple sets of breasts are a reoccurring theme in Western society, symbolizing fruitfulness. The Greek goddess Artenis of Ephesus had nearly twenty breasts on her chest. Medieval Christian stories often involve the breasts and breast milk of the Virgin Mary. Next to the blood of Jesus Christ, her milk was the most holy and most miraculous of fluids, its wonders retold in numerous poems, stories, and songs (Yalom 44). She was said to have appeared to Saint Barnard when he was praying and offered him a stream of her breast milk to drink from (46). A fourth cen tury prostitute was said to have been spared the death penalty by baring her breasts to the judges, who were so impressed by their beauty that they acquitted her (20). Minoan society on the island of Crete honored the breast. Women's clothing was designed to let the breasts show through. Women were placed in high social positions and power. Their breasts stood for material wealth, political power, and sacredness. The Minoans are given credit as the first people to use a corset. They wore bodices that laced below the bust, lifting and exposing the breasts (Winston). Priestesses known as snake goddesses were notorious for large breasts and snakes that coiled around their arm, both symbols of their power, potency mixed with sustenance (Yalom 15). Classic Greek society praised masculinity and repressed femininity. Women were encouraged to stay at home and they few little rights. Only the Hetaerae, a special upper class of women, were able to participate in social activities of men. The apodemos, a linen article worn by the Hetaerae, was considered to be the first brassiere (Silverman). It, however, usually flattened the breasts instead of accentuating them, reflecting the anti-feminine views of the time. With the rise of Christianity, the breasts and the flesh in general were discouraged from being exposed. The stomach was considered to be more of an important center of female sexuality, with rounded bellies being more attractive (Broby-Johansen 131). This was modeled after the Virgin Mary whose round belly contained the savior (Yalom 40). It wasn't until the fourteenth century and the Renaissance that this began to change. Explosive creativity and art occurred despite great famine and disease. As people became more frivolous, clothing became more revealing, and the neckline lowered to show cleavage (Latteire 31). In the seventeenth century, the breasts once again became the predominate center of female attractiveness over the belly. It was fruitful like the stomach, but more sensual. It stood as a symbol of power and wealth at a time when mercantilism was on the rise in Europe (Latteire 32). The corset, which was previously used to flatten the breasts, was used