[I will be exploring the use of the unconscious mind in advertising and marketing and how celebrity endorsement exploits this and uses it to sell products, similarly to the use of opinion leaders in PR. I will also consider Edward Bernays and how he applied Sigmund Freud’s ideas of psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind in the 1920’s to manipulate the minds and behaviour of the masses.]
Celebrities have lent their names and faces to products and places since the late 1800’s. It all began with English actress Lilly Langtree endorsing Pear’s Soap and Admiral Peary appearing in an Eastman Kodak advert. In the late 1940’s, when television first began, celebrity endorsement became even more popular.
Jack Benny was known for endorsing Jello, with his well-known opening line, "Jello everybody, this is Jack Benny”. Celebrities have endorsed everything from holiday destinations to cigarettes. Before cigarette advertising was banned in 1965 many stars were known for promoting them through print and television. One of the most famous was Ronald Reagan who promoted Chesterfield Cigarettes in the 50’s and 60’s.
It’s been argued that celebrity endorsement began with Edward Bernays. He combined the idea of crowd psychology by Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Dr. Sigmund Freud a psychologist who developed ideas of the unconscious mind and the desires it has- he shirted America from needs to desires. Bernays found a way to make people want things they didn't need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires. He was the first man to attempt to manipulate public opinion using the subconscious. The use of celebrities in advertisements addresses the subconscious desires of the public. In explanation, it is the idea that using influential people in advertising, like celebrities, will make people subconsciously want the product.
Freud’s idea of personality play a large part in the effect celebrity endorsement has on the potential consumer. He believed that personality consists of three parts; id, ego and superego. The ego works on the reality principle. The superego is the moral part of our personality that deals with right and wrong. Finally the id which is the main focus when thinking about celebrity endorsement and objects of desire- it deals with our needs and desires, usually with a eros and thanatos approach (sex and violence). Its aim is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain concentrating on the pleasure principle. As we get older we learn to repress these feelings and make our id wait. However, these repressed desires the id holds in the unconscious mind can majorly influence our behaviour, therefore influencing what we chose to buy. Many of the desires and thoughts the id has are irrational. A common response to a celebrity endorsed beauty product may be “if I buy that product I’ll have the sex appeal that they do”. For example the L'Oréal campaigns often use celebrities, recently they’ve used Cheryl Cole and Eva Longoria who are seen as sex icons. They also use the phrase “because you’re worth it”, consciously you may want to buy the product because you want to be worth it but your subconscious mind might be wanting the product because it believes that if you use that product you’ll be a sex icon like them or “if I use that product I will become my hero”- the belief that some of the attributes of the celebrity will rub off on you. These are the types of irrational thoughts that we try to repress but it is also one important concept of celebrity endorsement.
"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it? The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at least up to a certain point and within certain limits." (Bernays, 1928) Bernays began his career as a Press Agent in 1913 and soon he began working for the president, Woodrow Wilson.
Woodrow Wilson
Wilson was not an overly popular president and Bernays managed to change this using one of the first forms of celebrity endorsement. Bernays organized for 34 film stars of the time to visit the Whitehouse for a party and photos. These photographs were then published in a popular newspaper, the images powerfully suggested that the president had the same qualities that the stars had and consequently made Wilson more popular with the masses.
Companies often invest large sums of money in hiring celebrities to endorse their product in the hope that the celebrities’ positive and attractive qualities will be associated with the product and influence the consumer to invest in the particular product being endorsed. (NK) They tend to hire celebrities that have a certain look which correlates with the image they wish to portray. The fact that so much money is spent on celebrity endorsement each year shows that it must be successful otherwise companies would not carry on using this technique, but we must consider what effect it has on the consumer. If a product was endorsed by a celebrity that the public did not like then what they may think of that person will influence what they think of the product they’re endorsing- the choice of celebrity can make or break a company’s image they portray. For example if Bernays had chosen dull and unpopular movie stars to visit the Whitehouse rather than ones liked by the public then the boring attributes of the stars would have been associated with Wilson and he would not have become any more popular. Market research conducted by Mintel discovered that 20% of shoppers were “celebrity resistant”, 60% were found to be “bored with celebrities” and only 8% specified that they would only buy a celebrity endorsed products if the endorser was someone they “admired or trusted” (Cashmore, Celebrity/Culture, 2006, pp. 166- 167) . This research would actually suggest that celebrity endorsement has no conscious effect on the masses. But as previously discussed it supports the fact that it affects us on an unconscious level. Steve Bloomfield quoted a 16-year-old woman: “Your mind doesn’t look at the product being promoted but at the people promoting it. You don’t consider whether it’s meant for your skin. Celebrities have a lot of influence and we believe them when they say these products work.” (Cashmore, Celebrity/Culture, 2006, p. 167)
Celebrity endorsement could make people have a constant to have the most popular products being advertised; perhaps leaving them feeling dissatisfied if they cannot have these. This would support a capitalist society as many companies use celebrities to endorse products to achieve a higher profit. “Celebrity endorsed ads are perceived to be significantly more credible than ads endorsed by non-celebrities” (Cashmore, Celebrity/Culture, 2006, p. 174) Capitalism works on the principles of a free market and competition, therefore many companies compete to hire certain celebrities that have particular qualities which could potentially improve their profit margin of the specific product. Capitalists address the desires of the masses, it’s the desires more than needs that make the most profit. However Marxists would criticize the exploitation of consumers by the higher classes. They suggest that needs are more important and relevant than desires. A group of theorists, known as the Frankfurt School, applied a Marxist analysis to capitalism in the twentieth century, they worked with Marxist ideas but also took into account psychological and cultural factors. They suggested that capitalism brainwashes us to desire certain products and materialistic possessions, however they do not satisfy us for long as we become trapped within our own desires rather than needs. The production and consumption of these products and general possessions exploit the masses, both the workers and consumers. Celebrity endorsement exploits the celebrity as well as the potential consumers of the product being advertised- the ideas and desires of the celebrity and consumer are a product of capitalist society. It seems we do not have as much free will as we are led to believe. We are ‘programmed’ to believe that having a certain car or a product endorsed by a particular celebrity would make the positive attributes and connotations of the possession better ourselves and our social progress. We are all becoming victims of an ideology which suits the ruling classes within a capitalist system.
Ø REFERENCES
Aristotle. (n.d.). Aristotle Quotes. Retrieved from thinkexist.com: http://thinkexist.com/quotation/personal_beauty_is_a_greater_recommendation_than/180845.html
Bernays, E. (1928). Propaganda.
Cashmore, E. (2006). Celebrity/Culture. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Matthews, S. (2005, Sept). Rimmel London latest to rethink Kate Moss contract. Retrieved from Media Week: http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/518533/Rimmel-London-latest-rethink-Kate-Moss-contract/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH
NK. (n.d.). Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brands Project Report. Retrieved from scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21353761/Impact-of-Celebrity-Endorsements-on-Brands-Project-Report
Passikoff, R. (n.d.). Why celebrity endorsement is key for cosmetic brands. Retrieved January 2011, from U Talk Marketing: http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19099
No comments:
Post a Comment