--Aayush Thapa
Friday, October 4, 2013
What Changed? ....And Why?
The 1992 Folgers ad is drastically different from the 1960s
one. The 60s ad is based on the idea that in the 60s women were responsible for
all the household work, and thus, she must be the one making delicious coffee. The
1990s one shows the exact opposite: the husband makes coffee for his wife. Although
the 90s ad makes it clear that he doesn’t do it often, it still is a drastic
change considering the man’s terrible attitude towards his wife in the 60s ad. So
why did Folgers change the whole setting? “Kairos—the
contingencies of time and place” for the argument that Folgers was trying to
make changed (EWR 99). People’s perception of women changed ever since the
feminist movement took paces in late 60s. By 1990s, majority of the US citizens,
both male and female population, had recognized women as men’s equals whether
it be in the workforce or in a marriage. Thus, Folgers had to base the ad mirroring
the changed views of most 90s population in order to resonate with the
majority. Only then could their use of rhetoric be proper for the ad to be even
considered by the majority. Forges wouldn’t have been able to sell their
product to the masses had they not adapted to the changed rhetorical situation.
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It's interesting how you present that the advertisers had to adapt their commercials to the rhetorical situation! Are there any sexist coffee ads in the 1990's that didn't do so well in sales? Great blog :) -Jeannette
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see how advertisements will change over time to satisfy consumers. Was this change a sudden one? Or did Folgers gradually adapt modern views over a long period of time?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Jeanette and Christina here. Rhetorically analyzing commercial ads seems to be an extremely effective way to show obvious uses of rhetoric... relative to these coffee ads, the idea of rhetorical situation comes out and hits you in the face. As you pointed out, commercials shift their strategies entirely based off of what society feels at the time. It almost reminds of how politicians consider the kairos of the situation by only talking about what their constituents "want" to hear that day.
ReplyDeleteIt's it's really interesting to see how the media advertisements adapt to reflect the viewpoints of its current rhetorical situation. It may be more so to effectively sell product than to make a social statement though. Either way analyzing commercials from the past and now seems to be a great way to contrast and compare.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, while its interesting to contrast the viewpoints of the ads in the 1960's and 1990's, I think it is also interesting how effective the 1990's ad is from a contemporary viewpoint (i.e. my own). This effectiveness demonstrates that American society's views on gender roles has changed little over the past 20 years. This contrasts with how much those ideas have changed over the previous 30 years.
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