- According to Berger, how do “publicity”–what we would call advertising–images influence consumers and why is this significant?
According to Berger, advertising images influence consumers because of certain imagery that can be eye catching for many and can cause this sort of hypnotized trance in wanting the item in hopes that it betters ones life and gives more meaning to them and look forward to something that can fit their best interest as a human being and this is significant because it gives in to the idea of why advertising images influence consumers so much at the blink of an eye.
- As he compares oil painting to publicity (advertising) photography, Berger argues that oil painting “showed what the owner was already enjoying among his possessions and way of life;” “it enhanced his view of himself as he already was.” Whereas publicity pictures, “appeal to a way of life that we aspire to or think we aspire to.” Why are these differences important? What do they reveal to us about the production of images for publicity?
These differences are important because between the oil painting and the photograph comparison the oil painting signifies a more raw take on what an artist already has but instead is more exaggerated on painting because of how extraordinary it is to them when in reality it’s the most simplest smallest aspect of their lives but goes to show how much they really appreciate it while photographs display a sense of wanting and needing and it tells us a lot about how much time they put into making photographs more pleasing through editing.
- Choose one of the “dreams” he offers or think of your own. How does this dream offered by advertising use imagery to manipulate consumers?
Berger introduces 3 main dreams. The dream of “later tonight”, the “skin” dream & the dream of a “faraway place”. The one that mostly resonated with me was the skin dream because of how wildly rampant it is in todays society and how models have to show off and contain this certain lifestyle of perfection to simply impress and persuade consumers. This forces consumers to grasp on to this beauty standard which makes them buy.
