I deconstructed a Johnny Walker Blue Label print ad.
An unusual glowing bottle of booze, inferred urban setting, Gotham City in the distance, it's control definitely in the future. An office... sleek black desk, late at night, single shot poured in a fabulous crystal glass. A recently signed contract ...open fountain pen still warm laying beside the sign of victory.
Dark, corporate, stoic, stylized, dramatic. These seem like observations, unadulterated by context or association, right?
Then the list grew....sexy, powerful, masculine, grotesque in some way. Actually those are my TV Mad Men associations....I can hear the sickly waning theme music.
Enters left, the text .
"An achievement of great distinction" (Only 1 in 10,000 casks are hand -selected for Blue Label,making it an accomplishment as rare as those who drink it.)
The bottle glows more brightly, eerily. A transparent aqua blue, containing a golden liquid.
What does this bottle hold? An elixir of the gods? Something VERY special, powerful, desirable. Only few can attain it. A legend, "a rare spirit..."
The refractory light pinging off the single tumbler is smug, centered on the page,in control.
The contract reeks of corporate loopholes, people in charge, heirarchy, hegemony.
The oneness belonging to the pen,the solitary achievement, the self proclaimed iconic man in control of his and perhaps your destiny. Spirit of darkness?
The ad reeks of masculinity....or does it?( Is that sexist, or does Capitalism have gender identification? Like in the Spanish language, a dog is pero...masculine, a door is puerta ...feminine.)
So there you have it...what I saw and what I read...two different things.
Is this ad socially responsible? I hadn't thought much about that before.
The ad does not promote irresponsible, reckless drinking behavior, or over indulgence.
What the ad does that is socially irresponsible is that it promotes a particular view of success. It supports the status- quo power structure and creates desire for individual elitist consumption.
It is important in our culture to teach critical visual literacy.
It starts with teaching students to slow down and look.
What do you see? What does it mean? and What makes you say that? Evidence based critical literacy.
Hi Joanna,
ReplyDeleteWow, just your description of the ad made me not really like it and not want to drink it! It did sound sexist; as if only powerful men that sign big imprtant contracts were allowed to drink it! Why would a brand do this to themselves really? Why would they shut so many people out? You'd think they'd make a more appealing ad that reached many instead of secluding themselves to a select few. I see what you mean about it not being quite reckless (drinking and driving etc, etc) but I'd say it's pretty socially irresponsible; like you said, it's promoting a certain person as "powerful" and without power and money you shouldn't drink this and probably can't afford it! Great deconstruction!