You Stay Classy, San Diego

"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany"

-Ron Burgundy

         Not too long ago, my friend and I strolled around Crate and Barrel, a store I frequently roam around considering I don't ever purchase anything. There is no need for me to drool over furniture worth what is in my sorry bank account. But that doesn't stop me.

       

      I go into this store to fantasize about what I would have and will have in my future home. These types of stores have had me hooked since my mom enjoyed looking at furniture. In high school, I began to drag friends along even though such a store is hardly catered to the youth market.

       The visual of the store itself, facilitated the scene of my imaginations. I wasn't just looking at a model set up of a kitchen; I was envisioning my future. As silly as it may sound, this is definitely one of the quirks about me I usually keep to myself. My friends know that I enjoy looking at these things, but they don't know the rapid rate at which my thoughts rummage throughout my mind, as my heart races with excitement. But what's the big deal? We may have been exposed to different ads. Even on the internet, when I click on certain blogs, I am directed to other blogs that are of similar interest. So I like flipping through Pottery Barn catalogues and enjoy looking at different linen set-ups. I find it to be interesting, entertaining and thought provoking. :) 

       Certain characteristics and qualities are deemed as being associated to a certain personality. Jokingly, I poke fun at myself when my friends wonder why I enjoy such "old-lady things". I say I'm being classy and I'll have cocktail parties and during the summer I'll hold lunch parties in my lavish backyard, and then they'll know why I've been going googly eyed over lounge chairs and ottomans.

      What exactly is "classy"? Arguable, of course, but there is a general understanding of which behaviors are deemed classy and which behaviors are deemed as "unclassy". Ron Burgundy in Anchorman, enjoys these "fine things" and drinks scotch, enjoys poetry and plays the flute. He is very confident in himself and displays a lifestyle that he deems as envious by others. Picturing himself as a man's man, a womanizer and a leading news anchor, Burgundy uses his status to display a successful lifestyle. 

    
     Idealizing a lifestyle with chic home furniture and design is definitely something that has been cultivated in my mind for a long time. Being surrounded by it while spending time with my mother, and looking through her magazines, and playing with toy houses... the list can go on and on. Watching movies that have these images is a huge contributor in shaping my interests-- and other consumers' interests. A ridiculous character such as Ron Burgundy still relays cultural ideas and beliefs regarding social status, shaping customer preferences. Guilty of falling into prey to this theme, I do realize that the dissemination of this style can be dangerous. The underlining idea is that an individual would need money in order to enjoy the luxuries of "class" such as high quality products and leisure. So only the rich can have class? Surely this is an idea that seems pretentious, offensive and uninviting.

More Powerful Than a Locomotive

Before I begin, let me note that I actually do appreciate and enjoy advertising, and unlike many people: commercials. Although many of us do not have legitimate training in analyzing advertisements, we can still have a critical eye when it comes to analyzing the effects ads have on individuals and society as a whole.

Hi, I'm your kitchen.

Try this for a second: imagine your future. How will it be different from what it is now? What style of furniture will be in your ideal home? What type of car will you drive? Where will you work, what's the environment like there and what will you wear to work? You may think beyond the glorified white-picket-fence as your ideal home/lifestyle.

Advertising manufactures individual identities, combining consumerism and status distinction to add to the machinery that is our capitalist economy. Even our leisure time is commodified (think vacations, theme parks, expensive dinners); these activities define our interests, and to some extent, our social status and identities. Our perception of our individual selves is pre-determined by a handful of (mostly) men and women sitting around a large table in a conference room. We pursue the goods and services created by these people, who tell us that we can define ourselves by being surrounding ourselves with materials, and identifying with these materials. We are defined by the music we listen to, the way we walk, the way we talk and the way we cut our locks. We consume to create an image to market ourselves to be employed, and then we work to consume. What we think is the source of our identity will end up being the very thing that kills us.

But to crown advertising as our social kryptonite may be a bit extreme, dontchathink?

So I'll share with you other things (not just advertisements) I find clever, subtle, obnoxious, funny, heartwarming, elitist, offensive, whatever-google-can-find-me to note how social norms may be constructed to create (or repel) consumer preferences and consequently: individual identities. If we're already bombarded everyday by branding and advertisements, then what's a few more on my blog? :)