Advertising does not exist in an unconstrained marketplace, however. The Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) and later the
FCC,
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
and other government agencies have all regulated advertising in one form or another.
Consumer Reports,
consumers’ union and other private groups examine whether
advertising claims are truthful or not; Ralph
Nader
and other public interest researchers
have also challenged corporate claims. The industry trade group, the American
Association of Advertising Agencies, established in 1917, also has regulated its practice
to protect the credibility of the industry. However, the government, in general, favors the
advertising industries. While blatantly false claims are not tolerated, in the era o
deregulation, the
Supreme Court
extended 1st Amendment protection to advertisement
(1976), and
Congress
removed the FTC’s power to stop “unfair” advertising (1980).
Furthermore, added financial incentives are given to advertisers where advertisement
expenses are tax write-offs.
Advertising does not simply create brand names and sell products, but it also helps
define culture. One of the most successful advertising icons is the Marlboro Man, the
archetypal cowboy created in 1955 to change Marlboro from a woman’s cigarette to a
man’s cigarette. The sales of Marlboro soared 3.241 percent within one year. The
Marlboro man, though controversial, has become a global emblem of American
masculinity,
rugged, individualistic and tough. The Aunt Jemima icon, an 1893 image o
an
African American
woman who served happily was attacked in the 1950s for its
ortrayal of the black mammy stereotype. Yet it has not disappeared, but has undergone
various modernization schemes to represent changing sensitivity towards race while
maintaining brand identity.
Automobiles,
the quintessential American symbol, are the
most advertised items in the country, urging Americans to have more than one car and
new cars every few years.
In the 1990s, with ever more sophisticated rating systems, advertisers do not simply
want to reach as many people as possible, but also want to target, through
niche
marketing,
particular groups of people who are prone to spending more money. At the
same time, since the
mass media
is totally dependent on advertising, media content has
been affected by the changing input of advertisers.
Fortune,
for example, reported that
Forbes
magazine “systematically allows its advertising executives to see stories and
command changes before they are run.” In 1999, many major advertisers, like Procter &
Gamble, General Motors,
IBM,
are once again providing financial support for the WB
network to develop
family
friendly television shows. Other niche appeals to
teenagers
or
minorities may define television or cinema products so as to exclude dialogue about
shared/public values. In the early twenty-first century, the
Internet
has become an ever
expanding medium for advertising.
Advertising not only sells products, but also sells the Government too. During the
Second World War, the War Advertising Council was formed to
romote voluntary
advertisement campaigns. This unit was later renamed the Ad Council. It specializes in
making advertisements for non-
rofit and social issues, which radio and television
stations are required to play as public service requirements in their licensing.
Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Culture 12