As well as being part of the news agenda, advertisements are a reflection of a society's wants and needs at any particular point in time. They also, through the way that they represent gender, age, wealth, success, happiness etc provide excellent material for historians and sociologists researching social attitudes of an era or a culture at a particular point in time.
Advertising reflects the values of a society - all the things that people want to have or to be - and can be used as a measure of dominant hopes and fears. Our own appearance-obsessed culture will provide plenty of fruit for future investigation.
It is worth looking at successful campaigns, to get a snapshot of how we see ourselves and the way others view our values and interests.
The Wallis ads shown below (from a campaign entitled "Dressed to Kill") tell us a lot about attitudes to women - from both a male and a female perspective - and the power of sexuality in our society. They are also an example of what we find acceptable to laugh at.
Task 1:
These print based advertisements that would not be acceptable in modern day UK.
Imagine you have just arrived from another planet, and these are the materials you are given to draw your first conclusions about the human race. Identify the main a) hopes and b) fears of this species.
Explain why you have come to those conclusions.
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