Signs in the "British Villains" Jaguar commercial: Have We Mentioned That We Are British

So, semiotics.
Sounds dirty. Actually useful.

I didn't realize this was the term for "this thing symbolizes another thing" until Advertising class. I'd learned all the pieces of it without actually learning the name.

Let's break it down into its easiest parts. Semiotics says that all communication is based on signs and the things those signs signify. I learned it in English classes by way of the word "tree." I say the word "tree," an image is conjured in your mind. I can't control what kind of tree it is unless I throw some more adjectives in there--say, tall pine tree. That still won't 100% do it, because maybe you think of a redwood and I'm thinking just like, you know, a really tall Douglas fir, man. But then if I say "really tall Douglas fir," how tall do I mean? And are we talking about a healthy tree? What if you don't know what the hell a Douglas fir is? And what if you decide to get nitpicky because firs aren't pines? See, that's where all communication gets tricky--we can never achieve our desire of full and clear communication, and so desire remains imaginary and remote from us, a sort of objet petit a to invoke Lacan's psychoanalytic theo--

Wait, wait. Advertising. Semiotics.

So, "tree."

Saying "tree" (I'm saying it, you just can't hear it), writing "tree," and providing you with a visual, digital representation--these are all signs which signify the arboreal outgrowth the vast majority of us are familiar with.

But to suggest "tree" just conjures its corresponding image is only half of it. "Tree" can signify any other number of things--life, growth, primacy, whole forests, even all of nature, freshness, Christmas... just to name a few. This is where that whole "picture is worth a thousand words" thing really comes from.

To tie this into advertising, marketers have only thirty seconds to get your attention, deliver a message, and make that message stick. It's a lot of information and they have to rely on visual (sometimes audial) shorthand to get it across. As an example, I'm going to use one of the commercials from the recent Super Bowl and drag a couple of signs out to show you. The commercial itself actually does quite a lot to explain what a particular sign (cliche, even) signifies in popular media--the evil British dude.

There's some extra reasons they don't go into as to why American media is so Anglophilic right now, but we'll stick with the visual and audial cues. 

Fair warning, most of these come down to "Much villain. So money. Very England, wow."

Sign: Black clothing

Signified: Mystery, rebellion, taste.

Sign: (female!) butler

Signified: Service, wealth, sex appeal
(why not maid? Maid would be signified by feminine dress! See how this is already complicated?)

Sign: "Mary"

Signified: British queens, virginity

Sign: Red lights
Signified: "Stop," danger

Sign: Jet
Signified: Private jet means wealth, freedom, speed
Sign: White (car and jet)
Signified: Purity, cleanliness, modernity

Sign: Green lights
Signified: "Go," or money, if you're F. Scott Fitzgerald. Which Hiddleston was, at one point. COINCIDENCE?
Sign: Arrow
Signified: Direction, speed, forward

Sign: Helicopter
Signified: Mobility, reconnaissance, private helicopter means wealth

Sign: Lamp (in a damn helicopter?)
Signified: Luxury, wealth, detail

Sign: (Gilded) teacup
Signified: Fragility, Britishness, sophistication, wealth, elegance

Sign: [Roaring of car engine]

Signified: Speed, power

Sign: Bow tie
Signified: Masculinity, class, wealth
Sign: Hologram/projection
Signified: Technology, surveillance, power, intelligence
Sign: Shadow (from Kingsley)
Signified: Mystery, domination, darkness, to be overshadowing
Sign: Chandelier
Signified: Design, wealth, luxury

Sign: Buckingham Freaking Palace
Signified: Britain, Great Britain, Pretty Nice Britain, England, the UK, Lady Britannia, the Queen Mum, pip pip cheerio, Royal Baby Watch, royalty, wealth, luxury, sophistication, pomp, class

Sign: Gold light (on Victorian Memorial)
Signified: Warmth, wealth, fire

Sign: BIG FREAKING BEN
Signified: GUYS DID WE MENTION WE'RE IN ENGLAND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT
Sign: Nighttime
Signified: Darkness, covert operations, secrecy, evil
Sign: Tom Hiddleston

Signified: Tumblr


And what are we to get from this staggeringly British 60 seconds of faux-action movie footage stuffed full of symbols of wealth, privilege, and intelligence? Tom Hiddleston keeps an emergency lamp near his person at all times. A Jaguar can beat a helicopter from the airport to Buckingham Palace. British people just know how to drink tea in helicopters. There are three syllables in the word "Jaguar."

But, more importantly, drive a Jaguar and you, too, will be a rich, sophisticated-yet-masculine uh, villain. Right? I think I got that right.

The vast majority of these were signs I didn't notice until I slowed down and picked them out carefully--the red and green lights at the beginning are a particularly nice touch. If I have to slow down and deliberately analyze the symbols being thrown at me rapid-fire, how many are making it through my critical thinking mental force field and into my programmable brain?

Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal

Talk about tonal shift.

When I scored the name The Pedantry Pantry I knew I'd be talking about food just as much as academics. Tonight, I wasn't feeling so hot (with all the wonderful prizes I won in the genetic roulette, I have no idea if it's the Hashimoto's, the PCOS, the beginning onset of fibromyalgia, or maybe I just have a cold I don't even know).

Tonight, I wanted a cinnamon roll.

I haven't been able to find a lot of oatmeal recipes I'd say that I love. There's always some critical flaw that keeps it at 3 stars or lower. But this? This oatmeal? I love this oatmeal.

Head over to Cooking Classy for the full recipe and write-up. Make sure you have cream cheese on hand for the little bit of topping because damn, daaamn.

Undressing the Ad: "Girls Don't Poop" for Poo~Pourri

A couple of years ago I started working at a local entertainment store (you know how it is: college girl, minimum wage retail job). At the register is where most places like ours take advantage of line waits to shill our more "fun and funky" products. One such product is the bizarre Poo~Pourri.

The first year we carried Poo~Pourri, we were framing it as a gag gift. Then people started coming back to replenish their supply. They unabashedly loved it--the most popular use seems to be shared office bathrooms. I guess this stuff isn't just for White Elephant exchanges.

Other than my indirect involvement in a small, Eastern Panhandle Poo~Pourri cult, I didn't pay too much attention to this stuff. Until, on one of my YouTube binges, I was assaulted with a two minute ad for the toilet spray, starring a peppy, yet sophisticated, young woman in blue organza, delivering the whole pitch from a toilet.

I watched the whole thing.

That sassy character on the john is Bethany Woodruff, a theater major at BYU in Utah. There's a blooper reel if you can't get enough about her talking about bowel movements (I know I can't).

Now, for the pedantry:

In her book "Undressing the Ad: Reading Culture in Advertising," Katherine Frith puts forth a three-pronged approach to looking at advertising--yes, even two-minute-long YouTube advertisements for poo spritz. This technique is predicated on three assumptions:

1. There is a surface layer to the ad--the overall impression of what's going on in the advertisment. This is normally presented in simple, objective language, as though a five year old were describing it.
2. There is an intended message the advertiser is trying to communicate, beyond the surface layer--sometimes they're kind enough to outright tell us what they're trying to do, but sometimes it gets tricky (like with perfume ads. what the hell?)
3. There is a cultural and ideological message in the ad--this layer is dependent on context and the audience's background. Theoretically, an ad transplanted direct from Japan has a chance of completely missing the mark with American audiences. (why does the dog have a doll head? wait, why is it dancing? wait, that was about chips??)

I'm game--and this is a blog entry for advertising class--so let's give it a shot with "Girls Don't Poop."

The surface layer is simple, as it should be--a pretty, young, white woman (with an English accent) in a nice dress is sitting on a toilet in various settings: a public bathroom, the office, her boyfriend's living room, a dairy farm, a fancy party, and a flowering meadow. She sure has a lot of interesting euphemisms for pooping.

And what is the intended message? Again, they've made it plenty clear for us. Ladies! Use Poo~Pourri when you go to the bathroom and everyone will believe you're a classy lady whose shit don't stink. Or, if you want to go with the premade motto: Their business is to make it smell like our business never even happened.

Now, for the fun part: the cultural message. As we all know by now, I'm an English major by trade, and overanalyzing the crap (ha) out of something is my reason for living.

The cultural message behind this is one of complete irony, and is in fact the title of the commercial--girls don't poop. Not the good girls, anyway. Despite all the groundbreaking literature written on the topic, Western sentiment holds that women don't have bodily functions. By placing a character we Americans would typically align with sophistication and high class--a groomed woman with a British accent--Poo~Pourri marketers have provided a stark contrast between reality and perception, which I'd argue is 90% of the joke ("Birthing a creamy behemoth" wouldn't be nearly as funny coming out of Larry the Cable Guy's dribbling mouth).

The humor behind the commercial is double-edged. On the one hand, we have a company playing into stereotypes. Not only is the joke based on the myth that pretty white women don't do dirty things like defecate, but the product itself upholds that illusion.

On the other hand, Woodruff stands in as the supposed symbol of purity and says some of the most colorful, disgusting euphemisms I've ever had the pleasure to hear. While Poo~Pourri does suggest that it has the power to make a bodily function completely invisible, it seems to do so with a heavy eyeroll and a quiet snicker. Really? You still think the only things that come out of women are unicorn kisses and rainbows? 

For what it's worth, Poo~Pourri also has a line of men's scents (I hear the Master Crapsman set makes a great gift for Dad). Will we get to see a dapper gent on a toilet sometime?

Eve's Apology in Defense of Women | Aemilia Lanyer

From Salve Deus Rex Judæorum [Eves Apologie] Now Pontius Pilate is to judge the Cause  Of faultlesse Jesus, who before him stands;  Who neither hath offended Prince, nor Lawes,  Although he now be brought in woefull bands:  O noble Governour, make thou yet a pause,  Doe not in innocent blood imbrue thy hands;                       750       But heare the words of thy most worthy wife,       Who sends to thee, to beg her Saviours life.  Let barb'rous crueltie farre depart from thee,  And in true Justice take afflictions part;  Open thine eies, that thou the truth mai'st see,  Doe not the thing that goes against thy heart,  Condemne not him that must thy Saviour be;  But view his holy Life, his good desert.       Let not us Women glory in Mens fall,       Who had power given to over-rule us all.                      760  Till now your indiscretion sets us free,  And makes our former fault much lesse appeare;  Our Mother Eve, who tasted of the Tree,                 Eves  Giving to Adam what she held most deare,               Apologie Was simply good, and had no powre to see,  The after-comming harme did not appeare:       The subtile Serpent that our Sex betraide,       Before our fall so sure a plot had laide.  That undiscerning Ignorance perceav'd  No guile, or craft that was by him intended;                       770  For, had she knowne of what we were bereavid,  To his request she had not condiscended  But she (poore soule) by cunning was deceav'd,  No hurt therein her harmelesse Heart intended:       For she alleadg'd Gods word, which he denies,       That they should die, but even as Gods, be wise.  But surely Adam can not be excus'd,  Her fault, though great, yet hee was most too blame;  What Weaknesse offerd, Strength might have refus'd,  Being Lord of all, the greater was his shame:                     780  Although the Serpents craft had her abus'd,  Gods holy word ought all his actions frame:      For he was Lord and King of all the earth,      Before poore Eve had either life or breath.  Who being fram'd by Gods eternall hand,  The perfect'st man that ever breath'd on earth;  And from Gods mouth receiv'd that strait command,  The breach whereof he knew was present death:  Yea having powre to rule both Sea and Land,  Yet with one Apple wonne to loose that breath,                790       Which God hath breathed in his beauteous face,       Bringing us all in danger and disgrace.  And then to lay the fault on Patience backe,  That we (poore women) must endure it all;  We know right well he did discretion lacke,  Beeing not perswaded thereunto at all;  If Eve did erre, it was for knowledge sake,  The fruit beeing faire perswaded him to fall:       No subtill Serpents falshood did betray him,       If he would eate it, who had powre to stay him?           800  Not Eve, whose fault was onely too much love,  Which made her give this present to her Deare,  That what shee tasted, he likewise might prove,  Whereby his knowledge might become more cleare;  He never sought her weakenesse to reprove,  With those sharpe words, which he of God did heare:       Yet Men will boast of Knowledge, which he tooke       From Eves faire hand, as from a learned Booke.  If any Evill did in her remaine,  Beeing made of him, he was the ground of all;                   810  If one of many Worlds could lay a staine  Upon our Sexe, and worke so great a fall  To wretched Man, by Satans subtill traine;  What will so fowle a fault amongst you all?       Her weakenesse did the Serpents words obay;       But you in malice Gods deare Sonne betray.  Whom, if unjustly you condemne to die,  Her sinne was small, to what you doe commit;  All mortall sinnes that doe for vengeance crie,  Are not to be compared unto it:                                        820  If many worlds would altogether trie,  By all their sinnes the wrath of God to get;       This sinne of yours, surmounts them all as farre       As doth the Sunne, another little starre.  Then let us have our Libertie againe,  And challendge to your selves no Sov'raigntie;  You came not in the world without our paine,  Make that a barre against your crueltie;  Your fault beeing greater, why should you disdaine  Our beeing your equals, free from tyranny?                      830       If one weake woman simply did offend,       This sinne of yours, hath no excuse, nor end.  To which (poore soules) we never gave consent,  Witnesse thy wife (O Pilate) speakes for all;  Who did but dreame, and yet a message sent,  That thou should'st have nothing to doe at all  With that just man; which, if thy heart relent,  Why wilt thou be a reprobate with Saul?       To seeke the death of him that is so good,       For thy soules health to shed his dearest blood.          840  (http://www.usask.ca/english/phoenix/lanyerpoems1.htm)

The missing half of The Persuaders

Advertising and Imagery is going to be very, very interesting.

It's already weird enough being the only student without a "Communications" anywhere in my major or minor declaration. I was hoping for another Women's Studies student but I think I lucked out. Whatever. Gonna black sheep all up in this.

We've just watched The Persuaders, which, thanks to the magic of public television, you can watch for free online. It's been a long time since I took any psychology or sociology classes (credits that are now languishing at the bottom of my transcript under "general electives"), and I can't remember the last time I had to hear about "subliminal advertising" or similarly overplayed concepts.

YO DAWG, COKE IS IN IT TO WIN IT

...In fact, it's been pretty damn easy in the last ten years to pretend like advertising doesn't exist. Consumers are getting savvier, and becoming increasingly more jaded--seeing Coke cups on the American Idol's judges' table inspired a whole slew of disinterested articles on the transparency of product placement.* We've also gained greater control over what we're exposed to--DVRs allow us to skip through the obnoxious Ford placement and straight to Randy Jackson's obnoxious commentary.

It's easy for me to say that the Coke cups and the odd segments on affordable SUVs don't bother me, because I can ostensibly see them for what they are: clumsy attempts at manipulation.

But a cynical lizard brain is really only scratching the surface here. The Persuaders was released in 2004. That's one year before YouTube and Pandora Radio, and three years before Hulu. Netflix wouldn't begin their online streaming model until 2007--just in time for the release of the first iPhone! And, just to add insult to injury, the two most popular browsers in the world have offered easy-to-install ad blockers for quite a while now.

What I'm saying is that it's only been ten years, and it already feels like half the documentary is missing. There have been unprecedented technological advances and trends (don't even get me started on the history of digital piracy), all of which have put more and more power into the hands of the individual. Supposedly.

Marketers have been thinking well on their feet. Desperate to cash in on the mysterious phenomenon of "going viral," a few corporations have quite literally taken viral concepts and thrown money at them. McDonald's actually hired a YouTube channel, Bad Lip Reading, for a national ad campaign. I saw one of their commercials during the Seahawks/49ers game tonight (go 'hawks), and I did the unthinkable: I actually hit rewind on the DVR to see it again.

Go on and watch it. I'll wait.


Now, what makes the concept of viral marketing interesting is where to draw the line between a carefully-tailored commercial and simply a "video gone viral."

GoldieBlox, a startup toy company, hit it big with a video featuring a parody of the Beastie Boys song "Girls." While GoldieBlox insists it's just a fun parody, the Beastie Boys argue it is in fact a clever advertisement, and have challenged the toy company's invocation of Fair Use--but not before over 8 million people watched the "parody."

If our jaded lizard brains can't tell the difference between a clever YouTube our aunt shared on Facebook and a long-form advertisement, then there may be hope for marketers after all. Viral videos could in fact be the new iteration of product placement.

*(You can buy the American Idol Coke cups on eBay, btw. I'm not sure if that's what Coke had in mind. And if you want to see what the Internet considers the worst example of product placement in the last three years, here it is.)