Norms & Otherness Ads

This Louis Vitton ad portrays the “norm” that society has for centuries placed women in. Men are meant to be the master, dominant figure and women are meant to be subjective objects who submit to male dominance and whose role in life is to defer to men.

Here we have the dominant male seated in a chair towering above the woman while the woman lies docile at his feet gazing adoringly at the man. The man holds sheets of paper in his hand which make it appear that he is some knowledgeable professor who is out in the country side studying his notes and practicing his lecture while the woman listens intently, hanging on his every word. He is surrounded by his notes and books which indicate that he is the intelligent one, while the woman lies at his feet like a faithful dog awaiting its master’s command.The concept of superiority and the power of men over women are very prevalent in this ad. The message it sends is that men are smarter than women and women are unintelligent playthings men keep around for their amusement.

This ad by American Apparel is a form of “otherness” in ads. It advocates for a change to immigration law and outlines the importance of immigrant labor to the economy. It states that working immigrants are valuable members of American society who should be allowed to stay in this country and become what native born Americans are—valued members of American society instead of criminals who are breaking the law. This goes against what the media reports that the majority of Americans are against immigration reform. This ad goes against the “norm” by standing up for immigration reform by an American company instead of denouncing “illegals” that are supposedly stealing American jobs.
Actually, this ad also establishes a sort of “norm” in that one of the immigrants in the photo is what society thinks of an immigrant as being—dark skinned and very ethnic looking. Even though the ad relays American Apparel’s support of immigration reform it’s probably only because the clothing industry has historically used immigrant and minority workers as cheap labor. Of course they want immigration reform; the crackdown on illegal immigrant workers has lead to a shortage of workers for the industry and cut into their profits. They can’t find “legal” Americans who want to work in their sweat factories for less than minimum wage.

This ad for clothing for dogs definitely perpetuates discourse. It reads, “When you look this good who can blame you for licking your own crotch.” This company wants to make you want to know who would say something in their ad that polite society would not mention. Definitely not the most tasteful (no pun intended) ad around.

I think it is abnormal for people to want to dress their dogs. But then again maybe it’s becoming the norm in wealthy people’s society. Look at Paris Hilton being photographed with her little dog dressed up to match her outfit. There are stores in Los Angeles and New York that all they carry are outfits and accessories for dogs.This ad certainly draws the viewer in by making the viewer take a second look at the ad and trying to figure out what it is advertising and then using a slogan that is not what you normally find in ads.