Your post strikes up some very interesting points on the
topic of ads and how producers of certain products or ideas use athletes as
their spokesman to persuade the consumer to take interest in the product and
buy it. Using athletes in product ads brings on huge selling rates for products
and since many companies use this approach in building their product’s rep, it
seems completely harmless and fair game in the competing world of market
consumer culture. What about the consumer? In a way, isn’t anyone who gives
into the sales pitch of a product advertised by athletes just making themselves
a part of the so-called mark of the beast world of consumer culture, that we
talked about in class, by making them selves a bar code in the market? Ads and
athlete spokespersons have a strong influence on the consumer and companies use
this influence to manipulate and persuade people to buy something. Taking
Christian ideals such as the crucifix symbol in the LBJ Nike commercial or the
messianic figure in the Messi Adidas ad can be viewed by some as suspicious and
inappropriate use of a faith’s symbols. Others, on the other hand might take
these hidden meanings and look towards them as a sign of hope. Finding out an
athlete is a devoted Christian or when the world heard that Muhammad Ali was a
part of the Nation of Islam (NOI) could be promising and beneficial to certain
faiths because it might cause people to follow them. People look at athletes
like some god, even at times when they are not representing a product. It is
the producer who takes these godly athletes and uses them to their advantage.
Essentially, what I’m trying to say here is that people need to be cautious of
what products, represented by their favourite athlete, they give in to. Whether
or not using spokespersons for a product is good or bad is completely based on
perspective.
word count: 326 words
link to the post i am responding to
ReplyDeletehttp://smc305ohmyblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/sporting-gods.html