So the other day, due to our class assignment, I walked into a liquor store and observed what it was like. Right at the entry way were two large cardboard cutouts of some woman in a skimpy bikini and a big muscular wrestler with even less clothes than the woman. As I walked in further, I noticed the theme continued: skin, lots of skin - and even more showing from the men than the women in the adds all around the store! Crazy. The signs that directly showed alcohol in the store all showed larger than life bottles. I also noticed, behind the check-out counter, there was almost no empty space - bottles, many of them quite expensive forms of alcohol lined left to right and top to bottom. You couldn't purchase something without viewing hundreds of other choices. It was interesting to see these kind of things.
I conversing with one of my classmates, we were discussing the interesting pattern of the external appearance of most Liquor shops. They look dirt from the outside. Windows have maybe not been cleaned in over a decade. The signs might be totally old and even falling apart. Sometimes the places have many bars over windows or boarded-up windows, looking like they've been closed for years, even though they are still fully in business. This is a completely different projection than most any other business enterprise these days. In an advertising age, where everything is so glossy and designed to attract more customers into stores, liquor stores just don't need to do that. I think this just speaks to the power of the alcoholic addiction. The thing is, they will get their customers no matter how their store looks.
I next viewed advertisements with some Google searches. It pulled up similar themes: although the wrestlers were not so apparent, there were countless bikini-clad women, larger-than-life bottles, many sensual images, and also a few creative comedic images... It was an interesting and slightly disturbing project to see what stirs our society's desires and cravings. It's almost sad to see what society pushes for in imagery.
sensual imagery - in multiple cultures:
Party/fun time imagery:
large bottle imagery:
This one is particularly disturbing for me to see - although it is showing a non-alcoholic beer, saying that even pregnant women can drink, the message that its non-alcoholic is not very obvious, just written lightly on the side. If you pass by this add quickly, the wording is barely noticeable. So, instead, its just showing an audience, imprinting in people's minds the image of a pregnant woman drinking. -not good karma for society-
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