Bishop's letters: July 05 +James

Aspirations

Advertisements fascinate me. As a teenager, I used to cut some of the best adverts out of colour supplements and magazines and paste them into scrapbooks (I still do occasionally – but they’re not what they used to be!) When I go to the cinema, I hate missing the commercials and trailers before the main feature; and I even quite enjoy the breaks on ITV and Channel 4. All of which makes me sound like a Marketing Manager’s dream!

But that same Marketing Manager might not be so thrilled if he or she knew how I was analysing and assessing the advertisements I see. Some points are given for technical excellence and artistic creativity. But what interests me most is the hidden message. Whether the product is soap or sandals, hair oil or holidays, every advertisement makes an appeal (subtle or otherwise) to some underlying aspiration. Identifying those aspirations provides a window onto contemporary values. A ‘good’ advertisement appeals to our aspirations, and there are four in particular that I detect at present.

One is acquisition. I suppose that has always been around: people love to acquire and possess beautiful objects (such as works of art) or status symbols (such as fast cars). Clever adverts usually inject a touch of envy here. Why should ‘they’ have what ‘I’ want? Why can’t I have it too? (on credit, of course).

Second is freedom. Everyone has an innate desire to be ‘free’, whether it’s from the drudgery of work or the household chores. So – buy this new piece of technology or that latest gadget, pay a visit to this hotel or that sun-kissed tropical paradise, and you too can be ‘free’ – for a while at least. The ‘choice’ is yours.

That politically on-message ‘choice’ also relates to a third aspiration, self-determination. You have it in you, the adverts suggest, to make everything different. By doing this or buying that, you can develop your own potential and become ‘a new person’. Other people won’t look down on you any more or make fun of you behind your back. At last, instead of being nobody, you’ll be somebody – and for only one hundred and eight pounds (plus p & p)!

Then there’s physical well-being, which is closely connected with the cult of beauty. How can you possibly hold your head up in society without this cosmetic surgery or that slimming device? Why let old age weary if you belong to the Botox generation? And why put up with second-rate ‘abs’ and ‘pecs’ when for only …?

Jesus knew about all those aspirations and he addressed them head-on. Acquisition? Think for a moment about the pearl of great price. Freedom? Try a little self-sacrificial service. Self-determination? Consider the Vine, my friend. Physical well-being? Whitened Sepulchres can look very attractive, but it’s what happens inside that really matters.

So – advertisements? Enjoy! – but don’t be fooled.


James Newcome, Bishop of Penrith