Values and Desires of Advertisers

The nature in which advertisers “[…] substitute desirable images for concrete needs […]” (Maasik and Solomon, 123) is explored by the authors Diane Barthel, Gloria Steinem, John Calfee, and Patricia Williams. These authors concentrate on the following facets: physical appearance, self-esteem, advertising as an “information tool” (Calfee, 181), and social relationships. In examining their perspectives, the reader “[…] can discover the values and desires that advertisers seek to exploit” (Maasik and Solomon, 123).

Diane Barthel begins her essay, A Gentleman and a Consumer, by evaluating society’s expectation of how a man’s appearance is supposed to be: “[…] to be well groomed and neatly tailored. What they were not supposed to do was to be overly concerned with their appearance, much less vain about their beauty” (149). Through advertising the consumer is given a lesson on how to be a man. Men are “to be independent, to savor freedom, live a life of adven...