Popular_Culture_and_Print_Media_Paper_Ricky_Harps_Soc_105_Instructor__John_Smith_University_of_Phoenix_Feburay_08,_2010___Popular_Culture_and

Popular Culture and Print Media Paper Ricky Harps Soc/105 Instructor: John smith University of Phoenix Feburay 08, 2010 Popular Culture and Print Media Paper Print media is everywhere. Just walking outside the front door of any American home and consumers find some type of printed advertising. Driving by the home is a beautiful, shiny new car. The potential consumer doesn’t have to look too hard to find out what it is. The advertisement in motion has the name printed right there above the bumper. Print media advertising has made a huge impact on consumerism and cultural values. This paper will discuss those impacts. The paper will also describe the role print media has played in the development of American pop culture. Finally, three trends propagated by print media will be identified along with the impact of those trends. Culture is the customs, rituals, and practices of a society (Wilson & Wilson, 2001). Popular American culture is the culture of the masses of American people. Attitudes, beliefs, and actions are all shaped by the culture of the society a person is exposed to. Print media has played a major role in the development of the values of popular American culture. These values can be conscious or unconscious when formed. The American people are exposed to print media advertisements all day every day. The exposure can come from things like posters, flyers, mailings, newspaper, magazines, billboards, and brochures. Feature advertising is the first trend propagated by the print media. Feature advertising is articles placed in newspapers and magazines that are formatted and appear to be real articles and news with editorial content but are really advertisements for products or services (Cameron and Haley, 1992). This trend is so tricky because consumers know how to avoid advertisements when they look like advertisements. These ads look to be editorial content and the consumers begin to read but do not realize they are being exposed to ads. Full color ink in newspaper copy is another trend in print media advertising. The Miami Herald and other newspapers have turned to running full color ads to capture audiences. Color technology has developed to the point where color is not as expensive to print and the bright colorful ads sell better. So far the newspapers make the front page of every section color to grab attention to inside articles and the back page has color advertisements. Computer generated pictures and art is the third trend in print media advertising. Computers have the ability to create all types of elaborate images that photographers would have to be in the right place at the right time and still could miss the shot. These images can be lifelike and realistic or animation. The possibilities are limitless with computer generated images. The three trends in print media advertising listed above have shaped the views and attitudes of consumers. Feature advertisements affect consumerism because they generate a desire for the product in the target audience. The full color newspaper advertisements affect consumer’s views and attitudes the same way magazine articles do. The images of models and body builders generate a desire to purchase the products and services because the consumer wants to look like that. These ads sell products but negatively affect the American values because people can’t buy products and services to make them look like the models and body builders. Computer generated pictures and art have a negative impact on social responsibility. The advertisers are self regulated and can generate false images of anything and anyone and are not bound to reveal the truth about the pictures. Young girls strive to achieve the image that appear in the print media but are not aware that the image is enhanced to look perfect with help from the computer. Recent headlines have shown pictures of models, that where already beautiful by any standard, digitally enhanced to become an image no amount of diet or exercise can attain. These images negatively affect the values of the American popular culture. Conclusion Print media advertising has been placed everywhere the consumer looks. This drenching of the consumer in advertising has affected the development of American popular culture. Print media advertising has affected consumerism, social responsibility, work habits, human body image, and happiness. These topics have an impact on the views and attitudes of the American popular culture. References Cameron, G. and Haley, J. (1992). Journal of Advertising. Feature Advertising: Policies and Attitudes in Print Media. Armonk: September 1992. Vol. 21, Iss. 3; pg. 47. Retrieved Feburay 06, 2010, from Proquest database Wilson, J. & Wilson, S. (2001). Mass media, mass culture: An introduction (5th ed.). [University of Phoenix Custom edition e-text] New York: McGraw- Hill. Retrieved February 05, 2010, from University of Phoenix, rEsource, Soc/105 Introduction to Popular American Culture course website.