Going Green

Order Description Assignment: Study advertising’s exploitation of environmentalism in order to sell products. Specifically, you are asked to select and examine the various ways advertising invokes environmental values and natural imagery. Select a set of Advertisements (1-3) (Most students use one) that employ concepts from the readings and then in a 900-1000 word essay address one of the following prompts: Option I: Select a single CURRENT (2017) ad (or you may choose several) that uses nature as a backdrop, and conduct an in-depth analysis of it. As a critical framework, use the six reasons advertising can be “faint green” that Corbett outlines in her essay. You do not have to apply all of Corbett’s reasons to your ads—you can choose several that you think most apply. In addition to the Corbett essay you must also cite a second essay from the assigned readings as part of your analysis of the ad. Ad suggestions: The 2017 Jeep ads (any model) will work well. Also the 2017 Kia Niro ads might be fun to work with. Of course, all ads for hybrids work well as do beer and water ads, and some hair and body care product ads as well. You can use current print ads or commercials for these products. In addition to applying concepts from the readings, you should include very specific visual details from the ads as support. Option II: Select one or several CURRENT commercials from the 2017 super bowl (see link below) then adopting and applying the perspectives of two to three authors assigned to this unit, write an essay in which you argue which ad most effectively (or problematically) employs the ideas from the readings—“The More Factor” (Shames), “Faint Green” (Corbett), “Purification through Simplification” (Japp and Japp), “Commodify Your Dissent” (Frank, optional), “Everything Now (McKevitt—optional) and Twitichell’s essay on marketing categories. Again, in addition to applying concepts from at least three of the readings, you essay should include very specific visual detail as support. Super Bowl 2017 Commercials (Links to an external site.) Option III: Study one issue of a current travel magazine, focusing on the advertising. To what extent is nature presented as “sublime” or as backdrop? (again, you are using Corbett here). Use your observations to demonstrate, refute, complicate the idea that presenting nature as “unproblematic” can have a dangerous effect on our environmental consciousness. You should cite at least two of the assigned essays as part of your analysis and include specific visual details from the magazine. Option III: Study one issue of a current travel magazine (maybe even tourism advertisements for Los Angeles or California), focusing on the advertising (or a selection of ads focusing on travel). To what extent is nature presented as “sublime” or as backdrop? (again, you are using Corbett here). Use your observations to demonstrate, refute, complicate the idea that presenting nature as “unproblematic” can have a dangerous effect on our environmental consciousness. Option IV: Write an analysis of the contradictions you find in (1-3) green marketing campaigns/advertisements that present the possession of consumer goods as ways to achieve the simple life. Consult both Japp and Japp’s “Purification through Simplification” (128) and Julia B. Corbett’s “A Faint Green Sell: Advertising and the natural World” (235) to develop your response.