AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

In perusing a Gucci advertisement in New Zealand Fashion Quarterly one rapidly comes to the conclusion that it is not the Gucci suit, bag nor even Gucci branded jewellery that is being sold in the commercial.  It is the idea of Gucci itself.  A symbolic representation of aspiration and power wrapped up in the form of product.  This essay explores both the portrayal of femininity in a specific Gucci advertisement and the reinforcement of the dominant theme of consumption as identity, suggesting that although post-feminist ideas are apparent in this cultural text, the overwhelming depiction is that of conspicuous consumption as identity.

Paramount in this advertisement is the portrayal of wealth, status and gender. Aside from the dominance of the Gucci logo, the advertisement is rather simply composed depicting a woman, clad top to toe in Gucci product, prominently displaying her branded handbag like a badge of membership to an exclusive club.  The background is nondescript and unimportant, a beach scene, barely visible behind the model filling the foreground, blue sky giving the only contrasting hue as if to say, the sky’s the limit but you can only get there through Gucci.

In order to understand the intention and symbolic significance of this advertising text, it is first important to understand the role of consumption as identity within modern society.  In his writings, Marx described work as being core to the identity of the individual and their relationship to the means of production as a key determinant of a person’s place within society.[1]  This concept has become outmoded, replaced by the idea that consumption is a key determinant of social standing.  Accordingly, goods are no longer consumed solely for their utility value, but also for their cultural meaning and the way in which they symbolise the construal of self. Objects come to be signifiers of status, group belonging, and any number of expressions of identity or aspiration.  Things of a seemingly trivial nature acquire an exchange value and desirability far in excess of their use simply because of how society perceives them.   Those items that formerly held social cachet might likewise be cast aside, considered worthless, displaced by the pursuit of new cultural ideas or technologies.  As has been suggested by Bourdieu, the self is defined by the other and, in turn, the other by the self.[2]

This is not to say that individuals are immutably defined by their possessions or by society.  The transient, temporary nature of products and trends lends itself instead to a certain fluidity of identity, constantly updated and reinvented through the purchase of ever-newer products.  Identities are, like objects, to be consumed and replaced as desired.[3]  In recognition of this, advertisers strive not so much to cultivate product as brand in the quest to produce a meaningful symbolic identity transferable to whatever is wanted and changeable at will.[4]  This utilisation of symbolic meaning is strongly evident in the Gucci advertisement. Above all, prominence is given to the brand.  The object of want may be a handbag, but the signifier of meaning is the ostentatious logo.  The encoded atmosphere conveyed by the advertisement an indication of the intended meaning.

This use of conspicuous consumption, the outward display of wealth as indication of identity, is one that Gucci utilises to its full potential.  When directed to “Explore the new digital flagship” (more commonly understood to be the Gucci website), one realises that, shockingly, the handbag depicted in this particular advertisement has a retail value not in the hundreds nor even thousands, but tens of thousands.[5]  An indulgence far beyond any but the most well heeled consumer.  In purchasing this Gucci handbag, a woman will not only be expressing her style and taste, but also overtly identifying herself as belonging to an elite group, perpetuating the idea of consumption as status.

Capitalism relies on this conflation of product and identity in order to sell ever more products, constantly striving to give meaning to what is essentially the same product.  As Adorno has suggested, the difference between products is only superficial, yet through this illusion of choice, the marketer is able to produce a hierarchy of desire.[6]  Within this hierarchy, Gucci is placed at the pinnacle - an indulgence.  Insignificant details form the basis for ‘meaningful’ difference.  The organic, handmade crocodile handbag is after all just something in which to carry things yet, with the illusion of choice, these things become the defining points of difference in a falsified version of reality.   

The blatant, indulgent use of money is a strong indicator of social status and also what Jukka and others suggest drives the consumer to desire ever more wasteful and opulent products.[7]  With status attainable by consumption, individuals constantly strive to emulate those most fortunate within society, driving a consumptive ‘arms race’ in which those at the zenith can only ever differentiate their status by ever-greater consumption.  Gucci advertisements use this idea to full advantage and in perpetuating this idea ensure a ready supply of willing consumers.

Gender also plays a large part in this advertisement, not only because of the gendering of the product, but also because of the depiction of womanhood. Commercial texts have often been seen as the site of gender stereotyping and the perpetuating of patriarchal ideas of femininity.[8]  This advertisement offers a contradictory interpretation of the female ideal, with themes of beauty and sex appeal existing in seamless harmony with post-feminist ideas of agency and strength. In opposition to the hegemonic idea of woman as object, there is a powerful self-assured femininity in this advertisement - the model’s tight-fitting suit and staunch posturing suggesting she is successful in her own right, still to be desired, but on her own terms.

Yet the imagery also plays to a more familiar stereotyped view of womanhood.  In depicting a slender, highly attractive, successful model, the advertisement portrays an ideal unattainable by most.  As Rosalind Coward points out, women are often portrayed as narcissistic, and overly obsessed with outward appearances.  She suggests that rather than conventional narcissism, this is in fact a form of self-loathing, which she calls “narcissistic damage” fostered not by desire, but anxiety.[9]  Women constantly receive messages depicting self-worth as attached to beauty, thereby instilling a constant urge to change and improve the self in order to conform to this ideal.  In continuing with this tradition, Gucci reinforces this negative self-image, further maintaining the patriarchal ideal of femininity.

The producer of cultural texts is however not the only arbiter of meaning.    The consumer also has agency.  Through a process of negotiation, contestation and interpretation, the consumer not only chooses the ultimate significance of the text, but also “helps to produce the object he [or she] consumes”.[10]  No matter the strength of the meanings associated with the product, the ultimate significance is defined not solely by society or the advertiser, but by the consumer.  In consciously interpreting the text, the consumer can produce differing readings, rejecting or accepting the encoded ideas thus bringing their own meaning and interpretation.

In concluding this analysis one notices that in defining people in terms of their patterns of consumption, advertising affects both the individual and the society in which they exist.  Commercial texts, such as the Gucci advertisement referenced, can simultaneously challenge hegemonic ideas and encourage them.  Ultimately though, they have a vested interest in maintaining and reinforcing the status quo, their symbolism and brand focus encouraging the consumption upon which they thrive.

Bibliography

Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” in The Cultural Studies Reader, edited by S. During, 405-415, Abingdon: Routledge, 2007, p408.

Bauman, Z. Work, Consumerism and the New Poor. Madienhead: Open University Press, 2005, pp28-29

Bourdieu, P. in Goodman, D. J. and Cohen, M. Consumer culture, Santa Barbera: ABC-Clio, 2004, p3

Coward, R. in Shields, v. R. and Heinecken, D. Measuring Up: How Advertising Affects Self-Image. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania press, 2002, p81

Gucci Handbag Advertisement in New Zealand Fashion Quarterly, edited by F. Hawtin. ACP Magazines, 2010. 15.

‘Gucci 1973’ medium shoulder bag with double G detail. http://www.gucci.com/us/styles/251809EPE4T2814# accessed 6/5/11

Hann, S. "Acting on impulse, claiming sexuality and kicking ass: New women’s hetrosexualities in New Zealand popular culture" Women’s Studies Journal, 17, 1 (2001): 49-65. p51

Jukka, G. Sociology of Taste. Florence:Routledge, 1997. pp10, 38

Klein, N. No Logo. New York: Picador, 1999, pp22-23

Mathewman, S. “Consuming” in Being Sociological, edited by C. L. West-Newman, S. Mathewman, B. Curtis, 87-106. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p93

[1] Mathewman, S. “Consuming” in Being Sociological, edited by C. L. West-Newman, S. Mathewman, B. Curtis, 87-106. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p93

[2] Jukka, G. Sociology of Taste. Florence:Routledge, 1997. 10

[3] Bauman, Z. Work, Consumerism and the New Poor. Madienhead: Open University Press, 2005, pp28-29

[4] Klein, N. No Logo. New York: Picador, 1999, pp22-23

[5] ‘Gucci 1973’ medium shoulder bag with double G detail. http://www.gucci.com/us/styles/251809EPE4T2814# accessed 6/5/11

[6] Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” in The Cultural Studies Reader, edited by S. During, 405-415, Abingdon: Routledge, 2007, p408.

[7] Jukka, G. Sociology of Taste. Florence:Routledge, 1997, 38.

[8] Hann, S. "Acting on impulse, claiming sexuality and kicking ass: New women’s hetrosexualities in New Zealand popular culture" Women’s Studies Journal, 17, 1 (2001): 49-65. p51

[9] Coward, R. in Shields, v. R. and Heinecken, D. Measuring Up: How Advertising Affects Self-Image. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania press, 2002, p81

[10] Bourdieu, P. in Goodman, D. J. and Cohen, M. Consumer culture, Santa Barbera: ABC-Clio, 2004, p3