advertising

For this week's focus on advertisements, I decided to do an analysis of one of Wal-Mart's latest TV commercials. It's one of their holiday ads, and depicts a "typical" Mom thanking Wal-Mart's low prices for her ability to give her kids a Christmas "as big as their imaginations." It ends with the company's newest slogan: Save money. Live better.



Anyone who's paid attention to Wal-Mart advertising over the past few years or so will notice a big change--gone is the happy little yellow smiley face who bopped all over our television screens, announcing new roll-backs and discounts. Wal-Mart has gone for a classier look, and the new logo is a simple sun-like symbol that appears on the bottom right of the screen at the beginning of the commercial, and then again at the end. Has that made a difference in their sales? It certainly speaks to their audience--they are going after the middle class.

And the middle class is what this ad is all about. The family in this commerical screams "average" in every way. White mom in the kitchen. Two kids. Dad absent during the day but there in the background on Christmas morning. Everything stereotypical we might think about when we think of suburbanite families is here, all the way down to the cute house itself. It serves to comfort and assure--"these are the type of people that shop at Wal-Mart." This discount store is no longer for just the working class, the lower class--it's for you and me.

And Wal-Mart cares about your issues. The economy is bad, so you should shop where prices are low. Save money, live better, right? Don't sacrifice and buy less--just pay less for what you want. This ad is about the holidays, and starts with the young boy asking for all sorts of toys. The mom's line--"Thanks to Wal-Mart, I can give them a Christmas a big as their imaginations, even if my budget isn't"--adds to the value the ad is trying to place on the stuff they're selling. It's a great use of language, actually, because the word "imagination" makes it seem like the boy is being creative, when in fact he's just participating in the commercial. It makes the case to viewers that if the mom were to not get her kids all of the material goods they asked for, she'd be limiting their very dreams. All of this in a 30 second commercial.

The boy does get what he asks for of course--name-brand toys that have been "rolled-back" only at Wal-Mart stores. We see him playing with his rocket ship and robot in front of the Christmas tree, his dreams fulfilled. But where's the family now? It's the picture of the individual versus the community. Maybe I'm going a bit extreme here, but this is what the commercial says to me. For not too much money you can buy these specific toys to make this one boy happy. You don't need to spend time with him, think about limiting his material desires, or concern yourself with what the holidays might "mean" beyond gifts and goods. And you certainly don't need to worry about consequences of your low-price shopping.

Because there are consequences. Hundreds of studies have been done about the far-reaching and often horrible reprecussions of Wal-Mart, both to the individual and to the community. The company pays most employees poverty wages. When a store comes to town it wipes out local economies. Whole organizations, like Wal-Mart Watch, have been formed with the sole intent to protest the companies harmful practices and make the public aware of the impact of their buying decisions.

Wal-Mart's slogan, "Save money. Live better," paints a false picture. Or, it paints the picture that the company wants its customers to see--that by looking out for the self and paying the lowest prices available, we will have better lives. But as critical consumers we have to ask ourselves: the lowest price at what cost?