Olivia's Blog

Glamour and how it is cultivated in “How to Get Ahead in Advertising”

     It was John Berger who wrote, “The state of being envied is what constitutes glamour”. The book agrees with his statement and recognizes that glamour is a crucial element of advertising. Glamour is something that mass consumers can “envy and wish to emulate”. It is represented by celebrities and models who appear flawless, happy, satisfied, already transformed, perfect, and attainable.

   The books definition of glamour is one that I agree with. Society tries to impersonate those that we think of as “perfect”. Those who are “perfect” are also filled with glamour and romance. Glamour is a quality we all wish to possess. Media is what defines perfection and glamour. If the media portrayed a 6 ft tall, 350 pound woman as glamours, than society would associate that with perfect. But we all know they do not. The media has the power to manipulate our minds into believing in their philosophy of perfection. They create it and than advertisers use it and sell it. They sell perfection, success, content, happiness, and ultimately glamour to entice consumers to purchase their product. Any advertiser has to be familiar with the media’s fangled definition of glamour.

   Glamour is cultivated in “How to Get Ahead in Advertising” because it shows that unless a advertisement appeals to the masses and unless a product sells, an advertising company or executive fails. This one man could not find a way to make “boils” glamorous and went crazy because it meant he had failed the consumers. If they could not find the advertisement glamours and appealing they would not invest their time and money in a product. The goal of advertisers is not to tell the truth about the product rather “glamorize” it, aka sell it. One of the first lines of the movie was “Whatever it is, sell it”; that is the nature of advertising. This is the hypocrisy of advertising. It is what advertisers strive off of and it defines their life. There is not much “glamour” in the advertising industry as we can see by the characters struggle with a speaking boil. He was not the only executive suffering from a psychiatric problem; his boss had previously struggled with the contradictory nature of the industry. The question is not whether you will have the struggle but whether you will over come it and come to realize that although the job is not glamorous, advertising is all about it.

   Not only is glamour present in the advertising job, but it is present in the lifestyle of the protaganist. He has a beautiful wife, perfect home, a wonderful job, and a stable financial situation. To some, this is equivalent with happiness, success, and glamour; it is all that some could ask for. Although the character leads a glamorous lifestyle, he is an example to prove that money cannot buy happiness. Inside, he is everything but glamourous. He is suffering from a serious mental condition and needs immediate help. Although he at first refuses it, he eventually seeks help. Glamour, although it appears to be, does not define his lifestyle.