The American Dream: Difference Between Elitist And Populist

The American Dream is a contradiction in itself. America is thought to be “the place” to live, to be free, and to make the best of your life. But is the American Dream really as exciting as the public makes it out to be? According to Jack Solomon’s essay “Masters of Desire”, American society is set purposely to be a contradiction. ‘The American Dream, in other words, has two faces: the one communally egalitarian and the other competitively elitist.” (Solomon 167), the contradiction implied here is that Americans think that they want to be equal to everyone else but really what they want is to rise above everyone. So how is the American Dream connected to advertising? “For the semiotician, the contradictory nature of the American myth of equality
I believe that the definition of elitist and populist has changed significantly throughout the years. Populist is still revolved around patriotism, bright colors, and country setting. Elitist is still circled around elegance and wealth. But the way that they both are interpreted by Americans has changed. With advertisements being about behavior modification instead of selling products, it has changed what Americans want and need. They want to be like the leaders and powerful people of the country but they also want to fit in. Advertisements show audiences what they could be like and they should want to be like if they want to fit in with the crowd. Posture is a significant change in advertising today. Solomon describes how eye contact is a huge contribution in whether an ad is elite or not, “Advertisers have been quick to exploit the status signals that belong to body language as well” (169), but posture over time has clearly proven that it a great representation on either populist or elitist. You can still tell the difference of whether an advertisement is elitist or populist in todays’ advertisements. The sign of a good advertisement is that the culture has illusion over reality (Solomon 176). The Covergirl advertisement is a well representation of being elitist. It has the dark colors, formal black clothing, and a solid colored background. The title also sounds elitist because of its use of the word superpowers. It shows that this product will make you a more powerful person if you own it. Manipulation is snuck into the advertisement by putting a popular face as the spokesperson for Covergirl. When looking at the advertisement the attention is drawn directly to Pink instead of the product itself. “The logic of advertising is entirely semiotic: it substitutes signs for things, framed visions of consumer desire for the thing itself.” (Solomon