Chapter 3: Safe Markets vs. Alternative Subgroups

This week’s exploration into the depths of target marketing centers on two more opposite segments: the mainstream American and the minority niche market. Who makes up these groups and how heavily is each of them advertised to? Chapter 3 takes us into the worlds of the conformist and the anti-conformist American purchaser.

 Who is the mainstream American? This question has plagued scholars and social researchers nearly since its conception. We do know that at one time, all Americans were generally the same. We came from England to kick the natives off their land and begin a new life free of persecution from our mother country. Despite these similar beginnings, American citizens have changed heavily in the past two and a half centuries. We are no longer just an entire nation of white people from the same country of origin. Today’s Americans are multi-racial, with diverse careers and interests. And yet, it seems that in advertising the original idea of the mainstream American has not changed all that much since these early days. When one thinks of the average American, many mental images are still conjured of a white, averagely wealthy, person with a job who is not very young but also not very old. They fall in the middle of the age spectrum, and in the middle of just about every other spectrum as well. If we were to create this person they might be 35-45 years old, married, two children, living in an average house in an area with an average population. Nothing about them is extreme in any way. Everything about them would be simply average: income, housing, cars, even physical appearance. If this person seems kind of boring it’s because they probably are. And yet, Advertisers seem to play to this stereotype of the average American.

Perhaps more important then the question of who the average American actually is, is the question of what the average American spends their money on. I see many commercials for products that cast this exact type of person. The actor or actress is average looking. They are usually white, and they are not phenomenally gorgeous nor are they unpleasant to look at. The product being sold in the commercial is of average price, it is not ridiculously expensive nor is it extremely cheap. The setting is not anything outrageous, usually a modest house in what looks to be a modest suburban neighborhood. The dialogue may have humor, but it’s not raunchy or overtly funny or sexual in any way. These types of “safe” commercials can be seen in anything from toilet paper to cars to garbage bags to underwear. I just realized that it seems like I talk a lot about toilet paper in this blog, I also mentioned it last week as a product example. I guess I’m really interested in toilet paper advertising. But I digress. Commercials of this nature seem to be very popular because they feed into our idea of what the average American life is supposed to be. The American Dream means different things to everyone, but for many people this type of quiet, consistent, life is the equivalent to making it in America. Advertising is a mirror of our culture and a mirror of what many people wish they had. We buy things because we want the lifestyle that is portrayed along with it. These types of commercials show that, apparently, our culture places a high importance on this simple American lifestyle.

But what about markets that do not play into this average American prototype? Where is the advertising for them? On the opposite end of the “safe” mainstream market lie the alternative subgroups. Alternative subgroups often summon mental images of goth kids hanging out in seedy motel rooms with drug paraphernalia littered across the nightstand. Although the word sounds extreme, alternative subgroups actually aren’t all that out there. Gays, lesbians, and minorities are all examples of target markets that are not heavily advertised to, even in this modern age. It seems that even when they are advertised to, it is a watered down alternative subgroup. Even when other races are portrayed in mainstream advertising, they still follow the stereotype of inoffensive hair, clothing, and housing. This is one of the criticisms of advertising; even when it tries to be diverse it stills comes back to the same American archetypes we are used to seeing. MTV Tres, an offshoot of MTV networks is a channel geared toward MTV’s Spanish speaking viewers. I have noticed that even when the actors in the commercials on Tres are speaking Spanish, they follow the same white American Dream look, dialogue, and mannerisms as the commercials meant for the safe market.

True alternative advertising is rarely seen, and when it is it seems to be shoved into an equally alternative medium. The gay and lesbian channel LOGO, also owned by MTV, plays advertising that is targeted directly toward gay and lesbian subculture. Commercials shown on LOGO often take more risks than commercials shown on other networks. They also show many public service announcements about issues that pertain to the gay community, such as gay marriage and HIV testing. Gay marriage and HIV testing PSA’s would never be shown on a primetime network television show. It seems that even in 2012, with all the progress we have made, alternative subcultures are still being put on the backburner in favor of the mainstream target market.

This general lack of diversity in advertising still begs the question: Does advertising build and shape our values… or merely reflect them? Do we only see safe white American values because that’s what we actually want? Or is that what they want us to want? Ponder this until next time when I dive into business markets vs. consumer markets and how they each play with our emotions.