Final Project "ANUNCIO"

 

Sophisticated Advertisements

Coming to The University of Nevada, Reno

 

 

The University of Nevada, Reno, is now allowing advertisements in the quad in order to keep the University from going under financially. The quad is also a Jefferson Academic Village,  which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as the campus core follows Thomas Jefferson's design for the University of Virginia Lawn. The advertisements are also that of other countries, such as Spain, France, and Italy. Although some people debate as to if this will ruin the beauty of the quad and all the University stands for historically, unfortunately there is no other option. This is directly associated to the abundance of advertisement in the canals of Venice, Italy in which advertisements from America's capitalization has began to take over. Now America must face the fact that before their very eyes, the country is in danger and must get help from other countries to stand on its own feet. Face to face, everyday, American's will be reminded of other powerful countries taking over the United States financially and in their identity.

Advertising all over the world is more of a problem then many would realize. There is more to the advertisements than meets the eye. Not only are the ugly and in the way of the environment that we could have, they also promote capitalism, specifically the capitalist ideas of America. The advertisements are meant to pull people in the same direction, in hopes of getting society to all think the same. Politicians and world leaders to do want people to stray into their own direction of life, but want them all to be like robots. Do what they want you to do, buy what they want you buy, and fall into their capitalist trap.

 

The Situationists are a big part of what inspired me to do this project. Upon traveling to Spain, I realized the advertisement industry there was nothing compared to what I was used to in the United States. Then, the only advertisements I had seen, were of American companies and franchises. America is constantly pushing their ideas and capitalist ways on other countries. In, Perspectives for Conscious Alterations in Everyday Life, by Guy-Ernest Debord, he says, "To fail to criticize everyday life today means accepting the prolongation of the present thoroughly rotten forms of culture and politics, forms whose extreme crisis is expressed in increasingly widespread political apathy and neoilliteracy, especially in the most modern countries," (Debord). It is important to question the world around you, and not to accept everything but to have your own voice in society.

 

 Not questioning the American system is to live in acceptance of a system that is encouraging society's ignorance to their own benefit. I believe a big part of myself had been living in ignorance to the advertisements before traveling to Spain. I had learned of the advertising problems in school, but seeing them with my own eyes made me really realize the bigger issues. Once I saw how differently they all lived and how differently it looked there, I knew that America was pushing all these selfish and moronic ideas down our throats. When in Spain it was clear to see how annoying America was, imposing itself in these countries, especially in places of historical and beautiful significance for Spain. The advertisements and the motives behind them are ugly.

 

I decided to make my advertisements, ugly, pointless, and obnoxious, just as the few advertisements from America had made me feel in Spain. I made 4 large boards, and 7 smaller sized boards, and placed them in the beautiful and historically significant quad on campus. I spray painted them a ridiculous orange and purple, then wrote the word, "ADVERTISEMENT," in the languages Spanish, French, and Italian. The other languages used, are to show how it feels to watch another country with a different culture try to come and impose themselves in your beautiful home. I hung them from trees, posts, on buildings, statues and benches. I also left a small light box outside of a building in the early morning, which was quickly removed.

 

I enjoyed this project because I thought it successfully had shown all that I was trying to portray. However, if I had more money to fund the project I would have had more posters and made them more professional, yet still unattractive and with a pointless sense to them. In the critique some had wondered why I did not put actual advertisements up or at least mimicked them more. The reason I knew I did not want to do that immediately was because I knew it did not matter to me what the advertisement said. All advertisements have the same ugly idea behind them, I wanted them to look generic and as hideous as I believed they were. I would have also taken my photographs closer after hearing the critique, but at the time and just wanted to make it clear it was ruining the beautiful quad. Just as the Situationists point out, it is important to question the world around you, and not accept it because that is exactly what politicians and leaders want you to do, so as not to break from their mold.

 

America has many amazing qualities that should not be taken for granted. When I was in Spain, I missed my home for many reasons that I would have never realized. However, more and more it seems as though it is consumed with capitalism and falling into the trap of a power hungry nation, striving to consume everything selfishly. The Situationists have the right idea, questioning the world around them as well as thinking of clever ways to express these ideas. Advertisements may not be so noticeable to everyone, I didn't necessarily realize the problem until it was in front of me, even though I was aware of the problem. At some point these advertisements will be an obvious sign as to why American is getting ugly. The question then is who will notice these ugly advertisements and fight the ideas that are so easily digested by the public.