Life<\/em>, November 19, 1945, pp. 63<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFeatured among the myriad of advertisements in Life Magazine\u2019s November 19, 1945 edition is this advertisement for Harvel\u2019s newest watch\u2013the Date-O-Graph<\/em>. The wearer is now able to tell the day, date, and month of the year with just a flick of the wrist. Various other styles of watches flood the page but the Date-O-Graph maintains its spotlight as the star of the show. Advertised as a watch that \u201ctimes the stars\u201d, this watch not only exudes class and prestige but puts its wearer in the same category as the various celebrities we see at the bottom of the advertisement further emphasizing the exclusivity that comes with owning a Harvel. Through the use of figurative language and literal figures to advertise this watch, Harvel successfully evokes the idea that by buying a product, you can purchase a lifestyle as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPlaced at the top of the advertisement is a carefully staged photograph of a man\u2019s hand dressed in a blazer with his crisp white sleeve peeking out. He sports his newest Date-O-Graph and holds his lit cigarette. In creating a focal point for the viewer just through the isolation of a hand, Harvel successfully evokes emotions of nonchalance and carefreeness through this character. One might imagine the man, a businessman, smoking in an airplane while he stares outside thinking of his new business idea to present when he lands. The mixture of pleasure (with the cigarette) and business (with the formal wear) creates an equilibrium for the sort of person Harvel is trying to sell to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The use of text explicitly lets the viewer know that owning a Harvel is something of exclusivity. This is evident through the contradictory establishment of who their target audience is. \u201cFor salesmen, secretaries, executives, businessmen\u2013everybody<\/em>.\u201d They are pointing out that these watches are not for everybody by giving examples of high-paying jobs during that time, further feeding into the idea that if you work hard enough, you can attain this sort of lifestyle and then it can become something for \u201ceverybody\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t“Party Pictures”, William E. Williams, 1985<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt is interesting that although color photography had already been invented nearly a century before this advertisement was released, its design maintains a black-and-white palette throughout. One could even argue that if the advertisement appeared in color, it would take away from its ability to emphasize class and heritage. This idea that black and white photography might convey emotions better than color photography in certain instances can be represented in William E. Williams\u2019 Party Pictures<\/em> series (1985) where he photographed dinner parties and social gatherings of the elite. The image discovered during a class Wellin Museum visit features a distinct contrast between light and dark to show the experience of a server\u2013a colored one at that\u2013<\/em>amongst high-class guests. Williams\u2019 series consistently comments on social class divides and racial inequality at the time and the use of black and white photography to discuss these is successful in creating depth and volume with the subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAlthough an advertisement can appear to be timeless or futuristic, it will always display certain elements of its time. By referencing the various stars, we can see the ties to Fordism in America, a period aligned with mass consumption and production. You have to constantly be on the move to have a watch like this right? This is what you think once you are convinced by the aesthetic tropes of Harvel. We see musicians, singers, and actors being referenced to increase the want for the watch\u2013an earlier kind of influencer marketing if you will. \u201cTheir work demands a watch of split-second accuracy\u201d therefore yours should too, commenting on a drive for further promotion in the workplace prompted by the watch. It is this seamless marketing tactic that prevents the viewer from realizing they are becoming a target and that successfully sells a lifestyle through carefully choreographed visuals and descriptions, similar to that used in the 1920s to promote Florida tourism. Among the entrepreneurs and real estate developers trying to invest in Floridian tourism was Carl Fisher who invested millions into the new concept of not having to travel abroad to experience something \u201ctropical\u201d. By having elephants on Miami Beach who could entertain guests with tricks and who were viewed as harmless, he contributed greatly to the tourism scene (Andrzejewski) by creating a paradise at home. This marketing tactic of introducing something \u201cforeign\u201d contributes to the aesthetic tropes that make the consumer convinced to invest in a Harvel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Furthermore, the anticipation to just experience<\/em> the world of Harvel by visiting their New York location is the same tactic that was used in the creation of Disney World. \u201c…In the same way that viewers do not see the camera movements in classic Hollywood films\u201d, parkgoers failed \u201cto see the vehicles and spaces of flow as the park\u2019s major aesthetic experience and intent\u201d (Schwartz 16). The seamless creation of a fantasy that makes the parkgoer forget they are in a manufactured magic land is the same magic and intricacy that comes with visiting a Harvel store and forgetting how the store has been set up or manufactured to make it hard for the consumer to say no.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt is this ability to sell a lifestyle that greatly differentiates luxury marketing from the rest as it focuses less on the product and more on the subject implying that by obtaining a certain product, you can attain the lifestyle that comes with it. The next time you see a luxury perfume commercial, ask yourself how you can \u201csmell\u201d that fragrance through the screen just through aesthetic tropes. You will realize that the company is trying to sell you a lifestyle of carefreeness and nonchalance just like Harvel did with their Date-O-Graph.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This marketing tactic is not only able to convince the rich who are Harvel\u2019s most loyal customers to keep buying but also the poor to strive and work towards something despite how unattainable it may be. You hardly realize when you become subject to their marketing tactics and find yourself wishing for something way out of your budget. It is this ever-growing challenge that consumers face each day with buying above their means and not realizing until it comes to paying the credit bill that they cannot afford the lifestyle they were dreaming of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Works Cited<\/summary>\n\nAndrzejewski, Anna. \u201cWork, Play, and Elephants in South Florida\u2019s Leisure Landscape.\u201d\u00a0Edge Effects<\/em>, 27 Apr. 2023, edgeeffects.net\/miami-beach-elephants\/.<\/li>\n\n\n\nE. Williams, William.\u00a0Party Pictures<\/em>. The Print Center, 2020.<\/li>\n\n\n\nR. Schwartz, Vanessa.\u00a0Jet Age Aesthetic : The Glamour of Media in Motion<\/em>. New Haven ; London, Yale University Press, 2020.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Featured among the myriad of advertisements in Life Magazine\u2019s November 19, 1945 edition is this advertisement for Harvel\u2019s newest watch\u2013the Date-O-Graph. The wearer is now able to tell the day, date, and month of the year with just a flick of the wrist. Various other styles of watches flood the page but the Date-O-Graph maintains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":491,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions\/491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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