This commercial is for the Audi A4 (not that I can tell you anything about cars). In the commercial, the company makes fun of the self-parking Lexus when it says that the Audi A4 is "The luxury car for people who can park themselves."
This reminded me of something we have been discussing in class. In class we are talking about class (hahah), as in social class. One thing we talked about was how a lot of people say they are in the middle class when they are in fact upper class. They do this as to not fulfill the snobby upper class stereotype.
In the commercial, the A4 is still described as "luxury" as to draw in consumers, but is trying to seem more average rather than over the top. They describe the car differently to make it appeal to the people who are upper class, who say they are middle class. Just as people try to seem modest, so does the Audi A4.
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ReplyDeleteI think that this has a lot to do with how others see you. Nobody wants to seem poor and helpless, nor rich and snobby. So we all claim that we are somewhere in the middle. We are not the single richest family in the world, nor are we the poorest family in the world. While still the upper crust, we like to think that we are in the middle and that others are like us. Also, I think that we want to believe that the average is closer to our status, so that we tend to ignore those very far below us on the socioeconomic ladder. I think that this is reasonable for others to be persuaded in believing, but I know that this type of thinking is flawed.
ReplyDeleteDani, I think this is a brilliant observation on your part, and I agree with David's take on the matter. It is a very clever commercial in that it appeals to many types and classes of people with its use of the appealing word "luxury" but not in an over-the-top self-parking way. I have to add, I think it's a little ridiculous that these days people are too lazy to parallel park (or learn how) without a car doing it for them...
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting observation, Dani! In addition to David and Hayley's points, I'd like to point out that theA4 commercial seems to mock the very top of the upper class that can't park themselves. It finds pride in those people who do not have the money to afford that luxury.
ReplyDeleteYes, agreed with Nikita. How does this view of Americans touch the ideas of "self-reliance" and "rugged individualism"? It seems that no matter the class, American still buy into certain images of themselves.
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