Isn’t It Nice When Things Just Work?
Honda Motor Company limited is the largest engine maker in the world, producing fourteen million combustion engines a year. Founded in 1948 this Japanese based company began as a motorcycle manufacturer that quickly moved on to manufacturing cars, trucks and other mobile technologies. Compared to the other Japanese automakers, Honda is relatively small however they continue to sell their products because of their high quality and innovation. The company commits to protecting the environment and enhancing safety by accelerating their efforts to create fuel efficient, or even hydrogen powered fuel cell cars. The Honda is also renowned for one of the most fuel-efficient car companies in the automotive industry and a leader in the development of cutting age technologies to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. High quality of their products and protecting the environment, while keeping the cost of their cars down is important to this company. One of the main products in the Honda automobile line is the Honda Accord. In 2003, in London, an advertisement for the new Honda Accord at the time was created. This ad, titled, “Cogs” attempted to revolutionize the advertising campaign of the Honda by presenting their new car in a way in which no one had ever seen before.
Conventional car advertisements are all the same. Fast cars driving through winding roads in the mountains, big pick up trucks barreling through a mud pit, or a family riding along in a conveniently sized mini van, are all themes that over done in car advertisements. These types of ads that people see every day do not help distinguish one brand of car from the other, and can not entice audiences to choose their product over the competitors. Honda decided to change the conventional automobile advertisement by creating something that people had rarely seen before. “Cogs” is the outcome of this goal, to show audiences how different Honda’s car is than all the other competitors. It makes people think twice about what they have seen rather than pass through minds without getting noticed. With their advertisement Honda is able to rise above the others, and present their product in a way that is appealing to the rest of the world. In an all white room, with a white floor, a circular object begins rolling down a sloped surface. It then hits multiple other circular objects to begin a chain reaction. What continues from then on is a two minute long, chain reaction sequence of events occurring from the arrangement of the various parts of the car throughout the room. The chain reaction of events continues, showing all of the new features of the Honda Accord. The advertisement ends when the parts from one car, completely disassembled, end up locking the power doors on another fully assembled Honda Accord. The hatch back of the automobile then closes, tipping the car off a balanced trailer and into a final pose for the camera. At the end of the ad a voice appears for the first and only time leaving the thought, “Isn’t it nice when things just…work?”
This product, the new Honda Accord is certainly advertised in an unconventional way. Rather than dramatic or beautiful scenery, “Cogs” is filmed in a white studio. This advertisement has transformed the line of Honda cars because people are beginning to recognize their capabilities as an automobile manufacturer. This innovative advertisement makes people think about all of the things that go into a car. Every part is laid out, and has a specific purpose in the ad. The same is true when the car is completely assembled. Every part has its specific place and function, and acts out that function with precision and perfection. It is the perfect movement of all of these parts in the ad that make it attractive to potential car buyers. Not only do the precise movements show how extraordinary the new Accord is, but it also shows the new features and luxuries of the new model. In the middle of “Cogs” water is sprayed onto the windshield which is lying on the ground. As soon as the water hits the windshield, the windshield wipers begin to move across the room. Water activated windshield wipers were an important new innovation for the new Accord. Similarly, power doors and windows are opened and closed by tiny movements and contact with other parts. Presenting their new car in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement, while showing off the new luxuries of the new automobile is important to the overall success of the ad. The way in which these cars are advertised is not only new an innovative but, it makes people want to learn more about Honda automobiles.
Although this advertisement is extremely interesting, the things that are not present in the ad make it even more fascinating. For one, not a single human or human voice appears throughout the commercial. Only at the end when the car is in its final pose does a voice finally appear, saying only one sentence. The absence of humans from this ad goes along with Marx’s idea that the laborer or producer is written out of the equation when we fetishize commodities in his work “Capital.” A commodity is an article or trade of commerce that is produced from some sort of service. This makes the Honda Accord an example of a commodity. When Marx says that people fetishize commodities he means that human attributes are given to these commodities. Private individuals or groups of individuals who carry out their work independently of each other make commodities. The total of all of the laborers work is not seen because producers do not come into contact with each other until the products are exchanged. When they are exchanged the producer does not ever have to do anything besides present his product. Production and consumption are experiences between person and commodity and not person to person (Marx 44). This means that the social relations are done by commodities themselves in the marketplace, and the person who made that commodity is completely absent. In order to exchange things on the market the individuality of that thing is taken away from it.
This means that the labor that went in to that specific thing is often overlooked when a commodity is exchanged, most often for money. Since the laborer or producer is absent from the exchange process for the most part, the commodity carries an appearance that will help it get exchanged. This human like ability to carry and appearance and sell itself is like a fetishism of commodities. The object that is being exchanged is looked at more than the people that actually participated in the making of that objects. In the case of a car, we look only at the car and not at the parts or the labor that went into making that car. This is an aspect of the commodities production that is obscured in the way it is portrayed in this advertisement. In the commercial it is only parts. No humans helping, no laborer, and no producer are present throughout the commercial. Everything is happening on its own, and is happening perfectly. Consumers never actually see the means of production of one of the new Honda Accord. They are made to think that all of the parts are capable of operating on their own. Cars are just there on screen, and consumers never get to see the labor behind it. Although car production usually takes place in a large factory by large machines, there is some human labor taking place behind the scenes of a mass production car assembly line. The two cars that were used in the filming of “Cogs” were actually two of six hand built Honda Accords in the world at the time. As consumers we need to stop taking things for granted, and we need to consider each things function (Barthes). Like Murray from “White Noise,” we must concentrate on each individual things meaning and how they function as signs. Although the Honda Accord is much less expensive than say a BMW, both of these automobiles share the same functional utility. They perform the same job but they are thought about differently. The prestige of the BMW usually outweighs the performance and environmentally friendly Honda even though they are both just means of transportation. These cars have taken on new identities. They are no longer means of transportation but have become fetishized. “Cogs” does not have any humans in the ad and this suggests that cars as a commodity are fetishized.
The new Honda Accord is supposed to show a progression of Americans from environmentally unfriendly, unreliable automobiles. The advertisement “Cogs” is an attempt to show the innovation and the new features that Honda has introduced with their new Accord but it also presents a deeper meaning. Automobiles are commodities that have taken on their own identities as Marx said in his work. Humans, and producers and laborers are overlooked and absent from the market today because of the fetishization of commodities.
Marx, Karl. Capital. London: A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859.
Barthes, Roland. "Mythologies." Les Lettres Nouvelles (1957).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
It was nice to see a different type of car commercial. Do you think they may be trying to say something about the sum of parts being greater than the whole? It is also interesting to see that they were able to show all the features of the car without showing it tearing down the highway, but by breaking into small units that all work together. You talk about the idea of removing the human element from the car. Do you think this subtracts from the appeal of the care, making it seem foreign or abstract or makes it more attractive, a machine of precision without human error?
I noticed that he steering wheel of the incomplete car was on the right side rather than the left. Is this because it is not an American ad? Regardless it nice to see an ad that focues on the product primarily, subtly, rather than simply their image and the lifestyle that goes along with it. However, how do you think the ad plays into a lifestyle that a Honda driver lives, or does it at all? I think that it must on some level, perhaps in the pace of the ad or the impled perfect harmony that their car runs on.
By showing the car in pieces like the ad did, Honda destroys the TRADITIONAL car feeling of a machine that will serve your needs. Instead, we get a feeling of creation, something that came from almost nothing, rather than the feeling that the car has always been in existence as a whole rather than as a list of parts.
Do you think this helps Honda or hurts them... by destroying a bit of the credibility built into having an already made car to advertise in the commercial?
I found it interesting that this advertisement was placed in an all white environment just like the PC/Mac commercials. This tactic seems to have similar goals in both situations, to draw 100% of the attention to one specific point. In both cases, this attempt pays off and the desired effect is achieved. It is interesting to note that these same trends toward consumerism and brand presence in everyday life is a phenomenon that is not isolated to the United States, but one that is shared all over the world.
The lack of people in the commercial could also be due to an increasing mechanization of all aspects of society. Unlike the Ford promotional video from earlier in the year, factory jobs have lost whatever prestige that was present in earlier decades. Considering the presumed working conditions of factories, it’s not surprising that people would prefer to disassociate the laborers and a luxury product providing personal transportation. Also, in the commercial I watched, the background wasn’t completely white; there were white paneled walls, but the floor looked like slightly warped pine wood. For me, that introduced a different humanistic approach, since the commercial appeared to be in a really large living room.
And, as you mentioned, Honda has been a leader in alternative fuel sources. In my opinion, that represents an even further disconnect from the average laborer, since the most important element of the car is increasingly reliant on science and research.
I think that this ad is similar to the Duracell ad. Both focus on the product itself. In the Honda commercial, it is showing how the parts work together to make a durable, trustable car that "just works." Similarly, Duracell focuses on making a promise to the consumer that they can depend on their product in any situation. Neither ad gives outlandish promises to the consumer to try to persuade them to but it, but simply rely on the basics of the product to sell it.
This was a good choice to analyze. In a way, this commercial was not only revolutionary for car commercials, but for advertising in general. I think you did a good job discussing some of the ways this ad achieved such success, and I really liked your connection to Marx's commodities. I would have liked to have seen a bit more focus on why this revolutionary advertisement made Honda so successful. i remember reading that these commercials won tons of awards for innovation.
It was fascinating to see Honda differentiate itself from other car companies directly through their commercials. While, as you said in the paper, most car companies show their cars performing on a twisting road, Honda chose to devote an entire ad to something unrelated to the car's driving ability. It is interesting to note that I found myself interested in this product because it did not focus on its driving ability. I was drawn in by the mystery behind this car. It was not just another car with good gas mileage and a well designed interior, it was a car that I would have to actively find more about. In doing so, I interestingly found this commercial very effective because it left the consumer wanting to know more about the car.
Post a Comment