This lecture was about visual communication. We looked at war posters from different countries with different messages. It turned out that posters from Russia and Germany were more artistic while British ones were very simple and less sophisticated but more effective which is the most important thing when we talk about posters. Because British army was voluntary these posters advertised war many different ways. They used symbols to make their messages stronger and more effective. The interesting thing about symbols is that they don’t work in any context. Visual language is the same as spoken language, it isn’t universal. Symbols mean different things in different countries. One of the British war posters used a famous, powerful man to advertise war, but the face of that man wouldn’t mean anything for people in other counties.
Nowadays posters are more international I think but obviously not all of them. The message to sell a BMW can be universal but when it comes to M&S it is totally different. I remember a TV advert which was about how many things M&S did for British women, like invented ready meals. In my country it would sound hilarious. Why would you buy your food in a plastic box, put it into a microwave and eat it on your own or serve it to your family. First of all for me food has energy which comes from the fresh ingredients, from the people who made it and I wouldn’t put my food into a microwave because it ruins everything in it ( I think the last one is just me). Of course if the aim is to fill the hole it’s a perfect solution. But then why are we sleeping in a bed and not on the floor? Because that’s very uncomfortable such as fast food for our body. Of course we can’t feel it immediately but after a decade or two. There are other easy options for today’s busy housewives like get a take away, order a pizza or go to a restaurant. It’s all about time saving, isn’t it?
I used to study mass media during high school and I remember my teacher told us something about today’s adverts. She said men made up the image of the perfect female body to avenge on women because they wanted to be equal. And if you think about it I’m really not sure women’s life get any better since the suffrage. It’s totally different though. On posters and from telly we know we have to be perfect looking. I went home (Hungary) for two weeks in the summer and we went for a canoe tour for a couple days with my friends. We spent the nights beside the river tenting and I met with two countryside girls. One of them was wearing a short and she had hairy legs. I realised that I haven’t seen such a thing in the capital for ages ago. Nobody would wear a skirt or a short with hairy legs. I actually have nightmares about me going to the beach and my legs are hairy. And I know I’m not the only one. We just not allowed to do that even if it’s 35 °C which is normal in Hungary during the summer. If you go to Budapest everybody has perfect legs like on the posters. Maybe not the old ladies but everybody else. But that’s just a very basic thing. Because women on those posters are really perfect it makes you feel very bad about yourself and you will end up having plastic surgery. Well, that’s a bit extreme but definitely exits. Females spend too much time and money on their appearance and if they can’t reach their aim they feel bad about themselves.
The other thing is that we have the right to work since we are equal. So we have no time to cook and be with our family which means we have to buy ready meals, hire a cleaner and let our family fall apart. Because I think that also would be a woman’s role to keep the family together. There are families in these modern days which never sit down for a tea at the end of the day or even every week but maybe at Christmas. So thanks for M&S we can be free. But we are losing the pleasure to serve healthy food for our family, spend quality time with our kids and enjoy the peace and love surrounded by our relatives.