I was boggled by the topic of spiritual
advertising. As it was taught in
class, spiritual advertising capitalizes on religious insights. Its advertisements are meaningful and
do not focus on the product. A
next level advertising that utilizes the art of persuasion, it aims to create
loyalty beyond reason. But to this
extent, how does it work? What
does it mean to tap into religious insights of the public audience? My answer comes in the form of Lady
Gaga’s music videos. What about
Gaga and spiritual advertising?
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| It's Lady Gaga, again?! |
Ask yourself this question. As you are
watching Gaga's music video, which do you notice more, her powerful voice or
her eccentric performance? Do you find yourself appreciating her skills
in projecting a voice that is beautifully controlled? Or do you find
yourself fixated to the imageries in her video? I find myself doing the
latter most of the times. It was
only after watching Lady Gaga’s live performance on Jimmy Kimmel that I began to realize that she has a very good
voice…and I was surprised.
Could her music video be so successful in
presenting metaphorical messages that I have failed to notice the very product
that the music company is trying to sell i.e. Lady Gaga’s voice? Some people watch “Bad Romance” and
thinks that it tells of sex trafficked victims. Some understands it as a message of unconditional love. The inclusion of faith elements in her
music video tells me explicitly about her messages, not her voice. Many look past her voice and look towards
what her song means in their lives.
Could this be an intersection of advertising and spirituality? And because of that, do I have that much
deeper imprint of Lady Gaga in my mind?
Perhaps I have not failed to notice Lady Gaga’s
voice. Perhaps I am just going down the
path that is engineered by spiritual advertising, which has created and is hoping
to meet my desire for meaning.
The sentiments that you have expressed really get to the heart of Gaga's agenda and how her own anxiety translates into the freakish frenzy around the Gaga culture, as mentioned in the Victor Corona reading on Gaga. This culture of manufacturing and manipulation of media marketing houses has almost homogenized a basic infrastructure of what people need to do to "fit" in the music media realm. Personally, Gaga's outlandish outfits while sometimes considered "art" and obnoxious to some, but because of her eccentricity, like a reality television show, you get drawn into their need to entertain you.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much more than Lady Gaga to subvert your attention and in looking for meaning in spirituality, the way media spin doctor's contribute to steering society clear of the now fabled sacredness of spirituality, the art of Gaga has taken over the commodity of her voice value at times. Being mindful of what makes one continually question how hard it is to isolate Gaga's images being presented in her videos, you can see how similar her path is to that of Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and others in the 80's and 90's. Retro has truly made a cycle back I think through Gaga and that advertising has crossed over to isolate spirituality as just a tool to be used as a "add-on".