Jack Solomon The Signs Of Our Time Analysis

Jack Solomon is a professor of English at California State University, Northridge where he teaches literature and critical theory. Along with his graduate and undergraduate classes on popular cultural semiotics, he is often interviewed by the media for analysis of current events and trends. “The Signs of Our Time” is a book written by Jack Solomon in the year 1988 which is where the essay “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising” was taken from. It was published by Penguin Group, Inc who is a trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House. Jack Solomon wrote this essay as a way for his target audience, which is anyone willing and interested, to get his point of view on the diverse ways that companies and advertisers …show more content…
He argues that advertising exploits the needs and fears produced by the American dream and satisfies our need for status and belonging. As Solomon said, “Even as America’s great myth of equality celebrates the virtue of mom, apple pie, and the girl or boy next door, it also lures us to achieve social distinction, to rise above the crown and bask alone in the glory.” (Solomon, pg. 167). Solomon argues that “American companies manufacture status symbols because consumers want them.” (Solomon, pg. 168). He is analyzing advertisements to prove that advertisers make use of what they know about us and our culture to order to manipulate us. Solomon is concerned about advertisers creating status symbols that are meant to help visibly differentiate people and their status. In America, we are obsessed with status. Because of that status symbols are very important. According to Solomon, “status symbols are signs that identify their possessors’ place in a social hierarchy, markers of rank and prestige.” (Solomon, pg. 168). Unfortunately, according to advertisers what you own defines who you are. Solomon has concerns about advertisers focusing on exploiting our fears and bullying America into consumption. Solomon states, “The nightmare equivalent of America’s populist desire to “belong”, for example, is the fear of not belonging, of social rejection, of being …show more content…
As people, we all dream about getting to the top but the fact of the matter is, we all can’t. It was put best by one of my classmates, “The common misconception is that people think their dream is to get to the top and step on everyone on the journey there, people want to be the social elite, not equals.” (Dominick Lizotte, Precis Part 3: The Thesis). The American dream is two faced. While we are a country concerned with equality, which can be seen in some advertisements, we are also a country concerned with elitism and rising above the crowd, which can also be seen in advertisements. Depending on the mood of the country at the time, as well of the status of our hopes, fears, desires and beliefs, advertisers can use that information to exploit our discontentment of the American