http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8
This commercial is a play on the frontier and Manifest Destiny. It depicts many white rugged males that embody what Americans were supposed to be in the late 1900s. Only males are shown in the commercial because during the time of Manifest Destiny only males were primarily working on the frontier. What I find interesting in this commercial is that a black herder is also included. In the time period of Manifest Destiny the overwhelming majority of those depicted on the frontier were white. However, because this is a modern commercial the inclusion of a black herder was most likely to attract a larger audience to their product. Diversity is more encouraged in the media in current times than it was over 100 years ago.
I think this commercial is interesting for the reasons you stated as well as the fact that it ties in technology by saying : "We bring together information, ideas, and technologies and make them go where you want." As the cowboy on the horse is herding the cats (making them go where he wants). They are harping on the idea that their company is doing something harder than it looks through technology. The commercial is for EDS (Electronic Data Systems) that has it's headquarters in Texas which makes sense for the tie into cowboys, and the frontier.
ReplyDeleteThe headquarters are in Texas? I think that in itself is the interesting part. Other than the east coast, the other state in the west/ the south that remains so predominately white and less multicultural than (let's say, the Bay Area) is Texas. Also, the origination of the Southern "cowboy" really came from Texas, so the fact that there is now a commercial with a black herder is very surprising, and does very much give another perspective to the racialization of the image of "cowboy" and "manliness" over time and history in the United States. Back then, when the real frontier was being conquered, even though cowboys were mostly black and latino, there would have not been a slight thought of putting a black herder in a commercial or advertisement. The times have really changed to incorporate the multiracial united states and the new cultural citizenship that underlies the values of the nation today.
DeleteThis is hilarious satire on the Western Frontier. Similar to what is previously stated in the comments, EDS is a company that is "managing complexities of the digital economy." What they are advertising is their strength in digital guidance, very similar to the guidance of the "catboys". Cats are very fickle, similar to modern technology of today's economy. To rangle them up, the commercial illustrates the cowboys on dominant steeds as if the cats have no chance of escaping. In the scheme of modern advertising, EDS (the dominant horsemen), introduce something that society feels as a "want", to harness this fickle digital technology, and turn it into a need.
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