Sample Blog: Victorian Values Return SAMPLE BLOG

Victorian values are reappearing in the twenty first century- in the form of advertisements. Victorian values including simplicity, doing well onto others, and valuing the home and family are apparent everywhere, specifically the latest State Farm jingle “like a good neighbor State Farm is there”, and in the latest hotel slogans “let us stay with you”. Putting emphasis on the consumer and making them feel like the prize instead of the product was a idea prevalent in the Victorian Era. Victorian ideology maintained much comfort, coziness, and prosperity. For example, “Victorian iconography also depicted consumer products as symbols of fecundity, tangible proof that America was a fertile land of plenty” (Blacsyck 25). Victorian era presented simplicity in values like doing well onto your neighbors and enjoying simple things in life which is why these notions are so prevalent now in ads. State Farm Insurance has a motto, “like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”, implying good neighbors should be there for you. Many people today do not know or communicate with your neighbor, but in the Victorian Era neighbors were considered family with one another. Life was simple, family was most important, and those are ideas to be treasured. Simplicity is gratifying, and retailers are trying to sell these notions with brands hoping consumers will take comfort in these thoughts and therefore comfort in their brand and develop a relationship with a customer. (Blascysk 30) Applebees has instituted a new campaign along with many fast food chains displaying fresh, home cooked meals. Fresh, home cooked meals were considered normal in the Victorian Era, cooked by housewives and families expected nothing less. Applebees newest slogan includes, “there’s no place like the neighborhood”, because neighborhoods were places of family, comfort, and good times. The return to good old fashioned values is wonderful given the state of society with avarice and greed overwhelming our inhabitants. The Ritz Carlton’s new campaign of “let us stay with you” rather than “please stay with you” reflects on Victorian values in an emotional way, “to encourage travelers to evolve from measuring a stay in the number of days to measuring a stay in the number of memories, so you get your memory’s worth, not just your money’s worth” (NYT). A conscious effort is required to move back to Victorian values, however it is a rewarding movement to reinstate values and morals American society has long forgotten about.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/business/media/luxury-hotels-market-the-memories-advertising.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=home%20advertising&st=cse