Listen or read the rest of King’s speech and then respond here with your thoughts about his thoughts related to advertising. Think about the name Drum Major’s Speech and what that means.
Read through the comments of your classmates and reply/comment on at least one.
[Discussion] Dr. King’s Drum Major Speech
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I think he skillfully broke down the power of media, and how media can play off of the emotions of individuals. He broke down how ego is natural in people and the desire to be first is part of human nature but if left unchecked it can be harmful. He uses scripture to bridge the gap between unchecked ego and the lack brotherhood between black and white in America. The remedy he proposes to this natural urge to be the best, is to be the best in moral character. This is a great speech.
It’s crazy how he talks about the power of the media and then you look at what goes on during present time and it basically proved he was right.
You pretty much summarized it well.
Martin Luther King describes advertising as almost selling a fairytale. If you buy a certain product it will help you achieve a specific goal, which really isn’t true. Best selling ads give the audience hope to be successful in someway whether it’s having the best car or buying the nicest shoes. They tap into your emotions and insecurities by comparing their products to successful people and dreams. I definitley agree with Dr.King, people will buy 500 dollar shoes they really can’t afford just to fit in to the medias standards of what is cool and accepted. I think he chose to name his speech Drum Major because it reflects the consumers. Drum majors are always do the most for the band, yet always get the least credit. Similarly, consumers who give in to these ads are doing the most to fit in the best they can, yet are not always successful because they’re often hiding from their reality.
You explained it perfectly, I agree strongly when you say “They tap into your emotions and insecurities by comparing their products to successful people and dreams.” Thats how they get you to think what you have is not enough and is part of the whole persuasion method.
I agree with you as well with how money has taken control of everyones life and how King is trying to explain that having a simple life is often just as good.
I agree, I’ve seen people go into debt in order to fit in with this certain lifestyle society expects us all to have. I find your observation of Drum Majors to be quite interesting, I didn’t think of that.
I also want to point out that companies tend to advertise themselves in a way that makes them seem like a popular individual rather than a huge organization of thousands of employees, big name companies basically act like they’re consumers’ friends and manipulate them into living outside their means and making them feel important. You made a good point about drummers in a band, I didn’t think about it like that. Drummers aren’t usually regarded to as important members of the band like the guitarist or singer is.
As I was reading this, I almost forgot that this was written years ago, as it connected so much to today’s society. No matter what platform you may be on daily, whether it’s social media, commercials on televisions, and even advertisements on the web, theres always this persuasion to buy their product. For years advertisements gave this impression that if you bought their product somehow your life would change for the greater good, but not once have I seen an advertisement that stresses that what you already have is best. This contributes to the thought of being “socially accepted”, that somebody needs a specific item that makes them superior or validated. I believe it’s taken a major toll on society today and has changed what it means to be your own person.
He wanted to show us that a lot of people believe that they need to have everything that everyone else has to be noticed in society but that’s not the case He’s trying to point out that you should not make yourself broke just to stand out out. He is true many people often buy things they can not afford just to impress others .
I agree! I think that is the sole reason, and people don’t really see it sometimes in real life.
I find it eye opening the fact that this speech was given over fifty years ago because the points Dr. King is making directly related to our current society and values. He talks about how us as human beings naturally have an ego, how we enjoy being praised more than anything else just to feed that ego. Many companies see that, so they play with our ego by using advertisements that tell us their product will make us much better than others, more envied. Many of us want to be socially accepted and be the best, so therefore it all turns into a competition. It’s a competition within all of us that companies make money off of, especially now that social media exists. Social media is everywhere whether we want to admit it or not. This means more advertisements from companies, celebrities, Instagram models, etc. This need that we have, this pressure that we feel increases every day to be socially accepted because of these ads. Ads will never tell you to cherish what you already have because then you wouldn’t buy the product.
You’ve made a very good point that Advertisements will never tell you to cherish what you have. That makes me think about the broader idea of commercialism and how ads are a powerful tool that can be used to influence the public to cherish what is already owned, however there would not be a profit motive to make advertisement agencies create such ads.
Dr. King’s points about advertising were relevant then as much as they’re relevant today. Companies hire advertisers that are skilled in persuasiveness and abuse people’s drum major instinct, or their egos, to get them to feel important or different by buying their product, like Apple did with the 1984 ad. This can then become destructive, as Dr. King mentioned, because it causes people to “live above our means.” When he refers to “snobbish exclusivism,” and “identifying with so-called big name people,” I feel that it really correlates to our discussion last week about how Apple users can be snobby.
His speech reminds us of how we live in a place and time, where advertisements tell us what we should do or look like. Its something that is everywhere and people with high status really depend on and make people look up. In his speech, he explains how advertisers try to get people to think that they are not enough. Trying to get people to buy more and more.