Every day we drive by billboards, but how often do we pause and contemplate the underlying and often subversive messages present in this form of media? Billboards constantly bombard us with images of alcohol, sports, and beautiful women, but what does any of this actually mean? The sociological reflection theory states that billboards, as a visible form of culture, reflect the underlying social structure of a society. However, content in these billboards may in turn affect college culture and the college student’s construction of the “self”. There are many billboards near the University of Texas, which prompts us to ask, what is the college culture according to these advertisements? An inductive examination of billboards near the University of Texas at Austin campus reveals that college students are socially interconnected individuals that rely upon technology, material items, pop-culture knowledge and alcohol to maneuver in social situations and establish relationships.
A survey of the billboards near the college campus reveals trends in both the general content of the billboards and the tactics advertisers use to promote their message. The content of most billboards generally fell into at least one of the following six categories: technology, alcohol, sports, real estate, service, and general material goods. In constructing these billboards, advertisers appear to use a standard set of tactics that rely upon nonmaterial and material aspects of culture. For instance, billboards market the products using pop-culture, consumerism, youthful language, spontaneous fun, and visual and social cues.
In Austin, the billboards near the University carefully co-opt the informal language of our generation commonly encountered on any college campus. Language, which communicates the particular norms and values of a society, varies across cultures. At first glance, the banking billboard by Velocity Credit Union, which states “Totally Free Checking” appears far removed from college culture. However, the language plays upon a double entendre of the word “Totally.” In this instance the two meanings of “totally” arise from its formal definition as “completely” and its slang meaning of “definitely!” By using a common language found on college campuses, this billboard communicates its product to the intended audience: an educated youth. The billboard by T mobile also employs language steeped in youth and technology when its states that T mobile cell-phone can be used “to post, like, stream or simply say hello.” Here, the word “like” refers to the act of clicking the “like” button underneath a Facebook post. This particular meaning of “like” signals that the advertisers are targeting a youth whose social community and culture revolve around social interactions on Facebook.
Many advertisers use pop-culture references to relate to and communicate with their audience. In fact, billboards transform pop-culture into a form of social currency between the advertiser and the audience. By including images of “celebrities” such as Kim Kardashian and Keith Stone in their billboards, advertisers convey that knowledge of current trends hot celebrities is a valuable social resource. This tactic is both exclusionary and inclusionary. It is exclusionary because an individual cannot fully comprehend the message of the billboard unless they possess knowledge about the celebrity in question. However, this tactic is inclusionary because it integrates the billboard within the younger college scene and communicates to the viewer that their pop-cultural knowledge secures their status within this community. Advertisers fully exploit this process by creating their own celebrities. For instance, while Kim Kardashian is an established Hollywood celebrity, Keith Stone is a celebrity creation of Keystone Light Beer, which established this personality through a series of commercials. The phrase “Smooth like Keith Stone” refers to the ability of this man to rescue men in the commercials from female entanglements. This advertisement transforms knowledge of Keith Stone and, by extension, the product as a valuable resource. Without it, the audience cannot interpret the billboard’s message and thus their external surroundings.
In a move that mirrors the consumerism of our age, billboards near campus also communicate that the products are valuable for our general well-being. Consumerism is “the steady acquisition of material possessions, often with the belief that happiness and fulfillment can thus be achieved” (Conley, 2008:105). Advertisers foster a desire to buy material goods by insinuating that the acquisition of material wealth and goods confers prestige and worth. Consumerism is fed in part by the “American Dream” where people hope to change their social standing through the acquisition of certain goods and services. Through consumerism, billboards incorporate and perpetuate these American values. For example, the Midori advertisement portrays Kim Kardashian holding a glass of liquor as the center of attention in a crowd of people. The billboard implies that the purchase of Midori liquor will cause the women to envy you (as evinced by the nasty looks given off by the women in the picture) and the men to desire you. Similarly, the Oakley billboard features a girl wearing Oakley sunglasses. This image pushes us to assume that ownership of these glasses will allow us not only to “perform beautifully”, but, like the girl featured, be beautiful. These billboards emphasize the idea that having certain things like brand name liquor and sunglasses will help us advance in our social life.
Advertisers also incorporate technology into their billboards, giving the impression that the product is hip, current, and essential for life in modern society. In a move that combines consumerism and pop-culture, billboards often try to establish a connection between their product and Google, Facebook, or even Twitter. For example, the billboard for Sweetish Hill Bakery depicts a Google search image of the bakery. This image reinforces that the bakery is a current, up-to-date restaurant. In addition, this ad targets a technology friendly audience. Similarly, the icons for Facebook and Twitter are present on several billboards. For instance, these icons are located on a Goodwill billboard, giving the well-established institution a youthful facelift. These symbols also serve as signals that this product belongs in the current social networks where young people operate. These references to Facebook, Twitter and Google indicate that the youth has multiple social networks, both online and offline, and advertisers must maneuver continuously among them.
Another trend apparent on billboards is the concurrence of sports and alcohol. For instance, the Miller Lite billboard, which features the phrase, “Go with the flow” has an alcohol bottle with a shape that evokes the image of a sports bottle. This billboard establishes an atmosphere of fun and spontaneity with a mantra that emphasizes a total lack of agenda. Similarly, the Coors Light ad shows a man playing soccer, which further establishes a connection between spontaneity, action, and alcohol. The male model implies that the target audience is young males. A Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study of 2002 surveyed over 119 colleges and found that 53% of sports fans binge when they drink (Nelson and Wechsler, 2002). Through these billboards, it is evident that advertisers exploit a college culture that combines sports and drinking.
According to the reflection theory, billboards as media of culture reflect the surrounding social structure such as class. The service-oriented billboards near campus reflect the social stratification present in our society. For instance, both the billboard featuring the marine and the Feeding America use a model of minority status – a male African American. The Feeding America billboard preys upon the perception that African American males represent the majority of the poor population. In fact, in a 1994 survey over half of the respondents believed that the poor population was dominated by African Americans, while in fact they constituted only 27% (Iceland, 2006). This Feeding America billboard exploits common misconceptions of different social classes in America. In addition, the African American male on the marine billboard signals that the target audience is African Americans. According to the social cognitive theory, which states that we learn by observing models, billboards are more likely to feature the ethnicity of models that reflect their target audience (Schooler et al., 1996). The militfocuses on African Americans because regardless of socioeconomic status they are more likely to join and remain in the army (Kleykamp, 2006). Both the Feeding America and the marine billboard incorporate social stratification and differences among the socioeconomic classes, whether real or perceived, to market their message.
Although these billboards may seem insignificant, they contain subversive messages that may potentially affect the way we think and act. Media can have both intended and unintended effects. The intended effect of most billboards is to persuade the consumer to buy the product (Conley 2008). However, negative and unintended effects might arise from sexism and racism present in the billboard’s content. For instance, the majority of the advertisements have a male perspective. In the billboards, women are used to advertise products using sexual innuendos. For example, the Midori billboard uses Kim Kardashian, a beautiful woman, to promote the liquor. A possible unintended effect of this billboard is presenting an impossible standard of feminine beauty for young women. Also, many of the billboards contain racism. Both the Feeding America and Marines advertisements use African American models. These billboards play upon the low socioeconomic status of African Americans to promote these advertisements. According to the labeling theory these billboards present other unintended effects because they suggest that to be poor is to be black. This labeling may lead the African American society to internalize and perpetuate this negative perception (Conley, 2008). These billboards also reaffirm our social scripts. They visualize how we interact and interpret gender relations and with social minorities, which may affect how we view and act toward certain groups of people in society.
Often we underestimate how much the mass media transmits messages beyond the value of a certain product. According to the reflection theory, billboards communicate information about our culture and even the very social structure of society. Advertisements of alcohol, sports, real-estate, and other miscellaneous material goods dominate the advertising scene in the UT campus area. In contrast, there are little to no school related advertisements. One billboard initially appears to advertise the UTeach program, but is instead an alternative teaching certification program not affiliated with the University. This lack of emphasis on education in the media brings serious questions to light about how students and outsiders view and value college. If we look at billboards alone for clues concerning college, we might conclude that the college experience revolves around partying, spontaneity, and obtaining material wealth rather than learning. While we cannot draw any concrete conclusions about this phenomenon, the billboards near UT do reflect that college culture emphasizes the need for nonmaterial resources such as pop-cultural knowledge and material items such alcohol to traverse both offline and online social networks.
Conley, Dalton. (2008). You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. NY: W. W. Norton.
Nelson, T.F., & Wechsler, H. (2002). School spirits: Alcohol and collegiate sports fans. Addictive Behaviors. 28(1), 1-11.
