Brand Myths and the Construction of Reality

Thesis

Sviatlana Hurskaya

Submitted in Partial fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Science

Communication and Mass Media

State University of New York

Empire State College

2019

Reader: Dr. Todd Nesbitt

Statutory Declaration / Čestné prohlášení

I, Sviatlana Hurskaya, declare that the paper entitled:

Brand Myths and the Construction of Reality

was written by myself independently, using the sources and information listed in the list of references. I am aware that my work will be published in accordance with § 47b of

Act No. 111/1998 Coll., On Higher Education Institutions, as amended, and in accordance with the valid publication guidelines for university graduate theses.

Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto práci vypracoval/a samostatně s použitím uvedené literatury a zdrojů informací. Jsem vědom/a, že moje práce bude zveřejněna v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb., o vysokých školách ve znění pozdějších předpisů, a v souladu s platnou Směrnicí o zveřejňování vysokoškolských závěrečných prací.

In Prague, 26.4.2019 Sviatlana Hurskaya

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates how brands fit into the sociocultural environment of consumer society and manage to build modern myths around their products. The research takes a theoretical approach and analyzes a body of literature on branding, marketing, psychology, theories of myth and semiotics.

The culture of consumerism has made brands important players in social and cultural arenas, constructing a certain reality and influencing consumers’ perception and personal life. It is crucial to understand what elements and mechanisms of branding made brands so influential. The paper also examines the impact of myths and how they adapted to the modern culture. The paper explains how mythic features, plots, and structural elements are utilized by brands to construct and maintain the consumer culture of the capitalist economy. Current research proves that brands are important elements of personal life that construct reality and contribute to the sociocultural environment by creating modern myths and narratives that serve the interests of the consumer society.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 1

LIST OF FIGURES ...... 3

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 4

2. BRANDS AND BRANDING AS ELEMENTS OF PERSONAL LIFE THAT

CONSTRUCT REALITY ...... 8

2.1. Emergence of modern advertising, brands, and branding models ...... 8

2.2. Consumer-brand interaction and relationship...... 13

2.3. Storytelling in branding ...... 18

2.4. How brands construct reality ...... 21

3. THE THEORY OF MYTH AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE ...... 27

3.1. Jungian theory of archetypes and the collective unconscious ...... 27

3.2. Theories of myth ...... 31

3.3. Modern myth and its form ...... 35

4. HOW BRANDS IMPACT SOCIETY AND CULTURE AND CONSTRUCT

MYTHS ...... 42

4.1. Brands as elements of culture in the consumer society ...... 42

4.2. How brands construct myths ...... 46

4.2.1. Frye’s theory of mythoi and taxonomy of narratives ...... 47

4.3. Deconstruction and analysis of brand myths ...... 52

4.3.1. Comedy: Mercedes-Benz ...... 52

4.3.2. Romance: Freia ...... 55

1 4.3.3. Tragedy: eBay ...... 57

4.3.4. Irony: Coca-Cola ...... 59

5. CONCLUSION ...... 61

REFERENCES ...... 63

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 71

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - The basic structure of a brand ...... 23

Figure 2 - Barthes’s two orders of signification. In the second order, the sign system of the first is inserted into the value system of the culture ...... 39

3 1. Introduction

The impact of brands and advertising on society can hardly be underestimated. Brands are woven into the fabric of everyday life both reflecting and constructing society’s reality mostly through the vehicle of advertising. Advertising exists and functions in the space of mass culture and mass communication. The nature and purpose of it, combined with its mass dissemination, implies that it is inevitable and encounters of it are often involuntary (Pollay, 1986).

During the Industrial Revolution, brands and advertising started to become necessary elements of the manufacturer-consumer relationship that guided consumers in the emerging market and the variety of choices it offered due to the development of mass production and transportation (Klein, 2000). The abundance of newly manufactured products, which were produced at a previously impossible fast pace, created the need to sell them faster as well. That is why the creation of brands, unique identifiers of products and a set of abstractions associated with them, became crucial in that process

(McDonald and Scott, 2007).

Moreover, as society transitioned to industrial, traditional systems and values were abolished. For instance, extended families had to be separated, as people moved to urban areas and could not afford a living for the whole family. A nuclear family unit became the norm. People started to lack the values they enjoyed before – spending leisure time with the community, authority and respect of religion, rural traditions, relationships mediated by old ethnic cultures (Jhally, 1990). It created dissatisfaction

4 and a cultural void that needed to be filled for the society to function normally. So, the old, traditional values were replaced with the newly developed consumer culture.

The need to sell goods faster combined with the need for new values and meanings made the ruling class of the capitalist economy attach special myths and ideologies to brands. On the one hand, it would help create stories around products, differentiate a brand from competitors, and make it more appealing in the eyes of consumers. On the other hand, it would help fill the cultural void of the industrial society by attaching cultural, almost sacred meanings to brands and products. That is why brands became crucial elements in the formation and maintenance of culture in the consumption-driven societies of the Western capitalist economies (Jhally, 1990).

Avoiding or ignoring brands and advertisements today is virtually impossible, at least in the developed, consumer societies. Persuasive and at times manipulative nature of advertising and marketing may influence people's personal lives and attitudes in a hidden, unconscious manner. It makes brands influential players of the sociocultural environment that have the power to form worldviews and construct certain reality

(Pollay, 1986). Thus, it creates the need for the population to be aware and conscious of the practices brands utilize to create an image and advertise their products.

One of the most successful techniques employed by brands is storytelling (Aaker, D. &

Aaker, J., 2016). It helps brands form an emotional and intimate connection with customers due to the ancient power of storytelling and narratives, which were strong tools of persuasion even in the age of cavemen. By encountering brand stories people unconsciously become part of these narratives; they get fixed in their memory (Escalas,

5 2004). It helps people form personal connections with a brand, which even may be similar to interpersonal relationships (Esch, Langner, Schmitt & Geus, 2006).

What helps brands build personal connections with consumers and makes them part of society’s culture is a brand myth. A brand myth is a fictional story or narrative that addresses personal and cultural concerns and tensions from the imaginary, fantastic world of the story (Holt, 2004). Holt argues that successful brands that already have the love and trust of the population no longer compete on the product market – rather, they compete on the myth market and not only with other brands but also with other cultural products, such as fiction and film.

Analyzing how and why brands construct such myths and how they fit into the traditional understanding of myth is crucial for understanding of the phenomenon of brands in contemporary society. Since brands have the power to influence the masses and the culture of society, combined with the fact they have tools and techniques of persuasion and the means of mass communication, makes them momentous entities of the sociocultural domain.

The goal of this paper is to investigate and research the emergence of brands and brand myths and how they gained the power they have now. It analyses a body of literature concerning brands, branding, advertising, psychology, and theories of myth, language, and semiotics. The paper aims to investigate and prove that brands are important elements of personal life that construct reality and contribute to the sociocultural environment by creating modern myths and narratives that serve the interests of the consumer society.

The first chapter of this paper briefly discusses how brands and advertising evolved and took the shape they have today, how brands manage to establish and maintain emotional connections with consumers, why brands utilize storytelling and why it is one of the most effective techniques of advertising, and finally how brands appear ‘real' and how they construct consumers' reality. The second chapter deals with the theory and importance of myths. It starts with the discussion of Jung's theory of archetypes and collective unconscious and how they are manifested in myths. It proceeds with the analysis of different theories of myth. Lastly, the chapter talks about the form and structure of the modern myth. The final chapter merges the two previous chapters together by explaining how brands became crucial elements of culture and personal life through the construction of myths. Finally, the chapter offers an analysis of four commercials produced by different brands, each utilizing a traditional mythic structure of the plot.

7 2. Brands and branding as elements of personal life that construct

reality

This chapter discusses what a brand is and how the practices of advertising and branding evolved and took the shape they have now, what models brands developed to become more than signs of origin and quality. Then, the consumer-brand relationship will be examined – how consumers establish emotional and intimate connections with brands, how people view brands, and why they attribute human traits to them. The chapter also discusses how and why brands utilize the tool of storytelling to construct myths and stories that embody the essence of a brand. Finally, the chapter concerns how brands as a phenomenon established its place in the lives of modern people by constructing a certain reality.

2.1. Emergence of modern advertising, brands, and branding models

A certain form of advertising had been present in the lives of societies as long as commerce exists. Outdoor advertising dates back to the early civilizations, such as

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. There were “tradesmen’s signs and tavern signs,” “ads of slaves and household goods,” as written records suggest (McDonald &

Scott, 2007, p.18). Even in the era of the early civilizations the purpose of advertising was the same as today – present commodity’s or service’s positive features and persuade that it would improve the life of a prospect consumer.

According to McDonald and Scott (2007), advertising existed in this primitive form until the middle of the eighteenth century when the Industrial Revolution began and the

8 role of advertising started to change dramatically. In years 1760 – 1830, production and distribution of goods rose to the mass level, and the urban populations were growing. It created the need to sell products faster and to a larger amount of people as well as notify the public about the emerging services, which required an additional tool to help raise people's awareness of what was offered on the market. Advertising became a mass phenomenon owing to mass printing. As the market was becoming more saturated with various commodities, consumers as well as manufacturers wanted products to be differentiated, and the notion of the brand became critical. The demand for the brand names and unique packaging started to grow increasingly from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards (McDonald & Scott, 2007, p.18).

In fact, the basic idea of a brand is not new at all, just as advertising. Proto-brand, the successor of mark, started to be used approximately in the year 2000 BC, even though the term “brand” was first used in literature only in 1922 (Pryor, & Grossbart, 2007).

“The cave paintings from south-western Europe, from the Stone Age and Early Bronze

Age, show branded cattle, as well as paintings and Egyptian funerary monuments”

(Briciu, V.-A., & Briciu, A., 2016, p.138). Proto-brands were used as the identifications of the “goods property,” such as “the ceramic type,” “the source of the materials and the period of realization,” “the merchant who bought the items ‘wholesale’ and then sold them to others in the marketplace,” and other kinds of related information (p.138).

During the Industrial Revolution, brands started to transform from simple identifiers of ownership, origin, and quality into the signifiers of an array of characteristics.

According to Klein (2000), in the second half of the nineteenth century, with the emergence of factories and new inventions “first mass-marketing campaigns” started to

9 appear. Those marketing communications were similar to what today is called advertising rather than branding. Manufacturers realized that it would be hard for consumers to see the difference between the same two goods in generic packaging produced at different factories. The goal was to create trust and familiarity among consumers in these new, “non-domestic products” and convince customers to choose a product produced by one manufacturer rather than another (Briciu, V.-A., & Briciu, A.,

2016, p.139). Overall, advertisers were more concerned with successfully integrating and differentiating newly invented products rather than with building a proper brand identity (Klein, 2000).

Gradually, at the beginning of the twentieth century, advertisers and marketers started to realize the significance of the brand, how it could make people feel emotional about the goods they purchased (Klein, 2000). In the 1940s, the notion of “corporate consciousness” appeared, advertisers shifted their attention from focusing on products and their features to “psychological/anthropological examination of what brands mean to the culture and to people's lives” (Klein, 2000, p.23). Companies realized that purchase decisions were based not only on good's features but also on its brand name and what it meant for them.

Today, the term ‘brand equity’ is interpreted as “added value” of a product (Farquhar,

1990). A product is something a company or entity sells, it has clear utilitarian purposes and functions. A brand is a set of characteristics (e.g. logo, design, positioning, how a product is advertised) that not only indicates the origin of the product but “enhances the value of a product beyond its functional purposes” (p.RC–7). “Brands only exist in the minds of customers,” that is why marketing, advertising, and other endeavors of

10 building and maintaining a brand focus on creating a perception rather than on objectively showing the reality, as “building brand value perception is more important than reality” (Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy, & Pervan, 2015, p.4). Thus, companies overtime started to use various branding techniques and models in accordance with how the roles of brands in the personal lives of consumers evolved.

Holt (2004) distinguished three most widely used types of branding since the second half of the XX century. The first is, what Holt calls, mind-share branding. It has been applied since the 1970s. It mostly relies on the principle formulated in the 1950s that

“each product must tirelessly communicate a single distinctive benefit to its consumers” and uses a “cognitive model of branding” (Holt, 2004, pp.13,15).

In this type of branding, managers determine what products’ features consumers consider to be unique and distinctive, in other words, identify a unique selling proposition (USP), and “ensure that this brand essence is consistently evoked in every activity that carries the brand mark and remains consistent over time” (p.16). A brand consistently communicates abstractions (arbitrary characteristics) associated with that brand and its unique utilitarian features. Other scholars also refer to this term as positional branding (Pryor, & Grossbart, 2007).

The second type, according to Holt (2004), is emotional branding. It stems from positional, or mind-share, branding and is rather an extension of this model than a separate approach. At the center of this concept, just as in mind-share, lies the idea that

“the brand consists of a set of abstractions that should be maintained consistently in all brand activities over time” (p.21). It aims to establish an emotional, intimate connection

11 with consumers by focusing not only on what is communicated but how. There is a similar concept of experiential branding according to which a brand designs a set of

“experiential offerings,” which also leads to consumers' higher emotional involvement with a brand (Pryor, & Grossbart, 2007, p.296).

The third type, viral branding, is a model according to which consumers have as much power in creating and maintaining brand value as the firm and managers do (Holt,

2004). This model is a response to “two major shifts in the 1990s: the increased cynicism towards mass marketing and the emergence of the Internet,” which facilitated word-of-mouth communication and allowed for two-way communication between brands and consumers (p.28). The three types of branding, mind-share, emotional, and viral are still used in most “consumer branding initiatives today” (p.13).

Holt in his book How Brands Become Icons (2004) argues that the most successful of all are the so-called “iconic brands.” He claims that conventional models like mind- share, emotional, and viral branding lack the capacity to turn a brand into an icon.

According to Holt, “iconic brands provide extraordinary identity value because they address the collective anxieties and desires of a nation” (p.6). To achieve this they create and maintain “identity myths: simple fictions that address cultural anxieties from afar, from imaginary worlds rather than from the worlds consumers regularly encounter in their everyday lives” (p.8). Research suggests that most cultural products like fiction and film have achieved a wide success thanks to their “mythic qualities;” it is the same with the iconic brands (p.8).

12 Holt (2004) argues that brands that follow the model of cultural branding become iconic. According to this model, a story, or a myth, is at the center of a brand and customer value. People buy products not only (if at all) for the utilitarian purposes but to “experience these stories” and a product is simply a means to do that (p.36). A cultural strategy aims to create a “storied product,” which has unique “branded features

(mark, design, etc.) through which customers experience identity myths” (p.36).

Not only cultural but also traditional models of emotional, experiential, and viral branding suggest that a brand and its value is built not through simply communicating the utilitarian, objective characteristics. Rather, brands mirror and utilize the population's desires, worries, and current cultural tensions and try to offer a solution through the myths and stories they construct. The more sophisticated and relevant these stories are, the more chances they have to become cultural icons in the eyes of the consumers (Holt, 2004). Thus, the concepts of brands and branding have gone beyond their economic framework to serve the purpose of profits and have become part of society and culture, both mirroring and constructing it.

2.2. Consumer-brand interaction and relationship

People do not engage with a particular brand merely because they have enough information about the products it offers but rather it is influenced by a number of psychological, social, and cultural factors. Purchase decisions are often made not as a result of analysis of separate pieces of information (i.e. look of a product, smell, taste, technical characteristics, etc.). Rather, a potential buyer imagines a sequence, a narrative, of how he or she uses a product and what benefits it adds to their daily lives

13 (Adaval & Wyer, 1998). Also, people may engage with a popular brand due to the commonly known benefits or beliefs surrounding it. In any case, a person continues interacting with a brand if he or she identifies its meaning, or myth in other words, and sees some personal benefit or satisfaction in it.

How did modern brands manage to mean so much to people over the course of their relatively short history? The answer lies in the very concept of the culture of consumption triggered by mass production and abundance. With the emergence of brand names products stopped being simple objects, which serve a utilitarian function.

They have become artifacts that help consumers “define and live out their identity”

(Mittal, 2006, p.550).

The human sense of ‘I’ is constructed through several elements: body, values and character, success and competence, social roles, traits, and possessions (Mittal, 2006).

People’s possessions have always been both a part of and an extension of their selves, as humans live surrounded by their objects and see themselves “as part of those things,

… and not as part of things that surround someone else” (Mittal, 2006, p.554). People also use these possessions to represent their identities in the desire for others to see them as they want to be seen.

However, not everything people buy and consume becomes their possessions, and not all possessions can become parts of extended self. Normally, according to Mittal

(2006), the products become valuable possessions as a result of one or more of six mechanisms:

1) Self-based choice (products are chosen based on consumer’s identity “and ready to

14 be part of ‘I’ prior to purchase” (p.556));

2) Resource investment in acquisition (goods become part of ‘I’ as a psychological

justification of money, time, or energy invested in finding and choosing a product;

also occurs before the purchase);

3) Resource investment in use (people consider a product a part of ‘I’ more after use

than after acquisition);

4) Bonding, post-acquisition (emotional bond as a result of both acquisition and use,

either the joy of use or its symbolic expression of “inner ‘I’ to others” (p.557));

5) Collection (objects that represent an interest of the collector and are part of a group

of possessions – a collection – rather than isolated products);

6) Memories (objects or products that are connected with special occasions and/or

have sentimental value).

These mechanisms and consumers’ exposure to brand’s stories help them form an emotional, even intimate connection to a brand and its products and establish a long- lasting relationship with them. Mostly, brand stories “involve user and usage associations (e.g., driving a Volkswagen Passat is considered “smart”), as well as psychological and symbolic benefits (e.g., the Volkswagen Passat provides a sense of safety)” (Escalas, 2004, p.168). A consumer imagines himself or herself purchasing and using a product, what benefits it would bring, what characteristics it can add to their persona in the eyes of others and how it can express their personality. Thus, it creates meaningful psychological benefits and a link between the person’s “self-related goals” and the brand, which leads to the establishment of a self-brand connection (SBC)

(Escalas, 2004, p.168.).

15 To some extent, the connection a consumer forms with a brand is somewhat similar to a real relationship with another person (Esch et al., 2006). Aaker (1997) has categorized five dimensions of brand personality that are viewed by consumers as personal traits: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. Fournier (1998) through in-depth interviews has identified 15 main forms of consumer-brand relationships that are similar to interpersonal relationships: committed partnership, marriage of convenience, arranged marriage, casual friendship, close friendship, compartmentalized friendship, kinship, rebound relationship, childhood friendship, courtship, dependency, fling, adversarial relationships, and enslavement (p.362).

All of these 15 relationships may be categorized into two larger groups: exchange and communal relationships (Esch et al., 2006). These are not two exclusive types of relationships but rather aspects that can be simultaneously present in a consumer-brand interaction. Exchange aspects are quid pro quo, consumers get utilitarian benefits with the goal of satisfaction while brands fulfill their economic purpose. Whereas communal aspects are based on trust and feelings and often lead to close relationships “both in psychology and marketing” (p.100).

One of the factors that allows consumers to have communal aspects in their relationships with products and brands is the fact that some brands are “animated, humanized, or somehow personalized” (Fournier, 1998, p.344). It makes it possible for people to see brands as partners with whom they can have an interdependent relationship. Throughout human history, in different societies people have assigned animate and personal traits to inanimate objects to maintain relationships with the nonmaterial world or explain some phenomena. That is why “consumers’ acceptance of

16 advertisers’ attempts to humanize brands and their tendencies to animate products of their own accord suggests a willingness to entertain brands as vital members of the relationship dyad” (Fournier, 1998, p.345). Sometimes people even tend to forget that brands do not actually exist outside of their perception, in the material world. A brand is merely a name, an identification, a set of characteristics of a group of products, and marketing activities surrounding them.

Sometimes people’s belief in a brand’s myth is so deep that it can even impact their behavior and performance often when people are unconscious of it. For instance,

Fitzsimons, Chartrand, and Fitzsimons (2008) in their study, as a result of three experiments concluded that subliminal exposure to brands can generate automatic behavior which goes “in line with the brand’s characteristics” while a person is partially or completely unaware of it (p.32). In one of the experiments, participants were subliminally exposed to logos of two technology companies – Apple and IBM. Apple’s branding message is structured around the words “creativity” and “innovation,” while

IBM is positioned as a “traditional” computer manufacturer (p.24).

After the exposure, participants conducted a test measuring creativity and unusual thinking as opposed to a more conservative, traditional approach to tasks. Those who had seen the Apple logo did better on a test than those who had seen IBM. Moreover, the experiment showed that brands that are goal-oriented in their narratives (i.e. “being creative” in the case of Apple) “should lead to goal-directed action” (p.27). Thus, through merely encountering a brand logo and knowing its brand story a person can become part of its myth and unconsciously adapt his or her behavior to that story, which makes brands powerful players in personal lives and in society overall.

17 2.3. Storytelling in branding

Consumers can view brands as particular personas, characters, or heroes who live in a narrative delivered to them by advertising and other marketing endeavors. When people purchase or interact with the brand’s products, they become part of that narrative, which can satisfy a variety of their needs and desires. To achieve this kind of connection brands heavily rely on advertising and marketing to introduce and maintain their brand personality and construct brand myths. One of the most effective and widely used techniques in achieving this is storytelling (Holt, 2004).

Humans are constantly surrounded by information presented in different forms. In the modern era, successfully interpreting this information and acting on it is a crucial surviving mechanism (Nguyen, Vanderwal & Hasson, 2019). Those who can tell and understand stories better have an advantage over those who cannot. The better one’s ability to create and deliver an effective message, the better he or she can adapt and be flexible in various situations (Nigam, 2012).

This is especially true in the global and heavily competitive economic environment.

Producers and sellers who manage to create a clear identity and convey meaning of their brands and products in the most relatable and less ambiguous way attract consumers and yield higher profits, which are crucial for survival and prosperity of their businesses. “A compelling storyteller would seem to have a survival advantage”

(Nigam, 2012, p.569). Marketers today use storytelling or content marketing to create a unique and memorable brand personality and distribute its myth across different media platforms.

18 David and Jennifer Aaker (2016) argue that having a strong story is an important asset for a business. They call it a “signature story” – “an intriguing, authentic, involving narrative with a strategic message that clarifies or enhances the brand, the customer relationship, the organization, and/or the business strategy” (p.50). Moreover, this story serves as an inspiration and motivation not only for the potential customers but for the employees as well. It enhances organizational spirit and communication by giving its members an idea of the brand and company they work for. Such a definition is very similar to Holt’s view of myths of iconic brands.

The success of storytelling in advertising and branding is determined by the nature of human memory and information processing mechanisms. A vast majority of information in human memory is stored in the form of stories or, in other words, a sequence of events, images, etc. (Schank, 1999). When a story evokes emotions, it stimulates the hippocampus in the brain, which results in this story being “locked” in the memory (Ransom, 2018, p.72).

In everyday life, people often engage in narrative processing when they unconsciously assemble information about events and occurrences into stories and narratives in their minds. This leads to the fact the people do not necessarily “record the world, but create it, mixing in cultural and individual expectations as they construct their personal narratives” (Escalas, 2004, p.169). It makes it easier to make sense of the world and helps not overload the brain with detailed analyses of each new situation. It also adds meaning to what people encounter in the world, “including meaning for brands”

(Escalas, 2004, p.169).

19 External information about a brand is combined with person’s existing story memories, all of which involve the self of that person (Escalas, 2004). It leads to the fact that narratives about a brand merge with stories of the person’s self and create a self-brand connection (SBC). Thus, those who are in charge of creating and communicating brand myths are the ones who determine the brand’s meaning and “may be able to influence the degree to which the consumers form SBCs” (p.171).

It is easier both to process and remember something when it is presented as a narrative rather than as a collection of facts, characteristics, or statistics. Chip Heath, a professor at Stanford University, regularly tests students’ ability to retain and retrieve information presented in the form of stories and facts and contrasts the results. In his experiment,

Heath gives students crime data and then asks to present it to their classmates and evaluate each speaker (Aaker, D. & Aaker, J., 2016).

Normally, most participants choose to present information just as facts and statistics related to a case, as they believe it to be more academic. Afterward, Heath gives students a quiz to check what they remember from their colleagues’ presentations. The results show that 63% of participants recall information presented as stories, while only

5% recall information that was presented as a list of facts and statistics (Aaker, D. &

Aaker, J., 2016, p.53). This study shows that information assembled into some sort of narrative tends to be remembered longer (and remembered at all) as opposed to information presented as a set of facts.

That is the reason companies in order to stay competitive switch from cognitive models of persuasion, where they use facts and statistics to advertise their products, to

20 narratives designed to be memorable, evoke emotions, communicate a brand identity, and show the intangible benefits consumers can get from using a product or simply engaging with a brand (Holt, 2004).

2.4. How brands construct reality

Brand, per se, is not ‘real’ as it does not exist in the material world, unlike a product it represents. Products are objective entities, while a brand is a subjective notion attached to them and “is made up of imagery and associations in the mind” (Barnham, 2012, p.492). Despite that brands manage to be both ‘real’ and not objectively exist at the same time, which makes it necessary to redefine realness in the modern, consumption- driven world.

Barnham (2012), in his essay on how consumer reality is constructed, provides an example of Starbucks to demonstrate what consumers perceive as ‘real’. When asked to think of Starbucks, people tend to have associations that go beyond the physical properties of the coffee shop and the coffee they can get there. Starbucks is a number of various things and people have different relationships with and definitions of it. The final definition of what Starbucks really is for each individual draws from his or her personal hierarchy of the elements associated with Starbucks. Defining the brand in consumer terms, “the concept of ‘realness’ now focuses on how consumers construct the brand and how the different elements in it combine to create meaning” (Barnham,

2012, p.493).

21 Barnham (2012) also argues that interpreting brand as simply a name and its value as a set of associations connected with it is a quite limited approach. He suggests that brand values, according to structuralism and semiotic approaches, have two dimensions to them. The first, represented as the horizontal axis in Figure 1, involves the ‘edges of things’. That is, each cultural object or phenomenon has particular ‘boundaries’ assigned to them by social conventions that help distinguish things from each other.

These might be certain obvious physical characteristics and properties. ‘Boundaries’ and rules, which determine them, are arbitrary and are created by the culture.

Thus, different cultures may have different edges and definitions of the same concept.

Each brand or product category is a social and cultural construction and also has the

‘cultural edges' that help consumers distinguish them from each other. For instance, a consumer knows where lies the difference between yogurt and a dessert, Nike and Zara,

McDonald's and Taco Bell. Overall, the horizontal axis represents what something is, based on “how it is different from other things that are like it” (e.g. sofa and chair, burger and taco, snickers and jackboots), in other words, brand’s positioning (Barnham,

2012, p.498).

The perception of something is not limited to how it is distinguished from everything else. The second dimension, the vertical axis (Figure 1), involves elements and facts associated with an object or a concept and a certain hierarchy an individual assembles these elements into. It is rooted in the idea that people frame concepts in their own personal ways and think of things “at different levels” (Barnham, 2012, p.496). For instance, when people think of someone, they first think of the person’s name, then his or her relation to them (e.g. mother, son, friend, etc.), his or her age group or gender, occupation, etc. These levels are organized in a hierarchy based on the subjective

22 importance of these facts. Consumers also form these hierarchies for brands, in terms of the importance of the values they offer. The vertical axis represents what something means to a particular person in terms of consumer perception; it is brand’s proposition

(Barnham, 2012, p.498)

Figure 1. The basic structure of a brand (Barnham, 2012, p.498)

To get a deeper and more thorough understanding of how a person frames something, it is important to look not only at one layer or level but “to take into account all of the sub-layers of values in constructing the meaning” (Barnham, 2012, p.497). If only one layer is emphasized, the interpretation of meaning is limited. It creates a dualistic approach to interpretation, where an object or a concept is split into two characteristics: what something objectively is and what one associates with it. “The latter is placed firmly in the subjective realm as a series of mental links and associations that are then opposed to what [something] ‘really’ is” (Barnham, 2012, p.497). This dualistic approach is often applied to identify brand’s meaning, where a “brand as a ‘thing’ (the brand name)” is combined with “(subjective) associations that consumers have with it” and are assumed to be the core of brand’s value (p.497).

23 Barnham (2012) argues that the meaning of a brand is created by the structured hierarchy of “all the layers of values in a brand” (p.497). It should be seen and interpreted from the perspective of the two dimensions, its positioning, and proposition.

For a brand to be credible and authentic, there should be contact between these two dimensions. Brand’s proposition – the hierarchy of its features and consumer associations – “has to be rooted in what it delivers in terms of positioning,” which is how it is different from similar things and where its cultural edges are (p.499).

To sum up, according to Barnham’s approach, brand’s essence, reality, or ‘realness’ are constructed through or rooted in what and how consumers think of it. What they think of a brand, in its turn, depends on how a brand is positioned on the market, what image of the brand is conveyed through the tools of marketing, advertising, and storytelling, what myth or narrative is delivered (Barnham, 2012). Advertising is a primary means to communicate a brand meaning and story and is a powerful tool of mass communication in the capitalist economies. It is a separate institute, which has its own rules and regulations, means of production and distribution, forms of communication, rhetoric, and, to some extent, its own reality.

Advertising does not portray reality as it is. Rather, it is a representation of reality, which arguably may be distorted in order to serve its economic purpose – bring profits.

Normally, it shows an alternative version, a possible reality, often a narrative where a hero interacts with a particular product or service and the implications of this interaction, or a narrative where the brand is a hero itself.

24 Pollay (1986) argues that “the repetitive, fantastic, one-sided, and often exhortative rhetorical styles of advertising combine, it is felt, to blur the distinction between reality and fantasy, producing hypnoid states of uncritical consciousness wherein the subject is reduced to passivity and a relative sense of powerlessness” (p.26). This view of advertising where the audience is passive and powerless is debatable, but he points out a curious function of advertising to create a state of fantasy in the minds of consumers.

In this regard, encountering brand messages may be akin to watching a movie or reading a book where the plot creates a fantasy, a certain reality in the minds of the audience, who realize the artificiality of this reality but allow themselves to believe in it for some period of time. However, as advertisements and brand myths, unlike other cultural products like film, political speeches, or music, utilize realistic plots attached to real objects that can be obtained by consumers and used every day. These plots have become more ‘real’ than those encountered in film and literature (Holt, 2004). This realness is also manifested in consumers’ belief that they will get the intangible benefits communicated in brand messages and associated with a brand or product (e.g. will help them look more prestigious, attractive, creative, etc.).

Brands do not exist in isolation and rarely develop their myths from scratch (Holt,

2004). Rather, they utilize social and cultural norms, stereotypes, trends, and concerns to create and convey brand meaning and value. Most often brands use and “recycle materials placed into circulation by other media (e.g. film, television, journalism, books)” (Holt, 2004). It helps make these myths familiar, recognizable, and understandable to certain markets. In some cases, it also shows that a brand and/or a product serves to resolve a particular current and relevant concern or tension or to

25 satisfy a need (e.g. eco-friendly, vegan brands and products). Thus, some brands construct certain reality, create myths that utilize and reflect social and cultural elements, and convey their meaning through the prism of a brand, a product, and the culture and ideology of consumption overall.

As discussed earlier, stories, narratives, and myths are significant mechanisms through which people make sense of the world. Brand myths are not an exception. To some extent, in the age of consumerism, commercial entities and products of mass culture, including brands, have taken the role previously prescribed to religions – to maintain

“fragile world-views and identities” (Holt, 2003, p.36). Brands have substantial power in defining an individual’s personality, in constructing his or her reality, and even in constructing the reality of a whole society. Such power stems from the ‘realness’ of brands and people’s capacity to hold brand myths as real. Thus, it is important to understand what myths and brand myths are and how they came into existence.

26 3. The theory of myth and its significance

The second chapter is concerned with the definition, theories, and impact of myth as a cultural phenomenon. The first part approaches myths from the perspectives of the collective unconscious and archetypes – theories outlined by Carl Jung. The second part presents theories of traditional myth proposed by different scholars and myths’ significance as a part of culture. The third part examines what a modern myth is, whether it still exists, and, if so, in what form. It also shortly describes motivation and reasons behind the creation and dissemination of modern myths.

3.1. Jungian theory of archetypes and the collective unconscious

According to Carl Jung (1968), a Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher, the personal layer of the unconscious in the human psyche encapsulates personal experience that is suppressed, forgotten for some reason, or everything people tend to neglect and do not notice around them. This layer consists of complexes, groups of emotionally charged thoughts, feelings, and memories and is completely individual.

Jung (1968) argues that there is another, unconscious layer, which lies deeper, beneath the personal one. He coins it ‘collective unconscious’. Unlike the personal layer, which is unique to each person, collective unconscious is universal with “contents and modes of behavior that are more or less the same everywhere and in all individuals” and is present in everyone (Jung, 1968, p.4). Jung explains that human psyche, like the human body, has its own enormously long history. Just as the human body carries the memory of its evolution and transformations in its DNA and anatomic structure, the unconscious

27 of the psyche also carries its history. In this regard, collective unconscious is the mental heritage of everything experienced by the human species and is the foundation of the individual psyche. This layer of unconscious owes its existence solely to heredity. It is not based on personal experience and does not evolve over the course of life (Jung,

1968).

The content of personal unconscious is expressed in complexes and suppressed and forgotten memories, while the collective unconscious consists of archetypes. The term

‘archetype’ and the concept of it is not created by Jung. It was used by antique philosophers and appeared in religious texts. He explains that ‘archetype’ is “an explanatory paraphrase of the Platonic Eidos,” a Greek term for type, essence, form

(Jung, 1968). Jung defines archetypes as “archaic, … primordial types, … universal images that have existed since the remotest times,” “symbolic figures in the primitive view of the world” (p.5). Archetypes are constantly arising, similar, typical forms of understanding and interpretation (Jung, 2019). They are not influenced by personal experience, culture, ethnicity, or epoch an individual lives in.

According to Jung’s analysis, archetypes appeared in archaic antiquity when human was not self-conscious and was controlled and guided by his or her unconscious.

Consciousness was developing as human was interacting with the concrete reality, while unconscious was directing the necessary material into consciousness in order to adapt to the environment. The human did not perceive an object or a phenomenon itself.

Rather, he or she perceived and interpreted his or her interaction with it, and an archetype was formed during this process. This content of the unconscious was and is

28 expressed in the form of sensually perceived images constructed through the prism of existing archetypes (Jung, 2010).

To some extent, archetypes are similar to instincts as both operate outside of human consciousness, are similar for all individuals, independent from personal experience, and are a collective phenomenon. Jung (2019) calls archetypes a psychic equivalent of instincts as they are the regulators of psychic life and are triggered spontaneously, without human consciousness. Instincts guide people to behave in a human species framework, while archetypes limit human perception and understanding to specific human scope.

Jung calls archetypes the unconscious images of instincts themselves – instincts’ “self- portrait” – just as consciousness is the inner perception of the objective life activities and processes (Jung, 2019). Jung (2019) argues that as conscious understanding guides human behavior, unconscious understanding guides instincts through archetypes.

However, archetypes are not ready-made sensually perceived images. They are structural elements that serve as forms that guide psychic material in a certain direction and ensure universal models of perception (Jung, 1986; Jung, 2019).

Jung (1968) notes that existence of something in the human psyche (and the psyche itself) can only be recognized through its manifestation (and further observance and analysis of it) in the conscious. One form of archetypes’ expression in the conscious is through the primitive tribal traditional teachings, mostly esoteric. Another form of expression is through myths and fairytales. However, Jung (1968) points out, these

29 “forms have received a specific stamp and have been handed down through long periods of time” (p.5).

Jung (1968) argues, “myths are first and foremost psychic phenomena that reveal the nature of the soul” (that is how Jung referred to personality, consisting of ego, personal and collective unconscious) (p.6). He believes that primitive people, driven by the overpowering urge of their unconscious psyche to adapt to the environment, are more concerned with assimilating “all outer sense experiences to inner, psychic events” rather than objectively explain the world around them (p.6). Mythologized natural processes, such as cycles of the moon, seasons, rainy periods, and such, are not simply allegories of the objective world. They are symbolic representations of the “inner, unconscious drama of the psyche which becomes accessible to man’s consciousness by way of projection, … mirrored in the events of nature” (p.6).

Myths are not just psychological but also social constructs as they were created not only as a result of individual psychological needs. They contain the expressions of needs and concerns of the collective society as a whole (Jung & Kerenyi, 1951). Myths were necessary both as the ways to human self-exploration and as regulators of the life of society, as a means to pass traditions across generations. Content of myths can be regarded as a certain form of reality, which comprises the collective human experience of comprehension of being, both inner and outer (Jung & Kerenyi, 1951).

30 3.2. Theories of myth

Myth is a verbal narrative of a sequence of connected events (Flood, 2001, p.27). It is commonly considered that myth represents a mode of thinking and organizing information about the world that precedes philosophy and science. Myths demonstrate

“processes which prefigure the development of abstract thought in its concern for origins, causes, goals, and changes, the mythic narrative expresses a way of experiencing the world which is chronologically and phenomenologically prior to the emergence of conceptual reason” (Flood, 2001, p.28).

According to Jung (1951; 2010), Campbell (2004), Eliade (1959), Segal (1999), and other scholars studying mythology, myths are evident at each stage of the development of societies. They do not simply represent the pre-logical, immature understanding of the world but also are one of the ways of perception and experience of life, alongside religion and science. Myth is the foundation and essence of any culture. It is a form of cultural knowledge, comprising everyday concerns and values. Not only gives it a certain explanation of reality and being but also gives life a higher, sacred meaning that a human kind seeks since its inception. These scholars consider myths to be the sensually perceived existence that is then expressed through symbols and images and both reflect and construct reality.

Theories of myth are quite diverse and are hard to compare, as myth itself is an applied subject, and these theories are usually rather those of broader concepts applied to myths

(Segal, 1999, p.1). Most of the mythologists try to categorize myths based on their similarities and differences. For instance, Levi-Strauss (2014) developed a structural

31 framework for analyzing myths. He looked at the symmetrical elements, namely, the opposites and what connects them in a story.

According to Levi-Strauss (2014), myths consist of specific codes – political, social, astronomical, cosmic, ethical, and others. He insists that, in most cases, the structure of myth is, in fact, its main content or message. This structure, in its turn, reflects the structure of life and society (Kirk, 1984). Levi-Strauss claims that myths’ function is to

“mitigate and ideally resolve the contradictions and paradoxes of human existence”

(Brown, McDonagh, & Shultz II, 2013, p.596). Campbell, unlike Levi-Strauss yet similarly, was concerned with the structure of myths but not from a linguistic perspective. He investigated the biographical patterns, a monomyth, or the so-called

“hero’s journey” (Cyril, 1994).

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987), an American scholar, studied the nature, structure, and importance of myths. Rather than approaching myths from anthropological or philological perspectives, he was more concerned with their cultural significance and story patterns. He acknowledged the power of myths by coining them the “disembodied, timeless story of eternal human significance” and saw them as a collection of human beliefs and experiences (Ellwood, 1999, p.130). Moreover, Campbell was interested in human nature and individual behavior and investigated them through the prism of mythology.

Campbell (2004) considered myths to be crucial elements of a healthy psyche both of an individual and a society. They are the suppliers of symbols “that carry the human spirit forward” (p.10). He believed that one of the reasons (or the results) of constant

32 depression and neuroticism of a modern human might be the decline of the effectiveness of these symbols and of this “spiritual aid”. He outlined four main functions of myth (Campbell, 1988, p. 31):

1. Metaphysical: to present universe, life, and being as a mystery; make a person

experience “awe before this mystery” and be grateful for it;

2. Cosmological: to present such a cosmological image of the world, which

simultaneously explains how the universe operates while maintaining the sense

of mystery;

3. Sociological: to create and maintain a certain social order and guide social

values and attitudes (this function of myth prevails in the modern world);

4. Pedagogical: to guide a person through every stage of life by telling “how to live

a human lifetime under any circumstances”.

Campbell (2004) views myth as a story of a hero’s journey or an adventure, which he coins the ‘monomyth’. After comparing myths from different cultures, he concluded that most of them follow the same narrative patterns. They are similar to “the rites of passage” and serve as a “magnification” of the steps involved in them. Thus, the core structure of a hero’s mythical journey is expressed through three stages: separation— initiation—return (p.28). First, the status quo is broken and the hero leaves home for a new, mysterious world. Second, he encounters obstacles and enemies there, but “a decisive victory is won” (p.28). Finally, the hero returns home from the adventure, the status quo is reestablished, and the hero “bestow[s] boons on his fellow men” (p.28).

As myth is the journey of the hero who leaves his or her home to achieve a higher goal and go through various difficulties, it is possible to conclude that the main function of

33 such myths is pedagogical. Most myths have a similar core message: “follow your bliss” (Cyril, 1994). According to Cyril (1994), Campbell outlined three principles of what it means in myths:

1. “Money and material things are secondary;”

2. Following one’s bliss will create opportunities that one did not have before and

that others do not have;

3. It is the opposite of “following a system or a social system,” as pre-established

roles are imposed, not chosen, and dehumanize an individual.

This mythical concept is similar to the one of the psychologist Carl Rogers who believes that people naturally have an inclination for actualization. That is, they want to grow and fulfill their potential. Rogers insists that people should combine rational thinking with the ability to listen to their “inner voice” (Cyril, 1994). Campbell was also a follower of Kant’s teachings that emphasized the limits of human rational thinking.

Eliade (1959) also investigated the narrative aspect of myths, looked at them from a historical perspective, and tightly tied them to religion, sacred teachings and practices, and rituals. He saw myth as a significantly “complex cultural reality” that has a lot of dimensions and can be interpreted from a variety of viewpoints (Eliade, 1963). He argues that most myths deal with the events of “creation,” of how reality and each part of it came into existence and often concern the “primordial Time” (p.5).

According to Bhattacharyya (1978), Eliade “believed that the mythical documents express the existential situation and consequently they form an important part of the history of human spirit.” Eliade acknowledged that myths explain not only the creation

34 of natural phenomena by gods but also the social creations, such as how human became

“mortal, sexed, organized in a society, obliged to work in order to live, and working in accordance with certain rules” (Segal, 1999, p.21).

3.3. Modern myth and its form

The word ‘myth’ today generally has a meaning of something false and is used to describe something people do not believe in and that needs to be proven wrong.

However, such a view of this term is quite limited. Myth is simply a “story by which a culture explains or understands some aspect of reality or nature” (Fiske, 1990, p.88).

Primitive myths, as discussed earlier, involved gods and creation of being, while modern myths are more sophisticated and are tailored to modern culture, trends, and concerns. Thus, contemporary myths are “about masculinity and femininity, about the family, about success, about the British policeman, about science” (p.88).

Segal (1999) argues that myths today have various challenges posed by intellect, theology, and politics. However, the main challenge they face today is from natural science. The modern world is highly scientific and secular, and myths’ ability to battle this challenge means they have a future. Science has taken the role of myths – it explains the origin of various phenomena. While traditional myth “attributes events in the world to the decisions of gods, science ascribes events to impersonal, mechanical processes” and persuades through the means of facts and rational thinking (Segal, 1999, p.19). Science has taken the function that used to be performed by myths.

35 Some scholars, for instance, anthropologists Edward Tylor and James Frazer, argue that myth has surrendered, lost its credibility and relevance, and completely gave way to science (Segal, 1999). Their argument rests on the assumption that the only role and function of myth in the society is and was to explain the world around and the natural phenomena happening in it. They argue that myth, just like science, is an objective, explanatory piece of human endeavor that “serves neither to endorse nor to condemn the world but only to account for it” (p.20). Thus, when a more profound and accurate discipline of explanations appeared, myth was labeled unscientific and primitive.

In contrast, Eliade (1963) argues, myth not only explains; it guides and justifies. It also serves a regenerative function. By hearing, reading, and reenacting a myth a person can

“return to the time when the myth took place, the time of the origin of whatever phenomena it explains and justifies” (Segal, 1999, p.22). A myth also clearly has a normative function by presenting moral allegories through symbolism. The main subjects of a substantial amount of myths are still humans (or creatures with human attributes), not gods, and their deeds. Myths are also mainly concerned not with how and why humans actually behave but with how they should behave (Segal, 1999).

According to Eliade (1963), myth is not an alternative to science, as they do not perform a single identical function, but rather they co-exist. Eliade concludes that myths do have a future since they can perform functions that science does not. Jung and

Campbell took it to more extremes and argued that science and myth have completely different functions and subject matters and should not be seen as competing disciplines

(Segal, 1999).

36 However, this paper is not concerned with what theories of myth are correct. Rather, its aim is to investigate in what form myths exist today, if they do at all, and how they influence and are influenced by current culture and society. For the purpose of this paper, Torelli’s (2013) definition of culture will be applied. For him, it is a set of

“shared elements that provide the standards for perceiving, believing, evaluating, communicating, and acting among those who share a language, a historical period, and a geographic location” (p.37).

According to Eliade (1990), mythical narratives and imagination are not gone in modern times. They have just adapted to the new social, cultural, and political environment and are constantly evolving. For instance, literature and film are not myths in their nature, but they are mythiclike. They portray a hidden, mystic world that exists

“alongside the everyday one – a world of extraordinary figures and events [in the contemporary setting] akin to those found in earlier, superhuman myths” (Segal, 1999, p.23).

The notion of myth today can be interpreted quite broadly due to the new theories and findings in psychology, psychiatry, and semiotics. Now, ‘myth’ does not only mean the ancient stories of gods and creation. Kenneth Burke, a literary theorist, emphasized how political thought, speech, and texts are mythical in their nature (Coupe, 2013). Burke gives a broad definition of myth. It is “a narrative that effects identification within the community that takes it seriously, endorsing shared interests and confirming the given notion of order, while at the same time gesturing toward a more comprehensive identification – that among humanity, the earth, and the universe” (Coupe, 2013, p.181).

37 Modern myth is a story that bounds a group together; it “is the social tool for welding the sense of interrelationship by which the carpenter and the mechanic, though differently occupied, can work together for common social ends” (Coupe, 2013, p.9). A well-constructed political myth that people believe in may feel as real as material objects. According to Jung’s theories, myths are not just relics of the primitive times, not simply archaic fantasies and pieces of literature concerning gods, nature, magic, and humans. As mentioned before, they are the symbolic representations of the sensually perceived reality (Jung, 1968). Even today people may collectively believe in a particular myth, constructed and communicated to them by a single person or entity, and hold it as a completely real construct, just as people of the archaic times held myths of gods as the true explanations of reality (Coupe, 2013).

Roland Barthes, a French literary theorist and semiotician, in his work Mythologies

(1957), argues that myth is similar to ideology. In fact, he sees the two terms as interchangeable (Coupe, 2009). He relied heavily on semiotics and structuralism in defining and analyzing contemporary myths of the consumer society. According to

Barthes, modern myth is a specific type of speech, a communication system of signs, a message; anything can become a myth (Barthes, 1991, p.107). It is not limited to oral speech; it can be in various modes of writing and representations, including

“photography, cinema, reporting, sport, shows, publicity, all these can serve as a support to mythical speech” (p.108). For him, myth is a “culture’s way of thinking about something, a way of conceptualizing or understanding it,” “a chain of related concepts” (Fiske, 1990, p.88).

38 Barthes (1991) argues that a defining characteristic of modern myth is not its substance or content, but its form. Barthes described two levels of representation, or meaning. The first order of signification is denotative – the obvious, immediate meaning; it consists of a signifier and a signified. According to Saussure, these are the two elements of any sign representing external reality or meaning, where a signifier is an actual image perceived by an interpreter (e.g. letters, sounds, pictures, etc.), and a signified is “the mental concept to which it refers” (Fiske, 1990, p.44). The second-order system is connotative. It is a subjective or intersubjective interpretation of a sign, which

“describes the interaction that occurs when the sign meets the feelings or emotions of the users and the values of their culture” (Fiske, 1990, p.86).

Barthes calls myth a second-order semiological system since it is “constructed from a semiological chain which existed before it” (Barthes, 1991, p.113). Thus, connotation is the meaning of the signifier in the second-order system and myth is the meaning of the signified in the second-order system (Fiske, 1990, p.88) (Figure 2) .

Figure 2. Barthes’s two orders of signification. In the second order, the sign system of the first is inserted into the value system of the culture (Fiske, 1990, p.88).

Barthes argues, myth is constructed by a dominant social class to make the history of its rise to dominance seem natural rather than as a result of historical, social, or political

39 factors (how it really is) and to maintain its status (Fiske, 1990). Myths always serve an interest of a certain group, a class, and/or a prevailing economic or political system. For instance, the myth of femininity and masculinity states that women’s natural, biological function is to give birth, nurture offspring, stay at home, and care for the family, while men should be the ones who provide for the family. This myth is perceived as a natural truth, while many tend to neglect its historical origin, even though it is based on true biological facts, such as women can give birth to children and men are generally more physically strong and hardy (Fiske, 1990).

The modern femininity and masculinity myth takes its roots in the age of industrialization and was created out of the interest of bourgeois, middle-class men of the new capitalist society. As people moved from rural areas into cities, they had to abandon the concept of extended families and turn to the one of a nuclear family in order to afford living in urban areas. Work on factories, unlike in agriculture, did not allow for children to be with their parents. Thus, someone needed to stay at home in order to allow another parent to work long shifts at factories.

Femininity became associated with “domesticity, sensitivity,” “the need for protection, whereas masculinity was given meanings of strength, assertiveness, independence, and the ability to operate in public” (Fiske, 1990, p.90). So, the fact that men used to occupy the vast majority of public positions in society is not a natural phenomenon, but a result of this myth and the interests of the dominant class. Thus, a modern myth, just as a traditional one, aims to naturalize some phenomena and serves as a mediator of meaning between society and ideology (Tillotson & Martin, 2014).

40 Since society and dominant classes are constantly changing, myths evolve too. The dominant myth is challenged by these changes and needs to adapt. Thus, for instance, the new roles of women and family in society forced “advertisers and the producers of the mass media” to accommodate myths to the new environment of “the career woman, the single parent, and the ‘new’ sensitive man” (Fiske, 1990, p.90). It does not mean that the old myth is completely rejected. Since, according to Barthes (1991), myth is a system of concepts, some of the concepts are abandoned while the new ones are added.

41 4. How brands impact society and culture through myths

The first two chapters present the theoretical concepts of brands and myths, their implications, and the role in the construction and reflection of reality. This chapter will merge the two concepts together and describe how and why brands construct and use relevant myths to serve their interests and achieve goals. Chapter 1 discusses how brands fit into personal life and construct intimate relationships with individuals. Now, for the purpose of this paper, it is also important to consider how brands fit into a larger, social and cultural environments, and what role they play there.

4.1. Brands as elements of culture in the consumer society

Arnould and Thompson (2005) define consumer culture as “an interconnected system of commercially produced images, texts, and objects that groups use – through the construction of overlapping and even conflicting practices, identities, and meanings – to make collective sense of their environments and to orient their members’ experiences and lives” (p.869). While according to Douglas Holt (2002), it is the “dominant mode of consumption that is structured by the collective actions of firms in their marketing activities” (p.71).

Hovland and Wolburg (2010) describe the term more broadly – as the current state of the global economy. Precisely, consumer culture is “the postindustrial global economy that is prevalent among nations (like the United States) that subscribe to a model of advanced capitalism” (p.17). The development of consumer society and culture was

42 gradual and started with the Industrial Revolution when the agrarian society had been transitioning into the industrial.

The means of production moved from households to factories and production started to grow to a mass level. People no longer had the necessary resources and land to produce goods they could sell. Combined with the rise of mass distribution and transportation, branding and advertising, people could not compete with the partially automated factories, which processed raw materials and manufactured goods in an endless stream

(Hovland and Wolburg, 2010). So, society shifted from the culture of production when just the needed amount of goods was produced to the culture of consumption when society needed to adopt new values, behaviors, and attitudes in order to satisfy the consumption goal, which became the priority.

Also, the concept of “planned obsolescence” was introduced into the masses to stimulate consumption, which was proclaimed to serve the interest of both consumers and the economy (Hovland and Wolburg, 2010). The idea is to displace old possessions before they wear out with the new ones. Businesses sold this concept to people based on the idea that “whatever product or service was purchased yesterday is inferior in comparison to what’s available today” (p.30).

The capitalist economy rests on the notions of continuous production and consumption, and both are the essential elements of the consumer culture (Hovland and Wolburg,

2010). Hovland and Wolburg outlined three main characteristics or conditions of the consumer culture (p.17):

43 1. There is an excess of goods – often a typical feature of post-industrial

economies;

2. Commerce and culture are tightly connected, and continuous consumption is of

great significance both to society and the individual;

3. Everything is commodified, and objects’ meaning and importance go beyond

their utilitarian purposes.

In a consumer society, “consumption is the mode of living of modern culture” (Jhally,

1990, p.196). Goods, commodities, and brands start to have sacrificial, to some extent magical meaning. Jhally explains that it is a form of adaptation that occurred when society shifted from agricultural to industrial society and then from industrial to consumer society. The life of most people in pre-industrial society was based on extended family, religion, and a small, rural, community; the relationships were

“mediated by old ethnic cultures” (p.195). Objects had meaning by being “integrated within older forms of cultural life” (p.195).

The rise of the industrial society marked the decline of tight rural communities, collective forms of leisure and domestic life, and older ethnic cultures. People had to abandon their extended families, become more privatized and individualized, and conform to the strict rules of behavior. It created a situation when neither work nor leisure time with a community could provide the personal satisfaction they used to in the past. People needed to compensate for it and turned to “the most important institution of the developing consumer society – the consumer marketplace” (Jhally,

1990, p.192). Thus, consumption became a crucial, defining characteristic of social life, as opposed to religion, community, or class (p.192). Religious rituals and myths gave

44 way to secular ones, involving goods and personal identities, where the symbol is a brand, which serves as the epitome of myth (Holt, 2004).

Such a dramatic shift also created a “cultural void”. Industrial society was a transitional stage, which lead to the development of consumer society. It “resolves the tensions and contradictions of industrial society: the market place and consumption take over the functions of traditional culture” (Jhally, 1990, p.196). The void is filled by the objects and discourse about them, creating a new social unit of people – a consumption class.

Nicholas Garnham (1979) coins it the “industrialization of culture”, as the surplus of goods needs additional investments – investments into the cultural realm in order to produce cultural goods, which satisfy cultural needs of the population earlier satisfied by religion and community (p.142).

Thus, it created an environment where consumption is not only a foundation of society's economy, which turns it into a civic duty, but a crucial psychological and cultural need of an individual (Hovland and Wolburg, 2010). Brands, with the help of tools of mass communication, became powerful entities that can construct meaning and reality through marketing and advertising both on the societal and individual levels and even develop emotional, intimate relationships with consumers. Now, it becomes evident that a concept of myth, aimed to naturalize historical and social processes, as discussed in the previous chapter, ideally fits into this state of affairs. Just as the myth of femininity and masculinity, the narratives of brands and goods as crucial elements of life and culture seem to satisfy the needs and goals of the ruling class and the main players in the capitalist economy and help maintain the current economic and social order.

45 4.2. How brands become iconic and construct myths through advertising

Identity brands, similar to “iconic brands”, are those that “provide extraordinary identity value because they address the collective anxieties and desires of a nation” and create

“identity myths” – stories that “address cultural anxieties from afar, from imaginary worlds rather than from the worlds that consumers regularly encounter in their everyday lives” (Holt, 2004, p.6,8). Torelli (2013) points out the difference between iconic and identity bands. He claims that identity brands represent the lifestyles, values, and traits that consumers might desire, while iconic brands take it further and “symbolize the abstract image valued by an entire cultural or subcultural group” (p.112). In other words, both identity and iconic brands perform their cultural function in the most effective way through the use of storytelling, the efficiency of which was discussed in

Chapter 1. It allows them to achieve the desired economic and social success. Thus, not every brand is iconic, since some brands are not culturally symbolic (Torelli, 2013).

A brand becomes a cultural icon not just because it represents abstract ideas and values through symbols, but also because it “embodies the essence of a cultural group” and people recognize and acknowledge it (Torelli, 2013, p.113). Identity brands do not compete on the product market (Holt, 2004). Rather, their arena is the myth market, where they compete with other cultural products. Myths are constructed through a wide variety of marketing strategies and tactics, from product and packaging design to the place of distribution. However, the main role of communicating myths to consumers is attributed to advertising.

46 The definitions of advertising as a sociocultural phenomenon are many. McLuhan claimed it is similar to “cave art of the twentieth century” (Sherry, Jr., 1987, p.443).

McCracken and Pollay considered it to be similar to myths, while Leiss, Kline, and

Jhally saw it as a special discourse facilitating the “circulation of messages and social cues about” the interaction between individuals and commodities (p.443). Sherry defines advertising as a “system of symbols” generated from a variety “of culturally determined ways of knowing that is accessible through ritual and oriented toward both secular and sacred dimensions of transcendental experience in hyperindustrial society”

(p.444). Advertising serves as a vehicle for delivering brand myths to consumers.

4.2.1. Frye’s theory of mythoi and taxonomy of narratives

According to Stern (1995), to understand and interpret consumer myths, they should be regarded as, how Levy (1981) defined them, stories “in consumer protocols … that use a sociocultural vocabulary” (p.60). Northrop Frye, an influential literary critic and theorist of the twentieth century, published his book Anatomy of Critic in 1957. There, among other topics on literary criticism, he developed a framework for analysis and interpretation of mythic plots. This framework can help understand consumption texts and “myths in consumer stories” in more depth by analyzing them as mythic plots in literature and other cultural texts (Stern, 1995, p.166).

According to Frye (1957), there are four primary categories of literature, which are broader than and precede literary genres. They describe the structure of the story or the plot design, which is aimed to emphasize the story’s fundamental values. He refers to them as mythoi – archetypal, “generic plots,” “narrative pregeneric elements of

47 literature” (p.162). They are based on the similarities and contiguities of the “plot elements – characters, struggle/conflict, resolution/outcome, and values” – present in

Western myths and other literary texts (Spiggle, 2003, p.173).

The four categories represent two opposed pairs and symbolically correspond to each of the four seasons (Fryer, 1957):

1. The mythos of spring, or comedy, is normally a plot, which ends positively and

corresponds to the value of happiness. It most likely deals with four main

elements: change from one type of society to another or “the evolution of a new

societal institution”, which represents a “moral norm, or a pragmatically free

society” (p.169); a conflict, based on a threat to protagonist’s revival and often

in a form of an antagonist representing “the old order that must be overcome;”

characters embodying new order are normally victorious; finally, a happy

ending is manifested through a “festive gathering” (Stern, 1995, p.167).

Fryer calls it the mythos of spring as it deals with renewal and rejuvenation. The

focus of the story is on the characters or things that bring innovation and

renascence, and the festive gathering at the end indicates the acknowledgment

and approval of the new social norm and order. Such stories describe the idea

that commonly acceptable and traditional ways of doing things should not be

seen as the only possible ways but can be modified to suit certain situations and

people. These plots put emphasis either on the happy ending and the positive

values it brings or focus more on the process of transformation and renewal

happening prior to it (Stern, 1995).

48 2. The mythos of summer, or romance, is sort of an opposite to comedy, as it does

not aim to progress to a new order. In romance, “the real world of the present

experience … dwell[s] in the remembered one of an idealized past” (Stern,

1995, p.171). According to Fryer (1957), the four characteristics of this plot are:

an adventure, or a quest, is a crucial element of the plot; the conflict is posed by

an antagonist trying to prevent “the success of the adventure” (Stern, 1995,

p.171); a protagonist needs to triumph over the villain; a nostalgic feeling of the

past is present at the end portraying it better than it really was and signifying a

moment of constant and “supreme happiness” (p.171).

Romance plots emphasize and praise “ideal states” – beautiful, peaceful, and

free from conflict (Stern, 1995, p.171). According to Weston (1997), romance

takes its roots in the myths of fertility, as they are concerned with the cyclical

nature and repetition of birth and fertility. This plot type corresponds to summer

season due to its celebration of ideal, yet ephemeral moments of youth and its

ripeness (Stern, 1995). Nostalgia and conformity to traditions are important

elements of romance myths.

3. The mythos of autumn, or tragedy, portrays heroes who suffer and are “half-way

between human society on the ground and something greater in the sky” (Fryer,

1957). Tragedy moves from the social arena to the personal, moral, and inner

level. In such plots, conflict with oneself or the hero's inner battle proves to be

more difficult and intricate than confrontation with an antagonist in the outer

world (Stern, 1995). The main elements of tragedy are: the sequence of events

often concerns a character’s inner battles or other serious events; the conflict is

49 usually between a hero and fate or God rather than a particular villain; a hero is predestined with some “fatal flaw”; ending is often sanguinary or ambiguous

(p.175).

Tragedy is linked to autumn as it signifies disastrous, hopeless, inevitable events, just as autumn brings seasonal death to nature (Stern, 1995). In archaic tragedies, the story led to death or some sort of disaster as a hero’s punishment for his or her violation of the natural or supernatural laws, which were considered as indifferent to hero’s suffering. With the rise of the dominance of secular stories and the evolution of sacred laws, “the focal point shifted from divine power to moral power,” which led to rather more ambiguous endings

(p.176).

Post World War II tragedies often portray antiheroes representing middle- or lower-class, who offend moral laws. They face difficulties both from their own imperfections and those of a “corrupt society” (Stern, 1995, p.176). For the purpose of consumption texts, advertising shifts attention from “heroic acceptance of tragedy” found in myths to its prevention and relief of burden

(p.176). An advertisement cannot show an unhappy or ambiguous ending since it would violate the very purpose of it – to present a product as some sort of solution. In some consumption myths, “pain is associated more with pride than with carelessness, apparent success signals a subsequent fall – … the hero’s fatal flaw is pride” (p.178). Thus, some tragedy consumption myths utilize a fear approach to offer a solution to prevent or avoid a tragedy.

50 4. The mythos of winter, or irony and satire, involves “attempts to give form to the

shifting ambiguities and complexities of unidealized existence” (Fryer, 1957,

p.223). Both satire and irony plots concern the real, complex world, unlike an

ideal one portrayed in romance (Stern,1995). In this regard, they are similar to

winter, as it seems like a season when nature is dead when, in fact, winter is

preparing and nurturing it for the spring rebirth. Irony presents realistic content

and conceals “attitudes on the part of the author” (Fryer, 1957, p.224). It allows

the audience to see the imbalance and tensions between the display of things and

the truth about them. The main elements of irony are: the imbalance and

tensions mentioned above; some personal or social conflict entice a hero into

these tensions; characters may be unaware of the truth lying under the

appearance, while the audience knows it; “surprise endings reveal … the truth”

(Stern, 1995, p.182).

Fryer (1957) distinguishes satire by defining it as ‘militant irony’. It portrays

clear moral norms and “assumes standards against which the grotesque and

absurd are measured” (p.223). Satire’s important feature is “humor founded on

parodied ideals” (Stern, 1995, p.180). It has some elements or symbols of

fantasy and can ridicule phenomena, which an audience may perceive as

grotesque and use name-calling. It also has “at least an implicit moral standard,”

as the process of selection of topics involves a moral act (for instance, making

fun of “ravages of disease” is not considered as effective satire) (Fryer, 1957,

p.224). Satire plot elements are: a chain of events is a grotesque parody of a

fantasy or utopian world, which is “too perfect to be real;” the conflict confronts

the utopian ideas and wishes with the “clear moral standards;” the author

51 militantly attacks and makes fun of “idealized characters or institutions;” the

story ends in a derisive tone, maliciously making fun of “the target of ridicule”

(p. 179, 180).

4.3. Deconstruction and analysis of brand myths

Each of the plots from Frye’s taxonomy may be found in brand advertisements. Some consumption myths utilize all of the significant elements of a particular mythos, while others modify them to better fit the purpose of an advertisement, which is to prove that a product or a brand is an important element (or even a necessity) in dealing with a problem a customer faces. To demonstrate it, this section will present an example of each mythos found in brand commercials.

These narrative structures help the audience build a full fictional story centered on a brand in their minds, in which they can identify with the main character and imagine themselves as part of this myth. A product or a brand serves as a helper, facilitator, or even a mentor that guides and gives the right ideas to the hero. The narrative patterns and hero’s journey will be discussed in the context of commercials of four different brands: Mercedes-Benz, Freia, eBay, and Coca-Cola.

4.3.1. Comedy: Mercedes-Benz

On March 6, 2019, prior to the International Women’s Day, Mercedes-Benz (2019) released a short film telling a story of Bertha Benz – the wife of a company and cars’ creator who “went on the first long-distance journey with an automobile” in 1888 to

52 prove the future of this invention (“Bertha Benz”). The commercial starts with a shot of a group of women working in the field. They see something, and suddenly some of them fall on their knees and start crossing themselves. A little girl sees a woman –

Bertha – and two boys driving an automobile. The on-screen text indicates, “1888:

Bertha Benz goes on the first long-distance journey in an automobile”. The girl rushes to the village screaming, “A witch! A witch is coming!” (Mercedes-Benz, 2019, 0:28).

The people in the village start panicking.

Bertha and the two boys drive into the village, and unexpectedly the automobile breaks, releasing steam from the engine. Bertha gets out of the carriage and starts investigating the car. People gather around her and look suspiciously at the automobile. One of the men spits in front of the carriage, signifying his disapproval of the invention. Bertha finds a pharmacist in a pub and asks him for ten liters of ligroin. He looks at her and answers, “You won't get those stains out of that dress. Better buy a new one”

(Mercedes-Benz, 2019, 2:21). Bertha replies that she needs ligroin not for the dress but for her car.

Eventually, the pharmacist gives her what she had requested, and Bertha starts confidently fixing the shutdown of the automobile. When she succeeds, the car starts, releasing a cloud of steam and scaring the spectators. Finally, she victoriously looks at the crowd and drives away. The closing titles say, “She believed in more than a car. She believed in herself”. The final shots show the drawing of the pharmacy, a patent of the

Benz Company, and a photograph of Bertha Benz, all accompanied by comments of historical facts. These shots prove that the short film has a real historical basis

(Mercedes-Benz, 2019).

The plot corresponds to the main elements of the comedy mythos. It directly approaches the topic of innovation, change from an old order to a new one, and represents the value of progress and rejection of the outdated. The protagonist, Bertha, is the hero striving for the new way of transportation, which she aims to demonstrate with her long-distance journey. The antagonists in the story are the villagers, the people in the crowd or society as a whole, who have a fixed, traditional mindset and are afraid of everything new and unfamiliar. They see Bertha as a witch, mock and despise her. However, she manages to overcome it and fix the vehicle without anyone’s help. Even though the ending lacks the festive gathering, the hero copes with the challenge and victoriously leaves the village.

The audience already knows of the victory of the new order, since cars are completely normal and common objects of the modern world.

The story address not only innovation in the automobile sector but also the change of attitudes towards women and their roles and abilities. Bertha goes on this journey almost alone, only with the two boys, completely takes the responsibility for it, and does so for the cause she believes in. Despite the pharmacist’s and the crowd’s expectations she demonstrates the knowledge and the skills necessary to fix the car; she does not ask for any help. Bertha is calm and confident. She is the hero of the story, not her husband – the inventor of the car. Thus, the advertisement shows that Mercedes-

Benz was a forward-looking company even in 1888, which was free from old, traditional, outdated attitudes.

In this case, unlike in the following ones, the brand does not merely help the hero in her journey. To some extent, the brand is the hero, since Bertha is a representation of the

54 Mercedes-Benz brand. The narrative has a strong impact, especially since it is based on a true story, and the audience is reminded about it at the end. It establishes a clear link between the brand and innovative thinking, even though this word is never used in the film. Rather, it is shown through a narrative.

4.3.2. Romance: Freia

Freia is a Norwegian chocolate brand. In 2014 it released a commercial produced by B-

Reel production company for its milk chocolate product with a slogan “A Little piece of

Norway” (“Freia: A Little Piece of Norway”, 2014). The plot of the commercial focuses mostly on a single male character – the Norwegian living and working in New York.

The advertisement starts with a montage of a sequence of shots portraying the hero as a hairdresser preparing models for a show. The next scene is another sequence of shots – the hero is in the urban environment of New York performing daily activities: jogging, drinking coffee, working on a photo shoot, attending parties and events, taking the metro. The sequence and the dynamic music are interrupted with a shot of a hero in his apartment. He seems confused, dissatisfied, and unhappy. He opens the fridge and finds a Freia chocolate bar there (Freia, 2014).

After taking a bite, he looks at the scenery of New York from his window and the shot changes to the Scandinavian landscape. In the next shot, the hero is leaving the bus and meets an old man, his father. As they drive in a car, the hero looks at the Norwegian sites from the window. In the final scene, the hero walks with his father on a street and encounters an empty hairdresser shop with a sign ‘for sale’ on it. He comes closer and looks through the window; a smile appears on his face. The commercial finishes with a

55 long shot of the hero continuing the walk with his father and an on-screen text, “Find

Joy in the Simple Things” (Freia, 2014).

The story clearly has elements of romance plot, and one of its primary means of appeal is nostalgia. The hero finds himself in a foreign country and seems to have a disturbing feeling that he lacks something. The montage of shots in the first third of the commercial represents his quest for happiness and satisfaction. He tries to find it in his job, daily routine, parties, and the city itself. The story does not have an antagonist or a villain. Rather, the conflict is posed by the hero’s inability to find what he is striving for and identify a solution. Freia chocolate bar serves as a mentor or helper character that gives the hero the right direction and helps fight the uncertainty and confusion. The hero realizes he needs to go home to Norway. There, he finds peace and happiness when he is reunited with his city and father. The final scene of the character finding a hairdresser shop and looking joyful suggests that he finally finds the solution and knows what to do next.

The feeling of happiness at the end is clearly connected with nostalgia and the idea of going back to one’s roots and tradition. The hero’s problems in the present are resolved through his reunification with the idealized past – the city he grew up in and his family.

Even though the hero presumably moved to New York in the search for a better life, and the opening sequence shows that he has a life full of value there, his past that he returns to (the hometown, family, and his return) is presented as more idealized than the present. Every shot after the character’s return signifies a peaceful state, free of any conflict.

56 The commercial also corresponds to two out of three stages of the hero’s journey outlined by Campbell. The initial stage, separation or departure of the hero, is omitted from the story, as the audience encounters the protagonist who is already in the unknown world, away from home (in New York), trying to complete his quest for happiness and self-identification. The commercial starts with the initiation stage when the hero faces challenges and tries to resist temptations. He experiences a transformation and finds out the truth about himself (Campbell, 2004). Then, after he is given a clue by the helper (Freia chocolate bar), he realizes the need to gather the wisdom he had gained and return home, which leads to the stage of return that starts once the hero gets out of the bus in Norway and meets his father. Also, the story incorporates an element of following one’s bliss – a mythic concept described by

Campbell (2004). The character hears an inner voice telling him to go home, and he follows this intuitional feeling, which brings him happiness and joy in the end.

4.3.3. Tragedy: eBay

In 2005 eBay, an e-commerce platform, released a “Toy Boat” commercial produced by

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners agency (“EBay ‘Toy boat’”). The story starts with a shot of a little boy playing with a toy boat on the beach. After being called by his mother, he runs to her, leaving the toy behind. The on-screen text indicates, “Cape Cod,

1972.” Next shot – the toy is washed from the shore into the sea. The next sequence portrays the toy boat abandoned in the sea, in the storm, and under the rain. After encountering the real ship, the toy sinks to the bottom (EBay, 2005).

In the following scene, a man on a fisher boat finds the toy boat in the haul and picks it

57 up. The final scene shows a male character – a grown-up boy from the opening scene of the story. He finds his childhood toy on eBay and clearly seems to be astonished by such finding, which he had not expected. The impact of the moment is emphasized by a final shot of a childhood photo of the boy with the toy boat in the man’s room, signifying the importance of the object to the character (EBay, 2005).

The meaning and the plot elements of this story are slightly more complicated than in the previous cases. Since it is a tragedy plot, it does not completely correspond to Frye’s definition and description of this mythos, as an advertisement needs to provide a solution to prevent a tragedy rather than let it happen. From the first glance, the hero of the plot is the boy who loses a boat and then reappears in the story as a grown-up man.

However, most of the time the plot follows the toy boat and its journey. The advertisement implies that the toy is a symbolic representation of childhood and the loss of it. The plot may be classified as tragedy due to the inevitability of this loss. Does not matter how much a character wants to prolong or return to childhood; it is impossible.

Thus, a character is caught in the wheel of life and fate and has to struggle with his inner desire to be a kid again.

In this narrative, eBay, just as in the previous case, serves as a divine helper, which suddenly appears in the hero’s life and brings a gift. Here, the brand, to some extent, even has a sacred power, since it facilitates an event, which never seemed possible to happen. It symbolically brings the lost and gone childhood of the character back to him.

In this regard, the childhood, represented as the toy boat, is the hero, as it goes through the three stages of Campbell’s monomyth.

58 The journey of the toy may also represent the process of growing up. First, the toy boat is ‘at home’, enjoying its status quo. Then, the course of events is interrupted by a natural phenomenon that is out of the hero’s control, and the hero starts a journey in an unknown world – the toy is washed from the shore and faces challenges in the sea/ a person grows up and leaves the joy and happiness of being a child behind to pursue an adult life full of hardships. Finally, after all the trials and misfortunes, with the help of a mentor or another character, the hero returns back home and status quo is reestablished

– eBay helps bring the toy back to the man/ a person establishes a family of his or her own and their childhood is incarnated in the one of their offspring (Campbell, 2004).

Thus, this narrative does not strictly follow the tragedy plot as outlined by Frye. Rather, it presents an alternative, happy ending where the tragedy is prevented and the character’s inner peace is established. This is done in order to present a brand or a product as a facilitator or a helper that can even make the miracles happen.

4.3.4. Irony: Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a brand that has successfully built a strong emotional connection with its customers. Coke even represented America’s myth of sacrifice during the war in order to spread and defend democracy all around the world. It became an icon of American identity and citizenship. Due to such a long history, the Coke brand has a nostalgic element to it, at least for the Americans (Holt, 2004). However, in this case, Coke’s use of irony plot will be discussed.

In 2017 Coca-Cola together with SANTO agency released a commercial called “Pool

Boy” (Birkner, 2017). The story starts with a shot of a pool boy cleaning a pool on a hot

59 summer day. A girl who lives in the house is looking at the man from the window and clearly expresses her sexual desire of him. The camera moves to another room in the house. A young man, a female’s brother, also looks out of the window and shows his attraction to the pool boy. The sister and the brother simultaneously rush to the fridge to get a Coca-Cola bottle in order to offer it to a man and get his attention. They start to fight and compete on who runs to the pool boy first. Once they get to the pool, they find a man already drinking Coke brought to him by their mother who also holds a plate with a sandwich for him. She looks at her children, raises eyebrows, and shrugs her shoulders. Brother and sister look surprised and disappointed (Coca-Cola, 2017).

The story heavily relies on humor. The entire plot mocks and breaks the traditional narrative pattern often found in advertising when a young, heterosexual male wins over the attention and affection of a young, heterosexual female. Instead, a heterosexual girl conflicts with her homosexual brother for the possibility to appeal to the pool boy to find out in the end that their mother wins his attention instead of them. The initial expectation or appearance of how the story would unfold after the first shots is broken with the surprising truth revealed at the end, ridiculing the traditional expectations of social and personal norms.

60 5. Conclusion

The current paper investigates the importance of the role of brands in society and culture conditioned by their ability to establish an emotional connection with people and construct reality with the use of myths. These myths are modern cultural texts, which endow objects and commodities with meaning that goes beyond their functions and utilitarian purposes. Besides facilitating brands with the establishment of image and recognition, brand myths also help maintain the status quo of consumer culture.

Consumer culture, just as preceding values of the traditional, religious society, is a subjective concept. It is an ideology – a set of common beliefs – rather than a concept based on natural facts. What makes it more ‘real’ for people is the fact that these beliefs are about real and material objects. Through these views and myths products and brands become more than simple commodities. They become animated heroes of personal and social life. They have the qualities of a helper or facilitator that can make a consumer’s life more meaningful and miraculously change it.

Brand myths and its elements can be found in all marketing activities, but most clearly and fully they are manifested in advertising. The plot structure and elements, stages of the narrative, characters, and values of advertising stories often correspond to those found in myths. A possible framework for the deconstruction of these narratives is

Campbell’s monomyth, or hero’s journey, and Frye’s taxonomy of four basic mythoi. It allows to identify a ‘genre’ of the story, what values it tries to convey, and what structure is used for it. It also helps identify the role of the brand in the narrative, whether the brand is the hero or it is a helper or a mentor.

61 Understanding the role of mythic structure and elements in brand messages may help bring a deeper awareness of the role of brands in contemporary society. It may point at the intent of the message’s author and can help take a more holistic look at the place of brands in today’s culture. Brands clearly have the power to convey values and moral norms to consumers. Thus, more research may be done on how encounters of advertisements and brand myths impact the formation of the value system of children and adults.

As discussed in the final chapter, the common, underlying function of all brand myths is to sustain consumer culture and the capitalist economy. The goal is to make people believe that an abundance of objects is what they want and need rather than aggressively impose this idea. Since current generations are born into the consumer society, they encounter brands since childhood and perceive them as natural components of life, even though it is a relatively new phenomenon (meaning the modern brand, not its predecessor – proto-brand). It leads to the fact that most people do not even realize that brand myths, just as brands themselves, are constructed concepts.

In the past, people used to believe in the values of religion, community, and extended family. Today, a substantial part of those values shifted to commodities. This shift owes to the need to stimulate constant consumption, which is the result of the possibility of mass production and distribution. It is crucial to educate the public about the nature and power of brands and the tools they utilize. It may help people be more aware and conscious of the modern world of mass communication and consume information and products in a more responsible manner.

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https://web-a-ebscohost- com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=ff8848c1-1227-4512-a4b1-

010a2cdac24e%40sdc-v-sessmgr01

Flood, C. (2001). Political myth. Routledge.

Fournier, S.M. (1998). Consumers and their brands: developing relationship theory.

Journal of Consumer Research, 24, 343-73. Retrieved from https://web-a- ebscohost-com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=a8af9b98-4d00-

4ab1-8893-2bd36ca7dabd%40sdc-v-sessmgr05

Freia (2014, September). A Little Piece of Norway [Television commercial]. Retrieved

from

https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/film/freia_a_little_piece_of_norway

“Freia: A Little Piece of Norway” (2014, September 2). Retrieved from

https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/film/freia_a_little_piece_of_norway

66 Frye, N. (1957). Anatomy of Critics: Four Essays. New Jersey, Princeton: Princeton

University Press.

Garnham, N. (1979). Contribution to a political economy of mass communication.

Media, Culture and Society, 1. Retrieved from https://journals-sagepub- com.library.esc.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/016344377900100202

Holt, D. B. (2002). Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer

culture and branding. Journal of Consumer Research, 29 (1), 70– 90. Retrieved

from https://web-a-ebscohost- com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=b9dfe734-6808-4a27-b082- a82a7afbf27b%40sessionmgr4006

Holt, D.B. (2003, Summer). How to build an iconic brand. Market Leader. Retrieved

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https://www.academia.edu/28486067/Holt_How_to_Build_an_Iconic_Brand.pdf

Holt, D.B. (2004). How Brands Become Icons. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Hovland, R., & Wolburg, J. M. (2010). Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture.

Routledge.

Jhally, S. (1990). The Codes of Advertising: Fetishism and the Political Economy of

Meaning in the Consumer Society. New York: Routledge.

Jung, C.G. (1968). Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 9 (Part 1): Archetypes and

the Collective Unconscious, (2nd Ed.). Princeton University Press.

Jung, C.G. (2010, November, 14). Four Archetypes: (From Vol. 9, Part 1 of the

Collected Works of C. G. Jung). Princeton University Press.

Jung, C.G. (2019, November). Instinct and the unconscious. British Journal of

Psychology, 10(1), 15-23. Retrieved from

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1919.tb00003.x

67 Jung, C.G., & Kerenyi, C. (1951). Introduction to a Science of Mythology. London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Kim, J., Lloyd, S., & Cervellon, M. (2016). Narrative-transportation storylines in luxury

brand advertising: Motivating consumer engagement. Journal of Business

Research, 69(1), 304-313. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect- com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/S0148296315003392

Kirk, G.S. (1984). On defining myths. In Dundes, A. (Ed.), Sacred Narrative: Readings

in the Theory of Myth. University of California Press.

Klein, N. (2000). No Logo. London: Flamingo.

Levi-Strauss, C. (2014). Myth and Meaning. Rutledge Great Minds.

McDonald, C., & Scott, J. (2007). A brief history of advertising. In Tellis, G.J., &

Ambler, T. (Eds.), in The SAGE Handbook of Advertising. SAGE Publications.

Mercedes-Benz (2019, March 6). Bertha Benz: The Journey That Changed Everything

[Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGrFYD5Nfs

Mittal, B. (2006). I, me, and mine – how products become consumers’ extended selves.

Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5(6), 550–562. https://doi- org.library.esc.edu/10.1002/cb.202

Nguyen, M., Vanderwal, T., & Hasson, U. (2019, January 1). Shared understanding of

narratives is correlated with shared neural responses. NeuroImage, 184, 161-

170. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect- com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/S1053811918307948

Nigam, S. K. ( 2012, July 28). The Storytelling Brain. Science & Engineering Ethics,

18(3), 567-571. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost- com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=e115d799-194e-4e65-b10a-

0114649fa448%40sessionmgr4008

68 Pollay, R. W. (1986, April 1). The distorted mirror: Reflections on the unintended

consequences of advertising. Journal of Marketing, 50(2), 18-36. Retrieved from

https://web-a-ebscohost- com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=94bdbca4-2cdb-4a14-8e0d- d888e2841c9d%40sessionmgr4008

Pryor, S., & Grossbart, S. (2007). Creating meaning on main street: Towards a model of

place branding. Place Branding & Public Diplomacy, 3(4), 291–304. https://doi- org.library.esc.edu/10.1057/palgrave.pb.6000080

Ransom, J. (2018). Self-Intelligence: The New Science-Based Approach for Reaching

Your True Potential. Fair Winds Press.

Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L., & Pervan, S. (2015). Strategic Brand Management.

(3rd Ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Schank, R. C. (1999). Dynamic Memory Revisited. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

University Press.

Segal, R.A. (1999). Theorizing About Myth. Amherst: University of Massachusetts

Press.

Sherry, Jr., J.F. (1987). Advertising as a cultural system. In J. Umiker-Sebeok (Ed.),

Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs for Sale. Mouton

de Gruyter.

Spiggle, S. (2003). Creating the frame and the narrative. In B. Stern (Ed.), Representing

Consumers: Voices, Views and Visions. Routledge.

Stern, B. (1995). Consumer myths: Frye's taxonomy and the structural analysis of

consumption text. Journal of Consumer Research, 22(2), 165-185. Retrieved

from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489810

69 Tillotson, J., & Martin, D. (2014). Understanding myth in consumer culture theory. In

N. Campbell et al. (Eds.), Myth and the Market. Ireland, Dublin: UCD Business

School, University College Dublin. Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/19354436/Understanding_myth_in_consumer_cultur e_theory

Torelli, C. J. (2013). Globalization, Culture, and Branding: How to Leverage Cultural

Equity for Building Iconic Brands in the Era of Globalization. Palgrave

Macmillan.

Walla, P., Brenner, G., & Koller, M. (2011). Objective Measures of Emotion Related to

Brand Attitude: A New Way to Quantify Emotion-Related Aspects Relevant to

Marketing. PLoS ONE, 6(11), 1–7. https://doi- org.library.esc.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0026782

Weston, J.L. (1997). From Ritual to Romance. New York, Mineola: Dover Publications,

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74 Freia (2014, September). A Little Piece of Norway [Television commercial]. Retrieved

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Holt, D.B. (2004). How Brands Become Icons. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Hovland, R., & Wolburg, J. M. (2010). Advertising, Society, and Consumer Culture.

Routledge.

75 Jhally, S. (1990). The Codes of Advertising: Fetishism and the Political Economy of

Meaning in the Consumer Society. New York: Routledge.

Jung, C.G. (1968). Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 9 (Part 1): Archetypes and

the Collective Unconscious, (2nd Ed.). Princeton University Press.

Jung, C.G. (2010, November, 14). Four Archetypes: (From Vol. 9, Part 1 of the

Collected Works of C. G. Jung). Princeton University Press.

Jung, C.G. (2019, November). Instinct and the unconscious. British Journal of

Psychology, 10(1), 15-23. Retrieved from

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1919.tb00003.x

Jung, C.G., & Kerenyi, C. (1951). Introduction to a Science of Mythology. London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Kim, J., Lloyd, S., & Cervellon, M. (2016). Narrative-transportation storylines in luxury

brand advertising: Motivating consumer engagement. Journal of Business

Research, 69(1), 304-313. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect- com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/S0148296315003392

Kirk, G.S. (1984). On defining myths. In Dundes, A. (Ed.), Sacred Narrative: Readings

in the Theory of Myth. University of California Press.

Klein, N. (2000). No Logo. London: Flamingo.

Levi-Strauss, C. (2014). Myth and Meaning. Rutledge Great Minds.

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Brands Through the Power of Archetypes. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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Ambler, T. (Eds.), in The SAGE Handbook of Advertising. SAGE Publications.

Mercedes-Benz (2019, March 6). Bertha Benz: The Journey That Changed Everything

[Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGrFYD5Nfs

76 Mittal, B. (2006). I, me, and mine – how products become consumers’ extended selves.

Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5(6), 550–562. https://doi- org.library.esc.edu/10.1002/cb.202

Nguyen, M., Vanderwal, T., & Hasson, U. (2019, January 1). Shared understanding of

narratives is correlated with shared neural responses. NeuroImage, 184, 161-

170. Retrieved from https://www-sciencedirect- com.library.esc.edu/science/article/pii/S1053811918307948

Nigam, S. K. ( 2012, July 28). The Storytelling Brain. Science & Engineering Ethics,

18(3), 567-571. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost- com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=e115d799-194e-4e65-b10a-

0114649fa448%40sessionmgr4008

Pollay, R. W. (1986, April 1). The distorted mirror: Reflections on the unintended

consequences of advertising. Journal of Marketing, 50(2), 18-36. Retrieved from

https://web-a-ebscohost- com.library.esc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=94bdbca4-2cdb-4a14-8e0d- d888e2841c9d%40sessionmgr4008

Pryor, S., & Grossbart, S. (2007). Creating meaning on main street: Towards a model of

place branding. Place Branding & Public Diplomacy, 3(4), 291–304. https://doi- org.library.esc.edu/10.1057/palgrave.pb.6000080

Ransom, J. (2018). Self-Intelligence: The New Science-Based Approach for Reaching

Your True Potential. Fair Winds Press.

Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L., & Pervan, S. (2015). Strategic Brand Management.

(3rd Ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Schank, R. C. (1999). Dynamic Memory Revisited. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge

University Press.

77 Segal, R.A. (1999). Theorizing About Myth. Amherst: University of Massachusetts

Press.

Sherry, Jr., J.F. (1987). Advertising as a cultural system. In J. Umiker-Sebeok (Ed.),

Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs for Sale. Mouton

de Gruyter.

Spiggle, S. (2003). Creating the frame and the narrative. In B. Stern (Ed.), Representing

Consumers: Voices, Views and Visions. Routledge.

Stern, B. (1995). Consumer myths: Frye's taxonomy and the structural analysis of

consumption text. Journal of Consumer Research, 22(2), 165-185. Retrieved

from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489810

Tillotson, J., & Martin, D. (2014). Understanding myth in consumer culture theory. In

N. Campbell et al. (Eds.), Myth and the Market. Ireland, Dublin: UCD Business

School, University College Dublin. Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/19354436/Understanding_myth_in_consumer_cultur e_theory

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Equity for Building Iconic Brands in the Era of Globalization. Palgrave

Macmillan.

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Marketing. PLoS ONE, 6(11), 1–7. https://doi- org.library.esc.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0026782

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78 Using Archetypes. Singapore: Wiley.

Weston, J.L. (1997). From Ritual to Romance. New York, Mineola: Dover Publications,

Inc.