THE MAGIC BEHIND THE SALEbe manipulated by clever advertising so that it has very little to
do with the performance of the object being sold.
An example of how advertising attempts to build up an aura
unrelated to the object's performance is the 1989 advertising cam-
paign for the Infiniti car. Rather than show the car and describe its
good points, the ad shows elements of nature that have clear-cut
subtexts: breaking waves, craggy cliffs, sunsets. Then the name
of the car is splashed across the TV screen or magazine page.
Never mind what the car looks like or how it runs. Never mind
its price or any other features. Performance is of minimal concern
here; aura is everything. Or perhaps we should say subtext is
everything, for aura, of course, is simply another name for subtext.
The advertising campaign for the Infiniti is an attempt to establish
the car's aura, or second subtext, from the start.
The auras of prestige cars like the Cadillac, the Rolls-Royce,
the Lincoln Continental, the BMW are so well established that
we don't need the assurance of performance. The aura stands in
for performance, but the aura has been acquired legitimately over
years of performance. With the Infiniti, the advertisement is trying
to cut out all those years of performance and present us with a
full-blown aura for a car we have never heard of.
As another example, take the popular and well-known perfume
Chanel. A recent Chanel advertisement doesn't even bother to
show the perfume bottle. The ad has a group of attractive women
and men gathered around a pool table, all looking vaguely sultry.
Above them is the name Chanel. What does it say about the
object they are selling? Nothing, really, but it speaks volumes
about the aura of Chanel. Ultra-sophisticated people too cool to
smile are playing pool. You, too, can be ultra-sophisticated if
you use Chanel. This is the aura being sold.
A cosmetic ad for Elizabeth Arden shows an exquisite female