Maybe Advertising Isn't So Bad...

This is my senior year of college, and the anticipation of graduating has got me thinking about my future career and what I really want. I haven't been thrilled with public relations (my major) lately. In fact, I'm starting to lean toward advertising. When I came to college, I wanted to go into a field where I'd need to think creatively and really get to know people in order to communicate in the best way possible. I still want that. I just think that goal can be better achieved through advertising.

Don't worry. I'm not changing my major or anything. Luckily, PR and advertising degrees are pretty compatible. Plus, some of the best advertisers are those who come from different backgrounds. I really think the career for me is advertising research or account planning. It combines my passions for psychology and communication, and wraps it all in a dynamic environment with the opportunity to make a real difference. Advertising is powerful and if I don't like the way it's being done now, maybe it's time I stood up and did something to change it.

The classes I've been taking this semester have been really inspiring in this regard. For the rest of this post, I'd like to share something I wrote for my International Ad/PR class about advertising in Sweden. I'm always looking to expand my knowledge of the world and its various cultures (I mean, I'll be teaching English in China after I graduate!), so this class has already been valuable to me. I'm so excited to use my remaining time in school to prepare me for what I hope will be a worthwhile future.

Mirror Mirror: Sweden is the Fairest of All

Last week, I saw a presentation by Hedvig Hagwall Bruckner, a copywriter at King, a small independent advertising agency based in Sweden. Her insights into Swedish culture and advertising were fascinating. The country’s love of equality permeates almost every aspect of its advertising. Since advertising reflects (and even shapes) culture, the advertisements produced by King speak to the broader cultural climate of Sweden and may even be propelling it into the future at this very moment.

Because equality is such a high ideal in Sweden, many tactics that other countries use in advertising are not effective with Swedish consumers. For example, celebrity endorsement is widely used in America, but rarely used in Sweden because the people there do not hold authority in high regard. Celebrities can be used in a humorous way, as long as they are not perceived as having a higher status than other people.

Equality and a lack of fear of authority lend themselves to another important practice in Swedish advertising: breaking taboos. It seems that Swedish ads push each other to include more controversial characters or concepts (without going so far as to become offensive—sexism is a big no-no, for example). They keep a light-hearted tone while addressing issues like LGBTQ+ rights, feminism and the empowerment of people with disabilities, to name a few.

With innovative ads like ICA’s 300+ episode “soap opera” and Com Hem’s Judit and Judit series, Swedish advertisers have created a mirror to reflect some of the most prominent aspects and values of their culture. And as a small country, Sweden’s values are particularly solid. It is not as easy to segment demographic groups in Sweden as it is in, say, China or the U.S. Therefore, ads must speak to the concepts that everyone in Sweden holds dear, such as humor, feminine attitudes, togetherness, fairness and, of course, equality.

Learning from Hedvig really opened my eyes to how great advertising can be. Looking at it from an American perspective, I see a lot of disconnects between my culture’s values and my culture’s advertisements, where those holes do not seem to exist in Sweden. I have a lot of respect for a country that practices what it preaches, and Sweden seems to do just that. Perhaps I should start packing my bags!

Don’t get me wrong; I think American advertising has come a long way. Seeing ads like the Cheerios commercial featuring a biracial family or the Honey Maid “This Is Wholesome” campaign gives me a lot of hope for the future. However, it seems like Swedish ads are leagues ahead in the social responsibility department. It’s interesting because equality is a common value to both America and Sweden, but their ads (and the reactions to those ads) are very different. What is the explanation?

As I alluded to before, there is a disconnect between what America practices and what it preaches. Equality and freedom are concepts included in everything from the Constitution to the arguments of political pundits on major television networks, but American ads tend to lean toward concepts like sexism and racial stereotypes. Many times, they don’t include certain groups of people at all. Americans say they value equality, but there is an undercurrent in the culture that disrupts its flow into advertising.

In Sweden, that undercurrent doesn’t exist. The values they share are ingrained their culture and are reflected in their advertising. They break taboos because it is a part of who they are (and, it turns out, it’s a pretty good business strategy).

To create awesome ads is to take the awesome parts of a culture and make them even more awesome. It means reflecting the culture, but also pushing it forward to create something even better. Sweden is getting it right, but even Swedish advertisers can continue to push the envelope. American advertisers can produce great work, too. The key is for advertisers to realize the power that they wield, and to use it for the betterment of the larger society.

When looking at our own cultures, what do we see in the mirror? Who really is the fairest one of all?