Realism as Authenticity - Authentic Commodities Mini Cooper
Advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGBgJxMjjLk&ab_channel=BiliaPersonbilAS
Introduction
As consumers in a marketplace of mass-produced goods, the choice of what we buy may come down to how the product is marketed as authentic. In this paper we will be examining an advertisement from Mini Cooper and how the advert creates an authentic commodity. Authenticity can be a hard thing to pin down and define when it comes to advertisement. This is partially because of the wide variety of ways it can present itself. However, if we simplify the role of authenticity in advertisements, it creates the image that a product is more “real”. What I mean by this, is by using authenticity a product can become associated with a wider sphere of meaning. This is conveyed through a variety of ways; such as through the authenticity of production, experience and of reproduction. This ability to sell products under this banner is enabled by society’s continuous search for an authentic self. However, no matter the method used, upon closer examination authenticity ultimately helps reinforce the ideas of consumerism; to entice the audience to believe and buy into a product. To make us believe we are buying more than just another car.
The original Mini Cooper is arguably one of the most iconic cars in the world, and symbol of the Britain. This iconography is something the advert draws upon to sell their new model of the Mini. The advert does this by “recounting” the journey of how the Mini Cooper became such an icon. Of course, the modern Mini Cooper has very little to do with the original, with the company now being owned by German motor giant BMW. The advert draws upon the origins of the car as signifier of authenticity. The advert of course doesn’t want us to think of this car as being produced by a giant faceless corporation that just wants our money. So, they give us a face. The beginning of the advert starts with a man staring at the car while modifications are made, this man represented is John Cooper, the co-founder of Cooper Car Company, and the man who made the Mini Cooper come into fruition. Prior to his involvement, the car was just called the Mini and was produced by the British Motor Corporation as a small economy car.
As the advertisement shows, when John Cooper brought his car the world-famous Monte Carlo Rally, people laughed at the possibility of such a car wining, with a woman even referring to it as a ‘sweet little tin can’ in the advert. Not a description you would want for a race car. The doubts and criticism of the little Mini echo repeatedly throughout the advert. It does so until the Mini comes out victorious crossing the finish line, and in doing so silencing the echoes of doubts as the audio cuts and the victorious roar of the engine takes over completely. This victory against it’s bigger, more favoured competitors is how the advert presents the inception of the Mini Cooper. The perfect David vs. Goliath underdog story. We feel a connection to John Cooper. We want him and his little car to succeed and prove his naysayers wrong. The representation of John Cooper then is that of an auteur. Goldman describes an auteur as a “social construction signifying the integration of creativity, autonomy and achievement… His power rises from the innermost depth of private being. His product or achievement carries his mark, his soul, his vision, his signature. More than a technician, more than a craftsman, the auteur no matter the profession, is an artist.” (Goldman, 1996). John Cooper is the artist, and the Mini Cooper is the artwork. Now, the new Mini isn’t a car created in the thousands by a faceless corporation. It was built by a real man. Not out of money but out of passion, because he wanted to create something that “thrills''.
The advertisement also sells us on the authenticity of experience. Like previously stated, the modern Mini Cooper has very little to do with the original. The modern one has no race car credentials. However, the advert of course tries to reconcile this. It attempts to link the original’s success as a three-time Monte Carlo rally winner to the driving experience of the modern one. In fact, the advertisement presents the modern Mini Cooper as even better than the original. It does this towards the end of the advert with the new Mini coming from behind the original and overtaking it and becoming completely the focus of the camera. This is combined with its engine note drowning it out also drowning out the original. When you add this with the footage earlier of the original car nimbly handling across the narrow roads of the rally stage, it manufactures the idea that if the original was that amazing, imagine what new one must be like it is even than the original. It means when you buy a Mini Cooper you are not just buying a car. You are buying a race car, you are buying something that will bring you a thrill every time you drive it.
The advert builds upon the story structure by further drawing upon nostalgia and authenticity of the past. This is done using codes and conventions of photography and video throughout the advert. From the very first scene the advertisement has a warm orange colouring on top of everything as well as the presence of noise. Creating the effect as if it was shot through an older camera. This is combined with the audio levels slightly off, as if perfectly clear, all clueing the viewer in right away that what they are viewing took place in the past. Because it’s not shot with higher production values with color corrected footage, or cinematic framing. The footage presents itself as “real” and intimate. Shown by the close ups and intimacy of the framing and the usage of a handheld camera style versus being stable on a tripod. With the advert’s unpredictable camera movements, close ups and of center framing, it was shot as if it was filmed by someone who was present in the moment, someone who was a part of what was going on. Intermixed with this are footage that looks like it was shot from an old film camera, with a grainy filter on top and a completely different screen ratio. Almost seemingly like archival footage. This not only reiterates the “fact” that we’re in the past, but also aids in this representation of authenticity. The footage wasn’t created but found.
Conclusion
We live in an age where we are constantly in search of self. As consumers, everyday we’re faced with tens if not hundreds of advertisements and different products, all vying for our attention, for us to buy into them. The choice of product purchased often comes down to how the product markets it’s authenticity. Mini Cooper uses it’s past to reproduce authenticity of production, experience and reproduction. We often aren’t buying the product for solely it’s use value, but instead we buy products based on this representation of authenticity. We purchase a product and it’s attached manufactured meanings to actualize our own sense of self. As a result, we cannot separate authenticity in advertisements and products, and when we buy something, it goes beyond its inherent use value, we are effectively making a statement of who we are every time we make a purchase.
References
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(pp.141-185) New York: The Guilford Press.
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MINI USA | John Cooper Works | The Faith of a Few. (2017, September 15). Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FKNyhwUBY4