Freedom and the Commodity self (Analysis of Ralph Lauren Safari Ad)

The evolution of our now postmodern society has been intrinsically wrapped up in the notion of freedom through consumption. However, this freedom that was to be gained was a false, limited form of freedom: it was the freedom to choose between commodities in order to define the self, rather than the freedom to choose whether or not to produce or use the commodities. Thus, the concept of the commodity self came into being, in which we create meaning for ourselves, both internally and externally, in terms of the products that we possess.

Through this signification of the self, freedom was a truly modernistic notion, such that the individual gained the auspicious power to control the immediate world around him or her. It is the more jaded postmodernism that highlights the tragic flaw in freedom through consumption: we may be able to alter ourselves, but we cannot control the world around us. Further, as consumers concerned for so long solely with the manipulation of our own selves, we have lost the capability for interdependence.

The lack of this relationship between individuals has had a profound impact on our society, creating a void between what we want and what we are capable of obtaining. It is within this void that most postmodern advertising plays itself out, and the advertisement for Ralph Lauren's Safari Perfume is one such example. It offers a strange oxymoronic blend of the hollow freedom that both steps in to fill the void and simultaneously denies the existence of any void at all.

The advertisement for Safari suggests that it is (not creates, but actually is) a "world without boundaries." The enormous seven-page ad taps into numerous referent systems -- two, extremely broadly stated, would be the Casablanca system and the Marlboro Man system. For the woman's perfume, a woman rides a horse out of frame, looking off into the distance, while on the opposite page a set of storybook frames tell the tale of her journey. In one image she gazes out at the viewer, in another she walks toward an awaiting plane, and the other images further document her sojourn. The perfume bottle, shown larger than life and more in focus, anchors the relationship between the story of the safari and the commodity "Safari". The men's version of the perfume is given its meaning by a close-up, grainy shot of a denim-clad cowboy chewing on a piece of nature. He stares off into the distance, past the enormous, sharply focused image of the bottle of cologne. The entire spread is united by the sepia-toned filter, a color which itself indexes history and is often a symbol of the safari.

The advertisement begins with a glorification of the separation of the self -- only two individuals are shown in all of the images, and they in no way interact with each other. These people are shown to be fully satisfied with their selves and their surroundings. However, in the space of the viewer, the connection must be made that (1) their isolation is not confined by any boundaries, and (2) this expansive individualism is made possible by their connection to Safari. Jackson Lear's notion of the therapeutic ethos is an important link at this point: Safari does not simply promise the viewer an encounter with his or her true self, it promises to deliver an expansion of the self. It promises a freedom from the postmodern capsulization of the self, while at the same time insisting on the myth of freedom via privatized individualism. The consumer can recreate his or herself with the commodity, and simultaneously free him or herself from the restraints of the commodity-self. How very convenient.

A further, rather problematic irony exists in the contradiction between the postmodern concept of freedom from others and the reality that, although we need not (cannot) depend on one another, we can never fully separate ourselves as these two people have. As members of society we constantly signify upon one another -- the meaning I create for you somehow reflects back on my understanding of myself, and vice versa. I would argue that it is in this fashion that hegemony is created, so the ethos of freedom from others that Safari strives to embody is, not only hollow, but entirely false. And of course, finally, Ralph Lauren needs it to remain false or else the ostensible ability of their product to transcend would be rendered absolutely useless.

ANNE WEHR