COMM 287 Lecture Notes - Advertising Campaign, Diamond Life, De Beers
20 Sep 2013
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Document Summary
Advertising talks to us about subjects that are important, but it does it through the mediums of things. Talks about thinks through other ideas that are important to us. Advertising is a discourse (story) through and about objects. Diamonds were valued because they were scarce and a rare stone. Huge diamond mines were discovered in south africa. The owners of these mines, fearful of a drop in price for diamonds, formed themselves into a monopoly (cartel) called debeers. Restrict the number of diamonds on the market, keep the supply low so demand is high and keep the prices highs. Maintained tight control in the 20th century (1900s) By 1938, there is a crisis in the diamond business sales are declining (both in amount and carats declining 50%). There were fewer diamonds being bought as lowest prices. Debeers needed to change the public attitudes toward diamonds to make them have value beyond economic. The goal was to change the public attitude.
