FRAMES

As I understand it, framing has to do with the way we see things and, as a result affects the way we feel about them. Because it’s so unconscious, we usually aren’t even aware that we’re engaged in framing- advertisers in particular understand this. In The Persuaders, the inner workings of the marketing world are exposed- advertisers attempt to frame their products as ideas that evoke particular emotional responses in consumers. There was one priceless Cheerios commercial, for instance, that used the image of a grandmother feeding her adorable baby grandchild cheerios on Christmas eve. This commercial brought to mind many ideas- tradition, family, comfort, shelter, warmth, joy, love, CHEER,  “home for the holidays,” etc… the point was to frame cheerios as a thing that would help bring about all these wonderful states of being and experiences. The consumer is no longer simply purchasing a nutritionally devoid, o shaped grain product- she/he is buying the cheerios experience.

George Lakoff describes framing as a thing that one has witnessed or experienced repeatedly which has caused his/her brain to form new circuits. He uses the example (if I remember correctly) of a child who sees his mother preparing formula. He knows from experience that this will result in being held and fed. So, the child associates the formula with physical warmth, affection, safety, satiety, comfort. The child’s brain has framed the whole formula experience. Framing happens with a repeated experience that eventually results in a new neural circuit being formed- this is when the experience becomes a metaphor for something larger than the experience itself. Lakoff goes on to discuss the fact that words themselves are frames- this was a bit more confusing.

Back to advertising- due to the advent of technology like tivo and on-demand, viewers no longer have to subject themselves to commercials. As a result, advertisers had to find a new strategy- they started placing brands directly in the movies or television programs- i.e. Starbucks in I am Sam and Absolut in Sex and the City. As I understand it, this caused reframing of these particular brands. When the consumer makes an “Absolut hunk,” he/she is now part of the Sex and the City cultural experience and not simply an audience member. The Absolut brand is now a direct avenue into the lifestyles of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte.

Lakoff describes how framing is one of the most natural and normal things that we do- it is how our brain works. Advertisers take advantage of this and bombard us with ads that force our brains to make ludicrous connections- we may think that we’re buying a new, improved identity when all we’re getting are a pair of shoes.