Question #6

6) By drawing on the articles on the exotic and globalization from class, discuss the following advertisement:

This advertisement is very interesting as it portrays orientalism and globalization in ways which are common in todays media. In Sanjukta Gosh article, "'Con-fusing' Exotica, Producing India in U.S. Advertising" she said, "This chapter examines how media, in general, and advertising, in particular, produce a commodified and an Orientalist vision of India that simultaneously erases indigenous peoples out of the landscape or puts them in the background" (275). This quote describes what is happening here in this video and other advertisements in society. Here we see minority groups, being used in our mainstream media. Not only are these exotic cultures being portrayed in a different light, they also make the native people look "stupid." In this American Express advertisement, a comedian Canan O'brien travels to the middle east to find the best cotton to make fabric. We see O'brien negotiating with a native person and as he does so he uses his fingers to count, portraying that the native man is "stupid" and even maybe making fun of him. Media, like this advertisement makes exotic cultures seem incoherent and diminishes these cultures values and norms. This video also connotes that American need the "best" even if it entails going to extreme norms to fulfill our need for consumption and perfection. Exoticism and orientalism which is seen in this video, appropriates cultures. This is one of the basic concepts of globalization. While globalization can both be good and bad for cultures, we can see that it is good in the sense of blending cultures. We can engage in intercultural exchange, as seen in this video where O'brien gets the cotton and other goods from another culture. Although this video is "playing" on exoticism through humor, in reality globalization can be good to decrease the barriers of unique and different cultures.