In today’s society, culture plays a big role in the symbols that are used to advertise certain products. Many advertising companies use symbols that are related to the culture they are presenting their products to. Alternatively, they may use symbols in their ads that originate from the cultures in which these products are being sold. Companies use cultural symbolism and mythology to make products more appealing to their customers by highlighting the uniqueness of the products they sell. These unique qualities are personal to their audience, and it is through these personal connections that these products see their success.
An example of this type of symbolism is evident in advertisements made by Guinness Beer. They use some culture-specific symbols in their advertisements that often take on subtle guises. Guinness is a popular Irish beer, which was brewed originally by Arthur Guinness, and is known to be one of the most successful beer brands worldwide. A symbol used by Guinness Beer is the Harp of Brian Boru. The harp has been a symbol of Ireland since the period of Henry VIII in the 16th century and is also on the official Irish coat of arms (Cait).
Guinness is particularly successful in Ireland because they use symbols that represent Irish pride and patriotism. The United States is also trying to include symbols that are considered cultural advertisement. For example, Chevrolet came out with a car called the Camaro. By doing this, they are trying to increase their sales by advertising the car to be as “American” as Rock N’ Roll. Pandora Jewelry store sells quality gift merchandise for women, but where did they get the word “Pandora” from? Pandora was the first woman in Greek mythology.
Her name means “all-gifted”. Zeus, who was the king of gods, ordered Hephaistos and other gods to create a woman because he was angered. He told them to “create a woman, Pandora, and endow her with the beauty and cunning” (Theoi Greek Mythology). Pandora Jewelry took this story and created a store for women so they can be endowed with beauty by their loved ones. Another company that used Greek mythology to symbolize their name is Nike. In Greek mythology “Nike is a Winged goddess of Victory, who can run and fly at great speeds. ” (Mythology In Modern Society).
Nike is a shoe company known to make shoes for sports to improve athletic performance. They took the Greek god’s name that can run and fly at great speeds to symbolize performance. Trident is the god of seas in Greek mythology. Tria is Greek for three and donti means tooth, which translates Trident to mean, “triple-toothed. ”(Mythology In Modern Society). That’s were Trident Gum got their company name from. The translation of the word Trident symbolizes that you have strong healthy teeth; Trident gum advertises that it helps clean your teeth.
Most people don’t understand the definition of a company’s name, and how it has anything to do with their service or products. But when you study it and look into it with more depth you find interesting reasons why the company chose that name to represent their products. When a company advertises their product using cultural symbols, they tend to relate to their customers more which in return gets them more sales. However many large companies got their label from Greek mythology by taking a goddess name that defines their products.
