PRODUCTS
Campaigns market baseball as the consumption of American identity. Baseball players are known to chew gum, eat sunflower seeds, and chew tobacco. Baseball and tobacco go hand-in-hand. One would surmise from the following advertisement by "Red Man" chewing tobacco that by consuming more of their product you are in effect becoming more American.
Campaigns market baseball as the consumption of American identity. Baseball players are known to chew gum, eat sunflower seeds, and chew tobacco. Baseball and tobacco go hand-in-hand. One would surmise from the following advertisement by "Red Man" chewing tobacco that by consuming more of their product you are in effect becoming more American.
The company markets their product with the image of home-run champion Johnny Mize as their poster-boy hailing the slogan “America’s Best Chew”. Mize is important as having a hit forty-three home-runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1940, a record which stood for nearly sixty years until Mark McGwire hit seventy in 1998. He is also important as being relatable to the American public having a white complexion and almost similarly puritanical suggestive roots. America is, on the majority, a white nation per the US Census bureau statistics and their choice of Johnny Mize reflects this stat. His blue cap among the red and white backdrop also draws its colors from the American flag. "Red Man" is using highly American imagery alongside that of baseball to help conclude to its audience that its product is just as American as baseball. This notion is further enhanced by "Red Man's" inclusion of Native-American imagery.
Alongside the Anglo Johnny Mize stands the brand itself, "Red Man" chewing tobacco. The tobacco company is using Native-American imagery to support that its product is somehow connected to United States historical past. It is suggested that by chewing their tobacco over the competition you are having an authentic American experience much like those of the natives of the country. An American in the purest form, the natives, would prefer "Red Man" over any other brand.
POSTERS
In a country building a new self-identity, Americans have linked the heroism of American patriots as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln with that of their baseball heroes like Joe DiMaggio and Mark McGwire. Instead of being merely world athletes, baseball players are seen as “Great Americans”. Take for example this poster of Mark McGwire available on Check Out My Cards, a baseball memorabilia website.
Mark McGwire is sitting inside a star similar to that upon the American flag. Again the colors of red, white, and blue are used to tie patriotism into the consumption of baseball. By placing the poster of Mark McGwire upon your wall you are not only signifying your adoration for the home-run champion, who in 1998 hit 70 home-runs to break the all-time record for most home-runs in a single season, you are also taking part in a shared American experience. He is American, and idolizing McGwire is championing America. His achievements embark notions of American exceptionalism, that his greatness is tied to him being American.
WORKS CITED
"1952 Johnny Mize Red Man Chew Ad "My Steady Chew..."" The Real BSmile. BSmile, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://therealbsmile.tumblr.com/post/25159603889/1952-johnny-mize-red-man-chew-ad-my-steady-chew>.
"Baseball-Reference.com - MLB Stats, Standings, Scores, History." Baseball-Reference.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. <http://www.baseball-reference.com/>.