Case study in ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Case study in ethics - Essay Example One of the core things that must be understood with advertising is that it is a representation that appeals to the sensibility aspect of an individual and it is intended for popular consumption. Thus, the popular appeal of a certain depiction that is rendered in an advertisement creates a condition of biased, shallow perception. This kind of perception is highly reductive. In this case study, I shall focus on the issue of the image of Obama in an advertisement that has a certain pedigree of racism and political labeling. This discourse shall be explained and engaged further in the succeeding parts of the paper. At the same time, aside from the construction of the image, the impression derived thereof shall be put into account by looking into the formal elements that make up the image. At the same time, there is also a need to clearly assess why the image creates an impression through certain sensibilities, which are political, cultural and sociological in nature and must be discussed in conjunction with the signs that parts of images create for the spectator to gaze. Looking at the elements of the image, Obama’s image is presented with sickle and hammer, which are embodiments of communism (Empty Suit, â€Å"Image†). Another crucial thing to look at the image is the use of the terms â€Å"somewhere in Kenya a village is missing its idiot Obama† (Empty Suit, â€Å"Image†). Together with the image comes the face of Obama, smiling and wearing formal attire that befits the campaigning needed for the elections. The advertisement has these elements that evoke a totally different level of problematic propositions and discourses of representation. To understand the points to be raised in this paper, there is a need to understand that the context of presidential elections must be duly considered since this defines how the image works and creates a certain