Topical Guide 476
Mark Dorset
Advertising: Appeal to Desire to Enhance One’s Self-Image, Appeal to Sensual Pleasure
Reservations Recommended, Chapter 3:
Belinda hasn’t taken her coat off; she snuggles into it while she squats to inspect the hole. […]
“When I was a girl,” she says, “I wanted a fur coat, and not just the way you think a girl might want a fur coat. Not just some abstract fur coat. And not an ordinary fur. I wanted something really glamorous. I wanted this coat. A white fur coat. I’m not quite sure where I got the desire, or why it became so strong, but I think it might have been Smirnoff ads. Some liquor ad, anyway. I’m almost sure it was Smirnoff. They used to have tall blondes in white fur coats, sort of wrapping themselves around enormous bottles of Smirnoff.”
I couldn’t find a Smirnoff ad that matches Belinda’s memory, but I did find one for Ancient Age bourbon that does:
And I also found a photograph of Marilyn Monroe snuggling into a white fur coat:
See also:
Advertising: Types of Appeal TG 373; “The Grass Is Greener,” Exoticism TG 441, TG 442
Have you missed an episode or two or several?
You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide.
You can listen to the episodes on the Personal History podcast. Begin at the beginning or scroll through the episodes to find what you’ve missed.
You can listen to “My Mother Takes a Tumble” and “Do Clams Bite?” complete and uninterrupted as audiobooks through YouTube.
You can ensure that you never miss a future issue by getting a free subscription. (You can help support the work by choosing a paid subscription instead.)
At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of Little Follies and Herb ’n’ Lorna.
You’ll find overviews of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy (a pdf document) and at Encyclopedia.com.