Goldless Arches

Beau Yancey
02/12/09
DTC 375
Dr. Farman
Word Count: 785

Goldless Arches

Is the pen still mightier than the sword? Or has the pen lost its edge during the last half century? With the invention of the internet and mobile technologies, I am afraid the pen has taken a backseat. In today’s society, everything needs to be done at the speed of sound. There is no longer a need for the rigors of reading text. As technology advances, our foundational literature forms of communication are set aside for the more immediate communication advantages of sight and sound.

In David Crowley’s book “Communication in History” he states, “In a primary oral culture, where the word has its existence only in sound, with no reference whatsoever to any visually perceptible text, and no awareness of even the possibility of such a text, the phenomenology of sound enters deeply into human beings’ feel for existence, as processed by the spoken word.” (Crowley 70)

This concept was placed into action during the early stages of radio advertising. The jingle is still a widely used advertising tool that implants into our minds a brief segment of sound. Once we hear the jingle, we might not know what it is that is being sold to us subconsciously, but the sound of the jingle will linger with us much longer that reading it in text.

Another form of advertising on the highway is a billboard. Initially billboards were created with imagery and text. During the five to ten seconds that you can actually see the billboard, the imagery needs to be such that it will entice the driver to stay at their hotel, or pull over for an amazing meal. During recent years, we have seen this canvas change dramatically. The days of the stationary plywood billboard are long gone. The more effective billboards have multiple advertisements on them and change two or three times during the same driving period. Motion has been added to catch the attention of the driver. For the effective billboards that do not move, three dimensional objects are displayed, such as a half of a boat running through the advertisement. My personal favorite is a worker’s compensation firm in Utah that has a manikin dangling precariously from the catwalk of a billboard. These examples would have never remained with me had they just been text.

If you were to drive down Clearwater Avenue, what signage would stick out to you the most? Would it be a law firm? A veterinary clinic? Or the “golden arches” of McDonalds? For those companies that have advanced with orality and sound, the more recognizable and distinct they become. If McDonalds were a textual company, they would only be known for their heat lamp hamburgers, their stale fries, and the “Happy Meals” that deliver no such happiness. Instead they have turned their company into a spectacle. The “golden arches” can be seen from miles away. The building is lit up with bright colors, and their jingle of “I’m lovin’ it” entices the mind with delicious chicken nuggets and late night ice cream treats. The original advertising of Ronald McDonald and his gang has taken a backseat and is now letting the arches drive.

Even the way we get information about world events has changed. When I was a child I enjoyed reading the newspaper with my Dad before he went to work. The experience, which is what it was because of the time involved, was very different from what it is today. Everything there is to know about world events can now be compacted into thirty minutes in your evening news. There are no more flipping through pages, or skipping the classified ads. Anything of importance can be placed into a twenty second segment. Anything more than this tends to be looked upon as a waste of time, however there are still longer broadcasts for those people who still have a need fore more in depth news coverage. Instead of reading about the war in Iraq, we can see live coverage of the events unfolding. We can see for ourselves what is actually going on, as opposed to previous wars where everything was third person commentary.

As time has progressed, so has our need for communication. From the beginning grunts of cavemen to the written words in monasteries and the various media forms we have today. It will be exciting to see how our culture progresses, or perhaps even regresses. Where you word is your bond and no more literary documentation is needed. Whatever the case may be, the need for an oral and auditory culture will always be required.

Crowley, David. Communication in History, Technology, Culture, Society. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2007.