So Many Signs

I suppose…

As a woman who does her best to avoid malls because I find them annoying, I now know why. The subtle set-up that we face when we enter the malls wasn’t ever really so subtle, but this article did a decent job talking about the psychology behind it. Unfortunately, I’ve been suckered by these tricks. The article talked about the mall/store’s goal of creating a ‘goal oriented shopper’ and turning her into an ‘aimless browser.’ Ugh! Yep, that’s happened to me; and here I thought I was smarter than that! I am not a Stepford Wife, however, and I resent the fact that Sears or anyone else might think they can market my life to me like that. Here’s to being made aware of those ‘tricks’ and working to combat them. I have very little patience for the people who believe their identity can be improved or defined by shopping at a certain store. We all face messages everyday that tell us what we are supposed to be and/or who we are supposed to be, but to believe that we can buy that is naive at best--shouldn't we be teaching that? Or would we be shot by the local mall owners?

While there are some truths in the article, I don’t think we need to go running for the hills in fear of the diabolical aspects of the American shopping mall. It is undeniable that there is a design to the mall layout—that’s just good business. In reflecting on my own mall experience, I see where the uncomfortable benches or randomly placed chair are purposeful decisions. They are not interested in people pausing or resting for ‘free.’ There isn’t any need to get down on the designers who are trying to increase business. If they are using psychological aspects as well as physical layout to increase the traffic in their stores and increase business, I say more power to you! I do have a problem with the exclusivity, however. As with any business, malls cater to a certain population but they shouldn’t do that to the exclusion of major segments of the population.

Build It and They Will Come

It was interesting to me to consider the socioeconomic aspects of the placement of malls as well as the target audience. I hate to admit it, but I hadn’t ever really realized that shopping malls are not built in the “rough” end of town. It seemed natural to me that they would be built in a ‘growing’ part of town because then they could be newer and better. It makes much more sense that the motivations would be less about the structure and more about accessibility for the people ‘with the money.’ I have a gut feeling there is a chicken/egg relationship here involving the downturn of neighborhood economics, but I don’t know enough about city planning and economics to really explore how that might happen. It is pretty clear that there is a message and a group of people that malls/stores are targeting, but the article contradicts itself. If the people who are ‘supposed to’ go to the mall are the only ones there, how is it possible that “90% of Americans go to a shopping mall once a month?” Clearly the majority of Americans visit a mall quite often whether or not they are ‘invited’ to do so or not. The messages that come out of the branding, placement, and hidden agenda of the malls is fascinating.

Semiotics and Iconography

The mall presents a very interesting place for students and teachers to STUDY the make up of branding as well as semiotics and iconography. From the article, I partially disagree that: “Citizens have neither a say in creating the ideologies communicated to them, nor do they always have the time to gain access to opposing ideologies.” This generation not only has a say but has the desire to create ideologies. However, the danger is that they are not critically analyzing what they are taking in or producing; additionally, people do not often TAKE the time to access opposing ideologies. This is where the one-sided brand-heavy market starts to feel like a one-size-fits-all mold that we are squeezed into. There are options; do we take the time to critically analyze where we are, how we got there and where we want to go next? Odd that such important things can be wrapped up in a little ol’ shopping mall.

Teachers can take advantage of the marketing and branding that occurs in malls to lead students on a journey of critical analysis of their world, its construction as well as how their identity is (or is not) defined by those products/messages. The mall is a shared experience among most youth, and would provide a great springboard for these discussions. They do not (and SHOULD NOT) be passive sponges for information or marketing. It is tremendously dangerous for them to accept whatever is thrown at them if the package is familiar and comfortable. Did we learn ANYTHING from the whole Trojan Horse episode all those centuries ago?

The scary article written by Kurt Andersen “Pop Culture in the Age of Obama” is a prime example of this danger. The creation of an idol out of a man simply because he’s able to make timely pop culture references and is able to utilize the communication modes and events of the day is a risky thing to do. The campaign and administration was/is able to harness the tools that are most comfortable to Generation Y and Z and share messages. The terrifying thing is that the people getting those messages do not have the tools or habits to deconstruct and consider the motivations behind those messages. There is where pop culture can be treacherous. We need to focus on content rather than presentation.

A prime example of this is explored in Bill Whittle’s examination of the Obama symbol.



It explores the strength and messages we are able to construct within seconds on a subconscious level when we see images. Iconography is very fascinating, and teachers and students should take time to see what pop culture is represented through these symbols. There will be MANY wildly popular aspects of pop culture that can be represented with a single symbol; why!? We need to discuss and explore these questions with our students.

Getting the Message?

When I shop at a mall, I am usually looking to invest my time while I consider investing my money. There is usually a secondary goal like socializing with a friend or ‘killing time’ by window shopping. Admittedly, I don’t do much of that kind of shopping, but that isn’t how it was in high school. For lots of reasons, I think the mall is a beacon for high school students. I think the article missed a major mark by only spending a sentence or two about how the young and the old are the bane of the mall planner’s existence. We are at a fork in the road. Malls today are still designed with Baby Boomers and Generation Y in mind. However, the tides are shifting and as Generation Y ages and the marketing designed with them in mind shifts from trendy clothes to house wares and the young-adult ‘needs’ of first homes and first babies, the malls need to recognize the shift. Malls are not enough for a generation who can find anything around the world with the click of a mouse and have it delivered to their door with a 16 digit code. Where the mall used to be a one-stop-shop, it is now far too limited. The coming Generation Z is a community of digital natives who have social networking in their blood and ‘gathering places’ that are not physical. This generation does not desire the same face to face contact that the generations before it did, and with the increase of two income families, there is money to be had and time to spend it. If the malls don’t retool to reach out to the changing Gen Y and the coming Gen Z, they will have big empty buildings where even the ‘old folks’ don’t make laps anymore.