by Jimmy Warshawsky
Fairy tales show up everywhere in our lives. From the time we are read them as small children, to movie adaptations left and right, and almost every ride at Disneyland. Who knows, one day you might even find yourself taking a literature class that focuses solely on fairy tales. One medium that these tales have found an interesting home from their very conception is advertising. Modern advertisers have been using fairy tale characters and motifs in their work for ages. In this project, I’ll essentially be examining the relationship between fairy tales and advertising, their similarities and differences, how one genre has used, or possibly abused, the other, how they have impacted the world around them and, vice versa, how they have been impacted by the world. We’ll go through a brief history of the fairy tale and its depiction in previous ads, and view the scenario from a marxist perspective centered on class and wealth inequality. The primary text that I will be analyzing is from a recent commercial for Amazon Prime, which I will break down, continuing from my prior lens, and discuss the possible positive and negative impacts of this specific advertisement and how it fits into today’s world at large. As a marketing student and someone who plans to spend a good deal of their life working in a corporate office developing advertisements, but also as someone who cares deeply about the structural and systemic inequalities that exist in the world often fueled by wealth and capitalism, I hope to use this paper to dive deep into the relationship between fairy tales and advertising and discover truths about it that could possibly shed light on some important topics and help make the industry and people’s lives better.
The fairy tale genre comes from a long tradition of oral storytelling that was passed down for many generations. The fact that they were completely spoken by people and listened to by people was essential to their creation and their preservation. Folklore scholar Jack Zipes writes that the first fairy tales “were told by gifted [story]tellers and were based on rituals intended to endow with meaning the daily lives of members of a tribe” (415). No matter what the tales were about back then, it was certain the voice of the narrator was present and known, and they were told directly and in person. This meant that every time they were repeated, they were altered to match the changes of the group they were told in. Historian Marina Warner, who often focuses her work on feminism and myths and fairy tales, gives us further insight into the early fairy tales. She writes that they always include that circle of active listeners, who are invited to engage with the tales and identify with their characters, and that “Schematic characterization leaves a gap into which the listener may step. Who has not tried on the glass slipper? Or offered it for trying?” (Warner 412-413). It is important to understand that the original fairy tales were not written down, which meant that they were very fluid and constantly changing. Anyone who heard them then had the power to take control of the story and make it their own, for themselves or whoever they would retell it to. One could write, or rather think or speak, themselves into a story and become the hero. Also, fairy tales were for everyone; as long as one understood spoken language, they could engage. Marshall McLuhan, a communications scholar who I have studied extensively in my media studies courses, famously asserted that “the medium is the message.” This is an idea that stems from technological determinism, which is the idea that technology shapes not only the way that humans communicate but also a society’s cultural values and social structure. The way that the content is communicated can often tell us and predict more about the world than the content itself. When fairy tales were only communicated by speech and voice, passed down from person to person and told in face-to-face settings, it allowed for the listener to have a certain agency in relation to the stories that wouldn’t be possible in a more rigid medium.
Such violation of oral storytelling was crucial and necessary for the establishment of the bourgeoisie because it concerned the control of desire and imagination within the symbolic order of western culture.
Jack Zipes
Eventually, oral storytelling became much less popular, as it was overtaken by the written word. With the invention of the printing press, stories could be copied word for word and distributed in a way unlike anything that had come before. This new technology shaped the fairy tale, its essence, and who it was for. Soon, the oral traditions of the past were dominated “by a different social class, and the form, themes, production, and reception of the tales were transformed” (Zipes 415). The genre that we now think of as fairy tales was crafted from a wide range of folk tales that had been passed into this new wave of communication. It was transformed into “a literary tale that addressed the concerns, tastes, and functions of court society” (Zipes 416). Now that fairy tales were printed texts, they weren’t so easily changeable or relatable, and they were only accessible by the highest classes of society. Some oral traditions persevered and eventually, those were all written down too by authors such as the Brothers Grimm in the nineteenth century. Zipes posits, “such violation of oral storytelling was crucial and necessary for the establishment of the bourgeoisie because it concerned the control of desire and imagination within the symbolic order of western culture” (417).
It is my assertion that this is where fairy tales’ relationship with advertising begins, in the thought that these new forms of literary tales acted as ads themselves. The way that we often think about ads today may be in the forms of commercials we see on television, billboards on the side of the road, or sponsored posts on social media, but the definition of an ad can be taken further. They are a form of media that is meant to persuade its audience and affect their behaviors. They might be persuading you to buy the newest Samsung Galaxy phone, or maybe they are changing your attitude about who drives a Lexus, or wears Gucci perfume. Behavioral influence is what the literary fairy tales of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were all about. Take, for example, the morals of Charles Perrault, who explicitly wrote out the underlying message of his tales as each concluded. After “Bluebeard,” he writes “Curiosity, in spite of its many charms, / Can bring with it serious regrets…” (192). Perrault isn’t selling a product, but he is selling a way of acting and behaving. All of a sudden, fairy tales were no longer fluid, and their readers, just like the characters in the tales, were stripped of any agency that they might have previously had to write their own stories.
Pretty much as soon as television advertisements existed, they started relying on fairy tale motifs and never stopped. The first fairy tale television commercial crossovers featured classic figures like Cinderella and Goldilocks inserted sloppily in cartoons to explain products and why the public needed them (Wittwer). They were familiar names that audiences knew well and they added a sense of ethos and feel-good cuteness to the ads. Every decade saw fairy tale figures and motifs thrown into advertisements in an attempt to sell more products. Some continued to be sloppy, and some got clever. In many ways, the evolution of fairy tales in advertising mirrored the evolution of the literary fairy tale. They began as very straightforward, exactly what you would expect, but eventually, new authors and creatives began to take control of the tales and write their own versions. James Thurber wrote a “Little Red Riding Hood” story that ends with the young heroine shooting the wolf dead with an automatic rifle. How’s that for agency? In a Dr. Pepper commercial from the ’80s, little red also defeats the big bad wolf herself, but this time instead of using a gun, she gives him, you guessed it, a bottle of Dr. Pepper. Just last year, Amazon released a new series of commercials that rewrite old tales, giving the characters a newfound sense of agency, power, and individuality to reflect the modern world, all with the help of Amazon Prime.
The campaign was titled “Prime Changes Everything,” and imagines the story of Rapunzel if she had access to Prime. The commercial opens on Rapunzel sitting in the window of her iconic tower, as the narrator speaks aloud, “Once upon a time there lived a princess with really long hair who was waiting for a prince to come save her” (Amazon). It’s a classic set-up to the story we all know, but it quickly diverges from the original when she continues, “But really, who has time for that?” (Amazon). Then comes the product placement, as we see Rapunzel grab her cell phone, which juxtaposes the medieval-like castle, and open up the Amazon app. Hip-hop music begins to play in the background, further removing the audience from the original fairy tale landscape that the ad started in. The narrator commentates, “She ordered herself a ladder with Prime one-day delivery and she was out of there,” as she does just that and a ladder appears at her window in that instant (Amazon). Rapunzel rides away through the forest and we see, assumedly a significant amount of time later, her running what looks like a modern-day hair salon in an old-timey village. The voice-over finishes, “Now, her hairdressing empire is killing it. And the prince, well who cares? Prime changes everything.” with the last line and Prime logo appearing on the screen (Amazon). The ad received outstanding feedback from the press and marketing communities, with Forbes calling it, “exactly the fairy tale that every girl needs,” and Clio, a company that runs one of the most recognizable and prestigious advertising awards ceremonies, writing, “Reappraising myths and tales of yore, with postmodern panache or through a progressive lens, feels right for our wearying times,” (Davis; Gianatasio).
The way young girls view the roles of a woman in society are greatly influenced by the archetypes found in fairytales.
RaVal Davis
This advertisement from Amazon does deserve some amount of praise. It’s, for one, incredibly well-produced and it utilizes fairy tales in a clever, non-sloppy way. It’s also very persuasive and shines a good light on Prime and all of its benefits. There’s no denying that Prime delivery has made almost everyone’s lives easier or simpler or better in at least one way, and this commercial puts that at the forefront. Above the overall effectiveness of the ad, it also seems to do some good at social justice and feminist levels. Amazon successfully rewrites a story that traditionally sees the heroine locked away, with no sense of agency, at the mercy of a prince to come and save her. The Prime Rapunzel doesn’t need a man to escape and does so (almost) all on her own, and even goes above and beyond to become a businesswoman and hairdressing tycoon. That’s something that one would never find in your traditional literary fairy tale, but a message that is undoubtedly good for society. Little girls should know that they don’t need a man to succeed in life and they can overcome adversity on their own. Davis writes “The way young girls view the roles of a woman in society are greatly influenced by the archetypes found in fairytales” and “studies also show that children start to develop gender stereotyping between the ages of three and six—ages when they are most likely to encounter fairytales [sic].” Because we live in a world where children are being exposed to media and television, including ads, at increasingly young ages, it does seem important that prominent media that showcase fairy tales feature female characters that have agency, unlike many of the traditional princesses found in pop culture.
In addition to all of this, Amazon’s choice to cast a Black actress as Rapunzel is great for representation of minorities in roles that have almost always been played by White people. It was a bold choice from the internet shopping giant, especially when one considers how much controversy has erupted over Black actors and actresses being cast in roles usually played by White actors and actresses, but a very socially forward choice worthy of commendation. In some ways, this commercial brings fairy tales back to their original form. The ad is a demonstration of how stories can be rewritten, and anyone, including minorities and people of lower class, can step into them, and imagine themselves as heroes. The commercial is even narrated, rather than written, which is a nice touch for old times’ sake.
The commodification of Western culture creates a magic spell over society…
Jack Zipes
That being said, though, there are negative aspects of the advertisement as well. While this commercial does some good for marginalized communities, it still exists in a capitalist, free market, neoliberal economy which pushes people down, especially minorities, more than it lifts anyone up. We can talk all we want about how progressive the advertisement is, but at the end of the day, that’s still exactly what it is: an advertisement. The commercial is not designed to get you to think differently about Rapunzel and the agency of fairy tale characters, it’s designed to get you to use Amazon Prime and buy Amazon products. It’s also difficult to fathom how something Amazon does could be good for the community when they are one of the largest companies in the world owned by one of the richest people in the world. We have previously discussed that using fairy tales in ads gives the brand emotional, trusted, and feel-good characteristics. Amazon is using this strategy to lull consumers into their trap. The main theme of the commercial is that “Prime changes everything,” but it really doesn’t. What Prime and this commercial actually do is perpetuate the systemically oppressive capitalist system that we exist in now. In discussing the harmful aspects of capitalism, industry, and commodification, Zipes writes, “the socioeconomic forces, particularly in the advanced industrialized societies of the West, split the individual, lame and pervert human potential so that the result is alienation, deprivation, violence, exploitation, and destruction. To a certain extent, the commodification of Western culture creates a magic spell over society, what Bloch and other Marxists would call false consciousness, so that, enchanted and blinded by commodity fetishism, we act against our own humane interests” (331). The commercial also overwhelmingly downplays the large and pressing issues of wealth, gender, and racial inequality, suggesting that all people need to make it in life is Amazon Prime. If that’s how it worked, then that would be great, but unfortunately, there are greater systems at play operating to keep some people from advancing in life and Prime cannot, and would not, stop them.
Overall, the advertising world has been relying on fairy tales for as long as modern ads have existed, and they will undoubtedly keep featuring motifs and characters in them for a long time to come, generally to the benefit of the companies they are trying to promote. Their effectiveness in selling products is often high, which makes sense considering that fairy tales have been acting as advertisements in some ways for a very long time. The fact is, however, that advertisers have co-opted fairy tales to put a bit of a spell on consumers, leading them to believe that they lead these great lives that are full of agency and can do whatever they want. In reality, in the world we live in, consumers can’t do whatever they want. The free market is not free for the masses, and the lower and middle classes live trapped by the economy. No matter how many times Amazon or the next company rewrites Rapunzel, a ladder will never just appear. It’s not that simple.
But hey, next time you find yourself locked away in a tower, give it a try.
I just hope you have cell service.
Works Cited
Amazon. “Prime Changes Everything.” Youtube, 12 Nov. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raaYkGHY0kY.
Davis, RaVal. “Amazon Prime’s Rapunzel Commercial Is Exactly the Fairy Tale Every Girl Needs.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 27 Oct. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ravaldavis/2021/10/27/amazon-primes-rapunzel-commercial-is-exactly-the-fairytale-every-girl-needs/?sh=4511ff5858da.
Gianatasio, David. “Why Rapunzel and Cleopatra Really Could Have Used Amazon Prime.” Muse by Clio, The Clio Network, 3 Aug. 2021, https://musebycl.io/advertising/why-rapunzel-and-cleopatra-really-could-have-used-amazon-prime.
Perrault, Charles. “Bluebeard” The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism, edited by Maria Tatar, W.W. Norton Et Company, New York, NY, 2017, pp. 188–193.
Warner, Marina. “The Old Wives’ Tale.” The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism, edited by Maria Tatar, W.W. Norton Et Company, New York, NY, 2017, pp. 405–414.
Wittwer, Preston. “Don Draper Thinks Your Ad Is Cliché: Fairy Tale Iconography in TV Commercials.” Humanities, vol. 5, no. 2, 2016, p. 29., https://doi.org/10.3390/h5020029.
Zipes, Jack. “Breaking the Disney Spell.” The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism, edited by Maria Tatar, W.W. Norton Et Company, New York, NY, 2017, pp. 414–435.Zipes, Jack. “Folklore Research and Western Marxism: A Critical Replay.” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 97, no. 385, 1984, pp. 329–337., https://doi.org/10.2307/540613.
