Upon coming to London, I did have expectations that the creativity in culture and advertising would vary from that in the United States, but I now realize that I had not comprehended the degree. England and the UK have standards that allow for much more risqué features in media that the US would not allow. Walking around here, it is not surprising to see a picture of a topless woman on the side of a building or on the third page of a daily newspaper. However, the United States would not allow something this bold. Ironically, the ASA, who regulates advertising in the UK, is based upon standards of not offending the public, whereas the FTC, in charge of regulating US ads, focuses on deceit and law-based regulations.
In the Tate Modern Voyuerism exhibit I found that the standards of the creativity held up with those of the culture of the United Kingdom. With such a large CCTV system, it’s fair to believe that anything one could imagine would be caught on tape at one time or another. While in America some of the images shown could be considered breaching privacy or inappropriate for public viewing, the British look at this as art. Wider standards for art, both in museums and in culture, have allowed advertising to push limits one step further and create something outside of the box under the pretense that it is another form of artistic expression.
The ASA has allowed British advertising agencies to work under the regulations that work produced must be legal, honest, truthful and decent. Among those, decent seems to be the key, since complaints of offense is the primary issue with advertising. In the United States, offense is not taken as seriously, with the priorities focusing on laws; the FTC looks into whether ads appear false or misleading by a strict set of guides. When comparing ads and culture in general it is clear to see that the standards by which these are judged vary greatly from the United Kingdom to the United States.
Through this class I feel as though I learned to observe creativity through a different light. By leaving the United States, we are given a point of comparison for how other cultures display creative works, and what is considered acceptable and not acceptable. Taking the time to really analyze creativity in advertising and everything around on a daily basis broadens my horizons on how I look at culture in the United States, and now, anywhere else I may go.
