American culture is replete with images that hold strong meanings in the psyche of the public. Images of the World Trade Center on 9/11 bring up utter sadness, a portrait of George Washington utters America’s beginnings, and one of the Washington Monument shows the efficacy of American democratic government. Images like these can be used in different forms of media to relay their accordant emotions, having George Washington peddle cars for a 4th of July sale or pushing the war in Iraq with visible remembrance of the atrocity of 9/11. Another famous image that has been ingrained in American society is the Brooklyn Bridge, which Martin Filler, as quoted by Richard Haw, “has received ‘virtually unanimous critical acclaim.’” The Brooklyn Bridge stands for a multitude of things: Brooklyn and its advancement, America’s technological aptitude, and concurrent themes like freedom and democracy. As Haw says, it’s been used to hawk such items as “Royal Baking Powder, Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, Williamantic Six-Cord Spool Cotton,” and more recently “Absolut Vodka.” The ad for Absolut calls upon sentiments of American solidarity, with Absolut being as important to society’s drinking as the Brooklyn Bridge is important to Brooklyn.
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