Packaging Cold War #2 – American Dream

Packaging Cold War #1 – Red Side…

Packaging is a key element to comprehend the stages of evolution of the so-called “american way of life” during the 20^th century. A single object agglutinates some of the essential principles that contributed to build and to sell this prefabricated dream, like consumerism, stylized design of products, mass media, graphic design, popular culture design and corporate identity.

Especially in the time of the Cold War, when it was necessary to highlight the differences in living standards of the United States and the Soviet Union, serial production and functionalism were the dominant concepts. Therefore, new materials and technologies had been employed in packaging in order to reduce industry costs and to facilitate consumers’ lives. To maximize sellings, the north american package design developed a functional and strategic character, which materialized itself into a pragmatic configuration. When it comes to the form, strong colours, mixed shapes and illustrations arised with strength.

The motivational aspect as the preceding force of action (persuasion), defines the american way of life as a form of appropriation of time, consumed voraciously in spectacular scenarios that exalt the media’s rhetoric (personification of the use of products, sensationalism and promotions) as the primal foundation of the relationship between the State and the corporations that, by their brands that emphasize what formerly represented the product or the service itself, pack the dreams of consumption of a whole nation.

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Popcorn

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Talc for feet

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Cleanliness products

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Powder soap

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Cleanliness products

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Brillo’s steel wool by Andy Warhol

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Pepsi’s aluminium cans

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Krueger’s beer aluminium cans

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Coca Cola’s contour bottle by Raymond Loewy

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Tide’s powder soap

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McDonald’s Oldest USA Sugar Cube 1950’s

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