Dave Barry (1947- ) was born in Armonk, New York and earned a B.A. from
Haverford College in 1969. He's been a reporter and a freelance columnist,
and has had a regular column in The Miami Herald since 1983, which
has subsequently been widely syndicated. Barry won the Pulitzer Prize
in 1988, one of a very select few to do so for humorous commentary. He
is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Dave Barry
in Cyberspace (1996), the novel Big Trouble (1999), and Dave
Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down! (2000). He also contributes
to periodicals such as Boating, Home Office Computing, and
Reader's Digest. "Red, White, and Beer" takes a funny
look at the link between advertising and patriotism. It was first published
in The Miami Herald in 1988 and collected in Dave Barry's Greatest
Hits the same year.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
CONTENT
Where does the author find real patriotism on television?
List some of the brand names the author mentions. Does a pattern
emerge?
Describe Barry's opinion of the taste of Miller beer.
What "labor-saving concept" does the author mention?
Discuss the author's speculation as to why there's so much hand
shaking in beer commercials.
What is one type of product for which Barry's never seen a patriotic
commercial? What does he suggest be done about it?
STRATEGY AND STYLE
Study paragraph five. How does it differ in content from the rest
of the article? What work is it doing within the piece?
Review your answer to content question b.) above. Throughout Barry
uses real brand names. What is the effect of this decision? How would
the piece change if he substituted, for example, a generic word like
beer for the more specific Millerbeer?
Where are women mentioned in this piece? What are they doing? What
does this say about the author's point of view of women's role regarding
his main subject?
ENGAGING THE TEXT
What's your favorite television commercial of all time? If you
don't have one, why not? How did your answer affect your reading here?
Did you find this essay funny? If you did, what did you
find funny? If you didn't think it was funny, why not?
SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINED WRITING
Read or review Gloria Steinem's comments about the difficulties
Ms. Magazine faced through its history concerning the interaction
of editorial content with ad content. Dave Barry apparently is completely
unconcerned with such an interaction. Write an essay explaining the
different contexts in which these two authors write, and exploring the
various possible reasons for their difference in approach.
Is there anything wrong with appealing to patriotism in advertising?
Explain, writing an essay using your readings and own experience with
patriotic ads. Describe and discuss two other common appeals that advertising
uses.
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Spend an hour or so watching television, with a notepad, jotting down
notes about the commercials you see. You'll get more out of this time
if you flip around trying to find commercials. Does the amount
of ads with patriotic themes seem to be more pronounced than what Barry
writes about, or less pronounced? For what kinds of products? Are some
of them different than the products Barry writes about? What recent events,
if any, might have had something to do with this trend?
WEB CONNECTION
Search here
to find Barry's citation for his Pulitzer Prize. Which of the other recipients
do you recognize? How can you go about finding out more about them?
LINKS
Biographical
This is Barry's biography
from the Miami Herald, where he's been a columnist since 1983.
Besides the biographical sketch, you'll find a photo of Barry and links
to a bulletin board and to some recent columns.
Here's Barry's biography
from one of his agencies, Grabow & Associates. How does the information
differ here from that in the biography above? Why, do you think, the
presentations are different?
When Barry was the master of ceremonies at their national conference
in 2002, the American Advertising Federation put together this profile
of Barry.
Bibliographical
For Barry's insights into big government, take a look at this interview
on the subject at Reason magazine. The title: "All I Think
Is That It's Stupid."
Here are some excerpts
from Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys, if you're interested
in "important guy issues" like scratching.
Still hungry for more? Well, here's a page
from Bookbrowse.com where you'll find links to excerpts from both Big
Trouble and Dave Barry Turns 50.
Cultural
Did you know that Barry has been a contributor to both film and
television? Here's his filmography
from Imdb.com.
Tired of Netscape? Fed up with Internet Explorer? Well, you finally
have an alternative. Click here
to install DaveScape.
Did you know that Barry is a member of a band called the Rock Bottom
Remainders? Want to know more about it? Click here to their homepage
at "Don't Quit Your Day Job" Records.
