The Sex and the City lifestyle

Sex and the City is a show about Carrie Bradshaw, a mid-thirty year old, and her friends. You follow their lives and see what they do, how they deal with things, how they think about certain things, and so on. Fashion is very important in the show. One time Carrie says: “I like my money right where I can see it…hanging in my closet.” Clothes, bags and especially shoes are very important for Carrie and her friends. Whatever Carrie wears, becomes a big hit. She wears big corsets? The next day, New York wears corsets. And the day after the rest of the world. The same goes for the places the friends go to. Almost every episode there is a new place where they go out. That places become a hit in real life, just because the Sex and the City-girls went there. On the Internet you can even find a map of New York City, with all the places Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte went. So, for fashion brands and clubs, restaurants, etc., it’s very lucrative to make sure their brand is in the show. In that way, Sex and the City is one big advertisement. It is an advertisement of the lifestyle of Carrie and her friends.

        That’s how the television show looks like. But how about the official website? Is that website also keen on advertising the lifestyle of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte? My main question for my paper is:

“How does the official Sex and the City website complement the Sex and the City television show in advertising a lifestyle?”

Of course, I already looked at the website and I saw that it’s stunning how they focus on the look of the girls. When you go to the episode guide, you can see from every episode, even every scene, what they wear. In the scrapbook, you can also check what they wear. For example, in the scrapbook, for season 5, episode 70: “Carrie wears two of spring 2002’s “it-girl” musthaves: Balenciaga’s wait-listed cargo pant and Juicy Couture’s terry zip hoodie. Funky floral fabric wedge sandals by Fendi replace her usual stilettos Amy Chan’s reversible “Cirle Tote” replaces her former fave baguette.”  On the same episode, I read in the scrapbook, the girls went to “Krispy Kreme, 265 West 23^rd Street” where “Miranda and Tom forget about calorie-counting and indulge their sweet tooth at this popular doughnut shop”. On the website, you can also listen to what Patricia Field, the stylist of Sex and the City, has to say on what the girls are wearing.

Sub questions are:

-         What lifestyle is being promoted?

-         How does the television show advertise a lifestyle?

-         How does the official webpage advertise a lifestyle?

-         Is this the same lifestyle the show advertises?

-         Is it all about the lifestyle of Carrie or is it more the lifestyle of the four girls, Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte?

-         Which brands are often promoted in the show and on the webpage?

-         What about sponsoring? How much money does Sex and the City receives for showing brands?

Method:

I’m going to do a comparing textual analysis on both the television show and the website. I’ll look global at season 1 till season 5 of the television show. I’m going to research how the lifestyle is presented in the show. But in particular, I’ll research one episode of the television show in detail, because it’s too much to research all the episodes in detail. That episode will be from season 3, episode 48. The choice for this episode is random, because I think concerning advertising the lifestyle, the episodes don’t differ that much from each other. Further, I’ll research the whole webpage, not only one episode.

Literature:

-         Tybout, A. & Carpenter, G. (2001) "Creating and Managing Brands"  In: Iacobucci, D. (ed.) (2001) Kellogg on Marketing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.).

-   Gay, P. du & Pryke, M. (2002) Cultural Economy. pp. 132-147.

-         The Sex and the City tour

-         How everything Carrie wears becomes hot

-         The guide about Sex and the City lifestyles, fashion and dating

-         About Sex and the City fashion