Our Daily Exposure to Strategic Ambiguity
Whether you believe in its truthfulness or not, most of us at least know what our Zodiac Sign is and have read about what it means. Similarly, most of us have read a horoscope or two and thought, “Wow! This is so accurate.” It’s likely that a lot of us have read advice columns in a magazine and been shocked at how pertinent the information is in our lives. However, it is really no surprise that nearly every horoscope has some relation to the reader’s life. This is due to strategic ambiguity.
Have you ever looked into any of the other Zodiac signs? Have you ever read someone else’s horoscope? Chances are, if you have, you probably found that those other signs and horoscopes also relate to things in your life.
Strategic ambiguity is the idea of purposefully creating a vague description or message that is open to multiple interpretations. Using the horoscope example — Horoscopes are written so that people with multiple backgrounds and personalities can all share one horoscope. They are vague and generalized so that they can be interpreted by each individual reader to have a different underlying meaning, depending on the person.
We see this concept in our everyday lives; whether it be with horoscopes, advertisements and sometimes even television shows or movies. By using this strategy, media professionals are able to craft one message for audiences of a wide variety. This article, by AZ Central provides some great examples of ways that advertisers use ambiguity in their messages.
The article by AZ Central made me think of the way that strategic ambiguity is used in television. One example that comes to mind is ABC’s Modern Family. The producers of this show used a version of strategic ambiguity when crafting the characters of Cam and Mitch. Cam and Mitch are a gay couple who have a daughter, Lily. The producers of Modern Family use strategic ambiguity to represent this family. For people who are in favor of gay rights, this show is likable because it has a gay couple with little to no push-back on their lifestyle from other characters in the show. For people who are opposed to gay rights, this show is likable because of the comedy that these characters provide. Though the two people are both men, one possesses and displays more feminine traits, while the other possesses and displays more masculine traits. The producers do a good job of balancing out the two sides, generalizing things just enough to satisfy people of all opinions.
Strategic ambiguity can be seen in nearly all of the media messages that we consume. It’s the only way to make all consumers happy and keep them all viewing and/or buying. It is hard to please everyone — but being vague sure helps.
