Pink Plastic Flamingo

     In the essay Jennifer Price brings up two major reasons why the pink plastic flamingo was such a phenomenon in America. Instead of directly stating her opinion, Price weaves it into the usual facts through her careful choice of  examples and words, setting signs here and there that lead to associating the pink plastic flamingo with certain natures of the American market.

     Price starts the essay by letting the readers know that she will be discussing two major characteristics of the pink flamingo that made it so impressive. 'It was a flamingo' in lines 2 and 3 seems so obvious that it catches the reader's attention quite effectively. Giving some information on what flamingo meant in America, Price particularly uses the words 'flock' or 'wealth and pizzazz' and the example of hotels, creating a somewhat comic image of a group of 'eager' consumers ready to 'flock' to hotels, and so prepares the readers with a basic idea of what the pink flamingo may symbolize. Then she adds that this commercial popularity of plastic flamingos came after the indiscreet hunting of real flamingos, suggesting that it is 'a little ironic' which is an understatement. Now the readers would think that whatever the Americans love about pink plastic flamingos has nothing to do with the real flamingo, nature or life. The example of Las Vegas, the ultimate symbol of extravagence and entertainment in America, makes the idea quite concrete. A simile in lines 28 and 29 compares the appearance of services employing the image of flamingos with 'semiotic sprouts' which adds to the image already set with hotels, tourists, Las Vegas etc.

     Price then moves to the second point, again with a very obvious observation, that the flamingo is pink. She uses quotes from Tom Wolfe and Karal Ann Marling that effectively emphasizes on how much the generation that overcame the great depression loved to comsume bright colors. Price uses the phrase 'celebrate its new affluence' in lines 38 and 39, which suggests that the popularity of flashy colors is closely related to blind consumption of goods. Along with examples of many bright colored products that were sold at the time, she mentions a pink Cadillac that Elvis Presley, a huge icon of American culture, has bought. Reading until here, the reader would now think the pink plastic flamingo as a symbol of a commercial culture, and on the negative side, which is exactly what Jennifer Price seems to have intended. She then explains how much flamingos stand out in any environment; with a metaphor in the last few lines that flamingos were sent 'wading across an inland sea of grass', which probably is an indirect mention of American lawns decorated by plastic ornaments.

     Overall, Price appears to be analyzing the reasons for the popularity of the pink flamingos, however she is actually going much further than just giving objective information. She sees the pink plastic flamingo as a symbol of extravagant American culture, and so carefully chooses vocabularies and examples to support the idea, emphasizing on the artificial and commercial feature of the pink flamingos.