What Is Beauty?

This South African advertisement for BMW is a prime exemplification of the need for aesthetic sensations. The speaker is talking about beauty (what is aesthetically pleasing) throughout the commercial. Things from flowers to humans are displayed as the speaker talks about how people throughout the years have tried to calculate beauty. BMW isn't even mentioned until the end of the commercial, directly after "It cannot be calculated. It can only be felt," is displayed (referring to beauty.) I thought this ad utilized the need for aesthetic sensation quite effectively. As I viewed this commercial, I couldn't help but think how awesome some of the images were.

It makes sense that BMW would want to use the need for aesthetic sensations, hence they are a car company and want people to be drawn to the appearance of their products. Overall I think this ad is very coherent and can be surprisingly effective. I haven't been seeing as many ads using the need for aesthetic sensations these days, which is kind of a shame because they're especially entertaining to watch for me personally. Along with some ads using that need also comes the need for curiosity, which is an added bonus.

Humor and Variation in Advertisements

This Old Spice advertisement uses a very interesting and unique advertising tactic in this commercial above. It uses humorous music sung by parents about their sons becoming men to ultimately show, like they do in many other of their commercials, how old spice makes you manly. The explicit message in this commercial is that when you use old spice you become a man while the implicit message is you aren't a man yet (you're still a boy) if you haven't used old spice.

The music in the ad is humorous essentially because it is sung horrendously by parents: the fathers being happy about their sons becoming men while the mothers are extremely upset and want their sons to stay babies forever. On top of the humorous aspect of the music, it somewhat inflicts a feeling of transition into manhood for the target audience, which I believe is young men in their late teens or early twenties. Old Spice sometimes uses music, but it always uses humor. There is always a goal of manliness integrated through humor. Even though the same general message is used, Old Spice, like other companies, likes to change things up, as shown below.

Even though this is a completely different style of ad than the first one it has the same general message, keeps the viewer interested, and uses humor. In conclusion, Old Spice is a prime example of humor in ads and how it affects the viewer. It also exemplifies how companies like to mix things up with their ads to keep the viewer interested.

A Changed Interpretation of Media

From studying media in Critical Thinking and from completing media blogs my interpretations of what I see and hear in the media have changed. Now that I know the thought processes behind the making of advertisements, I am more cautious in interpreting ads on television, printed ads or ads on the internet, and even news broadcasts. From the type of language in political ads to the colors used in ads, media can be very deceptive and trick people into buying products or thinking a certain way.

Before I began studying media, I knew little about the tactical methods advertisers use. Apparently, being a teenager in America, I am especially exposed to media and view thousands of advertisements daily. I often found myself wanting products I knew little about just because of the way they were advertised. Now that I know how to better interpret ads, this doesn't happen as much. Now, when I see an advertisement that appeals to me I further research the product before considering purchasing it and try to avoid being deceived.

So far, I have enjoyed learning about advertising tactics and facts about the media. What I find the most interesting is how some companies like Apple can make their commercials so effective.

Deceptive Fast Food Advertisements

Fast food franchises such as the ever so popular McDonald's use some of the most deceptive advertising techniques in existence. In the picture above, each burger looks flawlessly made and quite appetizing. In reality they look virtually nothing like McDonalds' burgers. The camera angle in the picture above is interesting. The burgers look towering in size. This makes the product seem even more desirable.

Big. Beefy. Bliss. McDonalds is trying to make the burgers seem big and beefy, even though they are definitely not. This correlates to the camera angle in that it suggests that the burgers are bigger than they actually are. McDonalds probably chose to use "bliss" because it alliterates well with "big" and "beefy." Another probable reason is that McDonald's wants people to associate their product with happiness.

McDonald's colors, red and yellow, weren't chosen arbitrarily. Red usually psychologically signifies impulse or urgency. The goal of the red in the above ad is most likely to psychologically inflict the audience with an urge to eat. Yellow, McDonald's other color, is used to express happiness and thus may make one associate McDonald's with happiness.

I used to be drawn in by these advertisements when I was younger, but now that I've gotten older and have realized how unhealthy fast food items are, I try to stay away from them as much as I can. No matter how appealing the advertisement, I won't be inspired to indulge.