Media Blog Reflection

Before I started writing media blogs I was virtually unaware of the profound impact the media makes on us as individuals and on our society as a whole. I had heard things about the media affecting us, but I didn't think extensively about the concept. The media is essential to how we think of the meaning of life in today's world. We are constantly immersed in it, and there's practically nothing we can do to prevent it from influencing us. It affects how we think of ourselves and others, what we deem "normal", and our actions pertaining to our lives as consumers in this day and age.

Though it is impossible to stop the flow of media into our minds, there are measures we can take to prevent it from deceiving us. A handful of critical thinking skills can be used to prevent the media from excessively swaying our thoughts. These skills include healthy skepticism, tentativeness, and open-mindedness. It can be useful to question things in the media such as whether or not a car commercial presents a valid argument as to why they're the best or whether movies an reality TV shows are degrading towards a given demographic. Tentativeness is essential to identifying fallacies in the media because slowing down tends to lead to accuracy. Being open-minded can be useful in considering all the different stereotypes and evaluating the effectiveness of ads and deciding could be true and what definitely isn't true.

One of the things I found most interesting while writing media blogs is how colors in advertisements can make a difference in how consumers think of the company or product. It fascinates me that companies try to use such techniques that particularly target the subconscious. I think this unit on media has been a productive experience for me overall. The things I've learned about the media and all its hidden aspects will aid me in interpreting all types of media from this point forward.

Where does your water get its water?

I very rarely see bottled water commercials on TV. After all, what can the companies possibly say that makes them better than other water companies? Many companies like Smart Water seem to solely rely on the shape of their product and the simplicity of the logo, but not Crystal Geyser!

In this 2009 Crystal Geyser commercial, the focus is how Crystal Geyser is better than other waters because of its purity. It's pretty hilarious that Crystal Geyser is portraying other companies as men in vending machines that fill each bottle in a dirty faucet on command. Obviously the water is going to have to go through pipes of some sort at some point because it's extremely unlikely that anyone would go to a spring and manually fill each bottle...

The explicit message in this commercial is that Crystal Geyser has the best water because it comes directly from the source, and the implicit message is that the bottled water you usually drink is no different than tap water and you need to drink Crystal Geyser for you to get your money's worth. The target audience here is anyone buying bottled water (essentially young adults and older.) The emotional need for prominence is exemplified here because drinking Crystal Geyser will make one stand out and make one respected. I'm not convinced to buy Crystal Geyser water solely because it's "bottled at the source."

The packaging shows just how much the company wants to stand out:

MissRepresentation Analysis

There are many issues with how the media indoctrinates us to think of people in discriminatory ways and to try to change ourselves to please our piers. Perhaps the most relevant media related issue in today's society is gender inequality, which is displayed in a plethora of media. More specifically, women are especially affected. The media promotes female objectification constantly, which is shaping the standards they hold themselves to from the way they act to the way they dress and think of their bodies. Subsequently, men have begun to hold women to the standards the media sets for them, which only fuels the fire.

MissRepresentation did a great job of explaining the hardships the media poses on women. Many of the statistics that were mentioned surprised me and lead me to think deeper about how women are negatively affected by the media. How women are portrayed in movies helped me understand the issue especially clearly.

Mean Girls and Wedding Crashers were two of the movies briefly shown in MissRepresentation. They are both considered by most to be hilarious and very entertaining in general. When one takes a closer look and looks past the comedy, it is apparent that women are completely objectified. Mean Girls is a primary example of how girls judge other girls based on their appearances and how pier pressure can shape one's entire outlook on their life. Wedding Crashers is a primary example of how men objectify women in the media. Women are complete objects in the majority of this movie. They aren't depicted as real people for most of the film (until the protagonists realized their wrongful doings). They are seen basically as prizes. 

The gender inequality issue is displayed in many other types on media besides movies. Many times, girls will idealize their favorite singers' and actresses' appearances. They'll also view modeling ads and see women with the "ideal" body type. This essentially sends a message to young women without the "ideal" body type that they aren't good enough. Men will also see these ads, actresses, and singers and idealize their appearances.

In conclusion, women are constantly objectified by the media. Since they see themselves as objects, they perform lower. It plays such an affect on them as a gender that their opportunities are more restricted than those of men. For example, only 17% of congress are women. They deserve better, and media regulation of some sort may help.

         

Aesthetically Sensational Billboards

Billboards are one of the most common types of advertising in this day and age. We pass them in our cars everyday and sometimes don't even pay attention to them. However, some companies have begun to think outside the box and make billboards more exciting and appealing to people. The most effective way companies accomplish this is with the use of the emotional need for aesthetic sensation.  Here is one of my favorite examples:

This billboard is likely to catch most peoples' eyes. Its a creative and unique idea that defines the company as creative. If I were to see this brand of paint at the paint store, I would immediately consider buying it solely because the company's billboard is creative and attention grabbing. The greenish paint color was probably chosen to express the company's prosperity and wealth, as companies often use psychological color tactics (especially on billboards).

Here is another example of the need for aesthetic sensation on billboards:

The man shown in this billboard for the Calgary International Film Festival is crying actual water. It enhances the advertisement greatly by addressing not only the emotional need for aesthetic sensation but also the need for curiosity. Upon seeing this ad, my first thought was whether the water was fake or not. Because of my curiosity I was drawn in and gave the ad a closer look and discovered that the water was indeed real. As a result of the emotional needs exemplified in this ad, it is very effective in notifying people of the Calgary Film Festival.

Your Verse

Apple has always been exceptional with its advertisements hence the popularity of its products and its overall success as a company. Usually its commercials are simplistic. This commercial caught my eye because it uses a much different technique than simplicity: poetry coupled with world cultures with seamless integration of iPad Air usage. Though the commercial is inspiring because of the inspiring humanistic speech and poetry quotes, it has hardly anything to do with how the iPad Air functions or what its capabilities are. People are shown all around the world doing astounding things with their iPad Airs like mounting it on a tripod on the edge of a huge waterfall at sunset. The average consumer isn't going to take his or her iPad to a waterfall and mount it on a tripod at sunset or take it to the himalayas. The average consumer also probably won't relate their Apple product to human emotions that make life worth living.

"The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?" is the closing quote from the narrator as he quotes the famous poet Walt Whitman. The word play is referring to life and contributing a verse suggests contributing something unique to human life in the world. The quote is significant in the commercial because the explicit and implicit messages can be gleaned from it. The explicit message of the commercial is with the iPad Air you can make your life mark on the world. The implicit message is that you aren't making a mark as of yet without the iPad Air and you need it to do so. The target audience is largely adults (especially young adults) because they're the people that need to make their marks on the world. The camera angle is significant because though it varies greatly throughout the commercial, more often than not it is situated at eye level suggesting that the viewer can be equal to the person shown if they had an iPad Air.

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.