Milk's Favorite Cookie (Post #10) Choice

In an Oreo commercial, a girl is at a skating rink and she gives her friend an Oreo because said friend was too busy texting on her phone to pay attention to what was going on. So, the friend takes the cookie and untwists the top of it, and all of the sudden they are skating on the rink and dancing with all of the strangers, it's just one big party essentially. This ad appeals to the need for affiliation because the girl and her friend are all buddy-buddy with the random roller skaters right after she took the top off the Oreo. The ad also appeals to the need for escape since the ad ends with the word "Wonderfilled" and a cartoon Oreo sitting above it, also since the friends went on a "wonder-filled" skating adventure. It uses the technique "Gestalt" because the people within the video have odd proportions, and there are not even words in it, there's only a song sung by Adam Lambert playing the whole time.

MissRepresentation (Post #9)

One topic discussed in MissRepresentation is that the media is encouraging violence. I agree with this because they brought up a good point about there being virtually no restrictions as to what is put on
T.V. and in movies. Take Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for example, in one scene Mola Ram took the heart out of a man's chest while the victim was watching. This movie was basically for sixth graders, rated PG-13, and it's this gruesome? It seems a bit irrational to assume that lack of restrictions for media content will turn someone's kid into a vicious puppy killer overnight, but over time they grow up watching such violent things and they become immune to the whole wrongness of unnecessary violence. The reason T.V. shows and movies try to pass with a general audience rating is so that they have a larger target market, and therefore more views and sales. It's disturbing to think that young children are being exposed to such violence at an early age simply because someone wants to make money.

Merchants of Cool (Post #8)

We watched a documentary called Merchants of Cool, and it discusses marketing towards teenagers. While it may be a little dated (like before I was even 3 years old), it still remains relevant in terms of how companies are selling us a lifestyle, and once it's marketed towards us it becomes "uncool". However, there was something in that documentary that I found was not true. The media is trying to sell teens, the next adult generation, a reckless lifestyle coupled with a careless attitude. Companies, in an attempt to develop a physchographic of teens to market towards, came up with the "mook" and the "midriff". The mook is a testosterone driven boy who are "arrested in adolescence", and value violence and savagery over being gentlemen. The midriff is a pre-maturely mature girl who sees herself as sexual object, and her body as well as looks are her source of power. I think these stereotypes are inaccurate portrayals of teens because the mook and midriff are only a small percentage of the teenage population. For example, most teenage girls I know are not like the midriff because they dress modestly, and have some self-respect. Also, surprisingly, most boys I know do not willingly put themselves in serious danger, and act like meat heads. The mook and the midriff are stereotypes designed to get closer to the teen population, and show that they "understand" them. In reality, they should be something for teens to rebel against because teenagers are more than hungry beasts who only take joy in violence and copious amounts of sex, they are capable of becoming intellectual and progressively open-minded citizens of society.

The midriff

The mook

Ayee gurl, I got 3 acres and a barn ;) (Post #7)

I'm sure everyone has seen the commercials for this dating site named "FarmersOnly.com" and you probably sing the little jingle, that never fails to get stuck in your head, that goes like: "You don't have to be lonely at FarmersOnly.com." I will be analyzing a recent commercial where a man takes a woman on a date, but the date plan is just fishing on his boat. The woman in the commercial is dressed nicely and the whole time she's acting like a beezy and saying rude things like,"Ugh, when you said 'fishing' I thought you meant sushi!" and "I bet my shoes cost more than your stupid boat does!", so the guy goes on FarmersOnly, and a woman in a t-shirt and baseball cap appears and she uses a fishing line to pull the "city-girl" overboard. The man and the woman with the hat leave the other woman completely stranded while they ride off into the sunset on his aluminum boat. 

For starters, this ad appeals to the need for affiliation, not necessarily in the respect of friends, but a partner in romance. They're saying that if you don't use this dating website you will end up with some rude priss-priss from the city instead of meeting the girl of your dreams with the eyes like a golden wheat field and the luscious brown hair like your favorite horse's mane. It also shows the need for affiliation because their motto is "City Folk Just Don't Get It", which pretty much means that over there at FarmersOnly you can find someone who does "get it". It fulfills this need with the use of the technique "Glittering Generalities" because their little jingle alone (stated in the first paragraph) nearly guarantees that you won't be lonely if you just use their website. The ad features only caucasian people so it's target audience is presumably young, white people who live out in the country. This ad also depicts a stereotype that people who live in cities are snobby and arrogant. This is completely untrue considering I live within a city, and I know people who live out in the country who aren't any more pleasant than the people I know here. However, people are allowed to date whoever they please, and how they go about it is their business.
https://youtu.be/hzAwU_1JzYI

The Outcome of Studying Media (So Far) (Post #6)

In this class, I have learned about the many techniques used in media, particularly advertising, that are meant to display how certain products fulfill certain needs. Also, I watched a documentary about advertising and I watched my classmates pick apart ads and present the techniques used within. From, this, I've learned to be more observant and sometimes I find myself thinking about whether a commercial used this or that technique to attract a particular audience. However, it's kind of fun because sometimes I play a game with my friend where we try to guess what advertising techniques are being used, the target audience, and the needs it fulfills when we see different ads. It's just kind of creepy how certain products are marketed towards a target psychographic or demographic and companies pay a lot of money for these. Overall, I am more aware of the psychology behind marketing campaigns, and I appreciate it because I can use this awareness to protect myself from buying something I don't need.

Brofist. (Post #5)

"Don't be a salad, be the best damn broccoli you could ever be," is what YouTuber PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg) wrote in his book This Book Loves You. Yes, I do own this book, and yes I love PewDiePie (do not judge). He is a big influence in my life because his videos, in a way, offer an escape from the stresses in my life. Whenever I'm feeling the pressure from HISP, I usually just take a break and watch one of his videos because they make me laugh. I also admire him because he is able to act like himself in front of a camera, even if he is a bit weird, and he has the confidence to share it with his nearly 41 million subscribers. PewDiePie has taught me that it's okay to be myself even if it doesn't fit in with "normal" because a.) not everyone is going to like me and b.) I would be much happier if I just honestly expressed myself rather than cover it up out of fear of what others might think. 

Some think it's weird to be so interested in a person who doesn't even know I exist, but to me and his other subscribers, it doesn't really matter that he doesn't know each of us individually because he shows that he cares about his fans by featuring their fan art in some of his videos or when his book came out he did a book tour to meet us. People feel that you need to know someone personally and physically in order to have a connection to them, but media is able to provide a connection for us without having to do any of that. Media is a strong medium for communication; just by watching videos of someone or listening to an artist's music we can feel connected to them or maybe we can even relate to them. 

Puppies!!!!!!! (Post #4: The Persuaders)

It is almost that time of the year where people gather around their T.V.'s dressed in jerseys, faces painted, and the perfect snacks spread out on the coffee table. Still don't know? I'm talking about the Super Bowl, an annual American tradition celebrating big, meaty dudes fighting over a ball, and receiving brain damage instead. However, most people I know focus more on one thing: Puppy Bowl. Yes, cute little puppies running across a screen for, like, 12 hours. 

This little segment, aired on Animal Planet, began as just that, except these past years it has evolved into something of a dream for companies looking to advertise on the big game day. Not only is it sponsored by pet food companies, but bigger names have also been added to the mix like AT&T, Twizzlers, Subaru, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney, and many more. Tying in to The Persuaders, the show itself exemplifies product placement, Madison and Vine, and advertising itself as a form of entertainment. An example of the product placement is Sheba cat food introduced a Sheba-brand food and toys, and a VIP suite for kitties. Madison and Vine comes from the advertising on the walls of the Puppy Bowl stadium so that every time the camera follows a little puppy you are hit with an ad, much like the stadium walls for the Super Bowl. Subaru also sponsored the "Drive of the Day" and "Kiss Cam" segment of the show. While Puppy Bowl may be a cuter, less sweatier alternative for those who could not care less about football, the puppies themselves are pretty much a foreground distraction from the real premise of the show, which is to promote big name companies.

http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/animal-planet-s-puppy-bowl-plays/291154/

http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl/about-this-show/about-puppy-bowl/