Reflection

I think that it's pretty crazy how much media us kids consume in a single day. I know that I listen to music a lot, watch tv, and see billboards and print ads everywhere. Tv/movies and music have a huge impact on my life just because they make my life more enjoyable. Music is something that I feel I can turn to for any reason, no matter what mood I'm in or what kind of day I'm having. Tv and movies are just great because they help me escape from my everyday life and just relax for a while. On the other hand, advertising in media doesn't have an impact on me that I can detect, besides my annoyance during commercial breaks. One thing that definitely does have an effect on me is the way that women are portrayed in the media, whether it be the news, tv, movies, magazines, or any other form. I am so disgusted by the sexualization and objectification of women nowadays. It's created so many insecure and depressed girls, just because they're comparing themselves to these women and they feel as if the only important thing about women is their looks. That's why the documentary Miss Representation really spoke to me. I wish that the media didn't do this, but they'll never stop.

I think one of the reasons that I don't believe advertisements have such an effect on me is because I've been so exposed to them my entire life that I just don't even really process them anymore. The only things that I am drawn to when it comes to products is stuff like cosmetics, clothes, and other girly stuff. Pretty much everything else I just block out at this point. I also have realized that I can detect what type of technique they are using and what need they are trying to appeal to, which is really interesting. That kind of makes commercials more enjoyable because I actually know what's going on and what they're trying to do.

Having this knowledge about media is important and has helped me understand the inner workings of advertisers and producers of TV shows or movies. I think that it's primarily important just because we should really understand what is being thrown in our faces every minute of every day, and we should be able to determine if we really need a certain product or if we just want it because it was such a well constructed advertisement. That is what being a smart consumer is. I'm lucky to have had the ability to learn about the tactics used by advertisers, so I think that I will be able to be a smart consumer from now on.

This blog helped me to do a lot of things: release anger about media experiences that suck, talk about my favorite songs/movies, express my views, etc. I thought that it was a really fun assignment because I've never had homework that was all online before, and it was a really cool experience. I also learned more about dissecting different forms of media and it gave me a lot more media literacy. Overall, this has been a really good way for me to learn more about myself (what appeals to me in the media and what doesn't) as well as media overall. I'm glad that we got the opportunity to do this. I hope that I carry the knowledge I have now with me for a long time so that I can understand this world of media for years to come.

The Commercial-ization of the NBA (or any other sports association)

Even though it's necessary, I think that the amount of advertising that is done during basketball games (and almost every other sporting event) is ridiculous. I've been going to a lot of Kings games at Sleep Train Arena, and that's what has made me really notice how bad it is. At almost every timeout and after every quarter, they do some competition where they take people from the crowd and they compete in order to win something from Sleep Train, Verizon, Apple, or another one of their sponsors. Sometimes, after the Kings score, the Sleep Train horn sound is played over the sound system. I mean, come on! How much do they think that that's going to make us want to buy stuff from Sleep Train? Also, everywhere you look, you can see advertisements. In Sleep Train Arena, it's mainly Budweiser and Pizza Guy's and Sleep Train itself. This is the same as in the English Premier League for soccer. There are a lot of airlines that are advertised in the premier league, and at the stadiums they play in you can see a lot of banners and signs advertising other products as well. The soccer fans are so crazy that they probably don't even notice.

The reason that I decided to write about this is because in class I remember discussing the fact that we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, no matter where we go. This is totally true. Going to a basketball game with my friends is really fun, but I feel like the surroundings there make the atmosphere less about the game itself, and more about how much money they can make and how much they can talk about a certain company. I know that this has been a phenomenon for many years now, but I just wish we could go back to the old days when it was just about the sport itself.

Geico Commercials

This is one of the commercials in the new series of Geico commercials that have been a pretty big hit. I usually don't laugh at commercials because often times they are just stupid, but I always laugh at these ones. In every commercial in this series, there is a really strange scene and no one really knows what's going on at first. And then, there are two guys on a stage who appear at the scene and they say how happy someone saving hundreds of dollars on car insurance is compared to the main character(s) in the commercial. In this case, it's a witch in a broom factory.

They use the technique of Wit and Humor to make these commercials memorable and make us have positive feelings toward Geico. As I said, a lot of commercials try to use Wit and Humor but it just turns out to be dumb and not that funny, but in this case they really pull it off. They also use the Avante Garde technique because all of these commercials have really weird scenarios. First of all, witches aren't real. Second, who would think of this. Third, there are two guys all of a sudden who are on a stage talking to each other and playing the banjo and guitar. This really doesn't make sense and is really weird, which also helps these commercials to be really memorable for people. Another technique used is Weasel Words. They use the word "happy" and "happier" to describe the Geico customers saving hundreds. Everyone knows the meaning of the word "happy", but they don't really talk much about what they're trying to market and why it makes people so "happy".

I think that they are appealing to a need for autonomy because they're pretty much saying that Geico customers are happier than the customers of other insurance brands. Surprisingly they didn't really appeal to the need to feel safe, even though most ads for insurance do.

These commercials are probably my favorite that are on the air right now, and I think that they are very effective by using the techniques that they use and appealing to the needs that they appeal to.

My Favorite Cartoons

1. Spongebob Squarepants

 

 

My first favorite cartoon of all time is definitely Spongebob. The reason that I like this show so much is because of the strange sense of humor that never gets old to me. A lot of people find this slapstick, obnoxious style of humor annoying, but I think it's great. Another reason why I like this is because almost anyone of any age can watch it and enjoy it. My mom, my dad, my little cousins, my older cousins, and myself all watch it and love it, which shows how huge of a range of people it appeals to. Another reason that I like this cartoon is because it reminds me of my young childhood. I would come home every day from school and watch an hour of Spongebob from 5 to 6. Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed and stressed, I try to take myself back to that point in my life, therefore Spongebob has a really positive connotation to me. This is a cartoon that I hope to share with my children one day when I'm older.

 

2. Adventure Time

 

 

My second favorite cartoon of all time is Adventure Time on Cartoon Network. Some people think that I'm really weird for watching this, but those are often the people who have never seen it before. The main reason that I love this cartoon is because it really creates an escape for me from my every day life, in a different way than Spongebob. This show literally takes me to a whole other world and makes me laugh at the same time. Jake the dog and Finn the human both live in The Land of Ooo, and together they embark on a new adventure every day. These adventures can range from fighting monsters to getting an animal out of a tree to saving the world. Within these adventures they always have really good messages, which teaches the young kids who watch this to always be there for a friend and to always help someone out when they're in need. A lot of people say that Adventure Time is only for two kinds of people: little kids and stoners (because it's so trippy). I say that this is false. Anyone can enjoy this show, even though it's really weird and kind of scary sometimes. It's always interesting and keeps my attention the entire time.

 

3. Family Guy

 

Family Guy is definitely a lot more of an adult cartoon than the two previous ones that I've talked about. There is a lot of sexual references, as well as references to people/events that I don't even understand because it was before my time. This shows that this cartoon is really meant for adults and older teenagers. I always find myself laughing out loud at it, though. It has a sense of humor that is really random and is pretty much made for people with A.D.D. because it always is changing the setting and is breaking away from the show to reference other stuff. They also make fun of a lot of celebrities which is pretty funny, especially when it's people like Lindsay Lohan. My favorite characters are probably Brian and Stewie because it's ironic that they are probably the smartest ones in the family, yet one is a dog and the other is a baby. Maybe this has a deeper meaning, but I've never thought about it that much. I also like this show a lot because I can watch it with my parents and we both laugh at it. 



Stupid Jim Beam Commercial!!!

I remember seeing this commercial a long time ago when I was in elementary school, and it even made me mad when I was little. I HATE this commercial. I think that it is so stupid that someone would think that this is "THE girlfriend". First of all, she barely speaks English and she seems like she is kind of clueless and ditzy, which are not good qualities for a girl to have. Maybe it would be for guys who feel as if they have to be superior to their girlfriend, but not for the good guys out there. Also, when she says that she likes guys who are fat with hairy backs, that is just unrealistic and even though it's supposed to be "funny" it's just stupid to me. And then she says that she likes men who watch a lot of football and go out with the guys, and that this is a "good thing". It's fine if a guy wants to watch some football and hang out with his friends sometimes, but he also should be with his girl sometimes and pay attention to her. This is just saying that that is too much of a chore for many guys to handle, which shows how out of wack the priorities of these guys are. And then she says that she shouldn't get upset when he doesn't surprise her with nice things ever. Again, contributing to the laziness of men and saying that it's okay if her boyfriend doesn't care enough to show her his love through flowers and other little gifts. Then, she says that she doesn't get jealous if he goes to a strip club. This is a put-down to herself, saying that she doesn't care if he is dancing with and staring at naked women. ANY woman would get jealous of this, and if they say they don't then they are flat out lying. She also literally says "I don't care". I'm pretty sure that a guy would want his girlfriend to care in some way.

This commercial covers a lot of stereotypes about men, which are somewhat true for some of them. They do watch a lot of football and often want to go out with "the boys", but a good boyfriend would also spend time with his girlfriend and stay home with her sometimes. Also, they talk about the stereotype that men are not romantic at all and that they will never surprise their girlfriend with flowers or anything like that. I know that this is not true if a boy really loves his girl. It also covers some stereotypes about women, saying that they nag too much and get too jealous. Girlfriends need to be like this a little bit, to keep their boyfriend by their side. Jealousy can get annoying, but it definitely shows how much someone cares.

Lastly, I hate how it says "THE girlfriend" and then says "THE bourbon" about Jim Beam, the product they are trying to sell. These two things have nothing in common, so how is it even effective to compare them?? Well, it's not. Wit and humor just come across as stupidity to me in this commercial. It sucks!

Sorry, guys! You will never find a woman like this!

Macklemore - Same Love (song lyrics/music vid)

This song really spoke to me. I feel very strongly about gay peoples' rights and I always have believed that they should have just as many rights as straight people, and the rapper Macklemore obviously shares these beliefs with me because his uncle is gay and he is very close with him.

This music video is almost like a movie because it shows the entire life of a gay man who falls in love and gets married to his partner. He is really trying to convince the people who voted against gay marriage that it is the "same love" (hence the song's title) as straight couples, and also that gay people are not any different than everyone else besides their attraction to the same sex. In the very beginning of the song, it discusses stereotypes of gay men. It says: "When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay, cause I could draw, and my uncle was, and I kept my room straight". This is him trying to tell people that just because someone is neat, artistic, and have relatives that are gay it does not mean that they are. It also says that he told his mom that he thought he was gay while crying, showing his knowledge of how unaccepting the world is of gays at an early age and how scared he was that it was possible he could be one.

In another part of the song, he says "America the brave still fears what we don't know, and God loves all his children is somehow forgotten, but we paraphrase a book that was written thirty-five-hundred years ago, I don't know." This is explaining how some Americans don't understand that gay couples love each other the same way that straight couples love each other, therefore they are afraid and disgusted by it. They use the bible to back them up, saying that "marriage is between a man and a woman", but Macklemore says that this is paraphrased. He also reminds us that God loves all people, so we shouldn't think otherwise.

Lastly, in the chorus, it says "And I can't change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to." People still believe that being gay is a choice. Obviously it is not. Why would anyone choose a life of discrimination and being bullied? This is what Macklemore is portraying. Some religious extremists try to send gays into programs to turn them straight, which obviously won't work because they can't change who they love or find attractive.

This is one of my favorite songs right now, and I would recommend that anyone who does or does not support gay rights should definitely give it a listen. Maybe it will help explain things more to those who do not, and will move those who do.

Media Metamorphosis

Since we have been studying media and its effects on humanity, I have realized that I've been noticing a lot of things that I would not have noticed before. I believe that I am not nearly as gullable as I was before when it comes to seeing commercials or print ads everyday. Before the holidays, I would see a product being advertised and think "I want that!", and then would text my mom and tell her to add that thing to my lengthy Christmas wish list. But then, I would think about it and realize all of the tricks that the commercial had played on me. Many of them were based on vagueness and weasel words, saying things like "All jewelry up to 40% off!" That could mean that only piece of jewelry in the whole store is 40% off, while everything else is only 5% off. Many people who have not studied media in such depth as we have wouldn't notice this right off the bat.

I've found that a lot of the common advertising techniques really are effective to people who don't think too deeply about what they are seeing. Some that are especially effective to me are weasel words (the one that I already mentioned), wit and humor, Gestalt, and glittering generalities. The overall reason that these work so well is that people often don't really analyze commercials, and they believe nearly everything that they hear, with the acception of wit and humor. In my opinion, wit and humor being used in advertising is simply to make us remember the commercial and for us to like the company more, such as the Allstate "mayhem" series, or the Geico series with two men playing banjos.

I have definitely been able to detect when Gestalt is being used in a commercial, and it's a lot more common than I thought it was. It's used in a lot of technology and designer brand commercials because it's sort of trying to show how ground breaking and interesting their company is. It also often leaves a feeling of mystery, adding to the interesting part. I also have been able to tell when glittering generalities is being used, and I used to be tricked by it all the time. For example, when I see commercials for Wen hair products, I still sort of believe that it's the best shampoo in the world just because all of the women who say that they used it in the commercial say that it has completely changed their hair for the better. This is probably not true for everyone, but they want to make you believe this.

Overall, I have realized that I am not as easily tricked by the techniques used by many advertisements. Ever since we began studying media in class, I have been able to realize when a commercial isn't telling the full truth about its product.