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.