Reflection

I think that through this blog assignment and the semester as a whole, I learned a lot about myself and the world around me. In the future I will definitely be more conscious when I am taking in the media around me and I have already noticed myself seeing through many media messages and suspecting their true meanings/intentions. This blog has made me realize how much time I really spend interacting with media and how it has affected my opinions and perceptions so heavily over the years. I used to let the commercials, ads, and articles that I came into contact with persuade me to think certain ways very often, but I feel like now that I know what companies do and why they do it, I have a better understanding of these things that I see. Also, my understanding of media as a whole, including Television, social media, music, and others, has improved in that I have realized many patterns in society today and how they are noticed and used by advertisers everywhere. Overall, this blog has been a good way for me to expand on my encounters with and opinions about the media that have influenced myself or others around me, and I have learned a great amount about society around me and the advertisers that play a huge role in it.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/A8Yc/chevrolet-four-years-in-a-row

Chevrolet has come out with commercials like this one, very often in the past two years or so and they have always made me mad for some reason. It wasn't until I started to learn about the strategies that companies use in advertising this year that I was able to back up my argument. Many commercials on TV now days do commercials very similar to this one, and I now know how they are trying to target specific audience by using certain aspects such as the host of these Chevy car showings, the location of the showings, and the "Real people. Not actors" that are brought on. I think the statement about the people not being actors really convinces many people that this is a genuine commercial and Chevy is an honest company. Also the use of this calm, average looking man to represent their company is implicitly telling the audience that Chevy as a whole company is trustworthy,  and understanding. All of these things are qualities that many Americans value very much, and Chevy is attempting to break through the clutter by making themselves appear as being honest and down to earth for the average person. They are definitely attempting to use the "Facts and Figures" technique in mentioning their never before done record of 4 years in a row of best initial quality. This vague statement of awards convinces most people that Chevy is now producing much more quality products than before and can be relied on in today's confusing, fast paced market.

Week 5: Lil B The Based God

Recently I watched a kind of interview/short documentary about a bay area rapper named Lil B who has grown into an internet meme/superstar. Lil B has a very interesting style of rapping that he has had since he first came out as an artist in the early 2000s. But what is very interesting about Lil B is how he has been so different in his way of presenting himself both in real life and on social media, he has always done things that have surprised and influenced many people. One example being when he put a curse on NBA player Kevin Durant who then lost in the finals that year, then he later went on sports center dressed in old lady's clothes to discuss the curse. Now, many people (Including myself at first) think that what Lil B is, is simply an internet joke and a funny person in the way he is so different. But as I look around today and see more and more artists becoming extremely famous for doing Lil B like things, I think "is there more to Lil B than what I first observed?" This video that I watched was an interveiw with Lil B in his hometown Berkeley, CA, and it went into depth about his new philosophy on how the earth, nature, and positivity are very important. I think this video affirmed my belief that Lil B is a very important person, and that the way he was able to be so influential through the internet (music videos, twitter, and memes) is becoming more and more common in pop culture today. I know that this video showed me that Lil B is a person of more substance than I originally thought, and his message about positivity is something very different that I think will have a much needed impact on a pop culture that can be so hateful sometimes.

Week 5: Miss Representation post

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-05-09/hillary-rodham-clinton/54860282/1

Especially brought to light for me during the recent presidential election with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, was the way that women are judged much more harshly than men on purely their appearance. Although I wasn't quite as well informed on everything about this past election as I could have been, I did observe the way that the media treated the women in the election (specifically Hilary Clinton) different than all of the other men. The media would definitely highlight negative aspects about Trump's appearance such as his fake orange complexion and his obvious hairpiece, but it always seemed like more of a joke and the media implied that it wasn't too important or relevant. With Clinton on the other hand, the ads would always focus on making her look "crazy" or "evil" or as "lying", in a way that makes her unqualified, these are also common stereotypical insults for women that have existed for centuries. I think that this strategy used by the media to emphasize any sort of imperfections with women, even in politics, is one of the major sources of the inequalities that women constantly face. When the media puts this sort of stuff out to everyone, it engraves the implicit message that women need to look good at all times and shouldn't go into the public eye in any way if they don't want to be crucially judged on their appearance. Also when this is shown to the people, young girls could see this negativity towards women, and the focus on what they look like and be less driven to try to achieve their goals and pursue their true passions in life. I think to make a more equal society for men and women in America, one thing that must change is the way that women are portrayed in the general media, because it effects everyone one way or another.

Week 4: Choice

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AEHB/progressive-prank-protection#


I see this commercial very often on TV, and I thought it was pretty clever and funny when I first saw it, but it also made me realize how my interaction with media has changed. I saw that they were obviously using the Wit and Humor/Sex Appeal by giving the viewer a reason to laugh and diverting their attention from the product directly. I think this commercial definitely made many different people laugh and feel connected to this, because it portrays what seems to be teen rebels, but is really good people helping others and being "sneaky" about it. Also they are targeting many people's need to feel safe by showing their company helping them out and physically acting out the "coverage" that they're selling. After seeing this commercial many times I found myself thinking very positively of Progressive as a company, but I then had to remind myself that this was only a commercial they constructed to make me think that way about them. I also remembered how I used to let commercials influence my perception so much that I would base my whole opinion on a company or product on how good their commercial was. This leading me to realize how this is probably how many if not most Americans subconsciously form their opinions on a lot of things including what they buy.

Week 4: Merchants of Cool

The app twitter has become one of the, if not the biggest source of media for most teenagers today and represents the way that the definition of "cool" is always changing. There are many popular accounts such as "World Star" (as well as a lot of fake World Star accounts) that are constantly posting pictures, video clips, and viral tweets that represent popular attitudes on things and popular trends. This never ending stream of media that we are exposed to influences teen society and the idea of what is "cool" in a huge way. As I have observed so many times on twitter some viral song, dance move, vine, etc will become popular for a while, until it becomes too widespread or "mainstream" and something else replaces it immediately. This makes twitter a good place for companies to "cool hunt" and advertise to specific audiences. I suspect that the same "cool hunting" that companies were doing in the "Merchants of Cool" video in the early 2000's, is still happening today with social media and specifically twitter. Companies could be assigning social media experts to try to create a "cool" image for them from what is trending/popular on twitter. Although, this strategy is a very difficult one to succeed with because of the rapid changing of "cool", and how by using something cool in advertising you quickly make it not cool anymore, because it has become "mainstream" or "overused". In conclusion, you can easily observe the constant changing of what is perceived as "cool" through the twitter app with the many trends that come and go over time.

Week 3 post

This Nike Football (Soccer) advertisement was released on the internet over the summer, right before the Euro 2016 (European national teams championship tournament) and became very popular all around the world much like previous Nike advertisements of its kind. It is a different type of advertising than simply airing repetitive TV commercials and engages the audience in a mini story that is centered around a product(s). In this case Nike was advertising a wide range of products by embedding them in the story and having them be right there when the story appeals to certain audiences, so that people remember the product and the brand as being associated with a feeling or action. They were definitely attempting to appeal to the need to achieve by showing the two characters constantly working to improve and achieve success in their situation. One implicit message that I saw in this was that you (the average person) aren't capable of being successful in football, because the only reason the kid was able to become a successful pro was when Cristiano Ronaldo himself switched lives with him and then worked hard for him to become a professional. Although that is an implicit message I saw just now, when I first saw it I was inspired and saw things like the slogan "#sparkbrilliance", telling me that I could achieve success if I worked hard and bought Nike gear to help me do so.


Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scWpXEYZEGk