#1
Before I get to my observations of the book "Ad Nauseum," I must say that I really enjoyed every chapter. Truly informative.
Now in the chapter entitled "Subliminal Seduction," the author describes the eye catching techniques that are used by advertisers to lure in readers. Using the same color that is placed behind an article headline and placing it behind a neighboring ad to suggest a connection. This causes the reader to drawl a subconscious mental link. Since I am already on the subject of the subconscious I have to mention the theories of Wilson Bryan Key. How could you not bring him up? I mean all of his suggested sexual undertones were both frightening and fascinating. The orgy in a plate of clams was a really entertaining observation. Now the way in which the advertising companies were able to flip this negative attention around to work in their favor was brilliant. They do say that all publicity is good publicity.
In the chapter about Sir Jon Hargrave who pranked everyone in the industry it was amazing to discover the carelessness of credit card companies. This man was able to open an account under the name Barack Obama with no questions asked. There is something wrong with that. Which leads me to ask a couple of questions.
My first question is how is it possible that a person can so easily have access to credit? Who is regulating this?
My second question is along the same lines as my first one but instead I ask who regulates the medical advertisements? Is there no one that checks that pharmaceutical companies aren't making bogus claims?
#2
a)Twitter can ease the burdens of communication.
b)I do find myself in agreement with Johnson over the ease of communication that is created through Twitter. When talking on the phone or writing an e-mail it can become too time consuming in this fast paced world. Now when you need an instant response you can simply 'tweet' someone. Also I am in agreement with Johnson when he brings up the benefits of advertising on Twitter. Technological advances have changed advertsing in a big way. Entrepeneurs don't have to pay for advertising anymore. With Twitter and Facebook you can easily expand your consumer outreach.
Now where I differ from Johnson is that I don't personally see the merits of being plugged into cyber space at all times. People are communicating more but is the face to face form of communication lacking? Also, why do we need to be more engrossed in celebrities lives? I'm not sure that I feel the same way that Johnson does about gaining a personal connection with celeb. I just think it gives people a false sense of reality.
c)I am not a Twitter user so my relationship is strictly second hand. In fact I'm not really sure that I will ever become a Tweet-head. Facebook is about my breaking point with technology and even that is starting to bore me.
5 things from "The Merchants of Cool:"
1)Marketers pay kids to give them the inside scoop on "cool" things.
2)Hip-hop became a major vehicle in the selling of products to teens.
3)Tom Green is a "mook." Finally I know what made him famous.
4)Family friendly WB was won out by teen sexuality.
5) The Insane Clown Posse is anti-mainstream. Teen resistance movement to appose the MTV teen.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Homework # 4?
#1
The identification of oneself with a particular brand or product. This is a theme that keeps appearing throughout our examination of the media. In "Ad Nauseum," the chapter which covers magazines and who their readers are provides insight into the inner marketing machine. Jane magazine claims that their readers are, "20-something front row influencers." Where do they come up with this stuff? I read Jane magazine when I was an uncomfortable adolescent. At 20-something I would never think of picking up such teenie bopper tripe. But these advertisers believe what they say is true. That their customers can be summed up in a quick blurb.
One of the biggest culprits of this belief is Song airlines whom, in"The Persuaders," claimed that their employees lived, breathed, and slept Song. How does a person live, breath, and sleep a product? I totally understand if a person who is mentally unstable, like the gentleman who loved Ariel the animated mermaid, identifies with a product but everyday people? I would hope that most of us are better than that.
It is Possible that this association between humans and a product or brand comes from the ever emerging realism of advertising. In the Chapter entitled "How Do Kids Read Commercials," the author asked a bunch of teenage students what they thought about some of the commercials they watch, and many of them had a hard time differentiating fact from fiction. I remember even being fooled into thinking that some commercials were really public service announcements. It's an effective marketing approach and it catches many people off guard. We witnessed this in class with that cell phone ad. It looked so much like something official, but in the end was just some brilliant marketers work.
#2
a) Human's evolutionary success maybe found in the technologies we develop.
b) The two examples where I agree with Cascio are when he says that technologies are advancing at a rate that could allow for artificial intelligence in the not too distant future. He call this "You+," which is both creepy and fascinating. Also I find that I can quasi agree with Cascio's assumption that our "technologically induced ADD" maybe just our brains beginning to evolve into something with more load bearing capacity. We do have a lot of information coming our way and I do feel that my mental space is growing thin.
Where I find fault in Cascio's piece is when he claims that when our technology speeds up and advances so will we. What about those people who weren't born with a computer in their hands? I still can't efficiently use EXCEL, or god forbid, Skype. I think people who are freshman in college now could easily adapt to large technology shifts, but those who are a decade or two older maybe lost. Cascio then goes on later to talk about mentally enhancing drugs like Adderall, and Ritalin stating that some people may not see the use of these drugs as cheating. I have a real problem when people are abusing performance enhancing drugs, which Adderall and Ritalin are, in school. In my eyes this is equivalent to a competitive athlete on steroids and is most certainly cheating.
#3
a) The concept that we become immune to the influence of advertisement. Like a cockroach? I think one woman said.
b) It was interesting to learn the approach that Andy Spade made when tackling the marketing for "Song." The whole what a product means rather than what it does.
3) The connection between cult behavior and product loyalty.
4) I didn't realize that so much human research is done to promote one product.
5) Advertisers and marketers believe that brands can define a person. Or that a person can identify themselves with a brand.
The identification of oneself with a particular brand or product. This is a theme that keeps appearing throughout our examination of the media. In "Ad Nauseum," the chapter which covers magazines and who their readers are provides insight into the inner marketing machine. Jane magazine claims that their readers are, "20-something front row influencers." Where do they come up with this stuff? I read Jane magazine when I was an uncomfortable adolescent. At 20-something I would never think of picking up such teenie bopper tripe. But these advertisers believe what they say is true. That their customers can be summed up in a quick blurb.
One of the biggest culprits of this belief is Song airlines whom, in"The Persuaders," claimed that their employees lived, breathed, and slept Song. How does a person live, breath, and sleep a product? I totally understand if a person who is mentally unstable, like the gentleman who loved Ariel the animated mermaid, identifies with a product but everyday people? I would hope that most of us are better than that.
It is Possible that this association between humans and a product or brand comes from the ever emerging realism of advertising. In the Chapter entitled "How Do Kids Read Commercials," the author asked a bunch of teenage students what they thought about some of the commercials they watch, and many of them had a hard time differentiating fact from fiction. I remember even being fooled into thinking that some commercials were really public service announcements. It's an effective marketing approach and it catches many people off guard. We witnessed this in class with that cell phone ad. It looked so much like something official, but in the end was just some brilliant marketers work.
#2
a) Human's evolutionary success maybe found in the technologies we develop.
b) The two examples where I agree with Cascio are when he says that technologies are advancing at a rate that could allow for artificial intelligence in the not too distant future. He call this "You+," which is both creepy and fascinating. Also I find that I can quasi agree with Cascio's assumption that our "technologically induced ADD" maybe just our brains beginning to evolve into something with more load bearing capacity. We do have a lot of information coming our way and I do feel that my mental space is growing thin.
Where I find fault in Cascio's piece is when he claims that when our technology speeds up and advances so will we. What about those people who weren't born with a computer in their hands? I still can't efficiently use EXCEL, or god forbid, Skype. I think people who are freshman in college now could easily adapt to large technology shifts, but those who are a decade or two older maybe lost. Cascio then goes on later to talk about mentally enhancing drugs like Adderall, and Ritalin stating that some people may not see the use of these drugs as cheating. I have a real problem when people are abusing performance enhancing drugs, which Adderall and Ritalin are, in school. In my eyes this is equivalent to a competitive athlete on steroids and is most certainly cheating.
#3
a) The concept that we become immune to the influence of advertisement. Like a cockroach? I think one woman said.
b) It was interesting to learn the approach that Andy Spade made when tackling the marketing for "Song." The whole what a product means rather than what it does.
3) The connection between cult behavior and product loyalty.
4) I didn't realize that so much human research is done to promote one product.
5) Advertisers and marketers believe that brands can define a person. Or that a person can identify themselves with a brand.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Media Art Piece
This speaks to my feelings about what is happening to the dairy industry in Vermont, as well as what is occurring nationwide. Domination and control of the small farm by the giant corporations. Cabot is not Vermont!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Music of The Night
Music was always a dynamic component of my household growing up. My father was a musician through the 60's and 70's, and my mother a ballerina. So for us music was always a topic of discussion and source for creative release. In the early years I remember sitting on the sofa listening to my dad's records and discussing the brilliance of groups like the Doobie Brothers, YES, and Chicago.
These rock groups are my childhood, my family, and basically define a great part of me. Not only was the layering of sounds something that my sister and I relished, but the album covers themselves were something we marveled at. I remember how my sister and I would go through the records and pick out our favorite covers. I always picked "Court of The Crimson King,"by King Crimson, but YES "Tales of the Topographic Ocean" was a close second.
Album covers made statements of who the band was and where they wanted to take you. In later years during my adolescences tapes became the coveted medium. We made mixed tapes which were, at least for me, a way to convey a message or express who I was. Music did change for me a little bit the older that I got. Pop culture did have some effect on my musical taste, but I think that is all part of growing up and changing.
When your a teenager you don't want to identify too much with your parents. For me I found teen rebellion in listening to Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. My father's musical influence was still there but I wouldn't know that until I became an adult and moved away. This brought music to a whole new level for me. Once out of the nest I began to turn to music to feel comforted and safe. When I missed home I would listen to those old albums and it was like my dad was with me.
When I go home to visit now and the whole family is together I love nothing more than to play some of the old hits. This past Christmas my dad's bestfriend and former band-mate came over and to hear them talk, laugh, and reminisce was the best gift I could have gotten. Music was their lives, and it has shaped who they now are. This I can truly identify with.
-Sarah Heusner
These rock groups are my childhood, my family, and basically define a great part of me. Not only was the layering of sounds something that my sister and I relished, but the album covers themselves were something we marveled at. I remember how my sister and I would go through the records and pick out our favorite covers. I always picked "Court of The Crimson King,"by King Crimson, but YES "Tales of the Topographic Ocean" was a close second.
Album covers made statements of who the band was and where they wanted to take you. In later years during my adolescences tapes became the coveted medium. We made mixed tapes which were, at least for me, a way to convey a message or express who I was. Music did change for me a little bit the older that I got. Pop culture did have some effect on my musical taste, but I think that is all part of growing up and changing.
When your a teenager you don't want to identify too much with your parents. For me I found teen rebellion in listening to Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. My father's musical influence was still there but I wouldn't know that until I became an adult and moved away. This brought music to a whole new level for me. Once out of the nest I began to turn to music to feel comforted and safe. When I missed home I would listen to those old albums and it was like my dad was with me.
When I go home to visit now and the whole family is together I love nothing more than to play some of the old hits. This past Christmas my dad's bestfriend and former band-mate came over and to hear them talk, laugh, and reminisce was the best gift I could have gotten. Music was their lives, and it has shaped who they now are. This I can truly identify with.
-Sarah Heusner