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.