The End of the Road

            Ah, media logs. While I will not miss you (not even a little bit), I understand why you were necessary. Even if that meant you made my life just a little harder. These logs and the media unit have both made me more aware of how prevalent media is in everyday life. It has also taught me that staying in my cocoon of homework and sleep has sheltered me from the incredible volume of advertisements most people face constantly. I would definitely consider myself more media literate, which is something I now find very important. I think people tend to forget how easy it is to be manipulated, especially when it’s someone’s job to manipulate you into buying what they are selling. Just as it is their job to advertise, it’s my job to fully understand just what they are trying to do. I would definitely consider myself more media literate, just because we were lucky enough to have exposure to the techniques behind many major advertisers. Many of us out there go are exposed to such media and never fully understand it. Throughout this entire assignment and semester, I've had to pay more attention to media and advertisements, even though that often meant searching through more ads than I would usually for one that I thought was suitable to analyze. The most interesting thing I discovered in the process was how similar ads are. In most of my media logs, I talked about basically the same thing. Even though media seems so different on the surface, everything is a lot more similar than I ever  realized. Thank you, media logs, for revealing that to me.

 Media literacy is important to prevent bamboozledness. It grows increasingly easy to be dazzled by the trickery that is used in media, and media literacy helps people see to the core of what we’re actually being exposed to. There were a lot of times where I could not see the point of doing a media log. By about the eighth one, I was on the verge of just becoming a hermit so I would never have to worry about advertisements or the media. Sometimes I still want that life, but the call to it is not as loud. You don’t have to like being media literate to reap the benefits of being media literate. However, commercials are forever ruined for me, because now I pay attention to the common ad techniques being used and I don’t pay attention to the product. I feel like that could be beneficial, but we’ll have to wait and see. Well, you won’t see, because you won’t be incredibly entertained by my media blogs anymore. It has been an interesting road, these media logs. Are they necessary? Yes. Is that all that really matters in the end? Let me think about it. 

Volkswagen Beetle

I saw this commercial when I was out with friends and definitely not watching my 10th hour of Hell's Kitchen on Hulu while crying into a gallon of ice cream. Psh. The first thing that caught my attention in this ad was the music and sounds. The music plays a very important role in the video, since there is no voice over. The tapping in the beginning also drew my attention, because I didn't know whether it was a part of the ad or some malfunction in my sound system. The music is very lulling and repeats over and over, which I thought was a clever background for something that is supposed to be taking place in the middle of the night. 

The visuals in the ad use the common technique of "plain folks." The people featured are two cute young people who seemingly enjoy each other's company. However, I don't know anyone who looks like that woman as soon as they role out of bed. Volkswagen most likely wants this new convertible to be appealing to middle class people, as the people appear to be. This ad also appeals to the need for affiliation and for escape. Buying this car will allow you to go on exciting adventures with your friends, and everything will always be rosey. Or sunny, rather. However, it also appeals to autonomy, because these two people are the only people out at that time of day, so they stand out from the rest of the town.

I feel as though the text at the end and some of the visuals use the technique of "wit and humor." The security guard sleeping at the desk, for example. That is just hilarious. And being stopped by the ugly horned animal could be considered funny or cute. I believe that the ad is just supposed to give of a cute or quirky feeling to the car. This idea was sealed with the end, what with the sign that says it's the town of the midnight sun and the text that says the Beetle will brighten your night. 

I thought the ad was effective in making the product seem appealing. I appreciate that almost the entire commercial has visuals of the car while not shoving the product down the customer's throat. It was a cute ad that was nice to look at and had a nice story line, in my opinion. 

Girls Just Wanna Wear Perfume, I Guess

This week, we were told to mention ideas that were talked about in the film we watched, "Miss Interpretations." It was all about how media can be demeaning towards women, and when I heard I had to write about such ideas, I turned to a copy of Harper's Bazaar to look for ads. In fashion magazines I have seen, the majority of ads are simply pictures of scantily-clad women.

When I saw this ad, a few questions popped into my mind. First, where did her clothes go? What happened to them? And second, why is she wet? And then it clicked - she just got out of the shower! And then the ad still didn't make sense to me. After struggling with understanding the ad, I turned to everyone's favorite part of skimming magazines, which is of course ad analysis. 

This ad still manages to use ad techniques and appeals while still maintaining a simple layout. The ad appeals to the need for autonomy and attention. Need for attention is a very common appeal used in fragrance ads, because it's difficult to sell a smell using a print ad. Because the ad just features a picture of a woman and a picture of the bottle, our attention is obviously supposed to be drawn to the woman and her sexiness. Along these lines, the ad is also selling a "breed apart" feel. You'll be special if you use this "Cashmere Mist."

The ad also uses "transfer/association." If you use this perfume, you can look desirable and constantly damp, just like the pretty model. The other part of the ad that I thought was important was the diction. The name of the product sounds very high-end and mysterious. "Cashmere" is known as a high-quality fabric, and "mist" can generally be associated with some mystique or mystery. Mist is also the form that perfume comes out in, so I suppose I can understand the thought that went into naming the product. However, at the bottom, the ad reads, "A fragrance to seduce the senses." I am assuming that the ad is encouraging women to buy the perfume in order to seduce men. As was mentioned in "Miss Interpretations," a major issue in the media is the objectification of women, and I think that this ad sends that message. Here is a women who is in a very vulnerable pose, and it's advertising to women that if you can seduce a man, you're good to go. The ad just didn't sit right with me. Now, the movie made a very close connection with media and a lack of women in politics. From my interpretation, at least, "Miss Interpretations" said that seeing images like this make women feel bad about themselves and cause them to doubt whether they could handle positions of power. I do not totally see how this connection was made, so I wouldn't go as far as to say that this perfume ad is ruining girl's political future, but I don't think it's the most appropriate thing to put in  magazines.  

Pizzeria Must be Authentic

I found this ad in a People magazine. The first thing that caught my eye was the pizza itself, which I thought was the point. The large picture is an appeal the the need for physiological needs. I know the glare gets in the way, but that is a fine looking pizza. 

Immediately under the picture is a block of text, which assures the customer that they can get this in their own home. In a way, the text also uses "avante garde," because it's the newest thing in the frozen pizza department. The ad points out that it's new in two places, so DiGiorno really wants the customer to remember that this is a new product, and it's a "whole new kind of pizza." Now, I've had pizza with a crispy crust, flavorful sauce, and premium toppings, so I don't quite understand how it's different from all other pizzas. However, it says it's new, so I have to believe it, right? But these "new" features are also a use of "magic ingredients," because that's what makes it special. 

Overall, it's a pretty simple ad, but there are subtle details. They included a picture of the box so that when you're shopping late at night, you see the ad and thing, "Hey, that's a new kind of pizza! It has flavorful sauce!" and then you buy it and DiGiorno makes money. I also noticed that they made the color scheme look like pizza. The red that the text is on and the red logo is reminiscent of a pizza. It's all connected. Genius. I also thought it was interesting that the biggest text on the ad is "pizzeria!" with an exclamation point and no capitalization. Maybe they want you to think that buying this pizza will turn your house into a pizzeria, which would be a use of "transfer/association," or if they wanted to make the pizza seem more authentic, but they want you to pay attention to that word. There's also the light-colored Nestle logo in the corner. I thought they might have included that because Nestle is a generally credible company, but I'm not sure. Overall, I thought it was pleasing to look at, and I believe that's what DiGiorno was going for. 

Honda CRV Can Take You There

I saw this commercial in my eleventh hour of Hulu surfing. I thought it was kind of cute the first time, but after the third time, it got pretty annoying. Since I'm feeling optimistic, I'll discuss the things I liked about it first. It features a cute, wholesome girl fulfilling her dreams of travelling to all fifty states in United States. The entire commercial is shot in a soft light and features still photos, as if the audience is looking through a scrapbook that the girl has put together after her trip. I feel as though this could appeal to the need for affiliation, which is furthered by some of the pictures containing other cute people, or the original girl being driven around by her (most likely) friends. Because most of the pictures are taken by a third party, it also implies that there are people who are enjoying the trip with her. 

Another major appeal in the commercial is to the need to escape. Some very iconic tourist destinations are shot, like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Mount Rushmore sign in South Dakota. She's always on a beach or in front of a cozy house, and those images are highly appealing to a driver who feels like getting away. She is always in a shirt from her newest destination, which I thought was a cute idea. An ad technique that is manifests itself in this is "transfer/association." The ad wants the viewer to believe that if you buy this car, you can have never-ending adventures, or that if you buy this car, your "leap list" dreams can be fulfilled. But on that note, why is it a leap list? Is there some sort of patent on the term bucket list? Oh! The commercial also uses "plain folks," because she isn't in fancy clothes or eating in fancy restaurants. Because of this technique and the casting, I would place the car's target audience at youthful, middle class adults who aren't looking for  a luxury vehicle. 

Because there is no voice over or text for the most part, one of the most important things is the music. And they were not subtle in their music choice. Throughout the whole song, it's a cute little tune that's upbeat and happy, just like the girl. And it features whistling, which I thought was meant to make it seem more grassroots or down to earth. The music isn't pretentious, so you could have this soundtrack too. My problem with the little diddy is when "live it up" is added as lyrics. All subtly is thrown out the window, because it's blatantly trying to connect memorable experiences to the car. And I'm just not buying it. I thought the concept started as a good idea, but it just didn't work in the end.  

Samsung Galaxy s4 is Intense

And I'm not talking about a circus fire. I feel that there are two very prominent aspects of the ad that are the main focuses, one being the music, and another being the camera editing. The music builds in a classical crescendo, considering it is Vivaldi's Four Seasons, but it drops off when the text first appears on screen. I believe the advertisement does this to appeal to the need to satisfy curiosity. You want to look to the screen to find out why the music suddenly cut off, and when your attention is drawn to the screen, the camera cuts from shot to shot quickly in order to keep it. The Gestalt principle is an important part of the camera editing. Along with the intense music, the ad features unusual camera movements and lens exaggerations, which encourages the viewers to look closely at the ad. 

 Features of the phone are displayed in the ad, like the ability to sense when the user is close (or whatever the technical name for that is) and the feature of the camera that lets you take pictures what is happening on both sides of the camera. I believe the ad uses this as a visual form of "facts and figures." The visuals are still used to prove the superiority of the product. Semi-facts and figures are used in the text between camera shots, as they advertise aspects such as clarity of the screen and a slimmer design. 

The ad also appeals to the need to aesthetic sensations. The video is shot in such a way that the phone looks very shiny and beautiful. There are a lot of shots that spans the phone, focuses on shiny parts that make it look classy as can be. There are also the camera shots that don't include the phone, like water dripping and bubbles forming, which also appeal to the same need.

Overall, the ad was too intense for my liking. I felt like it was a little silly to have choral chanting in the background of a phone commercial, and I'm sure that's not what Vivaldi intended his work to be used for. I also don't understand what makes the phone a "life companion," something the ad claims at the very end without making any explanation. However, the visuals were very pleasing and some of the features were intriguing  so I didn't think it was a terrible commercial. 

Ben and Jerry's Can Rewrite History

I saw this ad in a Bon Appetit magazine. The ad caught my attention because the main visual spread stands out so much against the plain white background. It appeals to the need to satisfy curiosity because of all the little details in the advertisement. Not only does it stand out and feature a strange concept, but the closer you look, the more you find. At first glance, I missed the little men pushing the bowls of yogurt into the Trojan Cow, and I didn't notice all the little details that are included inside the cup of Ben and Jerry's. I appreciate the ad based on those aspects alone.

The ad isn't just about the picture, however. On the bottom is a short paragraph that uses the ad technique of "wit and humor." It plays out a situation where instead of a Trojan Horse filled with soldiers, the Greeks gift the city of Troy a cow that is filled with delicious Greek yogurt. It's a silly idea, and the text features a lighthearted tone that I cannot replicate, which is why I don't work for Ben and Jerry's marketing team. 

Another aspect of the wit and humor technique is the last part of the ad. "It's really Greekin' good" stands out on the white background and is a play on words, which is just so funny. Next to the text are pictures of the actual product, which is the new frozen yogurt. This appeals to physiological needs. I know that Ben and Jerry's doesn't stick out of the container in such a perfect sphere shape, but it looks good enough that I want to believe.  

I liked this ad because I thought it was cute. The use of glittering generalities implies that this frozen yogurt is good enough to stop a war, which is a silly idea, and I am tempted to buy it just to see. I appreciate the work that appears to have been put into the visuals of the ad, and the wooden cow is cute. That's what I look for in a frozen yogurt ads.