Week 3: The Corruption of Journalism

In The Problem of the Media, it states that "democratic theory posits that society needs journalism to perform three main duties: to act as a rigorous watchdog of the powerful and those who wish to be powerful; to ferret out truth from lies; and to present a wide range of informed positions on key issues" (McChesney 57).  I agree with that statement, however, I think that journalism is far from performing these duties today. Professor Janeway of Columbia University believes that today’s journalism falls more along the lines of infotainment.  Inquisitive and perceptive information is being compromised for scandals and entertainment.  Whatever happened to educational, truthful journalism?

Everyday people are always the first to scene of an event.  It is the media and journalists that come next to the scene and tell their spin on what happened to society.  Media and journalists broadcast the event in a way that has an entertainment value to it, which is sometimes far from the truth.  The only people that know the truth are the ones who witnessed the event firsthand.  They were the ones who perhaps got the first recording of the scene with their phone camera.  It is important to be aware of what is going on in our world and to do our own research before believing every single word that we here from reporters, or believe everything that we read from journalists.

It is apparent that many journalists today merely code and broadcast lies through their writing.  It seems that their only concern is that get the world’s attention the quickest way that they can think of: entertainment.  In order to change this, we need a law of transparency and an ethic of openness.  Until we know that we are reading the truth from journalists, it's our responsible to find out what they do not want to share and to seek out the truth.

Gwen Eiffel on The Daily Show

There's a fantastic Daily Show with Gwen Eiffel being interviewed, where she talks with him about the Obama brand identity.  Check it out!!!  Fantastic.  It's from Wednesday January 27.

Week 2: Using Music to Advertise

I know we watched a video in class that directly dealt with this subject, but I went a little further to research some of the history behind it.

Here is one of my favorite "music" ads in recent years.

Click me! Click me!

As you can see, there really is very little to this ad. Yes, there is a coincidence between the lyrics of the song and what is happening in the commercial, but what really sticks out about the ad is the song. Royksopp's song is super catchy, and I love the way it sounds... so much so Geico could leave the screen blank with just their name, and it would be an effective ad. The song carries the entire ad on its back and advertisers have been doing it for years.

This use of a medium originated farther back than I had ever imagined. Even before their was radios and much less movies, advertisers were even using sheet music to get their messages across.

And even before this, back in mid-evil times, street vendors sold their goods to the tune of melodic tunes. As you know many advertisers now a' days use tunes specifically made for their product. These little jingles that stick in your head are a marketer's dream.... Just think how many you can think of off the top of your head right now....

So even before there was radio people understood the power of music to help spread their music. And now you can't see on tv or hear an ad on the radio that doesn't have a song attached to it.

Advertising Over the Years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWQgktBR6-w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JndtG8Y7yfw


Advertisements have a lot of influence on our society, more than we really know. As we have learned in the last Presidential campaign, a simple phrase, "Yes we can" made all the difference in not only our parents generation but many generations below. Many children took to Obama and even showed interest in their own future, even at 8 years old. They adore and loved that history is being made right in front of them, but would they know him if his face wasn't everywhere and if he wasn't advertised? Kids adapt more to colors, big print and fun advertisements, as adults we pick and choose what we see. If it doesn't apply to us right now then we may look pass it by.

Do we realize how much influence media has on children? They see it on TV, print media and even people around them. The commercial that I found was an old Joe Camel, which states that, "More doctors smoke camels than any other cigarettes." As you can tell this is an old commercials and basically they were targeting anyone and everyone that would smoke. People trust doctors and if they say it is OK, then well then it must be. I look back on ads like this one and just can't believe people where to naive and how much advertising has changed over the years.

The next clip is a PSA that involves Star Wars, and they promoting anti-smoking. I showed this to my dad and he said that he felt with the subscriber. Maybe, if they would have put a little more effort into anti-smoking he may have never picked up a cigarette. When Star Wars came out it was a big hit; why not influence people to not smoke? but did it really work? I would say no, especially not towards children. Yes it's fun to watch, but its not real to people.

The new truth campaigns have focused more on catchy songs, dancing to get it stuck in someones head. The ad I found is my personal favorite, the song is all about the harm of smoking, rather than just saying it is bad and you shouldn't do it. My nephew will go around singing this song and I think it's great. Not only is the media becoming more pro-active in smoking and drugs, the schools are following up as well.

The media has such an impact on our children and adults, sad thing is companies know it. It is crazy how much the the ads have changed over the years. They truly grow with the times, and use the technologies, research to have facts behind their campaigns.

Obama's Marketing Success

Article

As Nike’s image has changed over the years, so has their advertising strategy. It has changed to adapt to the evolving culture of the United States, as well as other nations in which its product is sold. As the culture changes, typically the market becomes more diverse and it begins to get harder for the marketing executives to attract the attention of each subculture. The advertisements are then created to appeal to as many diverse groups as possible.

In the above article, the author comments on the advertisements surrounding Barrack Obama’s campaign for his presidency. The author states that Obama’s campaign cheer, "yes we can," wasn’t directed toward any particular group of people. It related to each American, regardless of their background. The author then states that marketing executives could learn from Obama’s campaign. They should know their target audience and create advertisements that are similar to the audience’s point of view. By utilizing this perspective, advertisers can create pieces that inspire their target market to purchase their product. The author suggests that advertisers represent their clients in their advertisements and create meaningful messages that inspire. According to the author, Obama used these points when reaching out to the American voters. He showed his own diversity to connect with voters and inspired them with his message of success on a united front. According to the author, by using these same marketing strategies, corporations could be "winners" just like Obama.

Week 2: Nike's Identity Challenge

            In the book, No Logo, it states that “…Wall Street was declaring the unthinkable: Nike had outswooshed itself; its ubiquity had ceased to be a branding success story and had became a liability” (Klein 189).  Nike is persistently challenging itself as a company, more so than challenging itself against other large corporations.  Nike has to frequently construct new identities in order to maintain the attention of the public and to create profit.  Also, Nike constantly creates new identities in order to uphold their corporate reputation of the "swoosh."  

As stated in the article, Is Your Logo In Good Shape?, Nike’s “swoosh” represents the “emotion of sports action with a single stroke” (Iannone).  Whenever people see the “swoosh,” they automatically know that the logo represents Nike.  However, the “swoosh” not only represents Nike, but it represents the idea of Nike.

If Nike kept the same exact identity without any changes in advertising, media, or lifestyle branding then the company wouldn’t be profitable.  This is because society’s ideas and needs change.  Therefore, large corporations like Nike have to adapt along with society in order to provide satisfaction for our ever-changing culture.  This can be seen throughout Nike’s advertisements.

A commercial for Nike called “My Better is Better Than Your Better” shows how the company has adapted to our society.  Today, perhaps more than ever, we live in a culture of constant competition; Nike uses this notion and incorporates it into this commercial.  The main focus of the commercial is not Nike products, but the idea that Nike is trying to convey, which is that with Nike products you can be better than anyone else.  Also, Nike often uses famous sport stars, like in the image at the beginning of the blog, to convey this message because the sports star has what the targeted audience wants.  Nike is staying on top by maintaining knowledge of what our culture wants and selling that idea back to us.

Week 1: Portrayal of Women in Advertising

Video

After browsing youtube for a few minutes I came to a video that dealt with the different advertising depending on gender. This relates to the previous post's idea of marketing toward men, but in this it focuses on the aspects of women.

And as much as I do love the Dolce and Gabbana of scantily clothed women that weigh a few pounds more than my eleven year old sister, I also understand that this type of advertising has harmful effects.

These types of ads, appeal to virtually every type of female specific product. They have one message: The most important thing about a women is the way they look. They then force feed an array of ideal looking women that often have far below healthy weights. On top of that these "models" are often air brushed and edited, making their image impossible to attain, specifically to young and impressionable young girls.

This type of advertising leads women to be set of for failure, as the images they see are not real and may never be attained.

Lastly something the video did not touch on is how this can effect men as well. Men see these advertisements and want those type of women, this can cause problems if they are already in a relationship, and can lead to future problems, as these type of women are not real. But since we are bombarded with these images, they become normalized and the true things that we should look for in a future mate are obscured and thrown out the window in the name of lust.

Branding through product placement

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/03/17/focus1.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P2SrqCWe_E


Axe proposes that its product will get the girl for the guy by doing all the work. All the man has to do is spray the product, and women come running to him. I presume that males have this fantasy of women perceiving sex as simply the act of sex, no emotional attachments (animalistic). As you said, Stephanie, it also strokes the male ego and gives the men in the commercials a sense of power. It is not about the scent itself, but what the scent can do. This brand can reach all men; whether they are shy or outgoing.

We read about brands in the chapters from No Logo. Brands are usually not about the product they represent, but rather about what the products can do for the image of the consumer. Starbucks is a brand that was created into a lifestyle. It was more than a coffee shop, it was a way of life. They pioneered using alternative outlets besides traditional advertising to reach consumers in places that they were not expecting and could not avoid. One of these ways was through product placement, which is a fast-growing medium used by advertisers today. Above I posted an article that interviews the product placement specialists for Starbucks, Chris Gorley. She explains the importance of product placement and her management of how the product is presented in film and television. Below that is a video clip from Austin Powers. The film incorporates five company logos/products into the film within one minute of film time! The most prevalent company was Starbucks who was actually incorporated into the script.

Companies are sneaking ads into to areas of our media that we never imagined they would or could. They do this just to get us to pay attention in world where we have become desensitized to ads.

Week 1 Blog: Men and Women Throughout Advertising

You Tube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgxxAwue7

News Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/04/02/AR2006040201235_pf.html

The implication that Axe’s body spray will help men gain women’s attention is interlaced throughout the company’s advertising.  One of Axe’s commercials, “Boom Chicka Wah Wah” shows a young woman pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair throughout a grocery store.  The young woman is walking forward and suddenly stops because of a young man’s aroma.  She takes a huge inhale through her nose of his scent, which implicates the “power” of Axe’s fragrance. 

The “power” of the aroma causes her to push the elderly woman in the wheelchair away from her, which suggests that the young woman is more interested in the smell of Axe than the safety of the elderly woman.  She begins to chant “boom chicka wah wah” in a playful manner at the young man and starts dancing and bouncing her body towards him, which suggests that she is uncontrollably attracted to him because of his scent.  The young man begins to look at the woman as if she were an object for his entertainment and smiles; this suggests that woman turn into sexual beings and become out of control when they are around men who wear Axe fragrance.  Axe is targeting men who seek female interest; this interest is highly sexual and for their personal entertainment purposes only.  The commercial degrades woman by representing them as animal like beings and gives men a confidence boost by telling them that they will have complete power over woman just by wearing a fragrance.

According to the article, “Teen Boys Picking Up on a Scent: Body Spray” by Lori Aratani of the Washington post, Axe has become a phenomenon for males of all ages.  Even though Axe claims that they target men between the ages of 18 and 24, boys as young as 11 are using the fragrance because it “leaves guys smelling great so they can concentrate on more important things -- like how to get the girl.”  The message that Axe is sending to males worldwide is clear: in order to have females surrounding you, you must wear Axe; without Axe, you aren’t masculine because you won’t have females begging for your attention.  This message is being reiterated to the male youth.  It is obvious after viewing this commercial and reading this article that men and women have extremely different target markets and are portrayed completely different throughout advertising. 

Nike targeting one market.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUv4SYPZv4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4eUUVbpXtk

The above commcerial is about the womans soccer team, who gets a PR person and he wants to change their whole image. He makes them do things that is crazy, like enterance on ponys. In the end it shows them all together standing and a one of the players take the mask off and throws it.

Nike has always target their ad campigns towards sports, covering areas of basketball, soccer and even dancing. Nike relates to these sports player, however never really takes their advertisment to another level or topic. Many people wear nike everyday, as us just daily clothes, not only to play sports in. I would love to see a commcerial thats shows maybe a working woman walking to work and changing from her nikes to maybe a heels. This shows that everyday woman use their product. Most of their commcerials are saying if you don't play this sport then maybe you can't relate to their products.

Another thing that I have notice is the urband hip-hop that Nike has in their commcerials, for example the Michael Jordan commcerical above. It starts off with Jordan signuature dunking pose, but then shows flash backs to his high school days. Through out the commcerial he speaks that maybe he failed or lead you to believe something about him, but in the end he he saids, "But maybe you're just making excuses" and leaves it off with BECOME LEGENDARY.

Men relate to sports different then most woman. They love to watch, even if they don't play or can relate on a different level. I think Nike being such a global brand may want to venture out on other ads to target more than just the sports community and maybe think outside the box.

Week 1 Blog

Clip 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtyEno92JW8
Clip 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiGggkIP0O8&feature=related

In the above clips, Dodge chose to elaborate on a marketing strategy they had been perfecting for years. This strategy involves creating a lifestyle brand for the "heavy-duty" trucks being produced. Dodge chose to market to the "man's man," the "real" men who get dirty, lift heavy things, and grunt. Women don't drive trucks, of course, which is why they aren't included in this new series of commercials (or many in the past for that matter, other than playing the role of the encouraging wife).

Dodge's new series of commercials actually resemble advertisements for a game show. In this show, however, the contestants are the epitome of manliness. There are four teams of two, each duo related by occupation. There are firefighters, cowboys, construction workers, and, of course, military men. These men lead the lifestyle that Dodge is advertising, the lifestyle that involves driving a big truck. Now, while men in these fields would most likely be seen driving a truck, they wouldn't be driving just any truck. They'd be driving the new Dodge that can complete an obstacle course, getting pulverized by swinging full size pick-ups, barely escaping a house explosion, and jumping off of big hills.

With their new marketing campaign, Dodge has chosen to illustrate what a manly-man would do and what vehicle he would do it in. What else would a cowboy choose to drive when he's driving through a ball of fire? Only a rough and tumble Dodge would do. But no girls allowed.

testing

testing...testing....so...bored....