Entry #6 Holiday Fever!

Raise your hands if you are ready for Christmas! I know I am! I can't wait to finally relax and indulge on all the lovely, distracting entertainment. I admit I've already cut to the chase on this, but we do live in a digital world full of media, media, and media! 

Over the past weeks, I've become increasingly aware of the of advertising intermingled in entertainment. This YouTube video that has been on my mind for the past few days is a an example of how new and cool entertainment can't be accomplished without the support of advertising. 

The video itself is very creative and innovative, perfectly capturing the holiday spirit. It is a music video starring Max Schneider and Victoria Justice singing a holiday medley of songs. The odd things about this was that it was only one shot and the majority of the video focused on a collection of cellphones. "What?!" you say. Don't worry, I speak the truth. I even quote, "This video is one take with no visual effects or editing trickery..."

This unique take of this video, first of all being one single shot, and second of all displayed through several separate devices merging into one another, is what I found interesting. Not only was I entertained by this but I was amazed at all the work put into creating such an elaborate performance. The creator had to sync each phone together and the person moving the phones had to memorize when each image changed and how in order to move their hands accordingly.

But where did all these cellphones come from? It is revealed by the man, Kurt, that Sprint provided all these phones. He went on to say how great the phones are and advertised their holiday special deals. I couldn't help but think as I watched this that there had to have been some kind of deal formed before the making of the video. It could have gone along the lines of Sprint negotiating, "We will let you use our phones for your music video as long as you advertise us." It seems that the world as it is, is trapped in a net of advertising. There would be no "avante garde" entertainment without it because many of its sources don't have the supplies needed to carry out their cool and new concepts. It seems they can only afford these supplies by submitting to dedicate a part of what they show to advertising what was used.

All in all, I really enjoyed this video. The medley of holiday songs is nicely done and there are bits of humor here and there, like the mistletoe scene or the body parts rotation. The acting, singing, and Christmas theme made me happy in all the stress and work I'm surrounded by. It motivated me to look forward to the next couple of weeks that are about to come. It was a bit weird that there was advertising in it, but it didn't personally irk me. I'm used to it. Cough. Throughout the 3 minutes and 43 seconds I was thoroughly impressed and found myself putting this video on repeat. And it still is. I must have one serious case of holiday fever. :O

Entry #5 Where Elegance Meets Performance

Media reaches out to us in many different ways...oh, who's that? Omg, it's Hope Solo! She is so amazing. Did you see her saves? Oh and she's sporting a Seiko watch? Wow, she looks so cool. That'd be a fantastic Christmas present (if you know what I mean). Just kidding.

In case you didn't know who Hope Solo is, she was the goalie of the United States national women's soccer team in this year's 2012 Summer Olympics. It is apparent that this print ad is using the testimonial technique. Hope Solo is a big time sports figure with two Olympic gold medals! Not just one. Two! Celebrities always seem to have the power to move people on what to buy, what to wear, what to eat, what to do, and so on. I'm sure there are people this very moment buying this Seiko watch because of the association it has with Hope Solo.

Since Hope Solo is the focal point of this ad, there is the appeal for the need to achieve and need for prominence. Her famous reputation alone embodies these needs when people look at her. The way she is standing in this picture also gives an air of achievement and sophistication. Back straight, head up, chin down, hands on hips, and a determined face to top it all off. Let's not forget that spotlight or the number 1 on her back.

Ultimately these two needs are portrayed through the phrase, "Where elegance meets performance." However, what or who is this phrase talking about? Is it Hope, a high performing soccer player, buying a prominent Seiko watch? Or is it the watch having the perfect balance of looking elegant and at the same time function really well? This is confusing. With two interpretations of one phrase, the use of ambiguity can be applied here.

The technique of magic ingredients is also present. It is partnered up with the phrase, "Dedicated to Perfection." By saying this brand is focused on creating a flawless watch, a spell might be cast on people. Using this phrase leads consumers to the logic that Seiko is a very good brand because it's goal is to find perfection so it therefore has the best products out there.

Overall, this advertisement covers the needs for achievement and prominence under the techniques of testimonial and magic ingredients. The phrases placed were decisively thought through and were able to convey the multiple messages Seiko wanted to promote. Never before have I appreciated how much effort and thinking goes into creating just one print ad amidst millions all competing for attention.

Entry #4 Road Trip Everyone!

Flipping through Glamour Magazine, what struck my attention was this Tommy Hilfiger print ad. Straight at the heart of it is a two-page group photo scene of twelve models! That's a lot of people for the usual one to two models needed to sell a brand. However, using this many people still covers the same common advertising techniques that one or two models can cover.

Looking at this ad and connecting it to what I've learned in class so far, the technique, Bandwagon, instantly pops in my head. The large number of people in this ad wearing clothes and accessories from the same brand shows that this is the right brand to wear to be "in the crowd." Observing the image I thought, "They're all so well coordinated!" This technique tugs on the need for affiliation, or friendship. To achieve affiliation, people tend to become mainstream. They look for what's popular so they can become popular to make or maintain friends. This concept of popularity through this brand is pushed on a global scale. In the corners of the pages throughout the ad are several main destination points throughout the world - New York, Montreal, Seoul, Moscow, etc. Mentioning these cities places Tommy Hilfiger as a world re-owned brand, popular throughout several countries, worn by people in cities considered to be the center of countries' culture as well as modern happenings. 

Another technique used is the technique, Transfer/Association, which associates products with desirable things to make them more desirable to buy. Here, all twelve models,both girls and guys, are all attractive and fit. The landscape is also appealing. It's seems like a good camping/hiking trip with the rocky ground, mountains, a glimpse of a body of water in the far back, plus all the supplies the models carry with them. The sun is shining over their heads and there's a slight breeze. With this natural landscape, there is the appeal to the need to escape. The scenery is free of chaos in the city and the models are reading to swim, canoe, and fish. These elements gives consumers a mental image to associate the brand's products with. Through this image is the association of freedom and escape, making the products appealing to those who want to escape and go on an adventure.

Dissecting the words chosen to be in this ad, the mention of the brand name, Tommy Hilfiger,  is a show of reification since it appears to be a trend in several big cities. What is also reification is the phrase, "le grand camp out-doors-ius." It is easy to pull from this that it means something along the lines of "grand outdoor camping" but saying it in a different language gives the product a more appealing and positive connotation because of its foreign elegance. 

There is also the phrase, "Join The Hilfigers." Using of the word "join" and personalizing the brand name to fit a group of people vs. just one person transforms this brand into what is called a "lovemark." The brand becomes a family with welcoming arms for people to identify themselves with. This family-setting approach can invoke loyalty among many consumers. Family is not meant to be used a few times; it is meant to stay and stick together. Unlike the loyalty of people who say, "I'm a One Directioner" or "I'm a Belieber," this brand is conveying that it is more than just something to be a fan of and obsess over. It is something to be apart of. One Directioners can't be One Direction themselves and Beliebers can't be Justin Bieber himself. But when people say, "I'm a Hilfiger," they are part of the brand itself. 

Entry #3 It's All in a Bottle

Two lovers intimately riding white horses in a secluded field on a bright day - this is like a fairytale! Throughout history, girls have always yearned for this classic romantic setting, hoping for a prince or true love to whisk them away and live happily ever after. 

Growing up though has caused this ideal to only become a dream, buried under the more pretentious needs the world asks for, like getting an education. There are more important things to do than daydream of love. However, this image the print ad uses reopens the mind to their perfect romance becoming reality...if one buys this perfume. This technique is called simple solutions. The advertiser is saying that if you use this perfume, you'll find love and happiness. 

Under this technique are the appeals to the needs for affiliation and attention. This perfume is selling the image of falling in love. There is the desire to find a significant other, someone to share their life with. It offers to get rid of loneliness by attracting others through its pleasant fragrance. Good-smelling people are always nice to be around. The image causes one to compare themselves to the models. In the advertiser's goal of telling people what the perfume can offer them, it discreetly gives birth to insecurity with oneself. It attempts to convince people they don't have what the models' have, especially by portraying their love in the out-of-the-ordinary scene of horseback riding. One might be inclined to buy the product upon seeing how loving and happy the modeled couple is, two characteristics one might feel deprived of. Convincing consumers of their lack for happiness and love leads to their efforts to fill that lack which will results in the sales of this perfume that offers to do so.

Though the needs for affiliation and attention are more prominent in this advertisement, the need to escape can also be applied here. As seen in the image, there are no signs of a modern, daily lifestyle. There are no buildings except for a stone, medieval-like structure in the distant background and normally one wouldn't go horseback riding in a long, flowing dress either. Pants are more practical. The couple is isolated in their own world, strolling in a seemingly never-ending field of tall grass. All of these features in the image support an opportunity to escape reality. It is the escape from stress and work to residing in the moment of finding and falling in love. 

Looking into the power of language in this ad, there is not much. Even though there are few words, they are powerful words. The word "romance" appears twice in the image possibly because it possess strong positive connotation. Items like flowers and hearts are associated with it which are also considered positive, but "romance" is still a very abstract and broad term. It can be covered through several ways. In this ad, horseback riding is an act of romance. The perfume itself is being promoted as the smell of romance. But what is romance? Romance is love. But what is love? The vagueness continues on, but in being vague a wider audience can be reached. The only other words in this ad are brand names, "Ralph Lauren" and "Sephora," and they are reification. Aside from the image and "romance," the perfume strongly relies on these well-known, famous names to promote itself. Just the sight of these names can influence one to buy the perfume because of  Ralph Lauren and Sephora's reputation.

All of these components of advertising cohesively come together to make one desirable-looking product. It was particularly clever how all had a relationship with the perfume bottle itself. Not only were all the words on the bottle, but the image of the couple appeared to be in the bottle, literally representing that romance is just a spray away.

Entry #2 Olay! AA+BB=CC

What never fails to amuse me are all the different ways of how media decides to invent and reinvent itself to us. Flipping through Vogue Magazine, I find myself confused by an Olay ad. Who knew skin beauty and math could be paired together?

My first reaction to this was, "Why is there a pencil in her mouth? It has nothing to do with skincare." And it literally doesn't. But it does enforce the concept that Olay is reinventing itself into. Using the concept of math, Olay is attempting to deliver the idea that its product, Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting CC Cream, is the solution to skin problems. In math, almost everything has an answer, everything is logical, and everything is solvable. By using phrases "AA+BB=CC" and "It's a simply equation" plus the pencil in the image, consumers can interpret that this product is the answer to their skin problems, the logical choice, and that their problems can finally be solved!

However, breaking down this ad even further, the language used shows a slightly different story. 

Under the the double A's is the term "anti-aging" which demonstrates reification with the prefix, "anti." Reification is when a word is more powerful that objective reality. "Anti" gives off such a strong negative connotation that it causes people's definitions of it to exceed its original meaning of "against" and to the meaning "stop" or "end." The advertiser here takes advantage of this assumption and uses it, knowing consumers will instantly think the product will stop aging  signs and such. In other words, projection from consumers is predicted as a result. 

Sadly, there are a few weasel words spotted in this ad as well. In the smallest print of it, Olay makes some "wiggle-room" for itself by using the words "fight" and "looking" in the statement, 

"Fight 7 signs of aging with a beautiful and instantly flawless-looking skin tone." 

Olay is promoting the idea that this skin cream will transform skin to beautiful, ageless and perfect skin, but these weasel words placed in there water down this idea. While these words show that progress and advances towards this goal are achieved using the product, it fails to reach the absolute claim, like the equal sign in math, that skin will be flawless and ageless. 

Though media does come up with new concepts and different ways of presenting itself, there are instances when it can't back them up, resulting to the sly use of deceiving words for the appearance of truth. 

Entry #1 I Just Watched a Public Safety Ad?!

Posted less than a month ago, this animated video went viral, gathering over 30 million views on the website we all know, YouTube. Making death look cute in a catchy song with bubbly cartoons has definitely proven to win over consumers' attention, including mine. 

The thumbnail drew me to the video - a snapshot of adorable cartoon characters. Seeing that this video already had over 1 million views, I realized that others were emotionally affected and pulled in by the visual appeal as well. Upon clicking it then reading the title, "Dumb Ways to Die," my impression went to "This is going to be something stupid." It turned out it was stupid as characters acted out and literally sang of dumb ways to die, like "dress[ing] up like a moose in hunting season." However, this combination of cuteness mixed with stupidity and the dark concept of death created irony, making everything the more funnier and enjoyable. 

As the video ended, just when I thought this was all there was too it, the slide changed and an Australian accent spoke , "Be safe around trains. A message from Metro." Say what..? I was instantly confused.This was to promote public safety around trains? Selling kidneys and pushing red buttons? Most of what was said in the video didn't even have anything to do with trains!  However, it was entertaining.

This was exactly what the advertiser went for. The Australian rail company discreetly disguised their advertisement as a form of simple and silly entertainment which is always popular for people.Then they sharply twisted it to the initial art of advertising, ending off with their message of safety. What made their video so appealing and trend-worthy was what every advertiser tries to accomplish - creating something original and unexpected. Instead of making an animation demonstrating safety, this company made an animation demonstrating danger with a vibe of innocence. This approach included cartoons and a catchy tune, appealing to two human senses instead of one. If done right, playing on consumers' senses creates a lasting and defined memory which relays on to others, and therefore spreads the advertiser's message. Maybe you'll  also spread the message as you find yourself humming about dumb ways to die.