It may be stupid but its also dumb

 

     In Merchants of Cool I learned that a Mook was stereotype made from marketers in order to target teenaged boys. In order to boost up sales, marketers are able to sell the idea of permanent adolescence in which boys are stereotypically obnoxious, carefree, stupid, and in your face. After learning this, the character Patrick Star came into my mind and is a perfect example of the Mook. The show Spongebob Squarepants was created to target an age group typically 18 and under. The show itself is able to sell the message in which friendship is valuable through two idiotic friends which happen to be both males. Because the two main characters are male, the gender specifically being targeted is male. Both characters are idiotic, loud, and carefree but Patrick Star is extremely exaggerated. Patrick Star is so stupid that he cannot tell the difference between a trumpet and mayonnaise. However, there was an episode in which Patrick switches his head and becomes smart. At the end of the episode, Patrick chooses to switch his head back and become stupid again because he values friendship. After, he returns to being loud and stupid. So, both friends return to having endless fun through idiotic adventures forever.

Do whatever we want with Miley?

     After watching Merchants of Cool and learning that a stereotypical Midriff was a creation, made by marketers in order to target females that are prematurely adult, one female singer came into my mind. Miley Cyrus. Over the course of a few years, I was able to grow up alongside Miley Cyrus and see her transform from an innocent appearing southern girl,  into a wild and carefree woman. As she was younger and reached her fame through the character Hannah Montana, we saw that her fans typically composed of the ages between 5 to 15. As she continued her career as Hannah Montana however, I was able to see that her popularity had declined. Today, she has made a comeback as a wild and carefree women who does not care about the opinions of others. In one of her songs she says, "Remember only god can judge ya, forget the haters, because somebody loves ya". Yes, Miley's intentional messages towards adolescence that it is okay to be unique and not to be ashamed of themselves because of societal norms is great. But, is the technique she uses in order to sell this message appropriate? Many critics have argued that Miley is the embodiment of the stereotypical Midriff. She, in my opinion, is exposing sex and drugs to prematurely adult females. This can be seen through her wild performances, her instagram accounts, her website, and all throughout the media. In her performances, she is basically nude, dances very sexually (twerks) , smokes weed, etc in order to tell young girls that it is okay to be unique. Is this really necessary? Apparently, yes. Although i don't agree with this technique, it is clearly effective with all the fame and money she is making. She is targeting girls are are maturing and are realizing their sexual desires so she tells them that it is okay to be able to express this desire.


Link to a video of her smoking a joint as she receives an award:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoF0PpgUalQ

Tall, Blonde, and Gorgeous is the trend. Get with it.

 

  I was scrolling through my feed on Instagram and I came upon a picture of McDonald's fries that included a caption of "Tall, blonde, and gorgeous". Then I realized that this was a perfect Ad for my media blog because the meme of the fries explains why the billboard is appealing.

     The advertiser used the technique of wit and humor and sex appeal in order to divert attention to its product. The phrase "Tall, blonde, and gorgeous" is used to appeal to those who seem to find an interest in tall, blonde, and gorgeous, people. I find it smart that McDonald's used gender friendly words and did not use words to specify if it were used towards male or females. Wit and humor was used because the phrase "Tall, blonde, and gorgeous" was used in describing McDonald's fries. When people purchase fries, they often do not describe their fries using these words. Because of how strange and outrageous for someone to describe fries as tall, blonde, and gorgeous, it is funny. So, the audience is entertained.

     Sex appeal was used because the words are often used to describe people that are typically models. This touches on societal norms in which the idea of superiority is composed of those who are tall, blonde, and gorgeous. The need for affiliation is used. Since majority of people are not considered a part of that societal norm, the advertiser is telling you to purchase the fries in order to become closer to that norm. Although you may not be receiving a tall, blonde and gorgeous person, you would still be able to receive tall, blonde, and gorgeous fries. So, the phrase, "There's a McDonald's for everyone" was used in order the support the idea of, every one can achieve superiority if they purchase McDonald's fries.

Do you like you?

 
  A song that I have grown attached to after hearing it air on the radio several times is the song, "Try" by Colbie Caillat. The song reflects on society's beauty ideals and questions those who alter their image with makeup, clothes, etc. The question proposed is whether people alter their image to please others or themselves. She suggests that you don't have to try to please others but in fact please yourself. Many people accuse her of arguing that you should not change your physical appearance. They say she assumes that everyone changes for others. However, people don't understand that she is not opposed to changed. She understands that not all people change themselves for others. She just urges people to do it for the sake of your own happiness and not others.

Wait a second,
Why should you care, what they think of you
When you're all alone, by yourself
Do you like you? Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to bend until you break
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try

     She clearly says you don't have to try meaning you have a choice. If you want to try and it makes you happy, then go ahead! No one's stopping you!

     I fell in love with this song even more when I saw the music video. In the beginning, it showed women of different sizes, colors, shapes etc. They all were "dolled-up" with makeup, fake eyelashes, etc. As the video progressed, each one of them started to take off their makeup revealing their natural face. A woman even took off her wig revealing her bald head. Although the women took these stuff off, they were happy with themselves. 

     When I hear this song, it gives me a sense of confidence. It reminds me that I don't need to change myself in order to fit in. I can be happy just the way that I am. I wear makeup too and I do it because I love applying it on, not for society's idea of perfection. Others like to paint a canvas but I like to paint my face with makeup.

How to be an active Dad

     Ever since we started analyzing print ads in class, I do not think i will ever look at print-ads the same anymore. I can not look at an ad without pointing out a technique the advertiser used in order to sell a product. Recently, an ad that caught my attention as I was flipping through one of Cosmopolitan's magazine was Vicks' Dayquil and Nyquil. This caught my attention because it was the only ad that did not seem to fit in a magazine full of women, fashion, and cosmetics. The ad displayed a split picture of a dad during the day with his children and the same dad sleeping at night. Words printed in bold labeled, "DADS DON'T TAKE SICK DAYS. DADS TAKE DayQuil NyQuil" It also listed several discomforts that the medicine claims to treat.
     I noticed that the picture itself was trying to advertise the basic appeal of the need to achieve. By including a  picture of a dad taking care of his kids during the day, the advertiser is claiming that DayQuil would help you achieve obstacles during the day. In this case, the the father is achieving the obstacle of having to take care of three children regardless of his discomfort. The other picture claims that NyQuil would help you achieve more sleep by treating your discomfort. Thus, you would be ready to achieve more obstacles the following day. The ad was also advertising the basic appeal of the need to nurture. The ad was able to appeal to paternal instincts by including a father and children. This suggests that the product would enable you to nurture your children with ease.
     The advertiser also used the technique of weasel words that claim the product to fully function without making any guarantee. The list claims to treat "...coughing, sniffling, sneezing, aching, fever..." but does not actually guarantee that the product will work. Using the word, "DADS" and a picture of a dad, they advertiser was able to target specific demographics of middle-aged dads. The phrase "POWER THROUGH YOUR DAY" was used to target Psycho-graphics of those who are active and have a can-do attitude.

    

All you need is love!

     In The Persuaders, there was a topic upon “Love Marks”. Advertisers use this strategy in order to appeal to everyone’s desire to be loved or attain affection. In this Trojan commercial, they show a man and a women kissing. They specifically chose them kissing as a sign of affection. By doing so, they are telling people to buy the condoms in order to be loved. They also chose to choose the specific phrase “ultra-smooth for her, intensified for him” to appeal to both sexes. It also shows a picture of the product itself. The product labels “FEELS LIKE NOTHING’S THERE!”. By implying that using the condoms would make you feel as if nothing was there, this will appeal to more people because this means that you and your partner would be physically closer. In other words, there would be no restrictions from pleasuring your partner. It also labels, “Natural Feeling for HIM, Ultimate Stimulation For HER!”. The word natural does not actually guarantee that the condom is entirely made from natural products. The words ultimate stimulation does not actually guarantee that she will feel ultimate stimulation when wearing the condom. In The Persuaders, one of the men was explaining how these types of words are chosen for factual truth and not eternal truth.

Link to the commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcZ_NPAzkY4

F*CK SEXISM.

             

            Recently,  FCKH8.com released a video, “Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism,” of little girls between 6 and 13 years-old dressed up as pink princesses to say f*ck in the name of feminism. By doing so, FCKH8.com hopes to bring awareness of sexism. They ask for donations in support of “anti-sexism” organizations. Both newsbusters.org and foxinsider.com covered the topic but have used different language in order to prove the different views upon the video.

            On newsbusters.org, the author includes numerous quotes from various people in support of video and its intentions. The author uses these quotes as a form of ethos to establish its credibility. The author also uses words with positive connotations such as “pretty terrific” “passionate” “heart” and “brilliant idea” By doing so, the author is able to connect with the reader because most readers tend to agree with positivity. The author also chooses to include that FCKH8.com is a “company with an activist heart and a passionate social change mission: arming thousands of people with pro-LGBT equality, anti-racism and anti-sexism T-shirts that act as ‘mini-billboards’ for change.” Words such as “racism” and “sexism” stand out and usually have a negative vibe that people tend to stray away from. So the author chose to use this quote because of the word anti in front of those negative words. By doing so, the author would be arguing that they are against “racism” and “sexism” which is a positive thing. Because those words usually stand out, positivity would stand out.

            On foxinsider.com, the author argues against the video for anti-sexism and claims the video “shows young girls dressed as princesses, reciting obscenities to sell T-shirts for FCKH8.” The author chose to use words with negative connotations in order to persuade its readers to not support FCKH8.com. The author uses words and phrases such as “obscenities” “used as props for profit” “ashamed” “corrupted” and “poor parenting”. People tend to stay away from negativity. Because this negativity is associated with FCKH8.com, the author is trying to make people stray away from contributing to its organizations. The author also uses phrases such as “young girls” and “beautiful young girls” to emphasize the idea of innocence. This is used to support their argument that their innocence was easily used and manipulated for selfish reasons. The author writes, “Kimberly Guilfoyle, a mother herself, called it poor parenting. “The adults that made it should be ashamed of themselves, too,". By including a quote from a mother, the author is able to use pathos in order to create an emotional connection with its readers. 

Link to first article:http://newsbusters.org/blogs/katie-yoder/2014/10/22/little-girls-drop-f-bombs-empower-feminism

Link to second article: http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/10/22/props-profit-little-girls-curse-promote-feminism-sell-t-shirts

#BendTheRules

           I was watching a new episode of a new Korean drama called Pinocchio and a HP Laptop commercial caught my attention. What caught my attention was the woman's little instrumental segment at the beginning. At first, I thought it was a commercial for Vine because the commercial consisted of different 6 second videos with famous viners that I recognize. But as I continued watching I realized that it was an advertisement for Hp because all of them were using the same red HP laptop. Since the commercial was only 35 seconds long, I wanted to find out what other techniques the corporation used to sell the product. I found it interesting that each of the viners used the laptop in different locations. This method was used to show people that you could take the laptop where you go whether if it’s in the kitchen or out on the basketball court.                                                                                                                                                       I also found it interesting when the lady was able to fold her laptop whereas the other guy couldn't and ended up breaking his. The significance was that the guy was using another laptop brand. Corporations used this method in order to prove to consumers that the Hp laptop is better than other brands. It also significant that the man broke the laptop but the woman did not. This was used in order to appeal to females as a sign that they have more control than males who evidently destruct.

            The man who threw the frisbee into the basket was an example of an advertisement within an advertisement. In other words, big corporations team up with others in order to attract the biggest crowd of people. They contact famous people and "sponsor" them to advertise their product. As stated before, I thought it was a vine commercial because of the famous viners that I recognized. They specifically chose these people because they knew that their popularity would gain more supporters. And because they are famous, people are more likely to want what they use in order to feel like they are somehow connected to that famous person.

            I didn't realize it at first because it was only a second but as I watched that scene over, I realized that the Frisbee had a website labeled on it. It labeled "DiscStore.com". Again, another example of corporations teaming up with each other in order to attract a larger crowd.  

Link to the commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Tx6olI3l8

My Relationship With The Media.

         My relationship with the media is comparable to a fat kid that loves cake. I will probably never get rid of it from my life. All throughout my life I have never noticed that I am a constant victim of corporations who managed to manipulate the way I value specific products; nonetheless me. After closely analyzing the media in Critical Thinking, I am ashamed to admit that I myself am a consumer and a product of corporations. Due to advertisements, I have grown to be drawn to things that claim to be more than what they are. I am unknowingly exposed to social norms and am given a choice to either accept it or deny it. But due to constant deceptive advertisements, it seems that there is no choice.
         I use various media sites such a Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram every day. I agree with the media in which it gives me an opportunity to meet new people, to connect with family and friends, and to check on the latest innovations. I personally use these sites to connect with family and friends. With sites such as Facebook and Instagram, I am able to connect with my family living in France. We are able to talk, webcam, and send pictures of our separate lives. With the help of the media, it is possible for us live separate lives yet feel as if we are right next to each other. 
      

         I agree that The Media allows us to connect but I do not agree with how much power we give corporations to control the way we live. When I am on Facebook, I notice a bunch of advertisements as I scroll down my screen. I see a bunch of shoes and makeup ads that claim their product to be "Better Than Sex". Without knowing, we are constantly exposed to "social norms" and we are constantly comparing ourselves to it. We tend to buy products that are more advance and claim to do more than what they actually do. We constantly check our phones to see the hottest trends. Advertisements like these enable us to become materialistic and never satisfied.

         But how exactly do manufacturers manage to persuade us so much? How and when did we allow advertisements to change the way we value something?  How did we allow advertisements to change the way we value ourselves? Perhaps its secret messages hidden behind them or perhaps its human nature to always want more. Or perhaps we are all just trying to fit in. I don't know. Hopefully analyzing media further would help me understand my attraction to certain things.