Reflection

     After doing this project I realize how much advertising there is... We can't escape it! It is actually kind of scary because media surrounds us, but to advertisers, it's not enough, they want us to suffocate and choke on advertisements for their products. I have also realized that all media is pretty much the same. Although some media represents itself differently, they usually use all the same techniques and ideas. My "media consumption habits" have changed because I feel like I can no longer look at an advertisement without analyzing what it is trying to make me think or feel. This project made me realize that I have to be more conscious of the things that advertisers are trying to make me do, otherwise I will be too easily swayed. By having media literacy, I can control my own feelings and not let advertisements try to make me think or feel a certain way. If I'm not an educated consumer, I could be tricked into buying something I really don't even need or want. After doing this blog, I feel like I can be smarter than the advertisers because now that I know what they are doing, I can use my knowledge to prove that they don't control me, and I can outsmart them. Overall, media is a scary thing. It interrupts your life and tries to take over every aspect of your thoughts and feelings so that you will spend your money on their product. Media literacy is important for everyone to have so they don't get scammed out of their hard-earned cash. I'm glad I did this project because I can analyze all the things around me and figure out how they affect me.

Media Log #12: BABIES

     I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL! It is the cutest thing in the whole world! Everything about it is awesome and adorable. That baby is so cute and pudgy and adorable. The lighting in this commercial as well as the voiceover is very calm and soothing, like it's talking to or appealing to moms who want a little peace and serenity, especially if they are trying to raise a newborn. This commercial uses Transfer/Association because the advertisers want us to associate Johnson and Johnson with a happy, calm frame of mind and a happy, calm baby. If they used a screaming, upset baby then people would think their product caused this and the advertisers want us to think the opposite. It also uses Plain Folks because this looks like an average mom and her child, doing a normal thing. It could also be using Glittering Generalities because if you use this product then you will have a happy child and you will be a good mother. However, one flaw that I think should have been addressed is that the voiceover lady didn't actually say the name Johnson and Johnson. If she did that, then it would have connected it all together and it would have been the last thing the commercial leaves in your mind. Thins commercial uses the "need to nurture" because there is a little baby and he needs to be taken care of by his mom. Also the "need to feel safe" because parents always want their children to be protected and in this commercial, the mom is protecting the baby by using Johnson and Johnson. I think this commercial also makes the assumption that women are the main caretakers of children and they are usually the ones doing all the work for their children.
     Overall I think this commercial is very effective. It definitely attracts a woman's attention because of the cute little baby and for a majority of women, what the voiceover says is totally true and so it feels like the advertisers really know and understand us. Although, I still think they should have said the name Johnson and Johnson out loud to make us remember what the commercial is actually about. Otherwise I think this commercial is spot on.

Media Log #11: A Little Too Wild...

     This commercial is so weird! It really doesn't make sense to me, but even if it is weird, it makes me laugh. I have to admit, it is pretty creative and original and memorable, but i can't take this commercial or the product seriously. Then again, that might be what the advertisers want. Jerky isn't normally thought of as a fun silly product that makes people laugh, so the advertisers probably want to change that image and make people associate Jack Link's Jerky with humor and fun, so it is therefore using Transfer/Association. I didn't know that a sasquatch would like football so much or that a person could be so stupid as to trick a sasquatch. All this ridiculousness is Wit and Humor because it is creative and funny and especially weird. Although, I'm not quite sure what a sasquatch has to do with beef jerky. Their slogan doesn't even have anything to do with beef jerky. "Feed your wild side." There is no connection with jerky in that slogan, it means nothing to me. This would qualify as Diversion because if I just saw part of the commercial I would have never guessed that it is for beef jerky. It also uses Plain Folks because these are just some "average joes" eating some beef jerky. There is also an assumption that only guys play football and eat jerky and go outdoors and are adventurous. This commercial uses Red Herring fallacy because it starts out with a couple of guys and a sasquatch and from that, we would never guess that it is a beef jerky commercial. This commercial addresses the "need to aggress" because a guys gets kicked by a sasquatch, really hard.
     Overall, I would say this commercial is effective at getting my attention and making me remember it, however, I don't think I would buy this product because it is a little far fetched and it's not making enough connections to the product to tell me what it is actually about. Also, I feel a little insulted because I feel like the advertisers are saying this product isn't for women and you can only have it if you are an adventurous man. I believe the advertisers should appeal to a wider range of people and should focus more on the product, and not trying to be funny.

Media Log #10: Cleanliness=Oxi Clean

     I'll be the first to say it: Billy Mays was better. Although he may have been annoying at times, his booming voice was much more effective than this guy's voice. I've seen these commercials so many times but I never even thought they were using any techniques or strategies. When, in fact, the advertisers are in your face and pretty up front about what they are doing. They get straight to the point and tell you what this product is all about. I think this commercial uses Plain Folks because the woman demonstrating how well this product works is an average lady. It also uses Magic Ingredients because it is magical how they get the stains out every time. And they use oxygen as an ingredient! I think it also uses Testimonial because this guy has become famous for doing commercials, he is like Billy Mays but with an accent. I also uses Simple Solutions because this one product "fights stains, whitens whites, and brightens colors." Now who doesn't want that? It uses Repetition as well because it repeatedly says that it fights stains and it says the name "Oxi Clean" a couple of times. I think this ad uses the "need to achieve" because it is like you are beating the stains and you are making the clothes even better than when they went in by using this product. I think it also makes the assumption that women are the ones doing the laundry in the house.
     Overall, I think this commercial is effective because it gets straight to the point and it doesn't mess around or try to distract the audience. However, I think that Oxi Clean needs to start stepping up its game because there is a lot of competition out there that is much more memorable than their commercial. However, I like these commercials because they don't try to manipulate the audience as much as some other ads do. They do still use techniques and strategies but I think they are much more forthcoming about it than other companies are.

Media Log #9: I Don't Know...

     I love this commercial. I saw it on ESPN while my dad was watching sports, which makes sense because it's about guys grilling on the barbeque and "being men" by talking about sports. But at the same time, it is also addresses women at the end when it talks about the male gender as a whole and what they say can relate to the struggles of women everywhere when it comes to their husbands. I think the target audience for this commercial is both men and women in middle class homes because it features a big backyard get together and everyone is wearing nice clothes and eating some big juicy hot dogs. Although the guys don't directly mention the hot dogs in the commercial, they are making a connection to the hot dogs by using the percentages. When he says 99.9% it emphasizes the fact that the hot dogs are 100% and we don't get that very often from a product. For example, cleaning products always say 99.9% and never the full 100 percent. I believe this commercial addresses the "need for autonomy" because the guy that says 99.9% is trying to impress his friends with his knowledge of sports and he tries to stand out by correcting the other guy on his mistake. I think it also uses Plain Folks because these are average joes talking about sports and grilling on the barbeque. It also uses Facts and Figures because it talks about percentages. It could also be Diversion since it talks about baseball and not the actual product. And it uses Wit and Humor because it pokes fun of the guy who thinks he knows a lot. I also think this commercial makes the assumption that men are the people that grill and they mostly talk about sports.
     Overall, I would say this commercial is pretty effective. It made me laugh and I enjoyed watching it and I understood what the advertisers were trying to accomplish. However, I think the advertisers could have done a better job showing that this was a commercial about hot dogs, not sports. Sure, they showed a nice picture and the announcer made it clear, but that's not the part I am going to remember.

Media Log #8: Money vs. Gum

A lot of people think this commercial is really funny... I am not one of those people. However, this commercial has weaseled its way into my brain because it is so annoying. I believe this is targeting all different audiences, including babysitters, kids, mailmen, and chimney sweepers. All of these people love trident layers so much that they prefer to get paid in Trident gum rather than cash. I've had this gum before and it is fine, but I would rather have money. I think this uses Plain Folks because these are random people. I believe they also tried to use Wit and Humor by over-exaggerating these peoples' characters. The advertisers also used Bandwagon because it features a construction worker that is really sad because he doesn't get paid in Trident layers like everyone else, and since we don't want to be left out like him, we will buy the gum to be a part of this group. I think this commercial uses the "need for affiliation" because they are addressing our need to feel a part of a group, and in this case the group is people who get Trident layers. Also, it uses the Ad Populum Fallacy because it is addressing peoples' natural tendency to want to fit in. Overall, I think this commercial is effective in being memorable. When I looked it up on YouTube, many people had done spoofs on this commercial because it is so ridiculous. However, it really doesn't make me want to buy this gum.

Media Log #7: TECHNOLOGY

I love Dyson commercials. I think they are really classy and simple and they get straight to the point. In this commercial, the foreign announcer tells us that most standard things in other vacuums have come from Dyson and Dyson was the first one to develop this stuff, which gives the audience the idea that Dyson is number one and they are ahead of everyone else. They also tell us about something called "root cyclone technology." I didn't even know this kind of technology existed, but apparently it does. Whether or not this is an actual thing, the word technology gives it a scientific quality that makes viewers feel more advanced because they are using a vacuum that has a special kind of technology. I would say the target audience in this commercial is middle class women because, on average, women usually do more vacuuming. The background in this commercial was white, like most vacuum commercials. This gave the audience the feeling of purity and cleanliness. I think this commercial uses Avante Garde because it says that Dyson was the first to pioneer the standard features that other vacuums have. I think it also uses Facts and Figures because it has the number 136,000 to describe how well it works. Overall, I think this commercial is very effective. It is simple, understandable, and it is clean.

Media Log #6: Did Somebody Say Fastest?!

     I love this commercial, I think it is adorable and well done and a great use of the advertising techniques. The target audience is most likely for single women, who want to get married and have a family. To them, this commercial is like their ideal life all played out in less than a minute. It starts out in the future, and it works its way back to the past and we find out that their amazing life started with changing a train ticket, but he had to do it fast so he would make it on time. And thanks to AT&T, this guy met his dream girl and they had an amazing life together. This ad uses Plain Folks because these are just two random people that happen to meet and fall in love. This also uses Transfer/Association because the advertisers want us to associate AT&T with love and compassion. It also uses Glittering Generalities because it's suggesting that if you use this phone, you will also fall in love like these two did. This also uses Gestalt because it goes backwards with the editing, which isn't very common. I believe this ad also addresses the "need for affiliation" because it is taking advantage of the fact that people want to fall in love. This commercial is like Slippery Slope in reverse--it is saying that because of this one thing, all of these things follow it. Some assumptions that it does make is that people want to fall in love and get married and that people need the fastest things out there.
     Overall, I think this commercial is really effective. It has the right amount of Gestalt, so it isn't weird, and it addresses what a lot of people want, which is love and marriage. I think it was a great commercial that AT&T put together.

Media Log #5: Questionable Decisions...

   
     Personally, I hate this commercial. I think it is annoying and aggravating. There is no purpose of having the hamsters in this commercial, in fact, I think they completely ruin the commercial, they make me not want to buy this car. I'm guessing that the target audience for this commercial is younger drivers. This is the kind of music that younger people would listen to. I believe this commercial uses Diversion because hamsters have nothing to do with cars. Actually, I think they create a bad image for this car--who wants to buy a car that is the size of a hamster? I think the advertisers were trying to go for Wit and Humor but it didn't really work, at least, not for me. In a way, this does use repetition because it says "you can get with this or you can get with that" over and over again and it is comparing the car to weird modes of transportation, like a toaster or a box. This reason also applies to the False Dilemma Fallacy because there are other ways to get around besides this car or a toaster. This commercial is especially weird because it doesn't vocally say anything really spectacular about the car, it doesn't even really show that much of the car, it mainly focuses on the hamsters. This means that the ad also uses Red Herring Fallacy.
     Overall, I think this commercial is horrible. It doesn't make me want to buy that car, it makes me want to change the channel. These advertisers should've focused more on informing us on why this car is so great, not on annoying us to death by random gangster hamsters. It is an annoying commercial that seems to have no actual techniques being used.
youtube video: kia soul commercial

Media Log #4: No Words Needed

     This commercial is quite unique because it doesn't actually say any words to describe its product, unless you count "shhh" as a word. However, it doesn't completely throw us off because 1) it is taking place in a library and you are supposed to be quiet and 2) there is still noise going on so it still catches our attention. I saw this commercial on the ABC Family network, so it isn't surprising to see this commercial. That network caters to many different kinds of people and features many different shows and this is a commercial that everyone can relate to: you are working hard and you really need to take a break, so why not eat a delicious Kit Kat while you are on that break?! It totally makes sense, especially to those of us that are sophomores in HISP. While you are eating this amazing Kit Kat all of life's troubles just melt away and you are happy.... Anyway, some advertising techniques that I noticed in this commercial were Plain Folks because these are just random people doing their own thing, however, they all have one thing in common: they all love Kit Kats and the Kit Kat song! The little tune was a sly way of getting our attention and telling us that this is a Kit Kat commercial. There was also Gestalt because the camera movements are just a bunch of quick little blurps on people eating or doing work. This camera work catches our attention visually, but the company is also taking a risk by not putting in a voiceover. They are relying on the reputation of their product to get customers, rather than trying to convince people to try their product. I think there is a little hint of Bandwagon in here as well, I mean who wouldn't want to be a part of this cool group? They are all in sync with each other and they can make little songs without even trying!
     Overall I think this company is taking risks with these commercials. I don't know how they expect to get more people interested in their product unless they tell us more about it. However, since I am familiar with Kit Kat and its deliciousness it does catch my attention. It has a neat little tune that makes me want to listen and try to find out what is causing all this music. I guess the company is just trying to remind people that they are there and they want people to remember their unique commercial.

Media Log #3: Steven Tyler... Enough Said.

   

     This commercial is promoting Burger King's new homestyle chicken strips. To do this they use Steven Tyler. I saw this commercial on the CBS network. This network also features shows like Survivor and CSI, which are pretty much for adults. When I saw this commercial I immediately thought of my dad, which is probably what the advertisers wanted. My dad really likes Aerosmith and Steven Tyler. But when I think of Burger King I think of busy soccer moms that are too tired to cook so they just drive through somewhere. I would have never guessed these two things could coexist.... So by using Steven Tyler and by putting it on the CBS network, the advertisers automatically start reaching a bigger audience, also known as Testimonial. I also noticed Repetition in the commercial--Burger King was said four times and the chicken strips were mentioned three times and their logo is squeezed into every possible space. There is also Gestalt because the editing is all mashed together and several clips go by very fast, one right after another. There is also some wit and humor, partly because of the Gestalt but also because of the hair jokes. I think there is also an assumption in here as well: that Steven Tyler is adored by all girls and all men think he is awesome. Burger King assumes this and therefore uses his celebrity status to appeal to more people. However, I'm sure that there are people out there that saw this commercial and hate Steven Tyler and also hated this commercial, therefore it didn't affect them. But, that's also bound to happen with any celebrity that they use.
     All in all, I think this commercial is pretty effective. It caught my attention because of Steven Tyler and I'm sure many other people would say the same thing. Burger King does a good job of keeping their commercial about the chicken strips and not just Steven Tyler. The crew also did a good job with the Gestalt, it wasn't off-putting or annoying, in fact, I think it actually added to the humor in this commercial.

Media Log #2: Words, Words, And More Words

I found the name of this company on a commercial. When I was searching for the commercial, i came across this picture, which I think is even better. First of all, the name of the company is Economy Heating And Air Conditioning. and it says in the middle, "Don't pay more in this economy for for heating and air conditioning repairs!" (And no, that wasn't a mistake, it really says "for" twice.) This is a great slogan, especially when we are in a recession. However, when we eventually get out of this recession, will they still have a great slogan? YES! Everybody always wants to save money, but now is the perfect time for them to jump out and make us aware of their presence because no matter how hard the times are, it seems people will always watch TV, after all, that is how I noticed them. All of the words they use assure us that they are really saving us money, not making us pay more. The words "economy", "service special", and "don't pay more" tell us they care about saving us money, which is ironic considering they need money to keep their business going. Not to mention, they have a picture of a stethoscope on a highway sign. We associate a stethoscope with a doctor which keeps us healthy. So they are trying to tell us that they can help with our heating and air problems. And we like highway signs because they help us get where we need to go. This overall image is telling us that they can help us with our problems. So it's a good thing they put their number on there three times that way I know what number to call for help... with my heating and air conditioning. The connotation with words like "service" and "special" and "don't pay more" is that they are good people who just want to help us with our heating and air for as little as they can, when in reality, they just want to make money. This company uses Reification by having the word "economy" as their title to attract people who want to save money because that word is way more powerful than we sometimes realize.

This company is doing its best trying to advertise, and to the untrained eye, it works. However by breaking down the technique of advertisers we see that this company is no different from the companies they claim to be different from.

Media Log #1: The More Adjectives, The Better.

I saw this face wash in my bathroom one day, and at first I was super excited because I love getting new things. Then, I took a closer look at the product and I noticed some strange words that normally aren't used with face wash products. The title of it, "Petal fresh Botanicals," sounds amazing and it makes me want to use it, but when i thought about it, none of those words are really about washing your face. Luckily, before I thought about it too much, I saw in bold black letters "Facial Daily Wash." But when I said that out loud,  it just sounds weird. Normally, it's "Daily Facial Wash." Another word that is out of place is "Whitening." What in the world does whitening have to do with washing my face? But I guess if it looks good on my teeth, it can look good on my face too. And at the very bottom it says, "With Fairness Technology." This is totally vague. I have no idea what fairness technology means, and I'm pretty positive that the makers of this product don't either. So I guess it is also a good thing that it says for "All Skin Types," just to be clear. All these words are more like Gobbledygook than Jargon because about half of them have nothing to do with the kind of product they are trying to sell, they are just space fillers and adjectives to sway the audience. There is also some Reification in here because the words "Fairness Technology" influence us to think this product is high-tech, which is always great, when in reality, this probably is just more meaningless words. The connotation of words like, "Fresh", "Whitening", and "Purifying" is that our face will look better after using this product. However, by analyzing this product and these words, I have found that you really cannot trust what they are saying.

 

All of these words sound great when you look at this product as a whole. But when you look at all the words individually, it makes no sense and it just becomes comical. A lot of these words have nothing to do with face wash, but I guess it works because my mom bought it.