Reflection

To be honest, I haven't paid much attention to what media has influenced us before starting a media blog. But now that I have paid a closer attention to its impact in our lives, my view is completely changed about the media.  I have noticed that the people who consume more media in their daily lives, are the ones who try to "fit in" and try to be someone else who they aren't.  They are influenced by people on TV shows and want to be just as cool as them.  The only solution they get from this is by being just like them.  They also begin to become more self conscious about themselves.  Always thinking about what people are going to think about them and are always going to be looking for attention.  They don't want to look stupid in front of other people, so they try to dress and act the way that will satisfy others, choosing society over themselves as an individual.  Compared to those that consume less media, they may still be influenced by media but have a better understanding of maintaining one's self. Those who aren't influenced by the media, understand what media can do to you and know what is better for them and not society.

Now that I am more aware of what media is trying to give off to us, I now see it through television and advertisement around us in the world.  You can see it on every street and on every show.  I could now tell what techniques they are trying to use just to get our attention and make us want that product.  I see many of the false ideas in advertising and what is fake.  Many things are beginning to do anything just to sell their product and get money. Now when i watch TV shows, i always see ads on products in their show and even when i am just playing a game on my phone, there are ads that pop up on my screen.

I do consider myself more media literate because i have a better understanding of how the producers enhance the product in their own way and what how we respond to this.  Many companies use unnecessary things in their commercials and advertisements just to get people's attention.  They have an idea of what certain people and genders want and try to squeeze that in to their products even if it has no relevance.  As media only showcases what people are attracted to, the audience becomes aware of this and it causes them to change so that they can be like every other person.  People tend to judge more as they see what people are "suppose" to look like or what they are "suppose" to use. Now when i see advertisements on TV and in magazines, i always am seeing how false the ad really is.  I'm always disgusted to see what these people are trying to trick us into thinking or doing something.

It's important to be media literate because looking back at before when i didn't know much about the truth about media, i was always amazed at the way they were emphasizing the product and always became interested.  But now that i know more about the media and the techniques they use, i feel the opposite.  I think twice before I really want something so i could make a better decision.  I watch out for things the advertisers do to trick us and without thinking it through, I would be wasting a lot of money buying products that i don't need or aren't even true.

The only way advertisers make most of their money is from the way they showcase their product.  It really doesn't matter if it's a really bad product.  If they showcase their product the right way and way better than their product really is, then it won't matter.  Overall, being media literate will be beneficial to me and others around who will understand that the way they are is just as good as the fake people seen on TV.

Abercrombie and Fitch

After watching miss representation, my eyes opened a lot more than what I have noticed before.  The more I watched, the more I was mad about what our community had come too.

A good example from this is the clothing store, Abercrombie and Fitch. When you walk in, the very first thing is a big poster of an Abercrombie model, usually a male.  They usually have a male because women are the main gender who go shopping so they want to catch our eye. This relates to the main target audience, teens. Every teenager wants to look like a model and get the attention of everyone. So if they buy clothes from A & F, then they will be able to feel and be like a model. The picture of the model shows all of their features and their eyes stand out which attracts many ladies. 

Not only do they show models in their stores, people see it outside from bags when they bought clothes from A&F.  They would have their company name in red letters that pop out from the black and white background of a model or models. The men on the bag are usually shirtless with a six pack that catches everyone's eye right away. If it's a girl on the bag, she would usually wear a checkered shirt that is buttoned down to show her cleavage a bit. Or, they would show more skin by just wearing a swim suite just like in the photo above.  For an added bonus, there is a model on both sides so that's what you see from any angle.

I know someone who works there and she told me that there are requirements they must have in irder to work there. This really surprised me because why does there have to be certain people to work at one place. They are basically saying that u have to be perfect in order to work at A&F.  

Their main idea is to attract customers by using beautiful models on about every one if their products. Seeing this in our world makes it sick to hear and see but we still buy from the store anyway....

Netflix

Throughout this commercial, they show clips of popular movies to get our attention immediately.  The music with this commercial ads more effect to what they are trying to show case.  They want to show how great Netflix is by using music that pops out and appeals to our ears.  They don't stay on one movie for a while because they want to appeal to as many different audience groups as they can by showing a variety of movies. By doing this, any age group will become interested in their commercial and that's when they begin to go into detail. 

They use simple solutions such as "What you want" to tell us that we could watch any movie we desire without having to wait for it to show in movies or going to a store to find it.   "When you want it" saying that you can watch a movie on Netflix at any time of any day.  Also, they say "where you want it" telling us that it doesn't matter where we are.  We could be at home or on a bus and be able to watch movies on the go. Who wouldn't love to watch movies wherever and whenever?  They also say "no commercial" because they know that everyone hates sitting through commercials and if they provide Netflix with no commercials, then people will appeal to it.  People will do almost anything to prevent something that annoys them from happening.  They are showing to us that movies on TV are separate from movies on Netflix.  It's easy, if you don't want commercials, then go to Netflix.  But if you do want commercials, then watch movies on TV. This showcases their glittering generalities.  It also uses the word "instant" as a weasel word to mention "instant streaming" to we could get it right there and then no matter how many movies we want to see.  It's fast, easy, and at the tip of our fingers.

This commercial shows that it not only appeals to all ages, but it doesn't matter your wealth either to be able to have Netflix.  They show simple movies that everyday people watch and that everyone is familiar with. They begin with a movie that goes on an adventure, like you would be able to do if you had Netflix.  This uses the appeal of need to escape, allowing us as the audience to be able to feel involved in what we are watching and not just watch the movies to watch it. 

Life Alert

"With the push of a button, Life Alert is there at your side!"  They're giving off the technique, simple solutions, to show that your life can be saved by just pushing a button and someone will be there to assist you.  No one wants to over complicate things, especially towards their main target group, senior citizens.  They aren't that dependent on their own and are usually accompanied by others.  They want to make an easy and fast solution to a problem when someone isn't able to reach the phone or move anywhere else.  They show situations where grandma's and grandpa's are stuck on the ground because of an instant problem that they are facing and they need someone to respond quickly.  Watching this happen and seeing a man respond in less that a minute, shows us that if we buy this, then we wouldn't have to worry about our grandparents being alone anymore because Life Alert will be there 24/7. In big bold red words, they say 24 hours medical emergency response about 2 times throughout the commercial.  They want us to trust them and again, give off the need to feel safe, knowing that help will be there at any time.
The narrator talking about Life Alert is a grandma, showing more truth into what this product means to them.  If it was a man narrating this commercial, it would make us feel like they are leaning towards selling the product and getting our attention than making us feel the need to nurture or to feel safe.  In every grandparent, they have a sweet soothing sound to their voice and we wouldn't want anything harmful to happen to them.  She uses the words "safe" and "protected", using weasel words, to emphasize the idea of its safety.
At the very end when they are showing us all their information, they show repetition when they are talking about their contact info.  They repeat their number really fast so you feel the need to call right away at that second.  Showing time pressure.
Just seeing the face  of an elder makes us feel sympathy for them.  We would never want anyone to get hurt, especially older people who are more fragile.  In order to prevent this, GET LIFE ALERT

Pillow Pets

The first words that started the commercial was "It's a pillow.  It's a pet. It's a pillow pet!" Right from the beginning they want the audience to be amazed on how this pillow differs from all the other pillows out there. Throughout the commercial they repeat these words, showing repetition so the song can stay in your head and you'll remember it once you see a pillow pet.
 The main target audience are young kids and maybe even young teenagers.  Throughout the commercial, they show little boys and girls hugging their pillow pets and getting really excited once they receive it.  They are expressing how much fun it is to have one as if it was their best friend.
Not only do they have a song that later becomes annoying, they tell us 10 adjectives in every 1 sentence! They even show them in print when they are talking about a certain detail.  Pillow Pet advertisers use a lot of weasel words, such as "its great for all ages" and "its fun and simple."  They pound answers on us so they make sure we have no questions and just buy the product right there and then.
If you think about it, there really is no significance in a pillow pet.  We could take a regular stuffed animal and sleep on it if we want.  Even though im saying these things, i own one on my own and everyone at school talks about it and sings the jingle.
The commercial gives off the feel that it's magical and since they show almost 15 different kids in the commercial, they want to show that every kid has it and that we should get it to, using the technique need for autonomy.  You don't want to be singled out and since everyone talks about them and knows about them, then it makes us feel like we should get one too.

Hump Day!!!!

Whenever it's Friday people always shout, "It's hump day!"  and it always reminded me of this specific commercial.  I always thought it was just a commercial for fun talking about Wednesday being hump day and i never knew it was for Geico until I actually watched the full commercial for myself.
Thinking about it, the concept of the camel in a office has nothing to do with Geico.  It just shows a camel asking everyone what day it is today and at the end a lady says hump day, which gets him really excited.  The overall idea of the camel was to show how happy and excited it was, explaining how someone would feel the same way if they had Geico.
The target audience of this commercial is towards parents or adults who pay for car insurance.  It shows when they are in a work environment and all we see are adults in their offices.  There is also no up beat music that would lean more towards the attraction of kids. A camel having that much fun in an environment like that shows that you would be more happy than that switching to Geico.  At the end of the commercial, they play a little guitar to liven up the environment once they start talking about the actual company.
I have noticed Geico has a lot of animals in their commercials, to attract more people because we feel the need too satisfy curiosity.
They use the weasel words "save hundreds of dollars" to attract people on how good their company is compared to the other car companies. They know people like to save money and by saying that, many people would love to save hundreds of dollars.  They also say "Get Happy. Get Geico."  showing a feel to nurture by making the customers happy about switching to Geico. They make it short and simple, giving off the technique of simple solutions.  They sum up their whole idea on why you should join Geico. To me, it sounds like switching to Geico will be fast and easy but knowing what other parents went through, it's not.

Coors light

What makes beer so good? After watching the commercial on Coors Light, I noticed that all beer commercials have a resemblance. That is to make their product the coldest of all beers. In this commercial, coors light does a really good job with this. I wouldn't know whether or not a beer would taste better if it's cold but that doesn't really have to do anything with the quality or the taste of the beer. They show a journey that someone would experience once they drink a coors light. As I was watching, I got the chills because the scene is full of ice and snow. They have a group of people dancing to also represent that it's good for parties and Ad Populum. They give off a need to escape on this journey to a different place. 

They also have another commercial showcasing a "party in a box." It's when a guy brings this metal box everywhere he goes containing coors light in it. Again, it showing all the different places you will be able to go with a bud light by your side. Every once in a while, the box gets best up and dropped everywhere but in the end it still stays in tact. It gives off the feel that coors light is the best and you will have the best time of your life if you take a bud light with you.

The up beat music makes you want to dance and gets you in the mood to drink a beer. It's main focus group is on young adults because they showcase them dancing at parties and having a good time. So I guess we can say the colder the beer, the better?

In the commercial above, there are two men who travel in the freezing icy waters just to grab a couple of beers.  They go through all this trouble and in the end, they pop out of a fridge in the bar and serve it to customers.  They are show casing that their beer is always served fresh and cold just like the way people like it.  It's not like they actually have people go drilling holes in the ice to find packets of Coors beer.  Their main attraction is towards teenagers or young adults who love going to the bar and getting a drink of beer.  They want you to buy Coors beer every time you are at a bar and if you do, it's always going to be cold.