Commercials are boring and we as humans want to do whatever it takes to avoid them as much as possible. This includes going through more work to switch to another channel for a whole 2 minutes just to avoid a simple advertisement. Actually, the reason I am doing this blog right now is because the hockey game is in between periods, which happens to be the most commercial filled time of the game. Commercials are dumb and we realize that. This is exactly why we have invented TiVo or DVR or all those other schemes to avoid simple commercials. I think that we will continue revolutionizing ways to rid our lives of commercials to the point where TV may even be fueled by another source of income.
As far as what Fox is doing now a days, I feel like telling the consumer how long the commercial will be, and the short breaks will encourage the viewer not to miss the show by switching away. Whether they will actually comprehend what is being shown or not, I cannot say, but I do strongly believe that this attack will work!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Billboards
Advertising is funny. We don't realize how often we see it, but advertisers know how to make it seem like we don't see it. This could be the most dangerous aspect of today's advertising epidemic. One of the most obvious examples of subconscious advertising techniques that really affect judgments based and their strategic placements are billboards. Think about it. Everyday we drive down the road, focusing on our goal of getting to the destination safe. As we often take the same routes to either school or work, we drive by dozens of billboards that we have learned to ignore. Or have we truly learned to ignore them? Even if we don't take in the reasoning of every ad, we still are affected by just catching a glimpse of a big, juicy burger and fries when we are heading home after a long day. These ads are completely effective over a long period of time.
Billboard ads would have to be targeted at one main grouping of age and careers. They would not so much be focused on kids, as I can't think of a child that stares out the window constantly when in a car, so why advertise if children won't see the ads. Billboards would have to market to those old enough to drive, so I would have to argue that the minimum target age for most ads would be at least 16 and up, most of the time much higher. The other advertising categories would have to be demographically researched, as race, economic status, hobbies, interests, etc. would be based on where the ads were placed. This is a very hard judgment to make because each area is different in their own ways. For example, you wouldn't put an ad for a Hummer in inner city "slums". In contrast, you would also never put an advertisement for a rap station in the middle of the country, with farms all around. You advertise to the demographics, that's why advertisements are so hard to judge.
Billboard ads would have to be targeted at one main grouping of age and careers. They would not so much be focused on kids, as I can't think of a child that stares out the window constantly when in a car, so why advertise if children won't see the ads. Billboards would have to market to those old enough to drive, so I would have to argue that the minimum target age for most ads would be at least 16 and up, most of the time much higher. The other advertising categories would have to be demographically researched, as race, economic status, hobbies, interests, etc. would be based on where the ads were placed. This is a very hard judgment to make because each area is different in their own ways. For example, you wouldn't put an ad for a Hummer in inner city "slums". In contrast, you would also never put an advertisement for a rap station in the middle of the country, with farms all around. You advertise to the demographics, that's why advertisements are so hard to judge.
Friday, February 27, 2009
I am Man, Hear Me Roar!!!
Quite simply, the media shapes who we are in the professional world. This is a concrete fact that is not going to change any time soon. Everyday we see images of what we as a man or a woman are supposed to portray in our everyday lives. We see flagrent stereotypes that help fuel the fire in the professional world, making it nearly impossible to move up and advance as one would like it, due to bias created by the media. Through reality tv shows, we often see very bold people that represent the stereotypes we already know. The big, muscular man that is also a loudmouth; the blond ditz who only cares about her hair and makeup. These stereotypes fuel the way that people see stereotypes in the professional world, sad but true. The only way we can break these bonds are by becoming our own people, but even in becoming our own people, we can still be stereotyped. This is a vicious circle I don't see changing anytime soon.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Jack Bauer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A show that I watch on a regular basis is 24. This is my favorite show because it incorporates great action sequences, compelling drama, and a great concept of real time drama. This show is based around the main character Jack Bauer, who is a federal agent that tries to stop terrorist attacks on the United States. Along with him are organizations such as the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), the FBI, and the President of the United States. This show has been running for 6 seasons now, and is currently 7 episodes into the 7th season and airs Monday nights.
"24" is a great example of how TV incorporates the core American values as it is based around some of the most important values: Freedom and Safety. Throughout the show, they are producing messages of great Americans and what they are like in our society, and also shows who is not a great American. Often times this show does not fuel stereotypes as terrorists in this show are often not Middle Eastern, and are instead other races. In season 5, the main bad guy even turned out to be the president. This show tells its viewers that there is a standard to the American society, as there is often a fight for who wins: Good or Bad.
"24" is a great show that I would recommend to anyone looking for good TV on a monday night.
"24" is a great example of how TV incorporates the core American values as it is based around some of the most important values: Freedom and Safety. Throughout the show, they are producing messages of great Americans and what they are like in our society, and also shows who is not a great American. Often times this show does not fuel stereotypes as terrorists in this show are often not Middle Eastern, and are instead other races. In season 5, the main bad guy even turned out to be the president. This show tells its viewers that there is a standard to the American society, as there is often a fight for who wins: Good or Bad.
"24" is a great show that I would recommend to anyone looking for good TV on a monday night.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Frosted Flakes are GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!
Media saturation in our day of age, is often a topic that is looked over and ignored, until this idea is challenged in such a way that was brought up in our class. I for one, never even thought about the amount of media and advertisements that I was being exposed to daily until it was brought up in class. Its funny how I can just turn my head in each direction and see dozens of products, advertisements, and media just in this one moment. I see a water bottle with a logo, a phone developed by Nokia, my cell phone with big "T-Mobile" and "Samsung" logos on the front, a few games and CD's, even a Beenie Baby in the corner of the room. All of the products fuel the media advertisement market of our day, yet if someone is asked how much media they are exposed to each day, most would look over all of these products.
So what about media saturation at a younger and younger age? I remember being a kid in elementary school and what the media saturation consisted of even then. I remember being in school with posters advertising, "reading", but the bigger message on the bottom would be what company paid for, and made these posters. I remember having the cool backpacks with our favorite TV shows or characters on them. But above all else, I remember coming home after school and watching TV. I remember watching, and seeing all the commercials that made me crave all of the products that were advertised. I remember instantly wanting every single thing in those advertisements. At the time, no one really realized that this was the point of the advertisements. We just saw all the cool stuff, and instantly wanted it. Cereal sticks our in my mind for some reason, because how they advertised the products was not based on the nutrition, but on how good it tasted, or how much it was like candy. "Lucky Charms" with the marshmallows, "Cookie Crisp" with the little bite sized cookies (I still hold true today that this was the one greatest cereal of all time), and Frosted Flakes, the ultimate breakfast cereal with the coolest mascot. All of the products fueled my desire to purchase purchase purchase!
So as the video stated, kids today are becoming more like consumers all the time. This partly disgusts me, because everyone knows how impressionable young kids are, but this also seems very useful and clever to me. Who wouldn't want to attract the most impressionable people in the world? I know if I had something to advertise that would be even remotely desirable to kids, I would definitely advertise to them.
I'm sure that we can all take something from this message, and we should be able to pick out both the positives and negatives of media saturation of our age.
So what about media saturation at a younger and younger age? I remember being a kid in elementary school and what the media saturation consisted of even then. I remember being in school with posters advertising, "reading", but the bigger message on the bottom would be what company paid for, and made these posters. I remember having the cool backpacks with our favorite TV shows or characters on them. But above all else, I remember coming home after school and watching TV. I remember watching, and seeing all the commercials that made me crave all of the products that were advertised. I remember instantly wanting every single thing in those advertisements. At the time, no one really realized that this was the point of the advertisements. We just saw all the cool stuff, and instantly wanted it. Cereal sticks our in my mind for some reason, because how they advertised the products was not based on the nutrition, but on how good it tasted, or how much it was like candy. "Lucky Charms" with the marshmallows, "Cookie Crisp" with the little bite sized cookies (I still hold true today that this was the one greatest cereal of all time), and Frosted Flakes, the ultimate breakfast cereal with the coolest mascot. All of the products fueled my desire to purchase purchase purchase!
So as the video stated, kids today are becoming more like consumers all the time. This partly disgusts me, because everyone knows how impressionable young kids are, but this also seems very useful and clever to me. Who wouldn't want to attract the most impressionable people in the world? I know if I had something to advertise that would be even remotely desirable to kids, I would definitely advertise to them.
I'm sure that we can all take something from this message, and we should be able to pick out both the positives and negatives of media saturation of our age.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Blog 1 Reply
Well, this is my first "blog" post, so I am assuming that this may not be the greatest piece of literature ever written, but I am hoping that I can just get this done so that my next post will be better. With one week down in the second semester, its interesting to start taking both Media and American Lit, at the same time. As of right now, it is hard to judge what I have learned in either class, or even any of the other classes at school. One very obvious assumption that I can make so far in the semester is the very brief amount of knowledge that most people poses about the media, and what the media represents. Most answers happen to be quite uninformed and basic, when certain questions are asked. So what is media?
Media is described as a way to receive information, or anything that informs, entertains, advertises anything, in the world. So when people are asked, "what is media", common answers include television, the internet, or the radio. My favorite response so far to this question came from my sister who replied, "Ummm... Like TV? Stuff like that?" My sister's response is not an accurate reflection of most people though, as she is only 13 years old. Until this week, I probably would have given a very similar response to this question. The most common answer that I received, was "Where we get information from". This answer, seems to be the most accurate in comparison to the others. Throughout the rest of the semester, I am assuming that this very basic question will be answered in many ways.
After the basic question of "what is media" was answered, more specific questions such as "what is your favorite medium" or "what type of medium could you not live without" were asked to my interviewies. The most common answers, of course, were Television, Internet, Movies, and Music. It was funny to see that these were actually the only answers given. No other alternative sources of media were even mentioned in my interviews, leaving me to assume that most people, to my knowledge, have a very basic understanding in what is considered "media". This is probably the most important lesson that I took out of this assignment, and I am actually quite excited to get to know more about the media throughout the rest of the semester.
So with this, I conclude my first post in a medium that is quite new to me, that I am excited to understand more about in the upcoming days, weeks, and months.
Media is described as a way to receive information, or anything that informs, entertains, advertises anything, in the world. So when people are asked, "what is media", common answers include television, the internet, or the radio. My favorite response so far to this question came from my sister who replied, "Ummm... Like TV? Stuff like that?" My sister's response is not an accurate reflection of most people though, as she is only 13 years old. Until this week, I probably would have given a very similar response to this question. The most common answer that I received, was "Where we get information from". This answer, seems to be the most accurate in comparison to the others. Throughout the rest of the semester, I am assuming that this very basic question will be answered in many ways.
After the basic question of "what is media" was answered, more specific questions such as "what is your favorite medium" or "what type of medium could you not live without" were asked to my interviewies. The most common answers, of course, were Television, Internet, Movies, and Music. It was funny to see that these were actually the only answers given. No other alternative sources of media were even mentioned in my interviews, leaving me to assume that most people, to my knowledge, have a very basic understanding in what is considered "media". This is probably the most important lesson that I took out of this assignment, and I am actually quite excited to get to know more about the media throughout the rest of the semester.
So with this, I conclude my first post in a medium that is quite new to me, that I am excited to understand more about in the upcoming days, weeks, and months.
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