philosophies of Advertising

"Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art." William Bernbach

On Monday November 14 my Communication class presented a video and open discussion of the artist and graphic designers of adverting.  The idea is how can you attract a person to something you are passionate about? it's called Advertising and its often times used with a pretty picture.  The video we watched in class showed different artist and their opinion of advertising. Each artist had something in common. They did their own work, they did not care if the viewer liked it or not. If the artist were satisfied with it then it was good enough.They all had their own different take on their art.

Wednesday we discussed  the effects of Green Washing in advertising as well as clean and cultural explatation. The whole issue that in advertising do they exploit the these different technique to gain in favor to the viewer? Much like the Burger King video where they go to different regions of the world where the burger is not present in their culture. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Wl2auPUL4


designers are artist that use the main idea of a product and turn into something else.  While Advertisers are the idea behind the art, the raw meat of it. Together they form an ultimate alliance; the targeted audience attention.Key differances between the two are one is the idea, the other the visual. As David Ogilvy once put it:  Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.

Blog 7: Are Aliens are teaching us psychoanalysis?

Aliens and psychoanalysis



In space, no one can hear you scream.


A famous quote from the movie series: Alien. A movie that made the audience think twice about life outside our planet. While the film is a mix between action and horror it has a lot of psychoanalysis meaning behind it. as said in the link above many do not see the deeper meaning in the movie Alien 3. It should be analyzed, so the audience can see a hole new perspective of their favorite movie(s).

  Okay, first off I have never seen any of the Alien movies (maybe when I was a 4 but I was probably too scared to see it.) but I know of it. The lead hero is played by Sigourney Weaver, who is just one the strong female leads in James Cameron's films. (Avatar, Terminator, Abyss, Titanic) It seems the Psychoanalysis of  the movie is the role Weaver plays. She is a strong women who not only tries to survive the Alien menace but fights it as well. One thing I have notice is that she is in all three movies, meaning she has survived all adventures. She has become one of the few strong females who can take over and kick-ass in the 80s-90s. During that time cinema had heroes like the Terminator, Bruce Willis, and other action packed macho like heroes.

The ending result is that women too can defeat a ancient race of killing aliens. The deal is that the main character is a strong willed person who not only fought against the odds but lived through a trilogy.

Gun Control commercials

Select three of your peers' commercials from the COMM406Fall11 youtube account. For each commercial selected, identify three signs. Discuss the signifier and signified of each in your Blog. (Note: This was originally due Monday, but due to lots of power outages there is an extension.) Be sure to embed the video for all three cited.




Each of the videos is about a gun control and the candidates for and against them. 

In this video Mitt Romney is running for 2012 presidency, his views on gun control seem out of whack according to this video.  The signs in this video are

Blog 6 Social Subjectivity

Why does my computer sound like a female?

Technology has gone a long way since the time of the first wheel. As technology grows so does our way of thinking. With the new iPhone, technology takes the next step in human interaction with technology. The iPhone 4S comes with a new feature called Siri. The new mode lets the user interact with their phone in a new way. When using Siri a person can directly talk to their iPhone to send messages, schedules meetings, place phone calls and much more. The article above is imperative but not just because of the new feature but the way it sounds. Siri's voice is very distinctive, in fact its a women's voice.

The new feature of the iPhone 4S Siri's voice is a women voice, however does that make it an sexist feature? After reading the article I concluded that it is not sexist but a preference over many. In the article it is shown that many prefer the sound of a women than a man. Maybe because it is the sweet sound of a mother or the innocent of  lovely lady but Siri's voice definitely has a women's touch. In the article it explains how not just in the new iPhone but in any other forms of technology has been womanized. This raises the question why so many computer voices are women's. The article then explains it may because of our genes. I agree, see in nature it is the mother that takes care of the infant. The father in the animal kingdom is just a dead beat dad that left screwed the mom and left. (unless it's the alpha male, then its screwing the other moms too.) The mother is the most important thing in an infants life, so we becoime accustomed to a female figure taking care of us. So when technology becomes to advance for us, what better way to null the headache than a women's voice. (unless its nagging)

In the end we are the species that take it a step further but it all comes in the end: Our instincts and our instincts tells us that women are better to listen to that an grumpy old man's.  As technology becomes more advance we take creativity into it, creating life and innovation to it as well.

Fighting against the bullies

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•  5 Bad Ideas for Dealing With Bullies You Learned in Movies, and it was a bummer. Read the article and some of the other Cracked content. Do you think the blog site was right in presenting material that was outside of the type of content normally featured? Do you think there would be a better way to manage it? In your opinion, what is the responsibility of a site editorial team?
• In the artilce of above; it explains how bullies are dealt with in the movies. However, does the same rules apply in the real world? In the most cases the anwser is no. Bullying is a real issue that affects a person phyical and mental state. In movies the hero always beats the bully in the end; no matter how bad the hero is bullied, the hero wil win. In the article it explains 5 ways to deal with bullys. These ideas work....in cinema. 

Tell a parent

• When bullied, most kids go to their parents. In the movies the parents usually tells their kids to either ignore the bully or fight back. In the show Different Strokes; the character Arnold told his family that he's being bullied. After that his foster father signs him up for a self defense class. In the real world most parents would call the school instead of finding a way to fight back the bully.   

Fighting back with words

• In shows or movies they often show the hero ignoring the bully, up until  they have a breaking point. the hero lashes out and yells at the bully. However, in reality the bully would beat the crap out of the person who talks back. In movies, it works but in the real world its better to be quiet.  

Running away.

• In movies the hero is often in a situation where they have to run. the hero is runs away from the bull until the very end where he or she has no choice but to fight back. In the real world however, sometimes running can things more complicated . 

fighting back

• In a TV show or movie, the ending the shows the hero beating the bull once and for all. The message of the movie or TV is if you fight back, they'll leave you alone. In reality the person getting bullied who fights back will often times get beaten up. While it is important to defend one's self, one should avoid unnecessary conflicts. If a person is being bullied and fights back, the bully will often times win, their trophy will be that person's ass in a plate. 

Aftermath

• In a movie or TV show, the hero wins by killing or beating the bully. The story ends with the hero being triumphant on the dead body of the bully. If this were to happen in the real life, that person would go to court for murder. In the movies the town is thankful for the bully being beaten. In real life the police would be involve.

   In the cinema, real world situations play very well, not the other way of around. 

Blog 5

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Act one: The intro

  The intro of Batman Begins starts off with the bat symbol being formed from multiple bats. The movie begins with the childhood of Bruce Wayne. He falls into a well; where he is attacked by bats and his father rescues him.  The movie introduces The main character Bruce wayne, his butler and friend Alfred and his ally police officer Gordon. When Bruce is training with Ra's Al Ghul; he is being tested, his strengths, his agility, his mentality and his courage. When training; Ra's Al Ghul asked him " What do you fear?" he was testing him if he can overcome his greatest fears.

act 2: Complication:

The complication in Batman Begins starts with his parents dying in front of him as a child. In one scene, Bruce Wayne (his true identity) returns to his home; after being away for so long. He goes to court to see the trial of the murder who killed his parents. He goes to seek a mob boss who is the source of all the crime in Gotham. He confronts him; and is defeated and humiliated. Bruce Wayne then decides to leave Gotham city; to go on a quest. He goes on a journey to find himself and an answer for his desiring question. He wants to find an answer to all the crime in Gotham. When Bruce meets Ra's Al Ghul, he learns how to fight crime and become a better man. When he returns from training; he starts a campaign against crime in Gotham.  He then decides to become Batman; a man who has no identity besides being the night itself. Batman made  a lot of enemies, with mob bosses, criminals,  and serial killers.


3. climax

The ending of Batman is when he felt defeated by crinimal underworld. One of the villians named Scarecrow sprayed him with a deadly toxin. He recovered from the attacck and went to Gotham to stop the return of  RAs Al Ghul. When Batman defeated him, his job was not done. There was still crime in Gotham however, he still saved everyone.

Sneeks Ad

> sources:

Chewa_ (Happy Couple)
> Tasharyland41 (cellphone)
> Alex Rozhenyuk ( Teenage Boy)
> Cmun_Project (Bedroom) 

 SCA (Girls walking)

What you see 

Boys 

The surface meaning for the ad for the boys ad is that you see a boy in his room with the logo and the slogan at the top of his room. The ad first shows his room. the is room is blue and his bed isn’t made. He has stuff on the floor and a phone in his hand. The physical features in this room is that the room itself and the objects in it. 

Girls 

The surface meaning for the girl’s ad that you see is three girls walking in the sidewalk, they seem happy and having a good time. The ad shows the three girls laughing and smiling, while the background is a bit blurry, you can see some of the people in the background looking at the three girls.  

Both  

The surface meaning for the ad for both boy and girl is that the two teenagers are a couple for the male is touching the female. The female looks responsive to his touch and smiles. They both look happy and well comfortable in this ad. The background in this ad seems to be a forest or a place where there is lots of trees. The couples in this ad are wearing heavier clothes, such as sweaters. It seems that the season in which the add takes place is near fall or close to winter. 

Boys: 

The intended meaning for the boy’s ad is that if teenaged boys buy this shoe then they too will be as cool as the boy in the ad.  The boy in the ad seems very energetic and lively. The deeper meaning is sex. The boy is holding a phone in his hand, he phone displays an attractive women. Teenagers (especially teenage boys) have high testosterone. They see an ad of an attractive woman in the ad; they are immediately attracted to the ad. In the ad, the young man has the phone with the attractive women on his phone. This means if someone buys sneeks; they too will get attention of a young women.  

  

Girl: 

The intended message for the girl ad is sex appeal. In the ad; it shows three teenage girls walking. However, they are not just any teenage girls; they are skinning, pretty and fashionable. The young ladies in the ad portray a belief that if a teenage girl buys sneeks; then they too will be popular and pretty.  The sex appeal in this ad attracts teenage girl who want to stand out. Teenagers will want to buy sneeks; not for the shoe but for the appeal.

Both: 

The intended message for the boy and girl ad is once again sex. The ad shows a teenage couple that is happy. The message is; if an individual buys sneeks then they will find a boyfriend or girlfriend. The shoe itself will not make teenagers fall in love or put them in a relationship. However, the shoe ad will have the hidden message; that it will. The girl in the ad has her sweater opened up and shows a bit of her cleavage. While the teenage boy has his hands around the girls hips. The girl in the ad seems very responsive to his touch. 

Boys:  

The cultural meaning in boy’s ad is that he is a young white male in a well spacious room. The room shows a lot; the room has a guitar, computer, a television and a big bed. This tells the viewer; that the boy lives with a middle class family. He mostly likely lives in the suburbs. The boy in the ad is Caucasian male, so most likely he lives in the United States.  

Girls:

The cultural meaning in this ad is the three girls are young, and live in an area where they can shop.  The ideological meaning of the “ the only fit” slogan is that the show is a shoe size for everyone. At the same time it is also used for a sexual slogan as well.  The girls in this ad are showing their dominance by the way they walk in this ad. They are in the center while the people in the background are blurred out.   The ad shows that they are the center of attention.  

Both:  

The cultural meaning in this ad is that they are a couple. They are showing that they are happy together. In today’s society it is acceptable to be young and in love.  The cultural meaning is that young couples are usually full of spirit and happy.  The boy in the ad seems ethnic and the girl is white. The couple in this ad forms an interracial couple. The importance of the interracial couple is that it shows that the ad is very progressive.      

Blog 4 Framing

What is Framing?

Framing is form of putting attention on to a symbol. For instance in George Lackoff’'s A Man of His Words, described when Richard Nixon told the world he was not a crook. This caused everyone who watched, to believe he was a crook. He unwilling made himself looked bad and made himself seemed shady and untrustworthy. The basic principle of framing is when arguing against the other side of the argument, do not repeat or use the same language. The language picks out fame, and it will usually be one that most don't want. When politicians have a debate among one another, there is usually a controversial topic thrown in there. For instance abortions, this will lead into framing for one of the politicians will be asked if he or she is for it or against it. If they are against it, it must mean they’re pro-life and vice versa.  

Guilty or not guilty..

In the case of infamous Casey Anthony, she was charged with murder of her daughter in the first degree and it includes lesser crimes of murder in the second degree. This case has ended last summer with the jury ruling her innocent for the lack of evidence. Ever since the court ruled in her favor Casey Anthony has been in hiding and for good reason. Even though she got off with murder, the world has deemed otherwise.  The framing she received was that she is a psycho killer, that parties’ for two months until getting caught. She told the jury that she was beaten and molested by family members when she was younger. She put the attention away from her and tries to put it on another symbol: molestation from father.  

Movie by Mail

Netflix in my opinion is a wonderful service when you're too poor to afford cable. However this all changed when Netflix announced their plans for the service this coming fall.  The CEO Reed Hastings of Netflix announced that they will increase the price of monthly dues and completely wean off DVD by mail feature into a higher price subscription. The Framing in this issue is now that Netflix is increase the price for movies; they are suddenly greedy and not very caring for its subscribers.  The frame of loyalty (as well the new add-on) caused a plummet in sales last this month and lost a good amount in their stocks and as well as customers. 

 So recently Andy Rendich, the operations chief and 12 year veteran of the company, will run a new mail order service with Netflix. This is the way they take attention away from themselves by adding something that’s new.  Netflix is rebranding its movie by mail service as Qwilkster and is also adding video games to its catalog.  The instant streaming will continue to be known as Netflix.   They believe by doing this new service it will bring back customers and will make Netflix the cool great service it was before.

Blog 2 Resubmission

A light, might be a thin small in dark room, but it's the most noticeable thing in there.  

This is a Lamp. A simple lamp that many use everyday and man take for granted because it's a lamp. However is it more than just a lamp?  The denotation of this object is that it's a lamp and it's on. It seems that it's a dark room, while the lamp it's on, being a bright object. The lamp is black on a red table, the color reminds me of darker picture. The black and red contrast in the picture, a good color combination 

The connotation of the this lamp to me is that it is a beacon light. A sign of good will and that this lamp is more than just a lamp. It's a object of good source, it brings good light and helps those who are in the dark. I see this lamp and I see student pulling a all nighter, a child who is scared of the dark, a grandmother who kept this lamb for years and know passed it on to her grandchildren. A lamp means hope to me, a brightness that overcomes the big scary monsters, just like when I was a child. 

A lamp can be anything, it can be just a lamp or it be much more. It becomes a symbol, a thing that many will see or will not. 

Semiotics-blog 3

(found 9/14/11)

Wayne Ronney

"We all know football players at the top level are blessed with high wages, it's no secret. But Rooney would play 100 euros-a-week. You can see the fire in his eyes. It's that fire which makes him the best of the best." (2009 World player of the Year Lionel Messi Praises Rooney's passion). Wayne Rooney is known to be a world class soccer player, the best of his time and arguably this time.  In this ad for Nike he is shown with shirtless with a red plaint across his torso and arms and he's yelling.

Catches your attention

The signs of denotation would be that he's yelling a chant, or a "war cry" for his mouth is wide open. His demeanor would be aggressive, a action that is impulsive and ready for action. This ad shows a great deal of readiness. His red torso, is bright while the background is pale and bland, thus the color contrast is shown to "pop." This type of ad is the one that use's color to attract the audience. The color will bring out the idea of something is going on with Wayne Rooney.

More than meets the eye

The connotation of this ad is that Wayne Rooney, a all -star international soccer play is ready to kick some ass. Exterior wise, this ad shows him screaming with red paint of over his torso. The interior of the ad shows Rooney with red paint like a cross across his body. This symbolizes his Catholic faith, his crusade against the other teams. Like his faith, he strives from soccer, winning, playing, and the feel of the green under his Nike shoes. The impulsiveness of his action of putting on his Brave-heart war paint, shows that he's devoted and willing to play just like the Nike logo. Just do it.

The Stand 

The symbol of the ad is that it shows a religious meaning behind a sport's ad. The red cross on his torso is a type of sign . Even his stand is strong and, it relies on his story. That he is a world class athlete, kids look up to him, men want to be as good as him, and some admire him. Nike choose him because of his status, his image of something and his something is the way he plays a on the field.

    Score to win

In the end, those who are portrayed in ads, that we see everyday are men and women who put on a certain status. The status is that they are seen as more than mortals but a higher level. We see them only, what we want to see them. I see this ad and I see passion, devotion and a a eagerness to score a goal. 

Music Video

In this music video, it shows the band Maroon 5. This music video it shows women dancing to the music, but it is really them just dancing harmless? They are shown dancing, while the men are also dancing and singing, however it shows more focus on the women. There are music videos of women not exploited or being shown as objects, this video is good one to compare how women were shown since the 90's.  In the video the women are not just dancing, they are in a way being seductive. While it may seem innocent, the video is using sex to appeal to the viewers. Just like in the 90's music videos, the genre rock is still using young women to dance to the music in the videos. Dreamworlds by Sut Jhally said that the women are often shown as back-up dancers or groupies, in this music video, that seems to be the case. they're main function in this video is to be looked at, it seems that they almost seek it. the camera panels to their body's but not as much to their faces. this causes them to be seen more like objects than people. They are dancing and are dancing one at a time. the camera rarely shows all of them dancing but just one at a time. the women in this video also are wearing sexy outfits. When they are shown in the video, it almost seems as if that's their main function.  Compared to the 90's this video doesn't quite have the same approach. For this video still show more of the men than the women. Creating a more fair play in the video. The women are airplane servants but at the same time shown to be lustful to the rock band as they play the music, creating that nympho maniac fantasy. The video shows how even in today's modern music, sex still sells. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHlN21ebeak

In this ad, we see that windows is coming out with their newest product the " Windows Phone 7. " the Sign is the phone, it's trying to appeal to the audience. the signified are the viewers who watched the product. They are the ones's who enjoy smartphone's or those thinking about switching phone's. The signifier is Microsoft selling their product to younger generation to those who enjoy technology. This tries to appeal with the use of humor and the specifications of the new phone.

Gatorade ad.

This ad is for Gatorade, what I can tell just by looking at it, is that it is different from most Gatorade ads. This one does not directly show a active person exercising, sweating harshly with sweat colored Gatorade. Instead of showing a athlete in the cover of the ad, they show a women in work related clothing. The surface meaning of this ad is that it shows a women in walking in a alley. When I see this ad, I see a women causally walking in a  long narrow alley, during the day and her shadow reflects a person running. She is wearing a black dress with a purse, with heels on. This type of clothing is not the type to wear when exercising. However looking at this ad one see's her attire. The advertiser's Intended meaning is that no matter who you are, a working person, an active person or whatever you need Gatorade. This message tells me that every one is an athlete, there's an active person inside of us and we need this beverage to quench our that active person's thirst. This ad's job is to sell Gatorade to anyone men, women, children, anyone who see this ad. They picked a women so they can appeal to other women, there is a shadow figure behind her. It seems like a man all the way at the end of the alley, I notice that she is closer to the viewer and has a strong independent stride. The shadowy figure is small and can barely see able. This is a marketing tool, to sell it to women who work, are strong and independent, it say's if you buy Gatorade you also will be strong, independent and in good shape. Her shadow looks like she's running, kinda like a secret identity to a superhero or foreshadowing. The cultural or Ideological meaning is that this ad is from a another country, a Spanish speaking country. For instance the the ad says: esta en ti? Which is English for is it in you? Another way of telling is the location, the alley's house's look very distinctive. they foreign, none american. I'm from Mexico and El Salvador, and the house's look a lot like the houses from those countries or any other Hispanic country. The women also looks very Hispanic or foreign. so this ad is for the country and it's people, so they try to appeal to them by showing one of the working class women, walking from a long alley of house's and her shadow is running. this ad has some key points to selling their product but also tries to appeal to the nation and it's people.  This ad show's how a strong women can overcome any obstacles, with the main focus with Gatorade, it's controlling the ad and thriving the ad to sell  their product.     

Favorite ad

My favorite ad, to me was the Old El Paso salsa that I saw a couple months ago. My friend and I we're sitting around just watching TV, and then the Old El Paso commercial ad came on. It was an unexpected and pretty funny. We laughed for quite a while, then we started talking about how I should come up with a salsa, called senor popo fancy pant's special salsa.