Taylor Swift and the Media 12/21/14

A few minutes ago, I was sitting here and wondering what I should do for my media blog.  I was sitting on my bed listening to Taylor Swift (*cough* DEREK *cough*), and I realized how much the media is a part of what Taylor Swift sings about and how she is portrayed.  Almost all of her songs are about romance.  She herself is creating media in this situation and is giving little girls the ideas that they need a boy in their life or they will be sad.  To be fair though, some of her songs argue for self empowerment, which is great, but it still revolves around what having a guy in your life does to you.  

I remember being in 2nd or 3rd grade and singing her songs and wishing for a guy to be nice, just the way Taylor sings about them in some of her happier songs like "Love Story."  The prevalence of Taylor Swift in media defiantly used to shape the way I saw myself and how I looked at the boys in my life.  

Recently Taylor Swift has also been showing how much she understands that the media is influencing both her, her music, and her fans.  She has recently come out with some songs as messages to her fans to be true to themselves and to not care about that others think. In this way she is saying not to pay attention to any media that is influencing you and to be yourself.  I find this a little hypocritical.  After all, SHE  is media, yet at the same time she is telling us not to listen to the media?  Examples of this is her song, "Blank Space" and "Mean."  "Mean" is a song about her media critics critiquing her and her telling herself (and her fans) not to be affected by them.  "Blank Space" is about how the media always portrays her boy crazy, so she is purposely trying to sound crazy to mock the media's image of her.  

mooks and midriffs 12/21/14

I recently began watching Grey's Anatomy on Netfix.  After watching Merchants of Cool, I found many similarities between two of the characters and the ideas of the nook and midriff.  Alex Karev is one of the main characters in the show.  He is very rude and acts very much like a child in many situations early on in the show.  His character is attractive, making him appeal to a lot of the audience so that they will continue to watch the show.  He is "stuck in adolescence" since he is very impulsive. Though he is a doctor and has to make good decisions for the welfare of this patients, he often messes up in both his work and personal life.  For example, when he was dating Izzy Stevens on the show, he decides to sleep with another girl just because he could.  His personality embodies the concept of a mook as described in Merchants of Cool.  

The character who reminds me of the midriff persona is Izzy Stevens.  She used to be a model but is now a doctor.  Later on the show we learn that she only became a model to pay her way through college and medical school.  We learn that she used to act much older than her age during that period of time that she modeled.  She was only entering college, but she did many photo shoots in lingerie.  In the pictures that are shown of her modeling, she looks like she is trying to be older than she is.  The charter herself looks very young and innocent, so it embodies the idea of a midriff when she was shown modeling lingerie in her late teens and early 20s.  A midriff also seems sort of spicy and not that smart, and in the beginning of the show the other characters assumed that because she was a model, playing into the stereotype of a midriff.  

Product Placement in The Office 12/14/14

My favorite thing to watch on TV is The Office.  For those who don't know, it is a series about people filming a fake documentary about normal people in a paper company in Pennsylvania.  Along with being hilarious and entertaining, The Office also has product placement embedded in its episodes.  Staples is a major company that appears on many episodes.  In the image above, Dwight has left Dunder Mifflin (his original paper company) and took a job at Staples.  By sending one of the show's most loved and funniest characters to Staples, this is conveying the message that Staples is a place where hilarious and lovable people work.  This is also saying that Staples environment is a fun one to shop in because you could run into people just like Dwight working there.

This is another clip of the show that uses Staples as product placement.  The part from the episode runs from 0:06-1:18.  In this segment, Kevin (one of the dumber people working at the office) is given the task of shredding paper for the office.  Kevin begins by saying that shredding the company documents is "really all I need."  This feeling of happiness Kevin says he gets when he shreds paper then gives the consumer the impression that buying a Staples paper shredder is not only easy (because a dumb member of The Office can use it) but it is also an enjoyable experience, which is something that cannot necessarily be said for other paper shredders.  The clip then jumps to images of Kevin shredding multiple things such as paper, cds, and his credit card in his shredder saying that the shredder can "shred anything."  This demonstrates Staples reliability and good features that its products have.  The scene ends by using more wit and humor-- Kevin shreds a piece of lettuce to make a salad.  Another coworker walks by and asks him where he got the salad and Kevin responds, "Staples."  This makes the consumer focus on the product and for the first times makes them attach a name to the product being shown.  It was a clever way to market their shredder.  I thought it was funny and conveyed the messages that they wanted to send well.

My favorite ad EVER 12/7/14

As you can tell by the title, this is my FAVORITE AD EVER.  This is the ad for the New York City Ballet's 2014-2015 season.  I think it is the most beautiful ad ever created, so I just wanted to share the loveliness of this ad with you and explain why it is so amazing.

This video is shown as an ad before youtube videos, so many people see it before they watch their videos on youtube.  It is a promotion for the New York City Ballet.  The company took videos of some of their performances and put together a video to the score of one of their newest ballets.  If you are not familiar with ballet, this ad still appeals to your "need for aesthetic sensations."  It is a beautiful video, and the classical ballet in it, along with the classical music, "makes us feel creative and enhances" according to Jib Fowles, who created the 15 Basic Appeals of Advertising.

Techniques used are testimonials, gestalt, and perhaps transfer/association.  The ad essentially uses testimonials of all the dancers in the ad.  In the ballet world, the dancers from the NYCB (New York City Ballet) are famous because they are so precise and wonderful to watch.  By incorporating famous dancers in the ad (Sara Mearns, Tyler Peck, etc), people may feel inclined to come and watch because they are in it.  This technique does not work though it the person watching the commercial has no idea who the dancers are though.  The ad also uses gestalt because of the strange camera angles.  It makes the person watching the commercial feel as if they are actually backstage with the NYCB and allows them to see the dancers on and off stage.  These moments captured by the intimate camera angles may encourage people to come and see the company to feel that emotion again.  This also may use the technique of transfer/association.  If the person felt happy or a strong emotion watching the commercial, he or she may want to go back to the ballet to feel that again.  This would not work as a technique though if the watcher did not like what he or she saw or was bored by the video.

Advertisements for a Ballet Dancer (print media) 12/7/14

Though in Mr. Starace's class we spend a long time pondering our relationship with ads found in beauty magazines, billboards, and commercials on TV, I want to bring to light the ballet dancer's equivalent to those kind of ads.  To generalize, ballet dancers are very particular about how they look in regards to the kind of pointe shoes they wear and what kinds of leotards they own; after all, they are judged on every aspect of their body and technique just to get a job.  Just as many women these days will try just about anything to achieve perfect makeup and hair to look flawless, ballet dancers try a plethora of products to attain a "perfect ballet body" to boost their odds of being hired by a company.  As I alluded to above, one of the most commonly advertised methods of becoming a more beautiful dancer and therefore a better candidate for a job is pointe shoes.

The ad at the top of the page is for a company that sells pointe shoes.  In their ad, they use many techniques and appeals to tempt to dancers to buy their kind of pointe shoes.  They use the appeal of "Need to achieve" to do this.  Their slogan at the top of the ad reads, "It's amazing what goes into making something effortless."  This conveys the feeling that if a dancer wears this shoe (and still practices hard) she will achieve greatness, just like the dancer in the picture below.  Dancers try to be the best that they can, and if a shoe promises results like those seen in the ad, a dancer may be more inclined to buy it.  

This ad uses the techniques of gestalt and a testimonial to convince the reader to buy the product.  The ballet dancer's red leotard makes her stand out. Because of this, she stands out, and the ad may be remembered easier than others.  Also, the company chose to use principal dancer Amy Watson to be the model for this ad.  Watson is known to be a beautiful dancer who is very elegant and graceful when she dances.  By using this dancer, the company is saying that if you wear these pointe shoes, you can dance as gracefully and as elegantly as Amy Watson.  

Just for fun, here is a picture of me rehearsing for Nutcracker.  I do not wear the pointe shoes this ad is advertising for though...

Conclusion to my San Francisco Thanksgiving trip-- a Riot in Union Square 11/29/14

On the last night of my time in San Francisco this Thanksgiving break, I witnessed one of the many riots happening in response to Ferguson that occurred across the country.  Seeing as I was there, I thought I would take a look at the descriptions of the event through the eyes of the media.

Granted, I did leave just before the protesters started to get riot-y, so I cannot vouch for how the environment got after the initial protests.  When I left though, there were A LOT of police patrolling the streets and I did see people in the middle of Union Square holding signs for Ferguson.  I did not however see any commotion from the protestors as I was leaving.  

The article's title itself is already biased and negate toward the protesters.  It reads, "Black Friday Protest Over Ferguson Decision Turns Ugly, Clashes In Union Square, Mission District."  By saying, "turns ugly," the reader of this article pictures the protestors (mainly peaceful) all savagely tearing through Union Square.  By having this pretense set in the title, the reader can no longer view the protests for what they are supposed to be viewed for and must instead see them as completely negative and violent.  

The article also states that bricks were "hurled" along with listing more violent acts.  Now, I am not saying that I condone these acts.  I certainly do not appreciate the protests turning violent and causing harm to the businesses surrounding them.  But I do believe that because the article is only describing the violent acts, the audience will not understand the reasons behind the protests in the first place.  If the article is going to bash the protestors, the article must also illustrate to the readers why the protestors are protesting in the first place and should not generalize and label all of the protesters in the title of the article.  

here is the link for the article.  http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/28/activists-protest-ferguson-decision-ahead-of-union-square-black-friday-tree-lighting-san-francisco-macys-michael-brown-shooting-police-killings-embarcadero/

Need to Nurture incorporating "odd advertising"- Kitten Edition 11/26/14

This Thanksgiving, as per my family tradition, I am spending part of the week in San Francisco.  Along with the sightseeing San Francisco has to offer, the shopping, and the museums, my San Francisco adventure would not be complete without visiting the lovable kittens and puppies within the holiday displays in the Macy's store in Union Square.

For anyone unaware of what I am talking about, every year during the holidays Macy's partners with the SPCA and sets up a holiday window display with puppies and kittens in need of adoption inside of them.  The thousands of passerbys on the street will walk passed the adorable pets and some will end up adopting them, and according to the SPCA's website, provide a home for the animals which is, "The greatest gift of all."  

I love walking passed these cute animals, but is doing this helping Macy's or the SPCA in any way?  I think it is.  When people see the cats and dogs in need of a home, they feel a need to nurture the animals and possibly take in one, helping the SPCA.  This visual appeals to one of the 15 Basic Appeals according to Jib Fowles: the need to nurture.  By seeing these animals in person, it triggers a person's paternal or maternal instincts, resulting in someone bringing a dog home.  

This also helps Macy's.  Not only is the store doing a good deed by giving publicity to a good organization trying to find new homes for animals, it is also helping themselves.  When I think of Macy's during the holidays, I think of them doing this.  I think higher of Macy's because of it.  I think to myself, "does any other company do this for animals?"  Overall, the whole campaign gives me a better feeling when I shop at Macy's, and regardless of whether or not I actually like the clothes they sell more than others, I feel better about shopping there.  

This also incorporates the idea of "odd advertising" in order to break through the clutter.  Odd advertising was talked about in the documentary titled Persuaders.   It is not everyday that you see kittens and puppies in store windows.  It really captures your attention, even when you are surrounded by a lot of other advertising.  In San Francisco there is a lot to look at, but, personally, seeing the cats in the windows captures my attention because it is unique to Macy's.  

-Liv

Advertising Meets Ballet (featuring Misty Copeland) 11/23/14

This is an ad from Under Armour, a brand for sports clothing and athletic supplies.  Recently they have been having a campaign focusing on women.  They want to empower women to achieve what they want in the world.  They have been using Misty Copeland, a ballerina with American Ballet Theater in New York City, as one of the subjects for their commercials.  In New York, you can see billboards with her muscular body plastering the sides of highways.

The brand uses her inspiring story in the video ad.  The ad retells her struggles of trying to make it in the ballet world by having a voiceover of a rejection letter Copeland received when she tried to audition for a ballet school at age 13.  By having this story, Under Armour is hoping that the audience associates their brand with resilience and positive outcomes.  They may wish that when a consumer watches their commercial, the consumer believes that if they wear Under Armour products they too will be successful.  Under Armour is also hoping that by appealing to hardworking women, they will gain acceptance from that demographic so that when a women wants to get workout clothes, she will turn to Under Armour first. 

This ad doesn't touch on the subject that it was not just the clothes that made Misty Copeland achieve greatness.  In fact, Copeland most likely never wore Under Armour when she was trying to make it in the ballet world.  She probably wore tights and a leotard made by a dance company instead.  The ad is trying to get people to believe that if they wear these pieces of clothing they will be like Copeland, even though she didn't get to where she is today by wearing the clothing.  

I personally like this ad.  It features ballet and it tells an uplifting story.  Even though the ad wouldn't necessarily convince me to buy Under Armour all the time, it does make me think higher of the company that other stores.  Though the ad certainly has flaws, like omitting the fact that Copeland got to where she is by hard work and not wearing a certain brand, I think that it was a good ad.  

-Liv

Spotted: Vitamin Water Uses Product Placement in Gossip Girl 11/23/14

It is no secret that the Gossip Girl series on TV was wildly popular.  It reached out to millions of fans during the duration of the 6 season show, and even today is watched by many over sites like Netflix and Hulu.  Gossip Girl is and was a big influence on (especially) teenage girls.  Gossip Girl, as summarized by Netflix, is a series in which "rich, unreasonably attractive private school students do horrible, scandalous things to each other.  Repeatedly."  Along with spouting unrealistic expectations for teens, Gossip Girl also conspicuously markets to them.  Vitamin Water is one example.

Vitamin Water is seen multiple times throughout the series.  The above example is when Vitamin Water is being served at a "Black and White Party," where the guests wear either black or white.  One of the really attractive men in the show, Chuck Bass, is seen drinking Vitamin Water in this seen.  By including Vitamin Water in the scene, it is marketing it in a way that is desirable for teens.  Teenage girls may see Chuck Bass drinking Vitamin Water and believe that if they too drink it, their life may be as wonderful as his.  Or they might get the impressions that Vitamin Water is drunk only by rich, good looking people with exciting lives.  Either way, it is clear that seeing Vitamin Water many times during the duration of the show will leave the viewers with a good impression of the product.  

Also in the party scene, this photo shows attractive people drinking Vitamin Water, again demonstrating the idea that only rich, good looking people drink Vitamin Water, and if the viewers too drinks it, surely they will live this kind of life.  People in the audience will project what they like about the show onto the product.  For example, if they love the show because it romantic, they may associate romance with Vitamin Water if it was drunk in a romantic scene.  

However, nowhere in Gossip Girl does in actually say how good or bad Vitamin Water is for you.  No warning is given to the amount of sugar or calories that are in these drinks.  The marketers for the product rely solely on the viewers' perception of the show to influence purchase of the product, and do not give any facts of the product itself.  

This is an ad for both Vitamin Water and Gossip Girl.  This ad directly ties Gossip Girl with Vitamin Water, and even though it is not as discrete as the product placement, it still encourages teens to buy Vitamin Water to be like the characters on Gossip Girl.  

-Liv

Relationship Status with Media 11/16/14

"What is my relationship with media?"  When I first hear this question, I feel that my relationship is pretty limited.  I mean, I dance for hours everyday, so the amount of free time I have to be exposed to media is pretty nominal, right?  But then I really thought about it and realized that I unintentionally absorbed media like a sponge, and the scary part is that I didn't even realize what I was taking in; I was doing it unconsciously.  When I walk down the halls at school, people have brand names and icons plastered to their shirts and sweatshirts.  When I ride in the car, the radio advertises to me to buy a certain type of car.  The songs on the radio also tell me how I should act in response to certain situations.  When I pick up and read a book at night,  it is telling me information and subconsciously  influencing my perspectives.  When I think about it, I am surrounded by media that I don't even intend to be surrounded by.  "What is my relationship with media?"  I would have to say that it is a big part of my life, even though I haven't even try to incorporate it.  

Now, some people may wonder what the big deal is.  Why should it matter that media is around us? They might think that they can just tune it out or ignore it.  But I believe that media does influence people:  it dictates what our standards of beauty are, it tells us what to buy, it shows us what our lives would supposedly look like if we followed the advertisements, it tells us opinions that we will at times mistake for our own.  

Take almost every Disney movie ever made.  They usually have an old, ugly, or fat woman being the cause of some unjust crime toward the princess.  This can cause children to have unreasonable fears toward less-than-beutiful women.  I know that when I was young, I was a little bit uncomfortable sitting next to people that matched the above description.  

I hope that my blog gets you to think about what messages media is telling you so you can be armed with the tools to decipher if it is true or not.  

-Liv