Advertising, Happiness, and The End Of The World: #1
Welcome to my first blog post! My name is Grace and first I will be talking about the interesting and often ignored concept of media consumption. This week in English class we were given a revealing task; to track our media (technology) consumption over the weekend. I was surprised to find how much I unknowingly relied on technology and media to get through daily life. My past experience with technology has been slightly different than others my age. I was born into the generation of media and technology, however, I didn't watch a lot of television or have access to the internet for most of my childhood. Everything changed in Middle School when I received a cell phone and entered the world of social media. With this transition my perception of everything changed. I was no longer able to view things from my own perspective; my perspective had been tainted by media and how the media thought I should view things. Today technology certainly plays a larger role in my life than I would like it to, but the demands of homework and connecting with others make remaining away from technology and media almost impossible. By looking at my media consumption chart, I found that I use my cell phone as my primary technology source. I use it to check my email, texts, news, social media, and my calendar. I know that without it, I would grow quickly isolated. This is the role of technology in my life, but media has a similar effect. Through the radio in my car and the constant advertisements on social media, I often feel inundated with expectations and offers posed by various companies. The role of media and technology in society has changed drastically and so has its effect on society as a whole.
In English class we have been looking at technology and media by viewing it as text. We have been considering the ways in which it effects our lives and our perspectives. To continue this exploration, we viewed four different commercials. Each advertisement had obviously considered its audience and was written to target that audience in a specific way. For example, in one of the advertisements for Dove the message was clearly targeted towards parents of young girls who would be effected by the beauty industry. This message and audience was evident through the commercial's use of music and elements of shocking images. I learned that in each advertisement there was some element of personal resonation that the audience was supposed to feel and respond to. I was surprised by the realistic images portrayed in some of the advertisements. For example, in the Rimmel commercial they were aiming to be portrayed as a brand that accepted all people who wanted to wear people regardless of what their reasoning was. They conveyed this message by using real people in their advertisement, not by using models. To participate in the conversation we had in class about these commercials, I had to think in terms of what their intention was and how they conveyed this intention with certain stylistic devices. In the Dove advertisement "Beauty Pressure" they used the primary stylistic devise of shocking the viewers with intense imagery. When analyzing this devise, I found that I was indeed shocked but I also remembered vividly what I had viewed. Perhaps that was part of the goal of these advertisements, to be memorable to viewers. After all, each advertisement was a company trying to sell something. They were instilling a reputation of brand and ethics with these commercials. Throughout our discussion in class, ideas similar to the ones I have expressed regarding the audience and purpose of the advertisements circulated. However, with the flow of conversation and by hearing other's perspectives I was able to formulate an idea of my own about the rationale of each company's commercial. I realized that as I mentioned before, the main purpose and reason for the advertisement was to create an ethical reputation and brand. The Dove advertisement on "Beauty Pressure" stressed the unethical behavior of many media sources in representing women as creatures of a certain beauty. It is through this analyzation that I came to the realization that this aim to create an ethical brand was both targeted and formed because of the audience that the company knew would be watching and potentially buying.
In English class we have been looking at technology and media by viewing it as text. We have been considering the ways in which it effects our lives and our perspectives. To continue this exploration, we viewed four different commercials. Each advertisement had obviously considered its audience and was written to target that audience in a specific way. For example, in one of the advertisements for Dove the message was clearly targeted towards parents of young girls who would be effected by the beauty industry. This message and audience was evident through the commercial's use of music and elements of shocking images. I learned that in each advertisement there was some element of personal resonation that the audience was supposed to feel and respond to. I was surprised by the realistic images portrayed in some of the advertisements. For example, in the Rimmel commercial they were aiming to be portrayed as a brand that accepted all people who wanted to wear people regardless of what their reasoning was. They conveyed this message by using real people in their advertisement, not by using models. To participate in the conversation we had in class about these commercials, I had to think in terms of what their intention was and how they conveyed this intention with certain stylistic devices. In the Dove advertisement "Beauty Pressure" they used the primary stylistic devise of shocking the viewers with intense imagery. When analyzing this devise, I found that I was indeed shocked but I also remembered vividly what I had viewed. Perhaps that was part of the goal of these advertisements, to be memorable to viewers. After all, each advertisement was a company trying to sell something. They were instilling a reputation of brand and ethics with these commercials. Throughout our discussion in class, ideas similar to the ones I have expressed regarding the audience and purpose of the advertisements circulated. However, with the flow of conversation and by hearing other's perspectives I was able to formulate an idea of my own about the rationale of each company's commercial. I realized that as I mentioned before, the main purpose and reason for the advertisement was to create an ethical reputation and brand. The Dove advertisement on "Beauty Pressure" stressed the unethical behavior of many media sources in representing women as creatures of a certain beauty. It is through this analyzation that I came to the realization that this aim to create an ethical brand was both targeted and formed because of the audience that the company knew would be watching and potentially buying.
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