Merchants of Cool

When we started watching Merchants of Cool, I didn't really know what to expect. I thought it was just going to talk about how teenagers never get off their phones and think they're so cool, but it was really informative about the way that advertisers get the right insight into what teens think is popular at the moment.



It also shined the light on the idea that nothing is really ever cool for longer than a month since teens change their minds all the time about everything. So advertisers have to constantly question a variety of teens about the current trends to figure out what to sell them. I think this is really true because every few months I'll get tired of wearing that one red shirt, or those jean shorts just because most of the school already stopped considering it "cool" and stopped wearing it.

 A lot of people are affected by the way everyone else dresses and the things that everyone else watches or plays on their free time. Society's "cool" is pretty much based on what is worn the most, and what people find the most appealing or attractive. One example of this is the image of girls showing off their stomachs. I can't remember what it's called right now, but they mentioned it a lot in the video. It talked about how advertisers show models and "cool kids" wearing crop tops with cute shorts or jeans to sell to teens that in order to be "cool" and look good, you have to buy a crop top just like everyone else. I see this happen a lot at school, but mostly during the summer when there aren't any dress codes holding students back. People should just stop conforming to the way that the rest of society is to stand out and end up being the only actual cool kid around.

The one thing that really stood out to me in this movie was the causal link between aggressive TV shows and teenage boys' violent actions. One speaker said that advertisers are trying to sell the product to teens who they believe hate their parents, teachers, coaches, etc. I really couldn't believe this. I mean I thought that advertisers were just trying to sell a product... Not encouraging whether or not we like the adults in our life. This surprised me, but when the speaker went on about the WWE shows and the violent video games, I knew exactly what he was going to say because I have a teenage brother who plays and watches all of those things. He went on to say how violence on TV can really hurt a teenage boy's mind because they are all premature adults, that don't know how to behave themselves yet. I found a really interesting article about some data taken on boys and girls who watched aggressive shows in their adolescents and were very likely to commit crimes by their adult life. You should check it out here!

Well, that's all I have today. Thanks for reading!

Society's Downfall

Once again I had no idea what to write my media blog post about, so I looked up different ideas online and nothing really seemed that interesting. But then when I went to my cousin's house for a birthday dinner with the family, I realized that everyone had their heads down into their phones or watching TV. No one was really socializing with each other for a while. I mean there would be a few conversations here and there between the basketball game that was on, but other than that we were purely surrounded by the world of technology.

Personally, I think technology is better in more ways than it is bad, but I do think there are some major faults in this creation by society. Every generation that is being born is being open to all this technology around them. The subtle ads, the violent TV shows, the songs about sex and drugs, and the ease of talking to people online instead of having a personal face-to-face interaction. When little children are seeing this all around them, they start to think it's normal because they don't yet understand that most of the things on the violent TV shows don't happen everyday around us. And that when we hear songs about sex and drugs, the artists aren't actually encouraging anyone to do that, they are just trying to make themselves look cooler to the audiences they are singing to and stand out. And all the ads that flood children's brains make them slowly become used to the ads and not really find any product to be one that stands out, so advertisers will have to brainwash consumers even more to make them notice the product being sold. Most of these things are described in a well-written article you can read here.

Here is an excerpt from the article I attached above:

Take, for example, the ability to work from virtually anywhere—whether on the beach, in a different country, or even from the comfort of our homes. Our hyperconnected lives have breached face-to-face and telephone communications. We are now connected to the network, spending a great deal of time online—doing everything from dating, researching products, shopping, and chatting with friends, to taking courses from leading institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We play games online with others across town, across the country, and even across the world. Video, music, and other forms of entertainment are just a click away. There seem to be no limits to Internet usage.

In this passage from the article, it explains the many positive things that technology has had on society, and I agree there are many, but it also explains the one negative effect that I think is the worst thing possible for society. I looked it up and the greatest fear of most Americans is public speaking, no matter it being in front of a large audience, talking to a stranger, or talking to that person you really like. This is horrible for society, especially with what is going on in society's overuse of technology. People don't know how to interact with people the same way they used to. Even my mom tells me that when she was young, she was always outside with her friends and only watched TV on the weekends since it was a new, special thing back then. Nowadays, you might see little kids playing around outside, but the majority of society's young generation are either talking to friends on their phones, watching TV 24/7, or playing video games with their friends online without having to be at each other's houses. I just don't understand the big hype about media's greatness because it really is leading up to making human interaction very difficult, which one day might make interaction be just through the use of technology.

Finally, There are so many dating sites and social media outlets now, where you can keep in touch with whatever your friends are doing or who they are with or when they went out. With technology like this, no one ever has privacy on their life. People just post everything they do, for what? To get likes? To make that special person see your selfie? To show people you go to parties? To make people think you're cool? Teenagers would deny that those things are true, but they are really accurate. Although sometimes I think that teenagers do these things to prove to themselves that yes, they are everything I mentioned above and everyone else should notice it too.

Please let me know what you think. Adios amigos/amigas!

more ad analysis

So I really had no idea what I was going to write about, but then when I was trying to think of some type of sports ad to analyze, I asked my dad if he knew of any good commercials I could use. He immediately thought of the Super Bowl commercials that aired this year, so I looked up some, and there was one that I couldn't stop watching. Here is a link to that video.

This commercial was an ad for the Super Bowl 50 obviously, and it sure did catch my attention. The overall message that I got from this video was that if people watch the Super Bowl and their team wins, then they will end up conceiving a child on the night of that victory. To me, that is a pretty crazy message to be throwing around, especially when there are kids watching these commercials during the game too. I was distracted from this overall message when I first saw the ad because of how cute the little kids were that were singing the remake of the famous love song, "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal. I was also distracted from this message because the song that the Super Bowl Babies were singing sounded very beautiful, and I couldn't stop myself from even starting to sing along without acknowledging what words I was singing.

After I realized I was being brainwashed by the beautiful sounds of the song, I looked up the lyrics and noticed that it was screaming out to viewers the need for sex. I didn't even think of that when I was watching the video, and when I showed my mom this video she thought it was about bringing families together and being happy. But when I showed her the lyrics, she realized how different the implicit message actually was. The implicit message is telling families that you will get extremely close after watching your team win the Super Bowl, which will lead to having kids in the next nine months.

Here are a few phrases from the song that demonstrate the need for sex:
And in the end
When our team won
Mom and dad looked at each other
One thing led to another that night
and another phrase:
When there were no more jalapeno-chili-bacon chicken wings
Mommy and dad, they cuddled. Canoodled. All night. Baby.
On that night our moms and dads were so filled with desire

Along with the need for sex appeal, these phrases of the song use the wit and humor/sex appeal to get viewers to believe that by watching the Super Bowl 50, they will fulfill their desires and be sexually stimulated, which will lead to children.

Although most things about this song are not something I would want kids to be watching, it also uses the need to achieve by showing how happy families become during the video when their favorite team wins the Super Bowl. This ad does this by showing all of the families and even the children with the jersey of their favorite team on, hoping that their team will win. 


Finally it uses the need for affiliation. It does this by making the viewer feel that they will be a part of such a close community/ family if they watch the Super Bowl and root for their favorite team with friends. This might remind people of being on their old sports teams, which will inspire them to join a team of their own that they can watch and be a part of with their friends and family. 

Hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to comment below. :)

Pedigree's Loneliness Ad Appeal

When I was thinking of what I was going to write about for this blog, my dog came up to me and started barking. I didn't know what she was trying to tell me, but then she slowly walked over to her empty food bowl and sat there. She obviously wanted food, so I went to the garage and got our Pedigree dog food out, which inspired me to write this blog. I never could have imagined how far-fetched and irrelevant the print ads for this brand were going to be.

Here is a picture of one of the many loneliness-themed ads that I found online for this product:


















Before I start discussing the messages, appeals, and techniques that are in this ad, I'm going to inform you that it is trying to first of all, get viewers to buy a dog and to get their new dogs Pedigree dog food. In this print ad, there are way too many things to discuss, so I am going to limit myself to only a few.

First of all, the overall message is that if you adopt a dog, then you will never be alone on a beach like the man in the first image of the ad.

Second of all, the advertisers use an old man standing alone on a beach, which appeals to the need for affiliation. This is the case because in the first image, he is all by himself on a beach, which is very sad to many people, including myself. Although, in the second picture, it looks so much more appealing since there is a man with his dog, which is obviously a man's best friend, right? When viewers see this, they will think that if they don't get a dog then they will be left all alone on a beach just like the old man in this picture.

Thirdly, the technique of simple solutions was used in this ad. The advertisers are guiding the audience towards the idea that if you a get a dog, you will no longer be alone or sad. This is so misleading because having a dog isn't like having friends or people to talk to since you can't communicate with them like you can with a human being. So overall, this simple solution really isn't a solution at all.

Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

The Not-So-Subtle Messages that Songs Send out to Listeners

Songs are probably one of the most influential devices ever created by man. Songs captivate our imaginations and please our ears with the beautiful rhythms that accompany the words of a singer. People don't notice how many messages are being transmitted into their brains when they are listening to the song. Recently I've noticed that when I'm just listening to a song for its beat and rhythm, I don't really pay attention to the words even though they usually aren't very pleasing lyrics. This made me realize that we are almost being brainwashed by songs that are put out there with discrete meanings that represent sex, drugs, and violence.

Although I don't listen to the lyrics of songs all the time, I do sometimes just listen to the words of the song and not the beat when I have nothing on my mind, and it's not very fun to do because it showed me how screwed up the people that are looked up to by kids are. A huge example of a song that represents sex and drugs is "The Hills" by the Weeknd. Here are a few phrases that really stood out to me:

I only call you when it's half past five
The only time that I'll be by your side
I only love it when you touch me, not feel me
When I'm fucked up, that's the real me
When I'm fucked up, that's the real me, yeah
I only fuck you when it's half past five
The only time I'd ever call you mine
I only love it when you touch me, not feel me
When I'm fucked up, that's the real me
When I'm fucked up, that's the real me, babe

I'ma let you know and keep it simple
Tryna keep it up, don't seem so simple
I just fucked two bitches 'fore I saw you
You gon' have to do it at my tempo
Always tryna send me off to rehab
Drugs start to feeling like it's decaf
I'm just tryna live life for the moment
And all these motherfuckers want a real love

In the first chunk above, all the Weeknd is singing about is how he has no respect for a girl that he only uses for sex. He also states that he doesn't want any emotional connection to her at all, just physical, which is a horrible message to send out to kids that aren't even old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong. Another message that he's sending out to listeners in this first chunk is that when you are either high or drunk, you show your true colors, which might lead kids and teenagers to the idea that the only way to be yourself is to do drugs or drink all the time. If kids keep listening to songs like this then they could be led to a life full of mistakes and regrets. 

I know that not all songs are based on these things, but most of the highly ranked songs are all about it. Songwriters should realize what they are doing to their listeners' minds before they start singing about all this stuff. I really hope that we can see a change in the music industry and the lyrics behind most of the songs out there right now, but I highly doubt that will happen for a while. 

Check out this article that has some other songs like this one: 
http://nypost.com/2015/08/27/sex-drugs-and-self-destruction-fill-the-weeknds-second-album-and-more-new-music/

Madison and Vine

I was recently watching Modern Family, which is by far one of my favorite shows. I never really payed attention to the things the actors were using or watching on their phones in a certain scene of the show, but last week I was watching a re-run from 2012, and I noticed so many different things that came up subtly in the background. The episode was about when they went on a trip to Disneyland together as a family. In this episode, they went to Disneyland and showed the different rides and activities to do there, which is definitely a way for the Disney chain to advertise themselves and their different places to go and visit.



I was looking up different specific examples of how advertisers get themselves into the spotlight with shows and another example of one being shown on Modern Family is described in the link to this article from 2010, Modern Family. This article describes how Toyota was being shown a lot throughout an entire season of the show, even though it had just had a major recall for all of its cars for not functioning properly. Although this was the case, Modern Family had no control over whether or not they aired clips with Toyota in it because they had already made a deal with them previously to advertise before the incident even occurred. This made me realize that shows can't really choose all of the things they want to appear on their next airing because of how competitive the market is for products now, and companies need all the advertisement airing that they can get.



Lastly, I was just skimming through past episodes of Modern Family, and I noticed that in almost every scene there is an apple product being shown or used. Whenever someone gets a phone call, that person will answer on their iPhone. If Alex is researching for a project, she uses a Mac instead of any other type of computer out there. Even Phil is continuously on his iPad watching videos or looking things up for the family to do. This proves that even though the show is trying to make people laugh and have a good time watching it, there are always going to be subtle advertisements, trying to convince people to buy the product that their favorite characters in a show use.



With the Persuaders video, I really have taken in so much more awareness of the things that surround me in my life. Now I'm able to notice so many things in movies, TV shows, magazines and many more than I ever thought I would've been able to before.

Anti-Bullying Rally or "Woah, Sick Trick, Dudeee" Rally?

Last week, as most of us know, there was a rally held to teach us high schoolers about the traumatic effects that bullying can cause in a child's future. Before this rally was held, I was pretty excited about it because students should learn when enough is enough and at what extent constant teasing turns to bullying, but that education factor that I expected at the rally didn't actually happen at all. When I was leaving my sixth period class to go out to the rally, I was very surprised to see the set-up, which was supposed to teach us about being kind to others, turn out to be a skating ramp with a bunch of speakers around it blasting music. This didn't consist of any useful information to apply in situations where someone might be getting bullied or witnessing an instance of bullying going on.

After a while of watching the professionals skate and bike across the ramp, I expected that they would at least stop and begin to discuss different ways to take action against bullying, which is a huge problem in schools all over America, but that was definitely not the case. Sure, the speaker would toss out a few facts about how transfer students are more likely to be bullied, and how some people drop out of high school because of such severe bullying, and so on. But the speaker's objective at that rally wasn't to get us to stand up for what's right, instead it was to flood our minds with the advertisement of hardcore skating and biking on ramps. In no way at all does that even correlate to the topic of bullying. This just frustrated me because I couldn't believe that the people speaking there didn't discuss the actions that should be taken to solve this world-wide problem once during the entire hour we were watching them, even though they could comment on all the cool tricks nonstop.



Lastly, it was brought to my attention that there was so much advertisement, not only for the skaters and bikers, but also for the military. I didn't really notice any of it until my friend pointed it out to me, and I was amazed. The skate ramp was covered in military banners, the speaker referenced to the military officers many times, the entire event was partially sponsored by the military, and the rally even had a pull-up bar for people to see if they were capable of meeting the requirements of officers in the army. This entire event was just screaming at people to join the army or at least donate to it, which is even farther away from the original objective of educating kids on bullying than the sweaty speaker's objective.

I really hope that if we have this rally again, it will be more informative and actually help students learn to cope with these types of difficult situations.

Loaded Language

One topic that I found very interesting right now is that Senator Cruz stopped his presidential campaign and told his supporters that he was dropping out of the race for good. This of course, is due to the substantial amount of delegates that Trump won by in the Indiana polls. Once Sen. Cruz found out about the great divide in the results between the two of them, he realized that he no longer had a chance. I compared the two sources Fox News and CNN to see if they discussed the same concepts or went on completely different paths of the topic being discussed. I was able to tell the difference within the two articles in the first few paragraphs.

In the Fox News article, it didn't go into much detail about Cruz's suspension and how it will affect him in the future, or if there was any mistake in his actions. Instead, the rest of the article is pretty much discussing the different reasons for why Trump has all of the delegates and how Cruz's drop-out will affect him and his race for presidency. It also focused more on the bickering thrown back and forth between Cruz and Trump before the polls were taken instead of discussing more details about Cruz's absence in the rest of the race. Finally, the article didn't limit itself to the departure of Cruz, it included the connections of the surprising poll results for the Democratic Party in Indiana, which had Bernie in the lead. Overall, this article isn't actually giving readers the information that they want to see when they look at the title.

In the CNN article, it seemed to be much more informative on the actual situation of Cruz dropping out of the race than that of the information in the Fox article. It did blame Cruz's fallout pretty much onto Cruz, which is really accurate for what's been going on right now with the jumbled-up alliances and unawareness for some modern situations. It also used a lot of negatively connoted words to convey that it was all Cruz's fault and he had it coming, which I do agree with for the most part.

Overall, comparing these two articles really showed me that people can have completely different takes on the same story depending on their sources, opinions, and outside knowledge or experience. It shows me how much a few changes in wording can effect the emotion of the entire paper or article being written.