Gotham City vs. New York City

I watched on Blue Ray last night The Dark Knight, the third movie in the Batman trilogy.  The trilogy is fascinating because of the different ways that the concept of "justice" is depicted both by the League of Justice and Batman.  What was also fascinating about The Dark Knight is how the directors went to great lengths (often using advertising techniques) to make the viewer see Gotham City as New York City. 

In the first two Batman movies and even in the comic books, one gets the sense that Gotham City is the equivalent of New York City.  This is primarily because Gotham City is densely populated and has large, tall austere buildings.  However, in the first movie Batman Begins there is an in air monorail system which does not exist in the real New York City.  This monorail is absent in the Dark Knight.  There are a number of wide angle camera shoots taken from the air in the Dark Knight that gives the viewer the feeling of the immensity of Gotham City.  These camera shoots make it clear that Gotham City is an island, something which is not clear in the other two movies.  There are also panoramic and zoom shoots of a bridge which leads out of Gotham City, which looks very similar to the bridge in New York City that leads to Kennedy Airport.
 
Many times in the movie the audience is reminded that Gotham City  has just a six mile radius, again similar to New York City.  There is also a long scene where the Gotham Stock Exchange is infiltrated.  The exchange looks strikingly similar to the New York Stock Exchange all the way down to its location which is clearly in the bowels of the city.

The directors of The Dark Knight clearly want the audience to have the false impression that they are looking at the potential destruction of New York City.  The directors want the audience accept this false impression and analogy for a couple of different reasons.  The emotional pangs the viewer feels should be greater if a real instead of a fictional city is under assault. The directors also want the audience to buy into the disparity of wealth between the haves and have nots that in fact does exist in America and particularly in New York City.  Finally, the various themes and messages of the movie are much stronger and hit him more intensely if in fact Gotham City is just another name for New York City.

 

Gun Control

I ran across this relatively clever anti-gun control billboard.  The billboard reads "Gun Control is Not Kosher."  The slang meaning of "kosher" is allowed or permissible.  Thus, the billboard is saying that gun control is not permissible: not a good thing.  But the technical definition of "kosher" is something entirely different relating to the Jewish faith.  Kosher is an adjective that has two meanings.  Kosher means more generally allowed under Jewish law; kosher also in recent years has taken on a meaning referring specifically to diet: allowed within the Jewish diet.

The use of the word  kosher gives the viewer a clue that the billboard may be sponsored by a Jewish group.  This view is reinforced by  a careful look at the six sided star found in the middle of the billboard.  Christian stars are five sided pentagon.  Jewish stars are six sided hexagons.  Within the  hexagon in the billboard is the acronym.JPFO which stands for Jews for the Preservation of Firearms. It is now clear that the billboard is in fact sponsored by a Jewish group against gun control.

The billboard is all in red, white and blue the colors of America.  These colors are also generally symbols of American patriotism.  The designers of the billboard are trying to link therefore anti-gun control with patriotism. There is also an American flag embedded in the star.  This is intended to reinforce the belief that it is American and patriotic to be against gun control.  There are two guns next to the stars. The viewer does not even need the words of the billboard to get the message: guns are patriotic.

The billboard of course has two species analogies.  There are plenty of Jews who believe that gun control is in fact "kosher."  There are also plenty of people in general who are in favor of gun control that are patriotic.  Nevertheless, the billboard is quite clever.      

Nike cheetah

I saw this clever Nike advertisement in a magazine the other day.  The ad features a cheetah seemingly flying through the air with a superimposed Nike logo prominently displayed on its side.  The ad asks the reader what is the secret of speed, and then says lets "Ask the Master."  The ad assumes a fact not in issue: that the reader knows the cheetah is the fastest land animal on earth.  A cheetah is able to achieve a speed of 75 miles per hour running up to 500 feet.

What is interesting about the ad is the cheetah never directly answers the seemingly rhetorical question what is the secret of speed.  Instead, the reader needs to make the connection that the secret must be Nike products because the famous swoosh logo is superimposed on the cheetah.  We have the typical faulty analogy identification issue in the ad.  The ad is effectively saying buy Nike shoes and you too will run fast like the cheetah.

The photography of the ad reinforces the message of the ad on two fronts.  As briefly mentioned above, the Cheetah is presented in the air almost like it is flying, which is true speed.  Also the photograph of the cheetah is is crystal clear, but the background (primarily empty space and what looks like grass) is intentionally blurry.  The cheetah is therefore so fast that what is around it is just a blur.
 
The colors of the ad do a great job of highlighting the message.  The orange and brown cheetah stands out nicely against the blurred green grass and the black background and white lettering.  The lettering also stands out nicely against the black background.  Thus, the reader is focused visually on the cheetah and the semi rhetorical question.  Finally, Nike is such an iconic brand (and the swoosh logo is so universally known) that it is not even necessary to feature a shoe in the ad.  There are not a lot of companies like Nike that can publish an without featuring its product.   

 

UFC

 


I was watching the the UFC fights this weekend, and I stumbled across the popular 2007 unofficial UFC theme song "Ready to Fight."  The song begins with the lyrics "I'm willing to fight for this.... I am willing to fight."  The word "fight" can be interpreted in two ways in the song.  First, there is the literal meaning. UFC fighters obviously fight.  The second meaning is very clever.  "Fight" in the song can also be interpreted as fighting for an idea or belief.  This is because fight in the song is associated with great black historical figures including Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Malcolm X, all of whom played significant roles in the Civil Rights Movement.  The song makes a clever, albeit, faulty analogy.  UFC fighters are certainly heroic in the sense they have the courage to enter the octagon but they are obviously not fighters in the same way as great civil rights leaders.   
 


The song goes on to mention Bruce Lee and the movie Rocky.  Here again we have a faulty analogy.  Obviously, Rocky and Bruce Lee (at least his movies) are fictional fighters not real fighters.  The appeal of the song is partly derived from the faulty analogies.   One gets the feel that the UFC is made up of people who are fighting for liberty-both real and fictional.  There are also reference in the song to women, men and virtually every minority group.  It is as if the song is saying that the UFC is a reflection of this country--the great American Melting pot.   

Rotten Brains!

 

The billboard claims that, "HIP HOT ROTS YOUR BRAIN."  This was created by the Coalition of Responsible and Attentive Parents.  The billboard tries to suggest that hip hop music will ruin your brain.  Hip hop music today has many emotional lyrics that some people, especially teenagers, can relate to.  These emotions can overwhelm people and possibly motivate them to do things that they might regret, but so can can hard rock and other types of music.  .  

The irony is this billboard is sponsored by the Coalition of Responsible and Attentive Parents, the acronym being CRAP-- and that is exactly what I think of this ad.  There is no empiric proof that hip hop rots one's brain.  There is no supporting evidence.  This billboard is trying to make an emotional appeal in the hopes that the viewer will overlook its unproven message. 

 
The billboard is a red herring fallacy (a red herring introduces irrelevant facts to distract from the question).  The billboard only claims that hip hop rots your brain.  They use this to distract the viewer  from reasoning if hop hop actually does rot a person's brain. The phrase is catchy, however.  It is sort of analogous to the old ads that said that dope rots one's brain.  The ant-dope ads had  some success so possibly the creators of this billboard thought they could piggyback on the success of those anti-drug ads. 


This billboard was not successful because viewers are just to smart to be tricked by ads with specious reasoning.  The billboard might have been more successful if it said hip hop is a waste of time: read books.   The only thing this billboard was able to achieve was get me to giggle because of the acronym of the group supporting the billboard. 

Diamond Rings

 

This billboard ad is very striking.  At first glance, it looks like the women is giving the viewer of the billboard ad the "F" word.  On closer inspection, one notices that it is not her middle finger, but it is actually her ring finger.  Then when the viewer looks to the woman's right, he sees the words, "She's tired of waiting."  All of a sudden, the viewer realizes that the woman wants an engagement ring and is tired of waiting for her fiance to give her one.  Then when the viewer looks to the woman's right, everything makes sense: the advertisement is for a diamond company.

The advertisement uses irony to bring forth its message because of its unexpected use of what looks like the "F" finger.  The ad is very controversial because it is associating the "F" finger with marriage.  Although I found the ad funny, the ad could easily offend some people.  Some people may argue that you should never use the "F" finger even if it is just in jest.  The use of the "F" finger arguably represents the moral decay of our culture.  When you add the seriousness of matrimony to the equation, it is no wonder that some people are offended by this add. 

Another subtle use of  irony and deception in the ad is the use of the ring finger instead of the middle finger. The middle finger is associated with invectives while the ring finger is associated with  marriage. Notice in the picture how the woman's hand looks almost as big as her head.  The designers of the ad really want to highlight the finger.  This is also very little clutter in the ad.  The simplicity of the ad allows its controversial feature to be highlighted.   



I think this billboard ad was successful in getting consumers attention.  When I saw the woman imitating the middle finger, the billboard instantly caught my attention.  But the problem is this ad is that people can imitate this message in many different ways.  People may think the ad wants people to think that marriage is a waste.  The other message is to buy Keystone jewelery.  This is very risky because many consumers who don't pay attention to ads will see this as a negative ad.




    

Brian Goes to College

 
One of my favorite television shows is the semi-adult cartoon series "Family Guy."  "Family Guy" chronicles the lives of the the dysfunctional Griffin family and their very human like dog, Brian.  Everything about the story is funny, satirical and symbolic beginning with the family name, "Griffin."  A Griffin is a mythical creature that has the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.  The Griffin family, like the mythical creature, is a composite of the characteristics of different people. 

My favorite episode is episode 14 (season 4), "Brian Goes to College."   Brian is the most "human" of the family members.  It starts with his name, "Brian," which is so decidedly human because it is such a common name.  He is the brightest member of the family, with the exception of the infant Stewie.  Brian also has the most human feelings: he is caring, thoughtful and even neurotic.  


In the episode, Brian has just written an article about "Post Modern American Subcultures" for the local paper.  The famous "New Yorker" magazine want to hire Brian, but once they find out he is a college dropout they boot him out of their building.  Brian decides to go back to college, only having to complete one class for his degree, "Advanced Physics" taught by Stephen Hawking. The cartoon commonly parodies real humans like Hawking by bringing them into episodes.  That is one of ,the techniques that makes the cartoon so funny.  Another technique is intertextuality. This episode layers in the Charlie Brown series, the A Team TV series, and the original Rocky movie.

To make a long story short, Brian realizes that he cannot pass the final exam unless he cheats.  He is going to drop out again, but decides to take the exam anyway.  Of course, he passes.  WRONG. He fails.  He comes home and excited, and the Griffin family assumes he has passed the test.  When he informs them that he has failed but is proud that he did not cheat, the rest of the family does what? They praise him.  WRONG.  They call him an idiot, stupid, and moron for not cheating. The episode ends with Chris Griffin exclaiming: "I HATE YOU."  

Kids are always presented with the dilemma of whether to cheat on a final.  Kids are taught not to cheat because in long run it does pay.  The dysfunctional Griffin family has a different take.  Of course cheating pays off and "I HATE YOU [all the millions of you Americans out there watching]" for not doing it.  

Fat Whale

 

While my dad was driving me to an out of town basketball game, I noticed a billboard of a unattractive, corpulent, women in a bathing suit.  The billboard says, "Save the Whales.  Lose the Blubber: Go Vegetarian."  The billboard is satirical.  What it is really saying is nothing about real whales, which are endangered species, but rather something about fat people: that is, fat people will lose weight and therefore be at less risk of dying if they become vegetarians. 

The truth value of the billboard is debatable. There are plenty of people who are fat that are vegetarians.  Pastas and other carbohydrates are very high in calories, and they raise your glycemic and sugar levels.  There are plenty of recent studies that show that high protien diets based upon meat can actually increase your metabolism and help you lose weight.  One of these diets is the Atkins diet.  There is also the paleo diet, which I go on during the basketball off season to gain strength and build muscle.  The paleo diet combines lean meat with complex carbohydrates like fruit and vegetables.  

 
This is a very emotional appeal, especially to fat women.  By looking as this billboard, it suggests that all fat people are whales and that they should consider becoming vegetarians.  Many people are very conscious about their weight and might be offended by this add while others might actually consider taking the advice of the billboard. Thus the billboard can easily offend some and motivate others. 

The billboard is very biased because it does not acknowledge that weight loss can occur by eating meat.  The reason for the bias is revealed in the smaller print. The billboard is sponsored by PETA: an organization that has the agenda of protecting animals from humans. Thus, the whale analogy is a bit of a red herring because PETA's agenda has nothing to do with weight loss but rather everything to do with protecting animals.  It is also quite amusing and ironic that an organization that seeks to protect animals claims through the billboard that it seeks to protect humans: fat woman in particular.  
 
It is also funny that the billboard is a bit off a spoof on Coppertone and other advertisements that feature attractive women in bathing suits and then associates their attractiveness with their products.   The beach colors are very attractive and the billboard uses colorful  fonts. This is another gimmick generally found in advertisements rather than billboards that brings attention to the message.     

The Great Phone Trap

 (The original and complete ad is from the Sacramento Bee-Wednesday, November, 14)

While glancing over this advertisement, I almost fell for their scheme.  Most consumers fail to recognize the hidden financial costs.  Close to the bottom of the ad, in microscopic font, the following disclaimer is printed, "New two- year contract on qualifying plan and mail-in rebate card required."  The free phone requires a two year contract separate from existing contracts.  Also, this offer does not apply to all plans. 

Its creative use of pink appeals to women, teenagers, and urban crowds.  This advertisement is directed at women because of their liberal spending habits.  Girls are usually known for buying the latest products and encouraging their friends to do the same.  Savvy and clever ad creators have successfully created this ad that markets to the feminine side of society.  

Another technique used in the Samsung advertisement is the invitation to 'visit T-Moble.com or a store near you' without listing the locations.  This requires the consumer to use internet technology in order to find a retail location.  Visiting T-Mobile.com is another method of advertising.  Hidden on their website, shoppers must search for store locations.  While doing so, they are often bombarded with more T-Mobile products and services.          
        

I think this ad is funny because its very simple layout successfully attracts consumers.  I did not fall for T-Mobile's trap but I admit that it is a genius marketing tool.  The eye is immediately attracted to the pink word FREE surrounded by a black background.  One can potentially acquire a free phone, but the plan will make this free phone even more expensive.   I still read ads, hoping that they ad will fairly market a product without any hidden disclaimers.