Media Reflection Letter

During the school year, I consume between 8 and 12 hours of media a week.  My consumption goes up quite a bit during the summer when I have more free time.  Most of those 8 to 12 hours are spent watching the cartoons Family Guy and American Dad, and the reality shows Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Storage Wars and Scared Straight.  I occasionally see movies, read magazines, skim blogs, scan newspapers. and watch basketball videos online.  Media is primarily an escape for me from the tedium of homework and pressure of basketball. 

            My media consumption has not changed appreciably during this course, although I was  on the lookout for interesting ads, controversial billboards, and peculiar bumper stickers.  What has changed, however, is my perception of what I am watching, seeing, reading and viewing.  Advertisements are no longer just dreaded interruptions to what I am watching or reading; rather they are now creative efforts designed to get me and others to consume.  When I see a print advertisement, I now notice font sizes, colors, logos, alliteration and fine print.  When I watch commercials, I pay attention to story lines, music, angles and aestheticism.  Prior to this course, I only paid attention to the message of an ad, assuming I could even figure out the message.  Now I cannot help but focus on how the aesthetics of an ad--music, print size, colors for example-not only create but also reinforce and shape the message. 

            The influence this course has had on the way I interact with media is not limited to advertisements.  Of course, it is important to be media literate as consumers so you do not fall for advertising trickery.  Media literacy is also important because it allows you to detect biases and stereotypes.  For example, I listened tonight to much of the discussion of Lance Armstrong's PED use.  It was easy for me to detect the biases and agendas of both those supporting and opposing him.  I occasionally watch FOX News and MSNBC.  It has now became clear to me that there is no such thing as objective journalism.   There is always an agenda.

            I tried to use the blogs to sample a whole range of media including print advertisements, bumper stickers,. billboards, television shows, movies, and even a political cartoons.  What I learned is that regardless of the medium the techniques that are used to create a message are often the same.  One might ask what does a Batman movie have to do with a Geico  commercial.   Well the creators of both used certain camera angles and colors to accentuate their message.  Similarly, one might wonder what an anti-Ritalin billboard has to do with a Reebok workout poster.  Well both used humor to emphasize their message.  The mediums may be different but many of the techniques are the same.  Fifteen blogs over approximately a month is quite a bit of work.  However, over that month I went from a disinterested spectator of media to an active and critical observer.         

Adultery

 

 I ran across this controversial ad for the even more controversial website, Ashley Madison.  Ashley Madison is an on line site where married men who want to have an affair can search for women.  The ad features a very corpulent women juxtaposed against a young, hot, attractive thin women.  The ad says we call it as we see it and life is too short, have an affair.

The border of the ad is pink which is quite interesting.  Pink ads are normally designed for women under the stereotypical view that women prefer pink to other colors and that pink is a sign of femininity.  The pink works in this ad even though the audience is male because the point of the ad is that men can find women on the Ashley Madison site and thus pink is symbolic of the women waiting on the site.

There is also a box next to each of the two women.  Next to the corpulent women is a box with a red x in it.  Red generally stands for stop and x generally stands for wrong.  The color and imagery thus are saying no to the large women--monogamy.  Next to the attractive women is a box with a green check mark.  Checks generally stand for correct and green generally stands for go.  The color and imagery are thus saying go for it -- have that affair it is the right thing to do.

The message of the ad is also very existential.  The premise of the ad is that life is short so you might as well violate the sanctity of marriage.  The notion is that we are all going to die anyway so what does it matter that one has committed and pledged to live a monogamous life.

The ad is obviously going to be very offensive to many segments of America, especially married women.  Nevertheless, because the target audience is married men who are thinking of having affairs the ad can be effective even if it inflames a lot of people. 

The ad is simultaneously effective and offensive.

CHEATING

 

There are controversial ads and then there are really, really controversial ads.  This cheating ad falls into the latter category.  The comical ad is a poor attempt to encourage men to get to the gym and workout.  At first, I thought the ad was a joke.  It turns out, however, that this ad which encourages men to cheat on their girlfriends rather than their workouts was actually posted in gyms throughout Germany.

The ad is for Reebok, although the sponsor company of the ad is not made clear in the ad itself (although similar Reebok posters do have their name and logo).  One can imagine Reebok is in fact happy about that.  Tan/brown and white are not even the colors of Reebok which makes it hard to identify the ad as Reebok.  The colors do not seem particularly appealing to me, but the colors might be more appealing to a German audience where clay court tennis is popular.  The bold white capital letters contrasted with the tan/brown background certainly does get the message across.  And the way the brown almost feels like sand as it blends into the white letters gives a slight feel of a workout.

The ad is obviously tongue and cheek.  However, the ad is not only an assault on fidelity, but it also can be seen as an attack on women.  The ad was quickly pulled in Germany.  Germans are far more sexually liberated than Americans so it is possible that Reebok initially thought that the ad would not be that offensive.

I think that where Reebok really went wrong was the sexism and the misogyny of the ad.  Had the ad read cheat on your significant other rather than your girlfriend maybe Reebok could have got away with the ad.  Women may find  the misogyny of the ad far more distressing than the anti-monogamy message of the ad.  

Iraq

 
I ran across this interesting political cartoon that uses some advertising techniques to emphasize its message.  The cartoon is of a man who has fought in Iraq (presumably an American) who approaches a sign that says "Now Leaving Iraq."  He has a number of very unattractive options upon leaving Iraq: suicide; post traumatic stress; depression; violent behavior; or fighting in Afghanistan.

The message of the carton is obviously anti-war.  The black and white of the carton enhances the message of the cartoon.  The man's options are dark and stark just like the colors (or lack there of) of the cartoon.  Notice also how the clouds are dark grey and black rather than white.  This both foregrounds and foreshadows the bleak options of the man.  Notice also that the areas where it appears a bomb has gone off are also black.

Part of the appeal of the cartoon (like some advertisements) is its simplicity.  There is very little clutter in the cartoon.  Just a sign, a man, and sand dunes (which allows reader to identify the man's  location as a desert in Iraq.   This allows the reader to focus almost exclusively on the choices of the man.

Obviously the cartoon is biased.  This is intentional.  Of course not everyone who leaves Iraq is going to face the five stark choices presented in the cartoon.  Indeed, some of those will stay in the military and go to other locations than Afghanistan.  It is also certainly not the case that everyone returning from Iraq will face psychological issues.  Some will smoothly reintegrate into society.

There is one peculiar aspect of the cartoon that I believe undermines its effectiveness.  The man in the carton looks overweight.  He has a big nose and what appears to be large skin tags on his face.  He hardly looks like a well conditioned, well oiled solider.  One could make the case then that the cartoon is also satirizing the military.  This is unfortunate because even those who are anti-war are not likely to accept the physical characterization of our military men portrayed in this cartoon.

Ritalin Bumper Sticker

 

I was driving with my mom to my little brother's basketball practice when I spotted this bumper sticker.  It reads: "So much easier than parenting: RITALIN."  The ad is targeted to parents with kids.  The bumper sticker assumes that the reader knows what Ritalin is used for.  The bumper sticker also assumes that the reader is sophisticated enough to pick up on the sarcasm of the message.The use of all capital letter for the word Ritalin really guides the reader 's eyes to Ritalin. 

The bumper sticker is not endorsing Ritalin as a parenting technique.  Through sarcasm, the bumper sticker is implying that giving Ritalin to a child is a cop out.  The message is step up and parent even if one's child is difficult; do not take the easy way out.  Ritalin is used to treat attention deficit disorder (ADD).  Some evidence suggests that Ritalin is over prescribed.  The proponents of the bumper sticker obviously think so.  Of course there are those who think Ritalin is an effective way to handle distracted children, particularly those who are not doing too well in school. 

I think that the bumper sticker is very effective.  The bumper sticker is not saying that using drugs is bad.  It is also not saying that ADD is fiction as some believe. Likewise, the bumper sticker is not exactly an attack on Ritalin either.  The bumper sticker is an attack rather on parents who may be abdicating their responsibilities as parents.  Certainly the bumper sticker is going to be offensive to parents who are providing their children with Ritalin.  Nevertheless, the bumper sticker is certainly going to make a parent think twice before giving Ritalin to his or her child. 

E.T.

Do you ever watch a movie and see a strategically placed modern day product where the logo is prominently displayed?  This occurs quite often in movies such as James Bond movies-- his famous Ashton  Martin sports car, cell phones, ect.  It is pretty obvious the the movie studio is being paid for these "ads." I was watching the movie ET with my little brother last night.  There is a great scene where the little boy Elliot is trying to lure ET into meeting him with a trail of Reese's Pieces.  And the boy is successful.  What is so interesting is that the candy maker was willing to associate its product with this weird looking creature and such a lonely different sort of child. 
 
Eat Reese's Pieces and you too can meet an alien is a bit of a stretch. Eat Reese's Pieces and you too can be a reclusive lonely little boy like Elliot. That is a bit of a stretch too. Think about how advertisers often pull their ads from controversial television or radio shows.  It cannot have been easy for the owners of the candy to associate themselves with an alien-- even a charming alien and a lonely not particularly well adjusted little boy.  But the owner of Reese's Pieces got the last laugh.  ET became one of the most successful movies of all time and Reese's Pieces still exists today.  ET made product placements cool.  It opened up a whole new arena for advertisers.  Had ET bombed or had Reese's Pieces sales plummeted maybe today we would not be bombarded with product placements in movies and television shows. 

UFC 2

 

I was watching The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 165 this weekend on pay per view.  The UFC has been around for over 20 years.  It is pretty mainstream now.  However, that was not always the case.  Take a look at this poster for UFC 2.  In bold capital letters the poster stresses that "THERE ARE NO RULES !"  The poster markets UFC 2 as "THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL EVENT OF THE DECADE."   The capital letters reinforce the sensationalism of the UFC.  The poster even contains a warning that the PPV event is not rated and contains violent material.  The poster is pandering to the prurient and graphic appetite of potential viewers. Much of the poster is black representing something dark, deviant and foreboding about the UFC event. 
 
The ad in many ways is quite deceptive.  There were plenty of rules in UFC 2, including no eye gouging, biting or strikes and kick to the groin area.  There was also a time limit on matches.  It is also hyperbolic to call UFC the most controversial event of the decade.  The UFC became a victim of its own outrageous marketing. Senator John McCain was almost able to shut down the UFC calling it the equivalent human cockfighting. The UFC was banned in a number of cities. It was  actually posters such as this one that raised the ire of politicians. Posters such as these kick simultaneously kick started the UFC and set it back almost a decade.