Toblerone

Toblerone is one of the worst candies on the market, but today in class we had to come up with a social media campaign to get our consumers involved. Specifically, it was the new sweet and salty candy bar and it was during the holiday season.

What we thought of was the three social media sites - Instagram, Vine, and twitter.

For instagram we thought that you could share your #tobleronemoment. People that shared the story that made us laugh the most would win a prize of being in our print ads or winning cash and a bunch of Toblerone.

For example, this guy could submit this and say "Me buying my favorite candy. Even though my dad ate the WHOLE THING #tobleronemoment"

Another example are these two funny guys, the caption might be "My homeless friend lost a bet and gave me the only thing he owned. Winning. #tobleronemoment"

And lastly i'll use this as an example or how creative people could get with this. The caption might say something like "Opened my candy bar and got cement. What an unexpected Christmas gift from Toblerone. #tobleronemoment"

Not only can people share this with instagram or make video with vine, but to share on twitter also. We wanted to make the focus on this one campaign but our consumer would be able to share on these three social media sites. We talked about focusing on the new flavor or just toblerone in general but decided that focusing on the old classic toblerone would be more successful. Since we are opening up the door for people to buy the toblerone they originally loved, they would see the sweet and salty new flavor next to it and in turn would create awareness about this new product. Which is what we wanted all along.

Interruptive Advertising

We have all heard annoying advertisements. Interruptive advertisements are those ads that just can't get out of our head. Companies make themselves known thorough continuous radio, TV, or billboard ads that are just constantly reoccurring throughout our week. Yes this type of advertisements helps get a name out there but it may not set a positive image of a company with the customer.

For Head On, it succesfully got this migraine treatment out there. "HEAD ON APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD." Everybody knew this annoying slogan that other commercials even began making spoofs of it.

USA reports that this commercial  led to a number of parodies appearing on Youtube and it has become an internet sensation. Make magazine has even made it a ringtone. And this commercial was even parodied in the film Disaster Movie.

Is this success? Head on did make a name for itself through this one sentence. But people would still buy Advil over Head On, so I don't consider these types of advertisements successful at all. 

I believe brands have and products have to make a name for themselves through legitimate techniques. This type of annoying advertising is too old fashioned for today's consumer. Rather than repitiotion brands should set up an image of themselves through the actual product. Like if it works and such (for example, there is no evidence that Head On works - people just bought to make fun of it). TV is a whole different type of advertisement from radio, and a lot of radio ads have to rely on this type of technique. With TV brands can set up this image without this repetition. So I believe that setting an image is much more successful that these annoying advertisements.

Some examples of my favorite campaign from Levis - Go Forth

DON'T YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

Extra Credit - Got Ethics?

What makes advertising ethical? There is no clear cut definition.

At this symposium, moderator Matt Cabot brought up four commercial examples and questioned their ethics. The first one was about a stoner "loaded" on jack in the box, then a pharmaceutical commercial selling depression medication, followed by a Superbowl commercial using sex to sell Mercedes, and a Groupon commercial making an gruesome reference to Tibet. What makes these ethically questionable? It's not like these types of advertisements are new to America. If anything, these types of advertisements have been embedded into our society and can be considered normal.

John De la Cruz brought up the point that "advertisers have the responsibility to behave ethically". I don't believe that we should question what type of advertising is ethical and how ethical advertisers are being, but rather question whether advertising as a whole is ethical.

Micheal Llewellyn-Williams said you should never be afraid of advertising, if somebody wants to part with their money it's their choice. They can tune out, it's background noise. They could say, "thanks for letting me know about your product but it's my decision".

And I couldn't disagree with this statement any more than I already do.

Advertising is everywhere, it may seem like background noise, but it's not. It's hardwired into our lifestyle and our consumer culture. "These messages promote not only products, but moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important."  Exposure to this media is what makes up what our culture values today whether we realize it or not.

TV and Radio Ad Workshop - Toilet Roll

The Toilet Roll iPod Docking Station, the perfect gift for any mom in a rush! We decided to make our this docking station the perfect housewarming present and wanted to advertise how fun it is and how much families enjoy this. Since our target market was to make this the perfect gift, we wanted to focus our advertising on gifting this item. Both advertising mediums we used are similar in that way.

RADIO SCRIPT

RADIO

SOUND: Clacking of footsteps and knocking on door. Creak of door opening.

WOMAN NEIGHBOR: Welcome to the neighborhood!”

MAN NEIGHBOR: We’re your next door neighbors and we brought you a housewarming gift!

LADY IN HOUSE: *screams* It’s the new toilet roll ipod docking station! This will be the perfect accessory to my bathroom!

WOMAN NEIGHBOR: you can listen to your music while you’re showing, cleaning, or even doin' your business (says cheerfully)

LADY IN HOUSE: Thank you so much my husband will install it right now! *slams door*

SOUND: Music blasting in background and toilet flushing at same time

NARRATOR: The perfect product for anyone

TV

Scene of teenage girl on toilet texting, she gets up and flush and then drops phone in toilet and shes screams

CUT TO NEW SCENE

Young boy in family is sitting on the toilet playing angry birds, he gets up and flushes and the phone drops in toilet and he groans in frustration.

CUT TO NEW SCENE

Old man dad is reading the paper on his iPhone and he drops it in the toilet, he shouts out "This is the third time this week!"

Mom rushes to the bathroom and asks "what happened?"

Old man dad says "it happened again!!!!!"

Mom says "it’s not going to happen again, now that our neighbors got us a toilet roll iPod docking station!"

CUT TO NEW SCENE

Different cut scenes of each individual family member bobbing head to music with the iPod on it's toilet docking station.

Pushing Creative Boundaries

Catching the attention of audience is difficult, especially when ignoring advertisements become second nature to us. 

But there are some advertisements that challenge the status quo.

When browsing creative ads, I came across Martor Solingen's razor blade ads in Germany. These advertisements show the razor blade billboard and objects underneath cut in half. Which is insinuating that this razor blade is so sharp, it cuts objects like pigeons and boulders in half. (I bet Peta doesn't approve of trying this at home.)

This picture doesn't only show the objects and advertisement, but it shows that people are stopping and interacting with this ad which is what really makes Martor Solingen's campaign work. Any advertisement is just an advertisement until it evokes an emotion with an individual. Whether it be sadness, curiosity, or happiness, an emotion is a strong thing to associate with a company and it is also a challenging thing to do.

I believe Martor Solingen did an amazing job of not only evoking curiosity but also laughter with their ads. This made this campaign stick out from all the rest. What creates a successful advertisement is one that's memorable and has a lasting impact on customers. The best advertisements are something you can't be indifferent to, what makes this ad prosper is the consumer. Martor Solingen did half the work by creating this fascinating ad, but the consumer did the other half of the work by the way they reacted. By sending, sharing, and even making double takes at this ad, this razor blade company made itself memorable. 

Sticking to the memory of the consumer is what makes an advertisement succeed. Customers will now think of Martor when purchasing razor blades and they will associate terms like "sharp" with these blades. Through creating good schema these creative ads work well.

And that's what makes an advertisement successful.

Trendy Typewriters

What college student doesn't want a typewriter. They're affordable, trendy, convenient  and the ultimate cool conversation starter.

For our campaign, we decided to focus on the cool factor of typewriters rather than the fact that they're cheap. We have a campaign focusing on the generation-to-generation aspect of owning this timeless, vintage piece. Your grandparents used it, have stories, and now you can use it and create your own.

We decided on three mediums to use for this "passing-down" campaign.

The first one is - TV:
The first scene is a grandfather in his younger years. We will probably edit this in black in white while we give the actors a 1920's feel. This young grandfather is typing vigorously on this typewriter to quickly finish a paper. After he is done, the scene cuts to him running to class. Once he enters, he is out of breath and slams the paper on the desk. His professor looks him in the eye and gives him a small grin, he says "Congrats son, this is the last paper of your college career. You're ready to graduate". Then the young grandpa, has a sigh of relief and burst of excitement before the cut to the next scene. '40 years later' text appears and the scene fades into the next with a match on action with the face of the young grandpa with the old, so you know it's the same man but just aged. The grandpa is holding a typewriter, he holds it out to a young man in his late teens. He says "Here grandson, this helped me graduate from college and I hope it does that for you too."

FIN.

After telling this emotional commercial to our professor John De la Cruz, he shared a story about his friends typewriter to us. Then the light bulb in my head went off!

Next media outlet - social media:
It seems that everyone has a story with their typewriter. Whether is be how it got passed down to them, how it wrote a love letter to a girlfriend who then became a wife, or if it stayed up with them all night writing papers. We wanted to use Facebook and create a page where everyone can share their various stories of their typewriters. This is by far my favorite aspect to the campaign.

Lastly we have our billboard images:
I didn't want there to be endless information about the product but instead wanted a simple picture of a typewriter, since everyone knows what they are anyways. This simple picture will remind kids that these old contraptions still exist but with a new spin. At the bottom, the saying "vintage is the new modern" or "share your story" will be typed in a typewriter font. We just want short and simple sentences to be on our posters.

The typewriter lives on.

Nostalgia

When someone thinks back on their childhood, they remember the good times. Nostalgia marketing uses these good thoughts and images to their advantage. When we grew up we have certain images that stick out to us like maybe Mr. Bubbles bubble bath soap or pizza rolls. If we loved these things a long time ago, they have an attachment to us therefore we’re more likely to buy into these brands and items. Instead of being a just a product, these items engraved themselves into our past memories. This is a pretty smart way for advertisers to target customers but it has its advantages and disadvantages.

A major perk that nostalgia marketing incorporates is consumer loyalty. You could be loyal to a brand without nostalgia, yes, but this type of marketing creates a much more powerful bond with a product. Creating a lifelong consumer is one of the one of the greatest achievements a company could make. This type of marketing relies on good schema.

A disadvantage of this marketing is, if you’re trying to market an older product, maybe “older isn't better”. Consumers may not relate a product with good memories but instead bad ones. I think creating a good schema for a product is the key to having a successful nostalgia marketing technique.

Since this type of marketing may not work for all products. You have to know your target audience. For products such as converse or mini, I may be too young to understand all the references in their advertisements even though they are intended for me. Let's take converse for example, many people my age do not know Sid Vicious because we did not grow up listening to the Sex Pistols (instead we grew up with Lady Gaga and Britney Spears which is sad and I could write a whole new blog post about how that is a terrible thing, but I won't). Converse uses Sid's rebellious demeanor to sell converse but if the consumer does not fully understand who he is, this type of advertising may not work. 

Another way nostalgia marketing could not work is when they company changes the product in a way consumers do not like. This happened when KDD changed their ice cream to Blitz. Consumers had so much negative backlash and the company went under fire.

There is no doubt that nostalgia marketing is successful but companies should just understand some disadvantages.

Jeep Patriot for the Elders

Selling jeep to an older audience is a little more difficult than selling to an outdoorsy kid in their twenties. We wanted to incorporate the fact that Jeeps have a lot of safety, gas mileages, and affordability perks to offer to older folks. Models like the Wrangler and Cherokee wouldn't work well for this target audience.

Not only did we wanted to focus on the fact that these cars have a of of features but that they are also suitable for adventures. Elders have a lot of spare time so this age group would be perfect for those types of "off-course" life adventures.

We decided to pick the Jeep Patriot model of Jeep. This model gets the best gas mileage (30 mpg) and has won the award of the best priced SUV in America. It starts at around $16,000 for the 2013 model which is a good point because although elders have money to spend, they don't have a lot of it.

For our commercial we thought of a very basic advertisement. We didn't want to be too showy or creative with this ad. For the advertisement we wanted an older man to be driving in natural terrain while an announcer states all the perks and safety features. The off-road terrain will showcase this cars durability and performance. At the end of the commercial we thought of a slogan like "Jeep. Perfect for life's small detours."

And for print ad we thought of the same thing. A basic ad listing all the features. We found one online that is similar to what we had in mind.

And this is what our campaign looks like!

Harley Davidson

Yes I feel like brand communities like Harley Davidson result in greater involvement in the brand. These communities make the brand like Harley a lifestyle and encourages involvement. Through this involvement and community feeling Harley is able to associate themselves with an 'experience 'and 'group'. No other bike brand is able to do this and this community Harley Davidson formed makes their consumers are loyal to their brand.

The posse ride was a brilliant idea for Harley to promote, even if it was expensive. The experience that these consumers associate with Harley is very important. I believe the fact that this group travels as one, is a point that enhances the meaning of "Harley". They get their passport signed for every check point they reach so I believe that this ride promotes adventure with your Harley and an American type of freedom only felt when you're on your bike. Also, this article states something about a "no whining clause" in a document these riders have to sign. This aspect is promoting that Harley Davidson is a tough brand and if you're not tough, you can't ride. Through this posse ride Harley is selling a brand image and it's a fact that their image is very strong.

I believe that Harley's interference with the ride is enough already. The fact that this ride is not laced with promotions and advertisements is what makes this more of an experience with Harley rather than a promotion event. Harley's fans are already loyal to them so they don't need any more brand awareness than they already have.

The posse ride is a brilliant experience and a great way to get community involvement. I believe they should have more real life promotions like this rather than TV advertisements or social media. These riders already know the brand, plus they're in their older years so hashtagging Harley on twitter or Instagram wouldn't be as successful as a real experience like this one.

Tide - Day in the Life

The alarm clock rings at 7am, but the snooze button is hit until 7:45. Amy has to get to work at 8:30 so she is frazzled as she rushes to get ready. She grabs clothes without much thought and smells them to make sure they're clean. Mmm smells like tide.

She gets to work in her Honda which gets great gas mileage. Her car is green because it's her favorite color. She works at a tech company that is up and coming. People say this company is going to rival Apple, shes a graphic design artist. She brought her eco bottle of water to work and also brought blackberries to snack on at her desk. For lunch, she brought leftover Indian food but then spills some on her pants. Good thing she uses tide, so that stain will not be there for long.

She's off of work at 4pm. She has time to go to the gym like she usually does but decides shes going to skip it that day and heads home because she has plans. When gets back to her small apartment, she searches for some clean clothes and realizes she has none. She throws a load into the washer along with her Indian stained pants, and takes a shower in the mean time. She uses natural dove body wash and head and shoulders shampoo. She suffers from sensitive skin, and tide understands her struggle. When she is clean and her clothes are clean. She gets ready and uses makeup she bought from target. She just uses blush and some mascara, it must be nice to be naturally beautiful. As she gets ready she listens to Joy Division and the Smiths. 

At 7pm she gets a knock on her door and it's the boy she met at yoga. They go out to dinner at a new vegetarian restaurant since she doesn't eat meat. They love the food. Too bad she's not feeling the guy. He arrived with a stain on his pants anyways. She figures he doesn't use Tide.

She comes home, falls asleep in her bed at 10 pm. She cuddles with her pillow with a big inhale full of fresh linen. Thank you Tide.

Consumer Behavior - Product That Failed

Remember this delicious yogurt? Odds are you probably don't.

The same magazine that gives seductive sex tips to young women also decided to give it a go in the dairy business back in 1999. This attempt was a total failure. Their logic to selling this yogurt was "sex sells" and "Cosmo is sex" therefore, "Cosmo can sell anything". Which wasn't the case when this yogurt was discontinued within 18 months of being put on the shelves.

Cosmopolitan seemed to have viewed their target customers behavior all wrong. The consumers attitude of this company has already been made before this launched. Cosmopolitan is a sexy magazine and their customers purchase this magazine because they know their interests. This sexy, seductive image doesn't transfer nicely into the yogurt business and that's where Cosmo went wrong.

Cosmo already has an image that their consumers perceive already and transferring this image to yogurt can make someone go "ew". Even if Cosmo yogurt was made to do some dirty things, it was higher priced than some named brand yogurts on the shelves next to them. Cosmopolitan was trying to go for "sophisticated" and "classy" but these two things don't transfer over to the yogurt business. A majority of the population wants regular, healthy yogurt and that wasn't even a selling point Cosmo made with their consumers.

If Cosmo really wanted to get into selling yogurt, I believe they should have done it differently. They should not have used their whole name (Cosmopolitian) on the packaging because consumers familiarize this name with raunchy sex tips. Instead they might have went for Cos-gurt or something healthier to name this product. Also instead of selling sex with this yogurt they should have created other selling points to their consumers like that it’s healthy and has sexy strawberries in it. or something like that.

Their target market was wrong from the beginning. Their logic was wrong. Thinking their sex driven consumers would purchase this product was completely wrong too.

Although the guys and girls of Cosmo HQ are not laughing about this failure, it is amusing to look back at and wonder "what was Cosmo thinking"?

Green Peace

Green Peace is a group which investigates and exposes those who are responsible for an “environmental crime”. They take action against these wrong doers and campaign for a “greener, more peaceful and equitable world”.

Right now they have three main campaigns: protecting ancient forests, protecting our oceans, and stopping global warming. On their website under these campaign descriptions, they have links describing how they help and how you can get involved with the cause. This simple user interface is important, because people find what they're looking for with ease and stay on Green Peace’s webpage.

Green Peace is also involved with social media too. On their homepage there is a huge “like us on facebook” text so people can spread the word that way. Green Peace also has a twitter but does not advertise it as much as their facebook page.

They also have a special section dedicated to journalists and press. They have a bunch of images and videos that journalists can use. The website makes it easy for journalists and media to get these stories and spread the word.

One fun thing that this company did was when they used social media to express their dislike for VW. The posted things on their blog and Facebook to make fun of VWs advertisments. At the time VW did not sign an tighter emissions document even though they stated they were an environmentally friendly company. Green Peace called them out and used social media to show their supporters. Through Green Peace’s pressure, VW eventually agreed to tighter emission standards.

Overall, Green Peace uses this social media wisely. These media outlets work to their advantage and they are able to spread their cause more efficiently.

Gender Neutral Playhouse Workshop

versus

In class today, we viewed a commercial for a playhouse specifically made for girls. It contained a kitchen and additional add-ons like laundry machines and a vacuum. In the background, there was a little girls singing a song about how they love to clean and cook. We were told to make up with a gender neutral version of this girls play kitchen/home. Our idea of an ad for this commercial went a little something like this.

It starts with kids running in the backyard, all of them run to the Dream Home. (We wanted to make the name of the house more gender neutral).

Both boys and girls sing about how they like to play pretend in their toy home. Instead of girls singing about how much they love chores. We wanted to extenuate how they help each other rather than having the girls do all the housework. The lyrics might go a little something like this -"We like to work together. We both play a part. We like to work together. Let's start start start!"

Instead of having pinks and pastel colors, we decided the colors can be geared towards both genders and we'll make it more of just a kitchen where cooking is the main objective, rather than doing chores.

The commercial ends with both the boys and girls cleaning up their mess, in harmony!

Gender Stereotypes

"Is advertising guilty of creating gender imbalances in society or does it simply mirror social attitudes?"

That is the moral question one must answer when talking about gender stereotypes in advertising. Girls are known to wear pink and boys are known to wear blue. That's just the way society views gender roles. I believe that the advertising industry uses these generalizations to their advantage. In a way they are just mirroring society's views, but by doing this they're also making these views a social norm, and in turn indirectly supporting gender imbalances. These two things come hand in hand.

But I believe that when advertisers make hurtful, demeaning generalizations, that's when gender stereotyping becomes a problem. There are a few woman stereotypes that are used often in the media, and the irony of them being a joke does not make it okay.

Sexism in older ads are more predominant, but can still be seen in some today. A ritualization of subordination advertisement by Dolce and Gabbana is shown below.

But there is a lot more to understanding sexism in advertisements. According to Katherine Frith, there's the surface meaning, the advertisers intended meaning, and the cultural/ideological meaning. These ads can be interpreted in different ways depending on the person. An ad could be offensive depending on the individual. Most of the time the advertisers intended meaning does not equal the surface meaning seen by the viewer. Let's use Katherine analysis on this Dolce ad above.

 The advertisers intended meaning may be clear or unclear, for this Dolce ad it isn't as clear as other. Personally I believe this is supposed to be sexual. The men are looking at her with desire (maybe because shes wearing Dolce) The advertiser is trying to express that Dolce and Gabanna creates desire, but the way she is position and outnumbered creates a whole new meaning. Especially in a cultural context. 

This is a case in which the advertisers message got scrambled in it's delivery. Which is done very often.

Nowadays, I believe the gender roles are being more challenged than they have been in the past although there are still examples of these stereotypes still existing whether companies intend them to or not. 

The Misfits - Stereotypes in TV shows

One of my favorite shows would probably have to be The Misfits. It doesn't originate here in America so I watch it on Hulu.com when I need some good UK sitcom in my life. Non-American shows are just better than ours, and I'm not just saying that to get a good grade from my professor who's from the UK.

In this show, there are five “juvenile delinquents” that gain superpowers in a storm, and get in a bunch of difficult situations like teenagers usually do. I did not even think about the race of these kids until now, since they are all diverse. Their race doesn't have anything to do with the “trouble-maker” role they are trying to express. The TV show also has an array of different characters and races in general and I found that there is no predominant race or gender.

Although this series has a racially diverse cast, when I deeper thought about this I noticed that they do use some stereotypes in this show.

Curtis is the dominant example of a stereotype in this show. He is African American and in this series, he was a Olympic status athlete. Curtis' character represents the "all-black-guys-are-good-at-sports" stereotype and especially since he is a runner.

Another stereotype of a main character in this show is Alisha's character. She is portrayed as the beauty, and is often sexualized in this show. I believe she portrays the woman that everyone wants, and has the lack of brains at the same time. When you get deeper into the season, you realize she not just a beautiful face but that there is more to her.

I actually believe that this show does a wonderful job at bending gender and ethnic roles, for example  the "bad-guy" in the first season is actually a woman! But the two examples above is the only time I noticed The Misfits use race and gender stereotypes.

It's important for shows to be sexually and ethnically diverse because they break the negative stereotypes that are sometimes places on race and gender. Even though this is a show from the UK, I believe America TV shows are breaking stereotypes more often and as we progress it should continue in that direction.

Stereotyping in Advertsing

Stereotyping is everywhere. Although our society has come a long way from negative stereotypes, they still exist here in America.

I believe it's not wrong for advertisers to stereotype. A lot of the time these stereotypes are not offensive and are used to get a point across. Some are even hilarious. Whether we know it or not, it's in our human nature to stereotype other people. You can say "no stereotyping is wrong I never stereotype" but the reality is, we all do it.

Some examples of this are when we're driving and somebody cuts us off, someone might just assume they're Asian. Or if a white lady is carrying a Louis Vuitton bag someone might just assume shes snooty, rich, and thinks she is better than somebody else. Another example is when a Mexican doesn't speak English well or at all. Most of our society would believe that person is uneducated and crossed the border. We all do it, and all psychologists know it's in human nature to make generalizations about objects and people.

I'm not saying all stereotypes are true, but these advertisers want to make their product more identifiable to their target market and sometimes they use these racial or gender generalizations to do so. I believe there is a difference between generalization of certain people and offensive stereotypes. Companies should stay away from any demeaning towards a certain group of people, but I believe other harmless stereotypes are okay.

Advertisements have come a long way since the past. There are a lot of old ads that depict African-Americans as servants or women as housewives. We don't have that here in America anymore, I believe that racism in advertising is a thing of the past. Now whenever individuals have a problem with an advertisement, the company usually complies and takes it down. I don't believe there is a huge problem with racism in advertising today.

Since these companies and advertisements are in the public eye, I believe they do have a responsibility and they can't be offensive. Technically they can be just as offensive as they want, but if the public views them in a negative way they won't buy their products. I love to use the United Colors of Benetton as perfect example of this. They did whatever they wanted with their advertisements and many people found them offensive. In turn, the sales of their sweaters declined and they are not the company they were 20 years ago.

Overall, companies should stick to positive stereotypes. If advertisements end up being sexist or raciest it is not only hurtful but is bad for the company too.

Three Different Awesome Ads - Semiotics

Print Ad:

I actually never saw this ad in print, but instead found it on the internet. I believe it's cute and simple, while it seamlessly gets the point across. The chicken and the egg are iconic symbols; the chicken is there to symbolize lunch while the egg is there to symbolize breakfast. The connotation between these two symbols is hilarious, the chicken is shocked to see the egg, just like a someone who was smelling egg on someones breath would react. This reaction goes well with the slogan "don't let lunch meet breakfast". The myth of this ad is, that if you chew orbit gum after breakfast, your breath will not smell like egg but rather like that minty cool feeling you can observe by the ad's background.

Billboard Ad: This is another ad I have not seen personally but it is the most creative billboard ad I have witnessed. The denotation of this image is obviously the man ripping the billboard with his teeth. The connotation we perceive is that his teeth must be really strong to do that. I know my teeth couldn't personally do that. So the association between denotation and connotation is that, this toothpaste in the corner of the ad is made to build strong teeth just like their slogan says. I believe this was a great use of the slogan and overall photograph the ad has.

Commercial Ad: The semiotics of this ad are a little more difficult to point out, and there don't seem to be any symbols in this ad, but ever since I watched the Superbowl I could not appreciate any other commercial as much as I love this one. The denotation of this ad is the apparent goat eating Doritos all day long. The connotation of this ad is that these Doritos are so good not only do humans love them, but goats love them so much that it's a problem. The myth surrounding this ad is that these chips are just too damn good. Period

What a Brand Actually Is

A product is just a product, until a brand makes it an "experience".

A brand is not just a product, but it instead sells a type of lifestyle and quality with the name. When it comes to food labels, people are willing to spend more on the name brands than the generic brand, but why is that?

It's because as a society, we associate brands with quality. Companies like Heinz or Kraft advertise themselves as brands that have been there since your childhood instead of selling themselves as products that taste better or last longer. This "nostalgia" type of selling works. These brands don't use statistics saying they're better, but since we grew up with these brands with associate them with being of better quality.

Brands are one thing when it comes to food, but a completely different story when it comes to clothing or other brands. This is when the "lifestyle" aspect of a brand comes into play. 

Brands do what other generic clothing can't, along with their product they sell an "image". What I mean by that is that people will pay extra for a brand, to live the lifestyle they believe the brand fits.

Some examples:

Hurley is famous for being a surf sponsor  They sell beach-like apparel and when you buy their products you may feel like you're associating yourself with the surf/beach culture. This is a huge selling point for Hurley.

I'm not too familiar with Roca Wear but I know they sell an rapper inspired clothing, which can be seen through this ad. Look at this cool guy with three pretty ladies in a jet plane. Roca Wear sells to a more rap cultured audience and their brand sells that too.

This is the last example I'll talk about, Louis Vuitton. People pay over a grand for these designer handbags. Not only are people paying for the purse, but the high class lifestyle that goes along with it. When you carry a Louis, people know you cashed out big bucks for a purse. This high class lifestyle is what keeps brands like this going.

To sum it all up, people will interact with brands all their life. Brands set up an image for themselves and that's how they sell their products. Clothes are just pieces of fabric but a brand sets an image with those clothes. Ketchup is just ketchup but Heinz makes it Heinz Ketchup. 

Dietmar Dahmen

               

 I've always been hesitant to trust companies and technology, but when Dietmar Dahmen gave a presentation to our class about how much our society has progressed with technology and smart phones, his charisma almost believed it was a good thing.

                One point Dahmen made was that people are obsessed about being first and being current. Events that happened 10 minutes ago aren't interesting. Video games are now selling out before they even exist. The way information is getting to people is becoming faster, and while this helps keep our world connected, it also makes us more dependent on these technologies.

                Dahmen stated how we are a “generation connected” – which is a generation that thrives on using technology for communicating and distributing different types of information. But what I believe is that our generation is “too connected”.

 Dahmen made many points during his lecture, so for this post I'm going to focus on how cell phones impact us. Smart phones may help us navigate through the city and entertain us through boring lecture halls, but the way people are attached to their tech devices is unhealthy. Dahmen made the point that mobile devices are popular because they’re easy. You can check the weather with a click of a button while simultaneously checking what your friends are up to on your favorite social media site. Technology has crossed to line from being convenient, to becoming addicting.

People can’t turn off their phones; these devices are attached to every person out there. Teens are seen texting away or messaging each other on Facebook. There is an addictive quality to these tech items. When waiting in line or walking to class we have this need to cure our boredom or have the sense we’re doing something. So we reach for our smart phones. Although it may not seem like a big deal, this passive distraction helps people avoid the world and their problems. If people don’t have their phone with them, it can lead to anxiety and other issues. This generation is growing up with less and less face to face socializing, which I believe can lead to other issues that a psychologist could help distinguish.
Smart phones do come in handy yes, but sometimes people should give themselves a break from technology.



Below are some hilarious comics depicting my opinion.

My Initial Thoughts on Advertising

Advertising is abundant in the society we have today. People don’t realize they see advertisements and branding on a daily basis. We grew up with brand names and advertisements; this way of life is hardwired into our brains. Although there is a creative aspect to ads, I believe that advertisements in general are not a good thing.

One negative aspect to advertising is that it affects humans emotionally whether we realize it or not. For example, we see the pretty girl on TV with a tan complexion urging you to buy banana boats sunless tanner. This might trigger an emotional response in the viewer, the pretty girl might make your self esteem lower due to your pasty white skin, your un-airbrushed skin, or your itty bitty A-cups. These types of images are not healthy for young girls who are not confident in themselves or their bodies yet. These advertisements give a false sense of what beauty really is and that's exactly how they sell their products. These companies make people want to look perfect. People spend millions on beauty products. I believe these constant advertisements and images set our perception of what beauty should look like.

We all have had these moments of doubt. Am I skinny enough? Should I get that new iPhone so people know how on top of the technology trends I am? Advertisements aim to trigger these emotional responses so you will give in and buy their products. These companies are getting better and better at this manipulation, so good that we don’t even realize our decisions are being affected. Emotional responses are not the only way these big companies subdue you, but also through branding and referencing. 

Like for example, if you see your favorite TV show character drinking a coke all the time. Coke Cola then might become your favorite drink. Or maybe you watch the X-games all the time, and Mountain Dew is always the sponsor. You might think to yourself... "Wow Mountain Dew seems so extreme. That's all I'm going to drink because I'm extreme too." These sponsors and lifestyle molds are not accidental.  Companies want you to buy their products because you associate them with a certain life that you aim to obtain. (This is where branding takes place).

You may believe you overlook advertising but nobody does. It's everywhere and affects your decisions without you even realizing it. Which is why I personally, believe the negatives of advertising outweigh the positives.