Week 5 EOC: Super Bowl Advertisement

Who?

This Super Bowl 2013 ad was for the Doritos brand. More specifically for their famous Nacho Cheese flavored Doritos.

What?

This commercial is about a little girl that wants her dad to play with her, and of all things, she wants to play dress up. At first he says no but then she brings out her "secret weapon," DORITOS! It automatically changes her dad's mind, he even takes it to the level of putting on makeup. The next scene shows his friends coming in and catching him. What is key about this scene is that he didn't even have to tell them why he was all dressed up, they knew exactly why, and so they all join in so that they can have a taste of the Doritos and ultimately they are all happy, well except the wife/mother.

Where?

This Doritos commercial is taking place in a family's house, but they only show one location which is the daughter's room.

When?

The scene is set in present time probably before or during football season because the father and his friends where all hyped up about playing football before they saw the Doritos bag. 

Why?

This ad is trying to show the audience that Doritos taste so good that you will do just about anything to get a little share of the bag. 

The reason why I like this ad was because of how the little girl got her dad to play with her. With this crazy, fast, and busy world their is not always that time or balance between work, family, and friends. This commercial showed that the dad really wanted to play football with his friends but instead ended up spending quality time with his daughter, and as a bonus he was also able to hang out with his friends and she got more people to play dress up with her. When I saw this commercial,it actually wasn't when it aired at the Super Bowl but just a few weeks ago, and it just made me laugh because of how cute it was that the father and his friends were not ashamed to play dress up and makeup to have some chips. 

Week 4 EOC: Role of Women in Contemporary Advertisements

"While demeaning ads were more omnipresent in the '50s and '60s, their modern counterparts can give vintage ads a run for their money."(1) Sexism in advertising has always been an issue but it seems like nowadays instead of advertisements not portraying women as equal to men it is exploiting women in a sexual way. But nonetheless something that hasn't changed from the 50s' to present time is that advertising is still showing women in an non-serious manner.

Positive:

This advertisement is depicting women in a good way, because it is addressing how women are viewed in today's world and it doesn't show any form of sexual content. Women have always been seen as just a "trophy" and this ad is telling women everywhere that they do not have to stand for that, they can be more then the stereotype that has been around for years. Women can be intelligent, assertive, persuasive, strong, hard working, just as men have been viewed all this time. 

Negative:

This is an American Apparel Advertisement that of course is less provocative then most of their ads but still in a sense depicts a women in a negative way. Most of American Apparels ads are far out there, shocking, and if I may say like a porn ad. Instead of putting the focus on the clothes they decided to catch people's eyes by having their models show sexual and nudity content. You probably wouldn't even realize that this advertisement above is actually an ad for shoes. They have pulled the attention towards the two models and what they are doing, instead of what the are actually selling, and that is how the present all of their advertisements. "The latest ads on the retailer’s [American Apparel] website show various women disrobed whilst donning the retailer’s staple garments, but disrobed to the point that instead of observing the clothes one is instead observing the model’s buttocks and breasts. Which brings the assertion that what the line has in essence done is to present these women as soft porn objects du jour."(2) In the 50s and 60s women were shown in the form of sexism, they were shown as being nothing else but good for cleaning, cooking, taking care of the children, and looking pretty. Now, fast forward to the present day, the advertising industry has taken it to a new level but still in a sense has kept that women are only good for looking pretty to sell products. "'As a professional working woman, I find this kind of ad focus very offensive,' said Roberta Shulman, president of Women in Advertising and Marketing, an industry group in the Washington, D.C., area. 'Women have worked very hard to be taken seriously. These kind of ads go back to denigrating women, making them sex-symbol objects. We're beyond that.'"(3)

Citations: 

1) These Modern Ads are Even More Sexist than Their 'Mad Men' Era Counterparts. Retrieved on October 23, 2013 from http://www.businessinsider.com/these-modern-ads-are-even-more-sexist-than-their-mad-men-era-counterparts-2012-4

2) American Apparel back to Exploiting Women. Retrieved on October 23, 2013 from http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2012/04/american-apparel-back-to-exploiting-women/ 

3) The Media Business: Advertising; Gianni Versace raises eyebrows, and hackles, in The New Yorker. Retrieved on October 23, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/25/business/media-business-advertising-gianni-versace-raises-eyebrows-hackles-new-yorker.html

Week 3 EOC: Tobacco Advertisements

    1. Determine the scenario: What happens in this frame?

         In this advertisement the tobacco company, Philip Morris is trying to relate its new product to the feeling a mother has for her new born child.

    2. What is the setting? What are the conditions?

        The setting of this advertisement is meant to show an intimate and special moment between a mother and her child. They want to show its customers that a child is to its mother as a cigarette is to its customer, and that it is a special relationship.

    3. Who are the people or groups?

         The people in the advertisement are a mother and her new born child.

    4. What is their point of view around this specific experience?

        Philip Morris point of view on their new product is that it is a softer gentler taste then their other products.

    5. What are their goals?

        Their goals are to satisfy its customers in a new why. They want them to "enjoy the gentle pleasure, the fresh unfiltered flavor, of this new cigarette, born gentle, then refined to special gentleness in the making."

    6. What are their assumptions? What are their perceptions?

         Philip Morris assumption to their new product is that it will satisfy you and create a strong emotional relationship between you and your cigarette.

    7. Are there conflicts? Is there cooperation?

         The conflict of this advertisement is that the company compared their product to a mother and her healthy new born child. Another conflict that this advertisement portrays is that it is okay for parents to smoke around their children let alone their new born children.

    8. What are the outcomes?

            Back in 1956, when this advertisement was launched it wasn’t uncommon to smoke in front of your children and then hug them. Smoking back then wasn’t as restricted as it is now and the people in the 50s weren’t really informed about the health problems associated with smoking cigarettes. So this advertisement wasn’t much of a shock back then, but when people see it now we consider it wrong and unethical.

This is an advertisement that I found to be unethical. Ralph Lauren used this model in its advertisements but the ad on the left was Photoshopped wrongly. It portrayed the model to look as if she had an eater disorder. It showed that the brand Ralph Lauren supports the stereotypes of the fashion industry, that all models don't eat. Although models are skinny it doesn't mean they don't eat. The fashion industry is trying to fight against this reputation that it accumulated over the years and this so called "mistake" on Ralph Lauren's behalf is not helping in the least. The editors of this advertisement said that they didn't realize how distorted they had made the model look, but I think that that was untrue. How can you not realize this distortion?! Plus don't advertisements pass many eyes before it is published or launched so how come no one pointed out this problem before it went into the public eye?

Week 2 EOC: Health Insurance

For the pass few weeks there have been tons of debates and concerns about the health care laws that will be taken into effect for 2014. “The new healthcare law means that next year everyone in the country will be required to have health insurance or pay a fine. Those with private insurance, however, aren't required to sign up, and those on Medicare or Medicaid will not have to change their coverage.”(1) What is the purpose of the new healthcare law that will come into effect? "The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands access to coverage to millions of Americans, a goal health plans have long supported, but major provisions will raise costs and disrupt coverage for individuals, families, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries."(2) With all of the different emotions and opinions on this subject it is hard to say if making health insurance mandatory is the right thing to do or not. Many will say that it is unconstitutional because it is basically forcing us to buy something that we don’t want. On the other hand we all need health insurance whether we need it right at the moment, a few days from now, or within a few years, it will at least give us a safety blanket if we ever should need it. So with the rise in the concern about health insurance in America, insurance companies are have become very interested in appealing to the younger crowds. Problem is that many young people don't believe that they need health insurance yet because they are so young. How will the ACA help young adults? “Before the President signed the Affordable Care Act into law, many health plans and issuers could remove adult children from their parents' policies because of their age, whether or not they were a student or where they lived. The Affordable Care Act requires plans and issuers that offer dependent coverage to make the coverage available until the adult child reaches the age of 26. Many parents and their children who worried about losing health insurance after they graduated from college no longer have to worry.”(3) In order to appeal to them companies must have deals that will eventually benefit them for when they get older or benefit them in present time, such as if a customer doesn't have to use the coverage for around 3 months they will be credited a certain amount of money back that they pay to be covered by their insurer. This could really help appeal to the younger generations because they will have the safety of being covered if anything should ever happen, and if they don't have to use the insurance they can be credited with a percentage of their money back, to go towards what ever they would like. This approach will be very effective because young adults are just starting out in the world trying to keep steady jobs and pay bills, so if they are able to earn a little cash back it will definitely help them out a lot.

Citations:

1) Understanding What the New Healthcare Law Means for You. Retrieved on October 9, 2013 from http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/25/20695336-understanding-what-the-new-healthcare-law-means-to-you?lite 

2) Affordable Care Act. Retrieved on October 9, 2013 from http://www.ahip.org/Issues/Affordable-Care-Act/ 

3) Young Adults and Affordable Care Act: Protecting Young Adults and Eliminating Burdens on Businesses and Families. Retrieved on October 9, 2013 from http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-dependentcoverage.html

Week 1 EOC: Voice

What is fashion? Well many people may just say clothing, shoes, or accessories, but fashion is more than that. As a creator within this field I have interpret my own meaning of fashion. Fashion is the power to say or feel without words. It’s the first impressions when you are seen across the room or through a window of a restaurant. It’s how you are able to portray your feelings or mood. It’s confidence, personality, creativity, and it’s your voice without the motion of your mouth, eyes, or hands. It should be considered a form of body language since, just by looking, you are able to see how a person is feeling today: timid, shy, confident, excited, serious, depressed, sexy, daring. As a shy person I have always used fashion as a way to show my personality and to stand out. It helps me speak without the use of words. Fashion…although it does deals with clothing, shoes, and accessories it has a much deeper meaning, that only a few can see, and I am proud to be a part of that few. But most of all I am proud to be able to inspire and help contribute to this powerful form of voice.

Week 1 EOC: Volkswagen Lemon

 After winning WWII this advertisement by Volkswagen was a complete shock for many. First off Volkswagen, a German car company got their advertisement done by Doyle Dane Bernbach, a Jewish company. Weird Right? Well it was a great move! That ultimately changed the way people all over the world looked at advertising. Secondly, this car was trying to appeal to Americans, which would sound a bit strange, especially since we had just went through a war with Germany and all the strings that are attached to that. But with the power of smart and creative advertising, Volkswagen was able to bypass all of the mixed emotions and sell many of their cars and gain loyalty. How you may ask? Well “while the Detroit Auto market was designing large cars with many accessories, the Volkswagen Beetle remained familiar in its simplicity. Echoed in the campaign for the car, DDB utilized a minimalist approach to selling that related to the reader on a personal level. Inspector Kurt Kroner is looking out for you, the car buyer, not a faceless corporation imploring you to spend more, but a company that has people rejecting cars for something as minor as a hairline scratch in the windshield. The ad relates to the consumer that Volkswagen is held to a higher standard than other automobile producers, in doing so, successfully selling the Beetle.”(1) This was a big change for all companies; Volkswagen brought a face to its company, and one that showed that they actually cared for its customers and not just their money. “The Volkswagen ad campaign—featuring such headlines as “Think Small” and “Lemon” (which were used to describe the appearance of the car)—ushered in the era of modern advertising by promoting a “position” or “unique selling proposition” designed to associate each brand with a specific idea in the reader or viewer’s mind.”(2) This car showed its value, that it was strong, durable, small but spacious at the same time, simple, and uniquely shaped. The advertisers also grabbed the attention of its American audience by calling their ad “Lemons,” you usually would associate a car with lemons and the advertisers knew this and knew it would catch wondering eyes. “This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. (It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.) We pluck the lemons; you get the plums.”(3)

1) Lemon. Writing For Designers. Retrieved on October 2, 2013 from

http://www.writingfordesigners.com/?p=1731

2) Lemon, Copy Ad. Retrieved on October 2, 2013 from

http://www.powerwriting.com/vw-lemon-ad.html

3) Think Small or how the way we make ads was changed forever. Retrieved on October 2, 2013 from http://lifeincmyk.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/think-small-or-how-the-way-we-make-ads-was-changed-forever.../