Appropriate?

This ad is one of the ones shown by MTV in the past and has been banned. It may just be me personally, but when I saw this ad, at first I did not read the text, I simply focused directly in the image in the background which clearly is a picture of the twin towers in the midst of the 9/11 attack. But back to the ad, I do not see this ad as a smart, appropriate, or even the slightest bit mindful of what people (and our entire country) experienced during this hard time. I can definitely see why this ad was banned. I just think there were so many different ways in which MTV could've spread awareness of HIV and AIDS.

Ready to quit?

First of all the title "Ready to quit?" is an anecdote ... as this is the last posting.

Back to the Ad. We constantly see these kind of ads, they mainly advice us to stop smoking, over drink etc... But do they truly work?
I find this ad funny and compelling. It is a smart way to deliver a message but how efficient can humor be?
Feel free to comment on this.

The Power of Ads

It's interesting how ads evolved throughout the passage of time. Ads were first used for the consumers to identify the source but changed over time to be something much greater. From blogging, I realized how ads play a significant role - oftentimes reflecting societal values and views.

Before I decided to take this class, I always thought that I had a lot of power as a consumer. I mostly ignored ads, and so, I thought that I was the one making the rules.  But I realized that the power of ads wasn't always determined by its power of forcing people what to buy. Instead, the power of ads lies in its role of creating and/or enforcing societal values.

Every day, people see thousands of ads. With so many images, people can be influenced by the picture and the depiction of an ad. For instance, when teenage girls see many fashion models - thin and tall - in a fashion magazine, they may see them as the symbol of female beauty. Also, when people see images of cute, friendly mascots, they might associate the brand with inviting emotions. Overall, ads have significant power in determining societal norms and emotions.

Out of the blog posts, my favorite post would have to be one featuring the Nintendo 3DS. As an avid gamer, I realized how much the company tried to appeal to a broad audience by using famous celebrities. But by doing so, Nintendo alienated its true supporters. I personally don't watch television, but by participating in this blog post project, I realized how companies use questionable tactics in order to make more profits. As a whole, this blog project made me more aware of my role in the consumer culture.

How to get big like Spotify

 

Doesn't this advertisement have such a catchy tune that it makes you want to dance? But this isn't the only reason Spotify has become ever so popular among teens. 

Some great selling points:

1) It' s free!

2) There is no other comparable competitor.

3) Offers free 30 day trial of their paid premium service.

4) It has a high standing in social media outlets like Facebook. (free advertising)

5) Has a strong social aspect with sharing music between friends.

Offering free "teaser" trials have become a popular way to advertise their services with first hand experience that teaser the costumer into wanting the product. Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime also have these teaser trials where they charge you at the end of the trial monthly (making it easy to forget to cancel, and the price small enough not to care). But all these subscriptions add up after a year, is $10 a month ($100 a year) times three really worth it?

Give Thanks

        Looking back on all of the advertisements that have been posted on this blog, I noticed that not many were very positive. Many depict our culture as one that thrives on buying and buying and feeding the monster that is the consumer world. However true this may be, I want to point out that there are exceptions to this common thought. Therefore, I thought it would only be fitting to end my contribution to this blog on a positive note. This time of year, as crazy as it can be with all the shopping and cooking and the family reunions, is also meant to be a time to give thanks for all of the great people we have in our lives. It is meant to be a time to give thanks for all of the great things that have happen this year to us. The holidays are a time to be with those we love, to share and create joyful memories; nothing should be more important than that. This commercial by St. Jude reminds us to treasure the precious moments we share with our loved ones, as not many have the same privilege that we do.

       On a daily basis we take for granted the simplest forms of interactions that we have with those around us. Arguing with our parents because we are always on the phone or the computer or being screamed at for creating a mess in the house. The day to day interactions that we always take for granted are those that we often remember during troubling times. As this commercial stated, many parents whose child is a patient of St. Jude wish they could go through this daily routine. This commercial begs the viewer to reflect on the everyday blessings that he/she may have; for this reason I am always glad to see commercials done by St. Jude. They are the most innocent ones we have on our airways; this itself speaks volumes. The holidays are a time to give, so why not give to a good cause. I am proud to say that my parents are proud patrons for St. Jude. They know that their money is going to go somewhere that is actually needed. I too hope to one day give the St. Jude because it is a good cause. When almost every advertisement that we come across in our daily lives tells us to buy or splurge; it is nice to have one that encourages us to give to those that might not be as fortunate as us. So this holiday season, give thanks.

Political Advertisements: How Far is Too Far?

After our discussion in class about political advertisements, I wanted to see if today's political ads were just as uncalled for and vicious as ads used in previous years.
Considering this was an election year, it was fairly easy to find political advertisements relevant to today's issues. This one however completely shocked me, for it viciously attacks Mitt Romney by implicitly blaming him for a woman's death.
The ad, sponsored by Barack Obama, starts off with a man claiming that  Romney's plans to cut down a power plant directly affected his life. He states that once he lost his job, he could no longer afford health insurance. Because of this, he states that his wife hid the fact that she was seriously ill. It wasn't until the man himself saw that his wife was sick that he brought her to the hospital. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with stage four cancer and died twenty-two days after her diagnosis. Overall, the ad implicitly states that if Romney had not closed down the power plant, then this man would have been able to provide proper health care during the early stages of his wife's cancer. If this happened, he possibly could have saved her life.
I'm not saying this is a bad ad because it attacks Mitt Romney; I am personally not a fan of his and did not vote for him in this election for various reasons. Yet, I still think this ad crosses the morality line. Yes, it was horrible that Romney closed the power plant down. Still, stating that he caused someone's death, especially when it was done indirectly, gives the ad's audience a false impression of Romney. I know Romney is not a good candidate for President, but he is definitely not a murderer.
This ad specifically relates back to the flower girl ad presented in class Thursday. It attacks our need to nurture and protect. When I first saw this ad, I initially felt sorry for the man for losing his wife. After a second look, I realized that this ad is exaggerated and dramatized. Because of this, many are left stunned and angry at Romney for allowing this to occur. In reality, Romney probably didn't know this resulted until he saw the advertisement. Presidential candidates have much more to do than focus on individual accounts of loss. All in all, this ad pushes the envelope and I believe it could have carried the same message in a less extreme manner.

Pens for "Her"

I meant to post this a while ago, when I mentioned it in class, but it slipped my mind.  Here it is: Bic has produced a line of ballpoint pens specifically for women!!  I know that I, for one, have often found pens too masculine for my delicate fingers.

Seriously.

The comments on the Amazon page give me hope for humanity, though.  People are very very funny, and there's some great satire here.

The Scent of Shopping

Salon.com's Joel Smith writes in a recent column that a marketing research firm has isolated 11 specific scents that not only appeal to shoppers, but actually seem to affect how much we spend in a given store.  The scents have to be congruent with the store (so they wouldn't use a strong pine scent in a coffee shop, for instance), but when they match up well, they really work.  One part of the study went as follows:

Spangenberg and some colleagues set up camp at (you guessed it) a home-goods store in Switzerland to test two similar scents that had been determined to be equally pleasant, equally familiar to customers, equally subtle and equally congruent with the store. One was a simple orange scent; the other was a more complex blend of orange, basil and green tea.

In 18 days of testing, they found that those who made purchases at the store while it smelled simply of orange spent about 20 percent more. And not only 20 percent more than in unscented conditions, but 20 percent more than in the presence of the more complex scent.

In general I stray far far from stores with heavy scents.  I don't remember the last time I went in a Body Shop, for instance, because within a few minutes I feel like my head will explode.  But I do wonder if stores that use subtler scents like this might have an effect on me without my knowing it.

Disney Princess Secret Diary

This is a well organized commercial that shows all of the product's advantages clearly. The images catch our eyes, and the music and narrator catch our ears. And that's why commercials with background music often leave stronger impressions on audiences.
The nicely dressed girls also help: when little girls see this commercial with the pretty girls in it, they will automatically relate this product to beauty and fashion as well even though the product has nothing to do with beauty or fashion.
We can see from the commercial that this product is targeted at girls between 5 and 8. And here the problem comes: The product is supposed to help keep secrets, but what secrets do 5 year olds have? This product should be more useful to teenage girls, however, they are not what the commercial is targeted on. Teenage girls are too old for disney princesses.
That's why people say some advertisers always make the products' themes way inappropriate for their age use.

Aggression is cool

Initially I could not figure out what this commercial was advertising because the questions the man is asking are not related to a particular product. I feel as though this message of being the able to multitask and the most powerful is the tagline of a lot of cellphone companies who are competing to be the best. This does not set AT&T apart in my eyes and I think that this advertisement is just a lot of fluff that does not feature anything special. The beginning of this ad also vigorously promotes consumerism and capitalism by reinforcing that children should have or want two things when they really only need one.

The reason why they use children is obvious; AT&T is trying to instill the brand name so they can gain lifelong consumers. Children are also more likely to get their parents to buy the product, thereby gaining more consumers who may not have been affected by the ad. I think it is sad that the company is using children because the questions being asked are pretty aggressive for a young age group. I think there are other ways to show power besides violence, such as the power of intelligence, fame, or age. This ad seems to be showing that aggression is cool and children should want to be cool, which means the only way to accomplish this is by using AT&T phones--NOT cool.

Fabric Refresheners

Frebreze Commercial

Fabric "refresheners" have been on the market for quite a while, but I'm not sure why.

Oh, I get the concept--something smells bad, so bombard it with obnoxiously strong fragrance and the problem disappears. But I think that if something stinks it's because it's dirty, so the only solution that makes sense to me is to clean it or ignore it.

At the end of the day, "mom" is making the floor where her children play smell good. But at what cost? When the kids wake up they will still be playing on a soiled carpet AND they will also be rolling around in some stinky chemical residue. The better option would be to just let the kids play on a funky rug. Studies have shown that our obsession with cleanliness has led to weakened immune systems. We humans need to be exposed to pathogens in order to build up our defense mechanisms. 

Don't we love these kind of ads...

Personally these are my favorite ads. It is an instant attention grabber. It amuses the viewer and that is exactly what a marketer is looking for. After all, a big majority of the products we purchase made their way to our houses simply because the commercial or the packaging drove our attention.
Human beings are extremely curious. Therefore, using the ads above is a perfect way to satisfy their curiosity and thus eventually lead them to consume.

Microsoft Surface Ad-Art or Advertising?

The ad above promotes a new Microsoft tablet with a detachable keyboard. It does not contain any dialogue, just music and a minimalistic setting. I found the ad very aesthetically pleasing, since there is a perfect harmony between music and image. I can definitely see how dialogue would harm instead of complement the advertisement. I think that Microsoft has taken a risk by releasing this ad, since it can be perceived as an artwork, rather than product promotion. The play between light and dark, the attention to details such as water droplets and dust particles and the perfect synchrony of the music with chemical and physical phenomena are definitely beautiful and emphasize the elegance of the product. However the ad does not inform us about the actual qualities of the tablet, except its detachable keyboard. Maybe Microsoft is confident enough with the quality of its products and hopes to attract consumers via aesthetic gratification.

Cookies, Controversial?

Who thought the most innocent of products could have controversial ads? My sister sent me this post from Buzzfeed recently about Controversial Cookie Advertisements.

I guess all markets need to find a way to stand out. But cookies? Really?

Personally, I think cookie ads, since typically sold to kids, should be kept somewhat neutral. Are there any other markets that you think should avoid being too controversial? 

Website Link

Sly Sales Promotion

Discounts and sales promotions are prevalent tactics that companies use to get more consumers to buy their products. Having discounts on the products increases consumers’ desire to buy, because consumers feel that they have saved money by buying something on sale, even though they don’t necessarily need those products.

Companies not only use discounts and sales promotions to trigger more purchases, but also use them to slyly charge more for the products. According to The Consumerist, “HP’s website has an offer going right now where you can score a free Nook Simple Touch (a $99 value) with the purchase of a new computer. But depending on which computer you buy, you could end up spending several times the cost of the e-reader.” Though at first it seems like the consumers can save 99 dollars on this promotion, the article points out that consumers will actually end up paying much more than 99 dollars, since the promotion is different for different computers. Therefore, the sales promotion is a trick to get more consumers to buy the computers at a higher price.

Be careful next time you see a sales promotion! It may well be a trap…   

http://consumerist.com/2012/12/06/hps-free-nook-promotion-could-end-up-costing-you-355/ 

Victoria Secret

I'll admit that I was one of the millions of viewers of the Victoria Secret Fashion Show that aired on CBS last night. While I was watching it, one thought came across my mind- it seemed to me that the show was promoting a certain body image rather than promoting the company's products. Watching it with some friends, it was common to hear "look how thin she is!" or "okay my diet starts tomorrow". But it was rare that any of us would comment on the actual Victoria Secret lingerie. I just thought it was interesting that the purpose of the FASHION SHOW was to display the designs of the company, when really, the thing that I'm sure most viewers came away with was the impressive models' bodies.

Energy Drinks: Advertisements NOT Aimed at Kids? Really?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/business/markey-presses-ftc-to-investigate-energy-drink-ads.html

I find it interesting that these sports drink companies - such as 5-Hour Energy and Monster Energy drink - are claiming that they are not advertising to teenagers or kids. Then who are they selling to? Our grandparents? I highly doubt that the majority of energy-drink consumers are older than 30.

The article states: "the Food and Drug Administration received reports of 18 deaths in recent years in which energy drinks may have played a role..." 

Personally, I know a friend who had to go to the hospital after an increased irregular heart rate due to drinking Red Bull. 

Teenagers and young adults - college kids, young professionals, and partiers - are the ones who drink these drinks. And I think it is irresponsible to claim that they are not advertising to these people, especially when their products may cause death. 

Maybe, I'll start to believe them the next time I see an 80 year old drinking Monster. 

Quiz Time!

Test your knowledge of some well-known brand logos here!

How well do you know the logo’s on this quiz? Do you recognize each one instantly or does it take a while? Maybe you don’t recognize any of them at all. Whatever the case may be, logos are something many young American’s can recognize before they even are able to speak. 

I personally was only able to 14 out of the 36 logos on this quiz, however I was able to recognize many of these logos, I just could not come up with the name.  I know that many of these logos are very visible and I was actually surprised that I was unable to get more of them.  I remember trying to finish this quiz with friends in my high school library senior year and we were able to get nearly all of them. 

Why were some of the logos harder for me? Perhaps they were not logo’s I come into contact with frequently.  For example the “Shell Logo” (Yellow seashell).  I knew that this was a gas station, but I could not put a name to the picture, possibly because I usually get gas from the Cumberland Farm’s at the end of my street. 

Some of the other logos that I could not get were the car logos and some of the large corporations whose services that I do not frequently utilize (Prudential, Boeing). 

I wish there was a statistics bar at the bottom of the page that showed the logos were the most often guessed correctly or something that showed the age (demographic info)  of the people taking the quiz.  It would be interesting the analyze these factors and see how these affected which logos were most well-known. 

If you take the quiz post your results/thoughts in the comment section! 

http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/corplogos

Blog post for December 10th. 

Racial Controversy in Loreal Ad

Over the years, Beyonce has made herself known as a prominent African American entertainer. She has often discussed her pride towards being Black and how she hopes to be a role model for African American girls. Yet, Loreal has completely diminished her message by lightening her skin tone in their ads. To me, Beyonce almost looks Caucasian with her light skin and blond hair color. When young girls see this ad, they will subconsciously believe that the lighter your skin is, the more beautiful you are. Overall, Loreal shouldn't have lightened Beyonce's skin tone because it creates an identity and racial crisis for young African American girls.

On Billboard

Koleston Naturals used a billboard intelligently to illustrate how natural women's hair is dyed from natural ingredients by utilizing color changes of days and nights. Behind the billboard, the woman's hair on billboard changes its color as the sun rises and goes down. I really wanted to share this advertisement because I think this is a great example of a good advertisement. It has no unnecessary illustration, abstract design, or sexual image. It was designed by the Leo Burnett agency, and I think it is such an excellent use of natural environment for natural beauty of women.

Umm....

          Technology, as we all know can be overwhelming. During this last decade alone we have seen truly marvelous advancements in our way of life because of technology. We can now find our way around new places thanks to GPS, we can video chat with family and friends thousands of miles away thanks to Skype and the internet, we can even read a book without having the need to carry it around thanks to e-books. Technology has advanced to such a degree that we can do basically anything now, there is probably an app for just about anything and everything. However when I was on YouTube today listening to some of my all time favorite songs, I came across this Verizon Wireless ad that reminded me that even though technology keeps advancing, we cannot always keep up. 

         New phones, computers, home appliances, e-readers, cameras, music players, televisions, game consoles, etc. for the list is endless, come out each year with the purpose of improving our lives. Some would say that the newest iPhone, Droid, or Samsung Galaxy were made with the intention of improving the way we communicate, share information, even surf the web but do they really? When the first iPhone came out I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the amount of information it had. I, nevertheless, got used to this phone and others like it; I was able to adapt. However many would say that this new technology; which seems to be changing/adapting right before our eyes everyday, is moving too fast and has thus become too complicated to understand. My mom has told my sister and me countless times that she cannot stand certain new technological devices because they have become much too complicated to understand. The iPhone she hates because of the touch screen, e-readers she cant stand because they hurt her eyes, and the same can be said about computers. She only uses the computer if she really needs to. Even when I'm talking to her via Facebook using a Skype application, she needs to have my sister or brother there just in case something happens and she doesn't know how to fix it. She understands the basics to using a computer but nothing beyond that.

        My mom is not the first person who feels this way, nor will she be the last. As this commercial states certain things can just be too confusing to understand, even for the most technology savvy person out there. No matter how many times we are promised that we are going to love this new product because it will make our lives easier doesn't mean that we will understand it. Marketers can try to convince us to buy the latest phone or computer using this message of simplifying our lives, but that does not mean that they will. Technology, as great as it can be, can simply be too much.

Friends or Influensters?

We see advertisements on billboards, in magazine, on television and other media outlets. But there are new more sly ways of advertising that are becoming more common in our society. You may not even know you are being advertised to.

Influenster is a website that is used to advertise goods for companies through trendsetters in our lives to influence our buying. These trendsetters may be your roommate, best friend, or person in one of your classes. This trendsetter is expected to post about products on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and other media outlets in order to possibly get free products or coupons.

For years, advertisers have payed celebrities or given them free products in order to promote their products--but they have reached a new level. They want the people you look up to or your friends to advertise to you certain products. Now, you may not even know you are being advertised to. At what point is advertising considered our identities of humans if it's not now?

See more on their webpage:
http://www.influenster.com/

Gay Coffee

When I spent my Thanksgiving Break with my sister at Northampton, we came across to Gay Coffee, a coffee brand originated in Williamsburg, MA, at the local Broadside Books store. Given its unique humor and theme, we read the information on the back, learning that "Gay Coffee is gay owned and operated and donates a percentage of profits to local and national LGBT organization." In addition to featuring the company's history, the product provided information regarding LGBT cultural and history.

Considering the growing prevalence of gay culture, I wasn't surprised  seeing this product. With the gay and lesbian issues dominating headlines and media, it is typical to see businesses incorporating widely-discussed topics to appeal to the masses. However, what I am shocked about is seeing a pro-gay company using gay stereotypes to advertise. Even though the packaging did a great job in capturing my and my sister's attention, I am not sure whether that the advertising and packaging do evince a positive message/tactics that the LGBT group wants to have. Also, the company's usage of  a gay theme for a coffee brand doesn't make any sense. Even though I applaud the company's efforts in donating a part of their revenue to LGBT related groups, I disapprove of the company's marketing tactics.

Holiday Ads everywhere...

In my opinion, this advertisement is so adorable! I found it online while watching a TV show. It aired three times while I was watching the show! It describes how I feel about the holidays when I a with my family. I think this ad is trying to show that KFC unites families and that the product is tasty enough to shut them up for a few minutes while they enjoy the meal! To me, this ad succeeds in its goal of selling the product because it is catchy and the tagline at the end sticks in your memory.  I think KFC should also run this ad on television so it can reach a wider audience.

This ad, which is from the same holiday campaign, is much less effective than the other advertisement. This commercial I also found online but its way too long and I lost interest in it. It is relatable because everyone has that nosey relative that tries to find out everything about your life. If this ad was shorter I think it could be more effective.

VW Commercial

Volkswagen has done it again! All of their ads for their various models are a perfect fit for their target audiences. The Jetta is typically considered a car for a youngish single guy, so here we see a young professional hunting for something as he is getting ready to leave for the office. Since he is a stereotypical single man, he is disorganized and as we watch him search we see him wonder if the item that he's looking for might have been swallowed by his dog. In order to confirm his suspicion, he scoops up the pooch and takes him outside and VOILA! What a clever way to demonstrate this inovative technology. Having Johnny Cash's famous dog song playing in the background is just genius, too. 

Wonderful Ad against smoking.

For once children are used to make adults worry about themselves.
I though the concept was great.
The consumer/ adult smoker is telling the child everything that he or she knew what bad about smoking but never dared to tell his/her self.
The experiment is a sort of self-realization process, that is more powerful than other anti-smoking preventions.

ENJOY!

Vampire Party

     This is so far the funniest car commercial I've seen.
     The first thing the directors want to use to attract audiences to buy this Audi S7 is probably the Audi Led headlights. Sparkling headlights, expelling darkness, work better in the evenings than dim ones, which provide drivers and riders a better sense of safety during late rides. The directors had this brilliant idea to prove their headlights are as bright as daylights that all vampires at the party got vanished when headlights reached them. Although we know vampires are not real, this vampire-expelling-factor definitely helped further prove that, you own safety when you own this car with such headlights. Besides, some drivers like to prove they own better cars by displaying their brighter headlights in the dark.
     The fact that vampires are such an absorbing topic also helped the influences this commercial could have. Today, Twilight novels and movies and the Vampire Dairies have a number of fans. I also noticed a interesting comment below which said he would use the car to drive to dispel Twilight fans.
     However funny this commercial is, I don't think it will help Audi to get so many buyers since headlights really only make up a small part on a car, which is expensive. They are not important enough to get people buy Audi just for them.

Fight For Higher Wages

          According to The Consumerist, “Fast-food diners in New York City today might’ve been greeted with a smaller staff than usual, as the “Fast Food Forward” campaign said strikes were scheduled at franchises around the city to protest low wages for employees.” Based on the prevalence of fast food in our society, it’s not hard to tell that the fast food companies are making great profits every year. Though the companies are benefiting, they obviously do not appreciate the hard work of their employees, for they are giving the minimum wages possible to the workers in their restaurants.

           

          As a defense for the low wages, “a former McDonald’s franchise director and restaurant owner [says that] raising pay will cause popular menu items to disappear. “ The director is trying to justify the low wages by claiming that increasing the wages will “hurt” the consumers, since less cheap items will be available on the menu. So fast food companies are saving money from the low wages and using some of that money to attract consumers by putting cheap items on the menu. In the end, the companies are the winner, for they can save money and make greater profits at the same time. Therefore, the real reason for the low wages is because the companies are careless towards their employees and they are aiming to pay less and gain more.

 http://consumerist.com/2012/11/29/fast-food-workers-walked-off-the-job-today-during-nyc-strike-over-wages/