Counter Ad

On April 24, 2013 a garment and apparel factory in Bangladesh used by American companies such as Wal-Mart and Gap collapsed killing 1,129 workers.  In November of 2012 another Bangladesh garnet factory fire killed 112 people (O'Donnell, 2013).  On September 12, 2013 a dozen retailers and clothing brands met in Geneva to discuss providing compensation to the victims and Wal-Mart did not attend (Reuters, 2013).

In the original Wal-Mart advertisement, Wal-Mart uses repetition to convey its message, "always".  In my counter advertisement, I used repetition, "no matter", and also added in rhyme, "Cost" and "Lost" to make the message more memorable.  I tried to keep it simple to mimic the original advertisement.  I think it will be a memorable advertisement for me which will make it more difficult for me to continue to shop at Wal-Mart.

O'Donnell, J. (2013, May 14). Gap close to signing bangladesh factory safety plan. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/14/benetton-bangladesh-pact/2158095/

Reuters. (2013, Sept 12). Walmart to skip discussion on compensation for bangladesh factory victims. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/walmart-bangladesh_n_3912246.html

O'Donnell, J. (2013, July 109). U.s. retailers agree to bangladesh plant safety pact. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/10/retailers-bangladesh-factory-safety-pact/2505427/

Media Messages and Critical Pedagogy #2

Subway $5 Foot Long Commercial

http://youtu.be/Lo-pfZjEK-U

• Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why? Subway restaurant created it to promote a better value on their foot long sandwiches.
• Who is the “target audience”? What is their age, ethnicity, class, profession, interests, etc.? What 
• words, images or sounds suggest this? The target audience based on the commercial seems to be a variety of people all approximately aged 18-38 in good shape who are passionate about Subway and saving money.  In the commercial there are a variety of people, not very different looking, but with very different interests although they all are very exciting about the $5 foot long.  The song is very catchy!
• What is the “text” of the message? (What we actually see and/or hear: written or spoken words, 
• photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, etc.) Interesting backgrounds such as a beautiful woman dressed as Cleopatra in Egypt, a man winning on a game show, a figure skating couple perhaps in the Olympics and a man giving a passionate performance on a stage.  Then there are shots of large sandwiches with lots of toppings being thrown on them.  A very repetitive, fun and catchy song is playing in the background
• What is the “subtext” of the message? (What do you think is the hidden or unstated meaning?) A five dollar foot long will cheer you up and is for people who are passionate about life.
• What kind of lifestyle is presented? Fun loving, exciting, exotic and passionate lifestyles.
• What values are expressed? Money saving, being a person who follows their dream (American dream), being a happy person.
• What “tools of persuasion” are used? Association, Bandwagon and Repetition
• What positive messages are presented? What negative messages are presented? Happy people, exciting settings are positive.  Negative messages might be a culture bias by use of Cleopatra and an Asian figure skater.
• What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower? How does 
• this serve the media maker's interests? This message empowers the fun loving and full of energy active person.  This message may disempower those who are over weight because there is no one overweight in the commercial.
• What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the 
• untold stories? The fine print says this offer excludes premium subs but the song and speaker say over and over again that this deal is for any sub.
• What are the taken for granted realities? That a $5 foot long sandwich may still not be affordable for some people or their families.
• What power relations are exposed as a result of your deconstruction? The power of the advertiser to continually make a claim multiple times in an advertisement then add very small print to discredit that claim.  And the power of the advertiser to chose to have beautiful and talented people represent their product even if that is not how their target market really looks.

Media Messages and Critical Pedagogy #1

How might deconstructing these kinds of media messages help students recognize connections between their individual problems and experiences and the social contexts in which they are embedded?

Deconstructing these ads, and reading and watching deconstructions like these, can help students recognize connections between their individual problems and social contexts because they get an alternative view of the world.  When students (as well adults) see commercials, the images, themes and messages do become part of what we view in our society as normal culture. 

When we become more critical of advertisements through deconstructing, we challenge someone else's view of normalcy.  This can be very liberating for a student who feels the burden of society i.e. not having name brand cloths/high socio-economic status, not looking a certain way or part of a culture that is not mainstream.

Bad Housekeeping! Magazine Cover

I found this online and loved how it challenged the norm for moms!  I chose to use a picture of my happy kids to show them getting love and attention and us sharing a bonding moment instead of me being stressed out about cleaning!  I struggle with a lot of guilt as a mom- that I don't spend enough time with my kids, that I don't get them in enough activities, that my house isn't clean enough, etc.  I thought this was a great cover to go against the pressure of the media.

The magazine cover has an exclamation, "Don't Toss That!".  There is also the interrogative, "Under & Behind Your Couch: How much can you hide there?".   There is also the ellipse, "Re-Using Dirty  Laundry" with examples to follow.  Lastly, there is the teaser about, "Discovering the health benefits of shower mildew".

A good persuasion technique is the picture of happy children loving each other on the cover.  I could have used a picture of a big mess in my house but that would not show the potentially good side of taking a break from housekeeping.  There is also the humor I know many mom friends of mine would appreciate.  I like the simple use of several media language techniques (as mentioned above) in a variety of colors without crowding the page much.

Overall, I am glad I was able to quickly create this hilarious magazine cover through fototrix.com.  I think it does what good advertising that works is supposed to do by creating a positive feeling from the consumer and it definitely challenges the mainstream portrayal of what it is like to be a woman in today's society!

Magazine Cover Deconstruction

Media Language:
'Get Lean', an image of Arnold's giant arm muscles, 'Recharge Your Routine', etc.
The media language is action oriented and short and to the point.  The kind of lifestyle presented is vain, competitive and extreme.  I think this magazine cover tries to disempower the average man into thinking anyone can have arms that look like those in the photo.  I think the untold is that Arnold Swarzenegger used steroids to achieve those results and there could be long term health problems that can occur due to steroid use.

Institution:
Muscle & Fitness Magazine
This institution seems to target younger men approximately aged 18-32 because the verbiage is very simple and younger men seem to have more interest in pursuing body building or create a large muscle look.  I believe this media is trying to construct a fantasy world by using a star who is known for a very rare physique as the cover model and trying to make readers believe they can achieve this 'IN LESS TIME'.

Genre:
The genre is that of vanity, power, masculinity and instant gratification.

Representation:
The groups this Muscle & Fitness cover are representing are Hollywood and the movie industry, men who obsess about their looks and men who are persuaded by intensity.  This cover represents to me protein shakes, nostalgia (from Terminator movies), simple solutions, steroids and extreme exercise and eating.

Audience:
This genre seems to be younger 18-30, single, working class men who try to portray a very masculine image to gain the fear or envy or men and interest in women.  The warm colors and large, short words give a feel tough and simple.

Ideologies & Values:
Ideologies are an image of health, power, youth and masculinity.  The values are aesthetic appearance, strength, pushing oneself to the limit to achieve a sense of greatness, efficiency and results.

Narrative:
The narrative is that there are fast and simple ways to achieve great result in body building.

*These are how I view this magazine cover and I chose this because I have the most negative reaction towards it.  It is obviously viewed more favorably in this areas by the magazine's target audience.

Photo Analysis

Photo 2 gives me the most confidence in President Obama.  I believe others would likely feel the same way.

Initial observations show that the President is speaking in what looks like an authoritative manner with hands extended to emphasis importance.  He has a very serious facial expression and his eyes are looking sharply to his right and not and the camera.  He is informally dressed with a dress shirt with sleeves rolled up and no tie or jacket which looks like he has been working very hard or for many hours.  He seems more intelligent, younger and more focused than the man sitting next to him who is looking in the opposite direction and does not seem to be paying close attention.  The background show several large photos of maps of the area and crews at work.  President Obama appears to have a glass of water in front of him still with a lid on it as if he doesn't even have the time for a sip of water.  The camera angle is straight ahead but the President does not seem to consider it of any importance given the large task ahead of him.

The message this photo is conveying is that the President has come to the Coast Guard Station and to ensure this oil spill stopped as soon as possible and there will be no problem cutting through red tape.  The photo appears to be planned with the location and the two high ranking men together but the moment it was taken was spontaneous.  The photographer makes raises some questions such as:

1.  Will President Obama be able to quickly stop the oil spill by meeting with the Coast Guard?

2.  Does Admiral Allen and the Coast Guard have what it takes to help stop this oil spill?

3.  Is the President primarily getting information from the Coast Guard or are they creating a feasible and worthwhile plan?

Obama is more focused than ever about stopping the oil spill.

The President and the Coast Guard disagree on how to handle the oil spill.

The following lesson plan was taking from this link and there are many more available to teach Visual Literacy:

http://www.humanities.umd.edu/vislit/activityplans.php

Media Analysis Assignment 

This assignment asks you to become a cultural critic by applying some of the concepts of cultural analysis to contemporary mass media.  Your sampling of mass media will be two-fold:  (1) a slice of prime time commercial television, not special news coverage and (2) an image from print media such as a magazine.  (1) Select at least a half hour of television to analyze carefully.  Take notes while watching with the prompts below in mind.  (2) In addition, select an advertisement in a recent issue of a magazine aimed specifically at teen age girls or women.  In each instance, your analysis will focus on the representations of women in these cultural artifacts.   

I.  TV Analysis (2 -3 pages)

Your analysis will emerge out of your reflections about and responses to the prompts below.  You may simply submit your work as a series of  numbered responses to the prompts.  While this assignment does not require you to write a formal essay, your responses should be carefully and thoughtfully written. Remember to incorporate specific examples from the TV program you watched to illustrate your analysis.  

1. Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the television show you are analyzing?  What factors contribute to your awareness of audience?  Consider not only gender but also age, race/ethnicity, geographic location, etc. 
2. Is there a relationship between the plot/action/narrative of the television show and the commercials that accompany it?  To the target audience(s)? Explain.  

1. Do the women who appear differ from one another, and if so, how?  What is the relative frequency of women by age? By race/ethnicity? Are women (or anyone else) represented who are differently abled?  According to dominant cultural ideals of beauty, how many women portrayed fall into the categories of 'beautiful,' 'average,' or 'unattractive'?  What range of weight is represented between the women and the men and among the women themselves?
2. In what roles do women appear (or not appear)? Do they play multiple roles (e.g. wife, mother, lover, worker?)  What types of jobs do they hold?  How much time to they appear to devote to their different roles?  What kinds of work do they do?  Can you see any difference in the roles assigned to women or to men? 
3. What level of education do the men and women seem to hold? Do you find women represented who appear to be of working-class backgrounds or to be poor?  Are they major or minor characters?  Are they portrayed sympathetically or used in ways that perpetuate stereotypes about race or class?  
4. What is the relationship of women in the show to the products being advertised in commercials? Does it vary from program to program, from channel to channel? Is there any evidence of a famous assertion that in public representations of gender, men do the looking and women are there to be looked at? What influence, if any, can you see in the three decades plus of feminism's attempts to influence the representation of women in the media? 

II. Print Ad Analysis  

1. Who is the probable intended audience(s) for the magazine ad you are analyzing?  Explain your answer.  What is the print ad trying to sell?  How does it make its appeal to the potential consumer?  Does it appear to have any particular relationship to the articles accompanying it in the magazine?  In your analysis of the print ad, focus on how women’s bodies are positioned in the ad, whom they are looking at, whom is looking at them, what they are wearing, etc.  In what ways does the ad emphasize or construct women’s sexuality?  How does it (or does it?) construct women’s abilities to be their own subjects rather than objects to be looked at?