Playtex Sport Tampons-Meditation #8

I know that reading about tampons is exactly what you want to do today, so I figured on my last Meditation about how media is our everyday life, even when we don’t realize it. I was on www.mylifeisaverage.com and read one story about a quote on a tampon brand that made me laugh. It was then I realized that I buy that same brand of tampons and had never noticed it. The brand is Playtex Sport Tampons and humor is something that is part of their marketing tools with Tampax Sport Tampons.

There is always a funny quote or saying per box that is on each of the wrappers. In one box the quote was, “…..” It was something that adds humor to the one week every month where women are extremely hormonal and emotional, and it is a great strategy to keep people buying your product.

In the commercial for Playtex sport there are 30 frames per second, it goes way too fast for your Neocortex to be able to process, but you do get part of the message and are constantly taking notes throughout the commercial and at the end, your brain is left with one final note, “Buy this product because it is the best!”

The ability to get an emotional responds out of your demographic when selling a product is key to have high sales. Portraying happiness, comfort and ease in tampons is something that Playtex does well. Since women are usually emotional, unbearable and uncontrollable showing that the women in their commercials are happy and easy going is something that is used properly in their commercial.

Hyperbole is something that is used for the Sport Tampons a lot. Playtex says that it is, “The best sport tampon ever!” Exaggerated claims are often made about every product out there, whether it is chocolate or feminine products. It is something that is key in order to try to get your product to stand out and sell.

http://mylifeisaverage.com/

PB Teen Catalog-Meditation #7

The Race Card is something that I saw being played up in this catalog. It wasn’t overly done, but on the cover of the the Holiday 2009 catalog there was a black women and white male, showing racial integration that does take place among teenagers, but showed how race can be used subtly to sell products to different groups of people.

Plain Folks was another strong persuasive technique that is being used in the catalog by appealing to teenagers by having people who are throughout the age groups showing off the products. It makes people who are looking through the magazine picture these objects more easily in their rooms if they see people that remind them of their friends or of themselves.

Pacing is something that is different in a catalog or a magazine than when you watch a movie or television. You can take your time, soak in all of the pictures and descriptions and just relax while flipping through it. I enjoy taking time every once and a while to do this type of relaxation because it relaxes you and your brain, giving you the ability to really be able to think about the product and what you could do with it.


http://www.pbteen.com/

The Choice-Meditation #6

The Epistemological Shift is a key point in “The Choice” by AUTHOR not because there are images in the book, but because there are not. It is a difficult time in our culture to be a writer and sell books with the domination of the internet and how much technology has grown. It is a world dominated by technology and the image, but I think this is something that a great writer can capitalize. If a writer like Nicholas Sparks can create an image in your head with their words it is a key part of being a successful writer in a time when the peoples lives are dominated by the image and technology.

The book uses Simple Solutions to make people think that people can fall in love with ease, even if they have a rough situation that comes with it. Simple solutions is a smart technique in writing because it brings the reader into the fantasy of it all and makes them picture their life like the story.

Beautiful people is a strong persuasive technique because of how the people are described in detail with their skin tone, hair color, eyes and body type. The beauty of the human mind takes those details and creates the person and that is who you think about when you read the book. It is a completely different experience than when you watch TV or a movie because the person is on the screen, there is no imagination involved. I think that is why I like reading the “chick” books because you can picture the people and get a new experience than in our world that is overly driven by the image.

http://www.nicholassparks.com/

Gilmore Girls-Meditation #5

I have been watching Gilmore Girls almost since it first came out, and it never gets old. I watch the re runs constantly wondering how I can be as poised as Rory and as quick witted as Lorelei. The humor that is contained throughout every episode is something that keeps me coming back for more episodes, and one that made me very sad when the final episode finished.

The technological shift is present here because I can watch the Gilmore Girls episodes on my television, or watch them online through You Tube. It is amazing how much technology has grown throughout the years and how it is still transforming today.

With the technology changes that are being made there is a lot of Individual Meaning that can be reflected upon. Every episode has a topic that everyone can relate to, whether in their own lives or if they know someone else who has been through that situation.

With the different situations that arise in the many episodes of Gilmore Girls, there are value messages that come with those situations such as how to handle a break up, working on friendships, and developing morals that come with difficult situation.

Abercrombie and The Female Image-Meditation #4

Abercrombie is known for their fashionable clothes that are tight, for a specific body type and overpriced. Another thing they are known for are their ability to advertise said clothes with pictures of models that aren’t wearing anything. Don’t get me wrong, I love the pictures of half named guys with their twenty million pack abs, but it is demeaning to peoples perceptions of their bodies. “If I don’t fit into a size two like the model I am fat.” “If I can’t wear Abercrombie then something must be wrong with my body.” I mean people judge themselves on how models look, but a model is not the typical woman. A model is a costly human stick figure that is an undesirable and often unachievable-without drastic measures-standard.

The hype shouldn’t be believed, but the sex sells and so do the beautiful people that look like they are about to have it. Out image is based off of an idealized perception of an unrealistic person. We either have to be completely flat or look like a porn star with huge boobs, small waste and even bigger butt. I mean do guys really want to date a girl who has or looks like she has an eating disorder? Or bring someone home to Mom that looks like the girls in Playboy? No. they are taking out the girls that are naturally beautiful, that have flaws but are real.

The Epistemological Shift is huge in clothing advertising, especially with Abercrombie, even if the clothes are not on the models. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, meaning that images play a larger influence in our minds than words do. If you think about it, when you look at an advertisement you look at the clothes, the people and the atmosphere before you look at who designed what and where you can buy the clothing shown.

With the image playing such a role in our heads it is a dangerous game. There is an emotional responds that is triggered in our Limbic brain that says either that is cute, is something wrong with my body since I don’t look like that, or I need to do something in order to afford or fit into those clothes. It is an instinct, a responds that is uncontrollable. It is something that needs to be defeated. We cannot base ourselves-men or women-on the idealized perception of beauty, but instead start to base ourselves on what is the best that we can be and make that our goal, striving towards a more positive self image rather than the positive image of someone else.

http://www.abercrombie.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/home_10051_10901_-1

John Tucker Must Die-Meditation #3

I’ve watched John Tucker Must Die a few times, but I never noticed the hidden advertising before. In the scene shown above where John has just been laced with the female hormone estrogen in his water bottle and begins to act like a women, he eats a Hersey bar that the mascot has in his bag. He is freaking out, but in that moment I wanted chocolate because I had seen him eat it. It was a great way for Hersey’s to get some advertising hidden without going through the hassle of coming up with a commercial. I mean you see this stuff every day with cars in television shows, actors wearing certain brands that will affect the desired audience. It is an amazing marketing technique that has been happening for years and years, but often it goes unnoticed because it isn’t shoved in your face.

I think this kind of advertising uses strength, not because of a because of a bold message, but because of a strong brand. I mean Hersey’s is world renowned for their delicious chocolate, so it is easily recognizable, and shows a strong and smart marketing/advertising team behind the brand.

The movies hidden advertising also affects your brain using the Neocortex to make you think about the brands that you are seeing, and connecting those thoughts to your Limbic brain to get an emotional responds. The product, chocolate, is something that is a comfort in times of stress and an enjoyable treat in times of pleasure and success, but putting the product aside, guys fear ever acting emotional and uncollected the way John was, while women deal with the overflow of emotions on a day to day basis.

The Emotional Transfer from the product is huge for how many people buy the chocolate. It is about feeling comfort and joy and calming nerves so that the storm never hits, or at least hits at a later point in the road. It taps into our securities and what makes us a tick. A good product shows happiness, a great product, like Hersey’s, make your feel the happiness when eating it and thinking about it.

The movie also uses beautiful people, I mean I don’t want to sound horrible or anything because I have nothing against people of larger size, but you don’t see the mascot and John’s buddy(NAME!!!) eating the chocolate bar. You see John, who has ripped muscles, a perfect white smile and golden tan eating the chocolate bar. Our world is run by the beautiful people, while the general population,-the one with not so perfect skin and bodies have to live up to those standards.

http://www.hersheys.com/

Vermont Commons-Meditation #2

http://www.vtcommons.org/

Now I am never one to talk politics with people because I think it often brings out the anger and bitter sides of some-like my Oma- that I wish to not see. For this blog though, I will make an exception. “Beyond Barack’s Bamboozling: As Obamamania Fizzles, Vermonters Take A Fresh Look At Independence” is an article that is well written-although I did notice one spelling mistake and completely one sided. It talks about all of the negatives that Obama has done rather than showing both sides of a complex political story. I was seventeen when the elections were held, and therefore could not vote. I tried to follow the election, but most of the information was word of mouth from people in my high school, which is not generally the most sound advice on anything, let alone politics.

Card Stacking was a huge player in this article, with how the negatives about Obama were stacked up high, while the positives were never seen. This was also something that was seen in the political campaigns as well though, whether it was for Obama or McCain. I think card stacking is not just a clever media tool, but a clever political tool. I mean it is key to build your argument while tearing down your opponents. No side is lacking in this technique at all, but I think it would be better for everyone if both sides were shown equally without the negativity that usually comes with any political “conversation” (In quotes because it usually ends up being a intense argument with screaming voices and angered comments.)

Another technique that the article used quite well was the use of statistics. There were numbers of the amounts of money that was either lacking or wasted throughout the article that boosted its intelligence and reliability for me. Although 65% of statistics are made up on the spot, a news paper is not likely to put in numbers that can be easily found out using the right sources and materials. It showed research and was a large part in me believing that the article had at least some integrity to it.

There was a third technique that I found was used properly, without being overly obvious. This was group dynamics. “We have much good work ahead of us.” (Vermont Commons, pg. 6) It was used properly here, because although I am aware of these kind of tactics through taking Mass Media and Society, I thought to myself that the United States as a whole, heck even the entire world, has good work ahead of all of us. This thinking is something that is put into play a lot in the Media, especially with politics because you think of how the country thinks, rather than how you the individual think about something. You relate to certain political groups, and side with them, sometimes when they are wrong.

This article made me think about how people react about politics, what their views are and things of that nature. I mean it really made me use my brain with my emotions-Limbic-of how I should react to political conversations and situations, and made me think-Neocortex-about how serious people take this, which I mean it is the leader of our country it should be taken seriously, but I think sometimes people tend to go overboard with how they tell people their ideas and how they disagree with one another.