Social Media and Advertising

How has social media helped evolve the role of the audience in commercial advertisement? Is this a negative thing? 

Social media is rapidly increasing its involvement in our lives and this is particularly true for the youth. Through this immersion, the audience begins to play a larger role in the advertising field. It is now as though the consumer is part of the marketing campaign where they broadcast the product on a personal level. This further blurs the line between marketer and consumer, where the consumer becomes a marketer in their own right. Here, it is important to highlight the importance of personal contribution to commercial advertising. Through the consumer’s personal creations in the form of comments, pictures or videos, they give the company a further advantage. This form of advertisement allows every user to become an endorser in a way. In turn, this allows the company to seem credible and gives them a free form of advertising. Although the individual advertising actions are on a small scale, this is what ultimately adds up to create the company’s overall image. This use of personal advertising is what creates the overall fan base and helps to spread the word about the product. For example, fans of movies that create images about the movie will help spread their artworks while simultaneously expanding the movie’s fan base and financial potential. This can be both negative and positive; depending on the view we examine it from. For the company, it is an effective method of advertising that allows exponential increase. It is a great passage for gaining money and for continuing projects. However if we look to the people who are being essentially used for this we realize the negative impacts. The lives of consumers are being constantly tracked and used for research purposes. Often times, people who have set out to simply create an image for themselves inevitably end up in endorsement deals. This is regarded as the way to make money off of your talents or persona and is often greatly wanted by people. However this impacts their lives in which they become part of a product rather than a true identity. Although it may not be realized initially, this shapes them as a person in a negative way. And therefore, the overall impact of this movement in advertising is negative to the people it affects the most, the audience.

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The Other Side of "Empowering" Music

Recently topping musical charts from iTunes to Billboard is Meghan Trainor's first single "All About that Base". The song aims to empower woman who feel badly about having larger sizes and to allow them to think of their body as beautiful. However there are quite a number of issues with Trainor’s message, which makes her miss the very point she was aiming for. In her attempt to encourage woman to love their bodies, she targets a specific body type and in turn attacks other body types. Therefore, instead of allowing woman to love their bodies it simply turns the ideal body into a different shape. It goes from the typically wanted skinny body, to the curvy body. This does not distract from the idea of being unhappy with your body but rather shifts it. In the music video, girls of similar body shape surround Trainor and they are all embracing this body type, a seemingly positive message. However, another woman with a thin body is portrayed and excluded. This makes woman of that body shape unhappy and therefore it is not empowering, but rather still a reflection of negativity. She also refers to men as a prime reason for loving your body, where she says that men prefer larger sizes. This makes the female think that she should love her larger body because a man will appreciate it, rather than it being beautiful no matter what. For the female with a smaller size, it will make her feel negative about her own body because it is not what the man will like. Going back to the idea of the embracing your larger body, the music video portrays woman who are slightly larger than the stereotypical, “size 2”, ideal body without reference to truly larger bodies. This exclusion, along with the attacking of the skinny girl, makes what should be an empowering song more specific and less positive. Further, the song encourages that a woman should love herself as a result of her beautiful body. It does not make any reference to intellect, achievements and interests. This focus on body shape, and especially since it is a particular one, is not any more empowering than body shaming. Overall, the music video is a fairly simple one that strays from empowerment. It does not depict the women in any sense of accomplishment or achievement that can empower them. Instead, it focuses on highlighting a body type and justifying loving it with the idea of masculine attention. Although the song and video set out with a great goal, it misses the mark more than anything.

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Written Task 2

This Coca Cola advertisement from India depicts a man and woman in a romantic relationship laughing and drinking Coca Cola. They are clearly very happy and relaxed and the viewer can infer that they are in a good relationship. The slogan also encourages this idea with the words “happiness” and “open happiness”. When viewing this ad, the observer will usually interpret a happy relationship however this can differ. When comparing two points of view, one may be about making connections between the product and the relationship and the other may be about understanding the happiness depicted but not within the aforementioned connections.

One viewer may depict the product in correlation with the successful look of the relationship. They may perceive it as a way to get to this level of happiness in their own relationships and life. By looking at the product and emotions as connected, they will think that the first is used to achieve the latter. They may associate the product with the idea of happiness and this is exactly what the advertisement is attempting to achieve. Through the company’s use of movie starts in the ad, they allow the viewer to also connect the product to that life style. It may allow them to think of the product as an exclusive one that is used by celebrities, following an endorsement style appeal. This viewer may think this way a result of his or her own lifestyles and understandings. Things like culture, beliefs and experiences will construct these ideas for the viewer.

Another viewer may understand the commercial in a different sense, where there are no connections made. Perhaps as a result of their own lifestyle, culture and beliefs, they may not be inclined to think that a product should be connected to successful relationship. In turn, they may conclude that the depicted people are simply enjoying the product, however this is unrelated to how successful they are in their relationships. This viewer will understand that the product can bring happiness, however will perceive it as short-term enjoyment and unrelated to the rest of their lives. They will not make the connection that in order to have joy in your life and relationships you should use this product. Referring to the use of celebrities, this viewer may understand the endorsement however without thinking much into it. They may view the celebrities as something that catches their attention however not to make them think of the product as something connected to that lifestyle. 

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FOA Reflection

For my FOA, and perhaps for the first time in the DP program, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had always taken an interest in analysing the same thing from different countries. It amazed me how advertisements for the same product that I saw while travelling were so different to those at home. So, for my FOA I decided to examine advertisement from different regions. I decided to focus particularly on the different relationships that are valued in the countries. I chose to look at Coca Cola advertisements from Germany, India and the Middle East. The learning outcome I focused on the most was the way mass media uses language and image to inform or persuade. Since I was looking at advertisements, there were a lot of techniques of persuasion in order to sell the product. I examined how different advertisements attempt to inform or appeal to the consumer, within the context of their society. I did this by analysing the different marketing techniques and appeals that each advertisement uses. I focused on how these techniques differ or agree between the different ads. By comparing and contrasting these ideas, I could identify which was the most prominent and effective. Overall, I felt like the presentation was successful for my first attempt at such an assessment. I felt like my topic was well chosen and that I could discuss it in the needed depth. I felt very happy with the ads that I picked and the way that I could compare them. In terms of the actual presentation, I felt like I could have practiced more in order to be more confident while presenting. I often repeated some ideas as a result of worry and that might have made it less effective. However, overall I believe it can be considered a success with minor errors. By looking at the criteria, I notice strengths and weakness in the content of my presentation. In terms of the knowledge and understanding, I felt I was quite strong. However when it came to language, my chose ads were quite limited in their use of language however I attempted to make the best possible use of what I had. In general, it was organised and made sense in terms of diction. From completing this activity, I could see my strengths and weaknesses in an oral based assessment. Therefore I can work on the aspects that I found difficult and improve them for the next assessment. This includes practicing more beforehand in order to be more confident on the day of presentation. Also, I would focus on picking ads with more use of language so that I can discuss this more in depth. I would still focus on picking a strong topic, which I feel was a strong point of this assessment. To conclude, I will definitely be working harder on this task next time, however I still feel like I worked hard and I am proud of the effort I put in.

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Advertisment Analysis

Olay presents an advertisement for their "complete" facial cream by depicting a calm, happy woman with several, strategically placed words surrounding her. She is seen gazing proudly at her wedding ring on her finger and words describe the life of a happy wife and mother. She is described as a shoe aficionado and a woman who takes time to take care of herself. As a result, Olay's product is something that is well suited to her and helps her to be "complete".

The ad brings forth strong stereotypes in terms of the woman and communicates her as someone who is only a mother and wife with no greater ambitions. This portrays the woman as someone who spends all her time simply taking care of beauty. This is a strong stereotype and distracts from those woman who work hard to achieve larger goals. The ad generalizes woman as people who have no interest in achieving greater things but rather prefer to focus on their beauty only. Even in regards to her role as a mother and wife, it shows that she still be focusing on her beauty. The ad makes the viewer believe that all woman are simply concerned with meaningless things such as shoes and facial products. It may seem that the ad is empowering woman to be complete in all they do however it chooses not to focus on important aspects. It ignores the strong, ambitious woman that is interested in making a change. While this ad could have focused on the woman being able to be strong in all aspects of her life including work, interest and family life, it does not. This shows that the most important message it is trying to communicate is that woman should not focus on real things but rather on feeble things, which encourages the product. This is vital for the placement of their product in the story that they are trying to sell. Olay creates this image of what looks like an "ideal woman" and then emphasizes the importance of their product in this. 

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Learning a foreign language as a requirement

Why all students in high school and college should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language Bilingualism is quickly spreading around the world and it is now estimated that half of the world's population is now bilingual or multilingual. With this, foreign languages are increasingly being taught in schools and universities. It is no wonder that bilinguals have many advantages in the educational and commercial world. One of the most important places that bilingualism gives an advantage in is the work place. It gives an edge in communication skills and allows the speaker to open up more opportunities by communicating with people from different parts of the world. In most instances, an employer will prefer to hire a bilingual rather than someone who only speaks one language. Aside from this, it allows them to interact with more people and gives the ability to research through different channels. With the obvious advantages that bilingualism awards the speaker, it is something that should be encouraged for all. And as school is the primary source of education and preparation for later life, it is the perfect place to teach language. From a non-commercial perspective, learning a new language can open you up to so many prospects. It introduces one to many new paths of literature and written art. This also allows us to meet more people from different countries and to introduce us to many cultures. Just imagine how much more you could understand from the world from another language. In some cases it may allow you to make a difference, for instance if someone who does not speak the common language needs assistance. Cases such as these allow us to realize the important rewards of learning a new language. Furthermore, learning a new language can help preserve the culture and identity of this language. With more and more people learning and speaking the language, it can grow and become stronger. This will make sure that languages are strengthened and the minority groups associated with them can become stronger in turn. The supporting of these languages will empower individuals to make a change and allow us to do this through different paths. As a result of the above points, learning a foreign language should become more widespread in school. Furthermore, the choice of the language should be varied depending on the location and background of the students. To make this even more effective, there should be a range of choices for the students. By learning a new language, we can make so many changes for us and for others. 

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Text Response

This excerpt from the autobiography, “The Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole” follows the conventions of a memoir. Although not all autobiographies are memoirs, this text is a memoir because it is a reflection of her life. It offers her voice, it includes dialogue, it reflects on her past and so there are instances of which she offers hindsight wisdom, and it is a retelling of several larger anecdotes. As a result of this being memoir, it does not aim to persuade or influence a specific audience. It is more of a personal narrative and aims to retell events.

This text follows Seacole as she is surrounded by victims of yellow fever, a highly fatal disease. In the 1850’s, yellow fever was an epidemic that victimized the people of the island of Jamaica. Seacole was taking care of the people who were struck by the disease. She retells the story of how the island was dreadful and negatively impacted. Along the several stories mentioned, one discusses the journey of a young man who passed away as a result of the disease. Seacole found herself highly attached to the, ”light hearted and good young man”. She found her relationship with him reminiscent of a mother- son relationship. She discusses the grief that comes along with loss after attachment. Through her hindsight wisdom, she delivers the message that no one should be ashamed of the fear of death. She tries to convey the message that one’s perspective on death and life is only based on how afraid they are.

The author establishes a sad and sorrowful tone through her choice of language and content. Her discussion of loss and death conveys a mournful tone and an intense mood. The atmosphere is heavy and leaves the reader with a sense of loss. The text starts off with the line, “I stayed in Jamaica 8 months out of the year 1853, still remembered in the island for its suffering and gloom”. Automatically, Seacole has set the mood. It is clear that the rest of the text will not be happy and that the atmosphere is dark.

The story is from a bias point of view. It is not objective because she is retelling her own story and stating her own thoughts and experiences. Although it is not meant to be persuasive, it focuses specifically on one person’s perspective rather than allowing the reader to have their own perspective. The story does use pronouns because it is a retelling of her life events. She is using “I” and “You” in order to make the story seem more personal and allow the reader to engage with it more. Using pronouns is a way the author uses to hook the reader. Because it is deeply personal and sad and is written as a sad conversation, the reader feels engaged with it. There is a lot of direct speech used, again, in order to make it seem like a personal conversation. The story also uses a lot of imagery. This helps set the atmosphere and the mood.

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