Reflective Blog

Adv 91: This has been the most informative class I have ever taken on a topic that I am truly intrigued by, advertising. I have taken classes that have obviously taught me a lot, but I feel as though those classes were not going to benefit much in the future (I'm talking about meteorology and calculus). But this class, I have learned so much! I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures, and although they may have been long some days, I always wanted to stay. I started off college as a psychology major, then switched to Marketing because I was interested in promoting and arousing the interest of consumers of my product. I thought marketing would be right up my alley. However, I learned that business was not my forte. I felt business was constricting my creativity. It bored me, writing papers on minimum wage and price ceilings was so lackluster. But I was still interested in the whole creative promotion of a product. I looked through my course handbook, and tried finding a major that would somehow suit this desire I had. I found advertising, and I had a feeling that is where I belonged. However, I didn't change my major quite yet, I wanted to test it out, take a couple classes that fell under the major, and see if I liked it. So this semester I gave adv 91 a shot, and I have to admit this class is the reason I am sure I want to switch my major to advertising. I'm so happy I got the opportunity to take this class and I hope to take more classes in the future with Professor Delacruz. This class was so inspirational and so enlightening and I am seriously so happy I finally know what I want to do with my life/career/etc. Thank you for an awesome info-filled semester! I can leave your class and say I have learned a lot!

-Genna

Creating my own Tv and Radio ad

Bug Vacuum

SFX: female-sounding scream

Wife: what happened?!

Husband, terrified: There's a bug in there, it has a million legs, 10 eyes, feelers, pinchers, wings…I-I can't take a shower in there now. *sigh* Guess I can't go to the birthday party…

Wife: Nice try, we have a bug vacuum. You'll be safe.

Husband: Wait, it's a vacuum just for bugs, how does it work?

Wife: It sucks up bugs and kills them instantly, just turn it on and point. It's cordless and stretches up to two feet.

SFX vacuum sound, big item sucked into vacuum

FMV: Order the bug vacuum now, a great gift for any home. $49.95.  Free shipping if you call in the next ten minutes! (phone number)

The TV commercial would be very similar. The screen would start off with suspenseful music in a dark and creepy basement/garage/attic. Then all of a sudden you would here a manly scream. A female would coming running into the room finding her husband curled up in a ball. She would then ask him what was wrong and you would see him point. The camera then flashes to the other side of the garage to a little spider. She chuckles a little and says, "Nice try" and hands him the bug vacuum. She does a little explaining of that the bug vacuum is. Then the screen features the bug vacuum and a bee flying past it, and as it's passing the nozzle of the vacuum it gets vigorously sucked through. 

During the SuperBowl a couple years ago, an HP company called EDS released a completely ridiculous commercial about cat herding. It features a ranch filled with cowboys who herd cats! They go on talking about the struggles of cat-herding and the pride they have in their profession. It's truly hilarious! This commercial really pushes the boundaries of creativity, because who would have ever thought of cat herding? Although the commercial had nothing to do with the company, it was so comical it brought much attention to the brand. Commericials like these inspire me to be silly, crazy, maybe even foolish when thinking of advertising ideas, because no one is going to notice a brand that's safe, simple, and boring. Pushing the boundaries is what gets you noticed, and sometimes you have to make risks in order to make gains.

Environmental safety is very important right now, because as a global community we are burning so much fossil fuels into our atmosphere. So many people know the impacts of global warming and pollution, so there are many campaigns trying advocate people of these prevalent issues. However, often times public service announcements and ad campaigns can be boring. But I found one that is catchy and entertaining, and a little funny, but still gets the point across. They equate the 6.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to how many elephants…which would be a whopping 1.2 billion! They show all these elephants falling on a polluted urban city, then they end the commercial with, "It's time to stop ignoring the 1.2 billion elephants in the room." I thought this was a great ending, because it ties in why they decided to use elephants as their equivalent to pollution by using a common saying.

When I first saw the ad for Dr. Pepper's new drink that only has ten calories, I was actually appalled. This commercial is so shamelessly sexist! The commercial starts off with a scene from an action movie, and the first thing the macho star of the commercial says is, "Enjoying the film? Of course not." I found this so derogatory. It sounds like he's talking down to me, directly. Assuming women don't like action movies is foolish, because there are many woman out there who enjoy "manly" things whether it's playing basketball or going to the shooting range. The ad fully insures its consumers that they are being disparaging to women by ending it with, "So you can keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks" like as if all women are prissy and love to just sit around and watch cheeky movies as they paint their nails. I know this commercial's intent was to be funny, but I am a little offended. Furthermore, they end the commercial with the drink and their new slogan for this drink, "It's not for women" and have made a Facebook page with this new catch phrase. When a woman tries liking this page, it actually does not let you like the page. Then tells the woman that they "may have something more [our] speed at drpepper.com" Again Dr. Pepper continues to not only exclude women, but to do it in a demeaning and rude way. I am disappointed with Dr. Pepper's advertising strategy for this product, but I guess it hasn't stopped me from buying other Dr. Pepper products. Dr. Pepper since then has come out with more commercials with men doing manly things, and has stopped impolitely excluding and stereotyping women and instead just focusing on men. These commercials are much more appropriate and actually funny. The "Not for women" commercial is not featured on their official Youtube account, so maybe they realized that commercial wasn't very seemly in a society where sexism is still very common.

Racism in Advertising

Learning about racial issues that were prevalent in early 1900s ads was horrifying. The ads were so blatantly racist and so offensive. But thinking how there are still racist ads today is disgusting! One would think that we've come too far to be making racist ads. In the early 2000s Sony was getting ready to release the white PSP. They released an ad that featured a white woman fully dressed in white holding a black woman (fully dressed in black) by her face. The black woman is shorter than the white woman, giving the white woman a sense of dominance. Also the white woman has an angry and powerful look on her face, while the black woman looks like she is full of fear. She also blends into the black background which makes the white woman stand out seem better than the black woman. Furthermore, the black woman is very androgynousness which may have been to relate her to animal (since it's harder to differentiate between male and female animals), while the white woman it is very obvious she is a woman. This billboard ad is filled with subliminal messages promoting racism and I think it's sickening. Sony claimed it had no racist intent, but I do not understand how anyone could look at this ad and not see how it is racist and derogatory. 

Dietmar Dahmen

On January 28, 2013 Dietmar Dahmen came to our ADV91 class. He gave a terrific and completely cultivating presentation. The whole time my eyes were glued to him. 

Dahmen brought up today's connectivity and how our technologically fascinated generation is completely different than the many generations that preceded us. He explained the reasons we are completely different from these previous generations is because we have changed three key elements of the world as we know it. The first is how the world has changed from an industrial revolution (which valued muscle) to the digital revolution (which valued the brain). In 1880, eighty percent of the working population were farmers. In 1940, forty percent were famers. And today, only 1.5 percent are farmers. The second is the transformation of work. Now, technology has enabled people to work from their home. Also, today's work is less about material (much like the industrial revolution was) to become more abut information. The third is the empowerment of the individual. People are eager to tell their story. "Me-vertising" has emerged as a new marketing device to help people tell their own story. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. are popular, because of this reason. They allow their users to be I guess what you may call self-indulgence  (lol). Also so many brands have incorporated using social media to engage their consumers. They invite them to partake in something bigger or to create their own story. Advertising on these mediums or enabling the consumers to connect with the product through these mediums is ultra-effective. 

The pre-purchase marketing strategy is fame. He explains how fame works fast. Fame works before you even buy a product. It makes products tempting and inviting. The brand already has its present and future consumers' trust. "Use-vertising," however, is a post-purchase marketing strategy. The trust is created from those who have already used it. 

I loved learning about the different marketing strategies, being an advertising major one of the things Dietmar said that really stuck out to me was "Advertising kick starts, get you interested, but does not make the deal. Trust makes the deal. EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!

Be humble, and deliver more than expected." These words will prepare me for when I enter the advertising and helped me to remember to always remain honest in the work that I do and will do and to stay humble. I believe these words will help me in the future to be successful.

How Brands Control Us

It's crazy how much a brand name can influence someone's decisions. Having a brand name on your body can mean so much to certain people. I am not excluded from this group of people. Although it's not the only thing I think about, I do think about it. I work and I save up, and I don't want to go shopping at Forever 21. I want to go shopping at Urban Outfitter, American Apparel, and Brandy Melville. I like to say I'm paying for quality…but is that really the reason? A couple months ago I went to American Apparel and really liked a certain pair of jeans. I noticed they were about $70. I began to inspect the pants more closely and realized they had no pocket stitching or any kind of emblem to differentiate them as American Apparel jeans. I put the pants down and really had no interest in buying them anymore. Sure they were good quality, definitely better than Forever 21, but I didn't want to spend that amount of money for them to go unnoticed as "brand name jeans." I didn't really think anything about this encounter until after this lecture. I thought it was kind of sad that I would let the lack of that big brand name plastered all over my jeans affect whether I buy a pair of jeans that I really liked. 

In the Gucci Guilty print ad is features a man, a woman, and the new Gucci Guilty fragrance for women. In this ad several things are denoted: there is an unclothed young woman with a tattoo holding onto a man trying to kiss her as she looks into the camera, "GUCCI GUILTY" is printed above them, and the actual fragrance is displayed at the bottom. Now what does all this connote? 

This ad has a very sexual nature. The first example of this is the word "guilty," guilty connotes feelings of sexuality, desire, sensuality, etc. The second example of this is the fact that neither of them have shirts on. Most would probably assume that they are probably completely naked which also insinuates sexuality. The sexuality portrayed in this ad give its consumers the feeling of being sexy when they wear this fragrance. 

The tattoo on her back is barely showing, however, Gucci must have decided to show it for a reason (because it could have been easily covered up by the Gucci Guilty fragrance). The tattoo on the woman signifies that she is young, free-spirited, daring, and bold. So now consumers may not only feel sexy with this fragrance, but they may feel independent and adventurous.

In this ad, the woman is facing and looking straight into the camera while the attractive man she is holding has his eyes closed and is facing her. It seems as though he is more into her, than she is he. It makes the consumer feel as though attractive men will be all over a woman wearing this fragrance. The woman almost seems uninterested, maybe even looking for the next man coming her way. 

This ad overall gives a very empowering, sexy vibe that would definitely attract women in their 20s and 30s.

This ad is much different from the first. It is advertising a show called Workaholics. This ad is not sexual in anyway, and is actually very blunt. It features the stars of the show: Adam, Blake, and Ders. It has a huge "GET WEIRD" printed at the top and it says "WEDNESDAYS" on the left side of the billboard and "WORKAHOLICS" on the right. What's interesting about this ad is that the name of the show is not the center of attention. "Get Weird" and the stars of the show are...why? Workaholics does not really describe the show very well. These men are in no way workaholics, they party and goof off! "Get Weird" was a popular quote from the show that went viral. I think "Get Weird" connects with their audience more than "Workaholics" does.
Furthermore, the billboard displays only the faces of these three men. Adam looks kind of hyper or excited, Blake looks more relaxed, and Ders looks like he is trying to be intense. Why didn't they show the bodies? Or them doing so crazy things like they did in the previous seasons. I think they really wanted to portray the personalities of these guys just through their faces, which they do perfectly. Also I believe the bodies are hidden, because it gives the audience the feeling like this new season is going to be filled with surprises! This billboard caters more to an audience that has already seen the show, but I'm sure those who haven't and who are young are attracted to the very popular phrase "Get Weird" and may tune into Comedy Central to watch this show they don't know much about.

In this Oreo commercial, two guys get into a fight about Cream vs. Cookie. They are whispering, because they are in a library. The fight grows into chairs getting thrown, tables getting turned, book racks falling, and even the cops come...all while everyone is still whispering. At the end of the commercial they invite their consumers to "pick a side" on Instagram. This commercial goes beyond trying to make people buy Oreos. Everyone already knows what Oreos taste like, and I'm pretty sure everyone likes Oreos swell. This invites its consumers to Instagram. Oreos is taking it one step further. They thought of a topic people could "debate" about and brought it to social media. This broadens their brand and their fan base.

What disgusts me about media/advertising...
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show: I anticipate its showing every year. I get so excited to see nearly six-foot-tall twigs parading around in lingerie...why? I beat myself up as I'm watching it. "I wish I was taller." "Oh my gosh, I seriously need to lose some weight!" "These girls are so perfect." Every year I think these things, yet every year I can't wait to get together with my girlfriends and watch the show. It's almost as if these women are our idols. We praise them, and that disgusts me. Luckily, I don't have the mentality where starving myself to look "amazing" is worth it to me, but so many young girls across the world do. Secondly, these women are in LINGERIE. They are selling sex! And we look up to these women?! Pathetic. Most importantly, how many of these women do you think have college degrees? I'm not quite sure, but they sure as hell don't talk about their education in the mini-interviews. This show glorifies these beautiful women, making young, impressionable girls think being pretty is the only thing that matters. Maybe looks can get you a step ahead in life, but having an education and having other skills and talents get you so much further.