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Blog #9- Advertisements targeted towards men and woman

 The first advertisement I chose to use, that is directed to men is the Axe (body wash- Get a Girlfriend ad. The one print advertisement I chose shows a teenage/young man: who is “nerdy” looking, building an Egyptian king in a throne out of Lego. The insecurity that is being exploited in this ad is being alone (without a girlfriend) and being uncool. This ad is saying (in the pink box) that using Axe body wash will make girls like you, ergo you will be popular and “cool”.  I think the effect it’s having on the audience is pretty clear, and overall, what I explained above. Not using Axe will mean you will be a “loser”, at home, without a girlfriend, playing childish toys; like a little boy. And as we know, teenagers/young men do NOT want to be looked at as if they are little boys. I think this ad is actually very effective. It is humorous, which with attract people to it, it uses bright colors that will draw in people focus, and had a clear message. Though, the message of the ad is clearly overly exaggerated, it still is clear and will make the audience (consumer) believe that this product will bring them luck: in terms of girls and “coolness”.

The second advertisement that is directed to men that I chose analyze is the Ford truck print ad. I believe this ad represents power and control because it says, “Man, trailers are like wild animals. They’re always trying to get away from you. Until now, trailer sway control, standard.” It is suggesting that this truck gives you control and power. Therefore, since its promoting control and power, it is addressing the issue of men and their masculinity. And how they like to have power and control (aka its important too). I think the audience (men) would like this advertisement, because it’s very manly, uses darker colors that relate to men, it’s rustic and the slogan includes words that appeal to men: wild, control etc. I also think the slogan has a double meaning, it says they’re always trying to get away from you” relating to the trailer and woman. Then it continues to say, “Until now, trailer sway control.” I think this advertisement would be fairly effective, not as much as the other one because the message isn’t as clear. But it has a rustic and manly appearance that would attract males to it.

For woman, it is common that the ads directed to them feature things about beauty, looking good and fitting. in Proactive is exactly that. It’s a skin care wash. And most of the advertisements include celebrity endorsers. Having a celebrities face behind a product just farther implies that it is necessary to have good skin, to be pretty. Therefore, the insecurity this print ad addresses is the fact that woman feel they need to look a certain way to be pretty in today’s society. These advertisements give the audience the idea that they should use this product (Proactive) to look like celebrities. Katy Perry is a signer, and fashion and beauty icon, to have her be a spokes person for proactive, has audiences believe that she uses it and it makes her look the way she does. And that they can be like her if they use it. I think these ads are very effective. Anything with a celebrity behind it always makes me want to buy something. It is a great way to sell products because all people want to be like famous people.

The second advertisement that I think is targeted to woman is the clothing ad for French connection. This ad features a well-dressed woman walking down a side walk/street. The insecurity that this ad addresses is the fact that woman want to be desired by men. I think this because it says “pity the ex-lover who sees the woman today”. This shows that she is dressing like this to make the man jealous or want her. It gives the woman a feeling of confidence and that if they buy these clothes guys will want them, or want them back. Hence, it will make them beautiful, attractive and desired. I personally enjoy this ad, because I think it gives woman; power and confidence, because it suggests you will have power and confidence, and all eyes on you when wearing these clothes. Woman want to be desired, so what better way to show that in an ad then saying the ex-lover will want you back if you look like this.

Blog #8- Article questions

Article questions

Question 1: The main thesis of the article is that the Time Warner Merger is "a civic and journalist issue" as well as a "nightmare for those who believe in historic notions of a free, diverse and independent press.” In your own words, describe why the author feels the merger is so harmful. Try to touch on the three main arguments: civic issue, journalist issue and an issue with a free and independent press.

The author feels that the merge would be very harmful because then the majority of our information will be coming from only a few sources and is potentially at stake of not fairly representing different or unpopular points of view. This would be very harmful, as it will give the public a biased point of view, and therefore negates the historic notions of having a free, diverse, and independent press. This is a civic issue, as one may question if this corporation will really care about the public’s interest, or rather about which story will give them the biggest profit. Will they fairly represent unpopular points of view, or challenge the government and political agencies that they are lobbying? If this is not the case, then this is the exact opposite of having a free, diverse, and independent press. This is also a journalistic issue, as journalists must report on stories based on the view of that corporation. This will limit free expression and diversity if the majority of journalists are reporting for one big corporation. Do we want mass marketing and the bottom line to be the only ethos of journalism? This will also make it difficult for smaller, independent media companies to compete with them, going against the very notion of having a free and independent press.

Question 2: What is the danger of not having a free and independent press?

If there was not a free and independent press everyone would not be giving their input or having the opportunity to think their own thoughts, believe what they choose and do what they feel like is right (not what the media/advertisers say to do, feel, buy, believe). When there is not free and independent press society will become run and ONLY influenced by media and advertisers. Therefore, the danger is the media and advertisers will be influencing people on biased opinions, with only money in mind, not the best interest of the people in mind.

Why is it a central aspect of democracy?

Democracy is a form of government by the people; especially:  rule of the majority, or a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. Democracy allows freedom of speech and input from the people. We live in a democratic society, so with not having a free and independent press then we would not be being democratic. We would be being drived and influenced by only one high power, that being the media and advertisers.

Question 3: The author argues that ideas and opinion on the Internet have stayed relatively free and outspoken. Do you agree? Can you list some examples of alternate ways to get news on the Internet?

Yes, I do agree. I think though the Internet contains many things that are biased, it still contains information, ideas and opinions of everyone. So yes it has not restricted certain people from saying things, and the Internet lets everyone freely write and speak their minds. Some alternate ways to get news on the Internet are through blogs and, Facebook and MySpace. Also websites like Wikipedia lets anyone freely post information to pages.