I decided to pick this specific advertisement because during the last class we had seen the video on glamourized cigarette smoking and I realized how years of glamourizing such a fatal habit took its toll on our society. How many more years of de-glamourizing does it need to take in order for society to perceive it as undesireable? When will the health (or should I say UNHEALTHY) consequences outweigh the “cool factor” of smoking?

Some may call me a hypocrite because I used to smoke. Yes, I too was once a cancer stick sucking SMOKER. But I quit. And let me state that I am not belittling anyone who is a smoker. I am merely playing the role of devils advocate, or I guess in this case, the angels advocate. (haha) I quit because I chose to quit. My commencement into “smokedom” started when I smoked my first cigarette at the ripe old age of 13 but might I add that I did not “correctly” smoke a cigarette until I was 14. When I was smoking “right” it didn’t taste good at all- and I dare ANY smoker to defy that their first cigarette experience was that of a pleasant one. But I do remember smoking when I was stressed because the dirty, unpleasant taste actually soothed me. It took my focus away from the problems at home and I just started to smoke, smoke, smoke. Fast foward 6 years later and I have begun to quit. I say begun only because I still have an occasional cigarette when I’ve had one (2,3,4,5,6, or 7) too many drinks.  So hence, I still smoke. But nothing compared to the 8-10 cigarettes I pounded daily when I was younger.

I have realized I have gone off a slight tangent, so let me retract to what I was stating earlier- the truth ads. I believe the truth ads to be very effective and people are beginning to quit more and more. There are many truth ads but there are a few that I must personally note because it has touched me and millions of others I’m sure.

TRUTH AD 1: Old man with hole in his neck, talking about how he won’t be able to see his grandchildrena nd kids. You see his wife talking about how this struggle has effected everyone around him. You do not see a glamourous woman or man in fancy clothes with a beautiful backdrop or scenery. They are in their “normal” clothes and at home, the woman is older, hair that of a “normal” housewife/mom and the man is in some sort of wheelchair with an IV drip next to him. This humanizes them, makes us realize how real they- that they can be our moms and dads or aunts and uncles or grandmothers and grandfathers. The “realness” or authenticity of this commercial is TOO real- just enough to make it hurt.

TRUTH AD 2: Ice sculptures of pregnant women and a babydoll in their stomachs. Eventually you see all the ice statue melting and the healds falling off, the babies falling out and the mothers becoming non existent. I don’t even need to tell you where they were going with this ad- it is clearly evident what they are trying to do. But there is a difference when you can physically see somehting like this as opposed to just hearing about it.

TRUTH AD 3- last one- Chalked outlines of people’s bodies are placed all over the ground of what appears to be some type of square. Next to each “body” there is a marker, the types of markers you see in CSI and Law and Order when it indicates where the bullet is, and it states that ‘People are killed more  by smoking tobacco than by murderers (or something like that). Shocking? Yes. I thought it was an intelligent idea to associate tobacco to murderers and killing.

Though these ads do not really tie into consumerism, it does show us how advertisements are and can be very effective.

I remember you saying that you used to get nervous before just letting a card out like that- but that was not the case with me. Maybe because I knew people wouldn’t know that it was me. haha

My boyfriend had a great idea… he was or is going to put the cards on the door of our classroom for everyone to see… i wanted to do that too but I didn’t want to take his idea. (I actually wanted to put it on everyones desk- but realized it might have been a little corny to do that)

 I put a “you ARE NOT fat” card in Lane Bryant! I hope it didn’t offend anyone.

I put a “wear SUNCREEN” card in Hollister because everyone is TAN OBSESSED in that store- gross. 

I put a few cards in Forever 21- in the pockets on the jeans that I tried on.

And then I posted the rest of the cards on the bulletin at my local Stop N Shop.

It was cool doing it. Some of the cards were corny- but they all had a good meaning. Alot of them said alot without saying much at all and that’s what I was going for. And I tried as best I could to stay away from the typical cliche sayings.

JAMAICA AD

The first advertisement they spoke about was the commercial for Jamaica.  I never knew that an ad could say so much without saying much at all.  It was incredible how the writer broke everything down and was able to critically analyze, what seemed to me, a very simple commercial. The writer was so precise and took into consideration EVERYTHING about the commercial- from the camera angle, to the lighting, to the color, the people, the color of the people, their positioning, and what they said. It was amazing how elaborate and complex the writer was in describing everything. It was cool how the writer was able to get so much out of just a few words. “Come back to our beauty”- it seemed sexual when he was explaining it- with the young girl in red extending her hands out with a shy smile on her face.  “Come back to our people”- it was amazing how the writer explained that the old fisherman with white hair had an air of recognition but the rope in his hand still meant that he was potential menace and that “our people” made it seem as if Jamaicans are both alien and homogenous- “a colored horde”. I was primarily in awe of the writer and his thorough interpretation of the commercial. I onyl wish I was able to have seen the actual commercial- the pictures did not do it any justice.

DEODORANT SOAP AD

HAHAHA! Who knew such a wholesome commerical could be analyzed in such a perverted, sexual way? HAHAHAHA. One of the best lines: “It is therefore perfectly fitting that this employee refer to the encounter, not as a meeting or appointment, but as a call; and his demeaning posture in the window- half dressed and bent over- conveys, we now see, a definitive implication.  Another great line: “…Gail, briskly adding flowers to the bouquet, appears to be replenishing his vacant groin with extra stalks…..she keeps his house and grounds in order, and she is clearly the custodian of the family jewels. Her restoration of his potency cannot be complet, or he might shatter her mastery by growing a bit too masterful himself. Therefore she punctures his momentary confidence by taunting him with that big limp daisy, countering his lordly gesture with the bouttonniere by flaunting that symbol of his floral status.” I knew immediately why they wanted to portray a powerful woman. Women are the ones that typically buy the household goods such as deodorant soap.  The author was referring to Gail as the pimp and “Mr.Gail” as the whore.  Personally, I felt the author was reading way too into it to just get the concise message. Shield fights oder. You’ll feel cleaner. But it was very amusing to read how this author scrutinized this commercial and in my opinion, delved way too deep and made an erotic analysis of the commercial.

It’s amazing how intricate a simple message may come off. I wasn’t aware of how every little thing can mean something (ex. red= sex, love, passion, flowers/wilting flower=non existent manhood, rope= menace, round belly= bounteous, “our people”= aliens, “retunr”=death etc etc.)

All in all, a very educating, eye opening and interesting read.

I have decided to choose this because because of its visual examples because I am the ultimate visual learner.  It’s hard for me to learn or get into something by reading- especially since the other books bore me to death anyway.

It seemed interesting that in the first few pages so much was covered. Advertising in the old world, the impact of the printing press, print media (news letters and newspaper),  sex and symbolism (portrayal of women)  and I thought the timelines were really interesting- the historical timeline as well as the brand names timeline.

I thought the brand name timeline was so interesting- it showed everything from fads, to the birth of important technology, the birth of MTV!, credit cards and cars.

I know I will learn alot and the visuals will aid me even more in my learning.  Not only was the literature interesting but the actual ads themselves was interesting. It motivated me as well.

His whole Marxism thing- come onnnnn. A little bit of capitalism never hurt nobodya anyway -just greed. We as consumers, choose to interpret things the way WE want to see it.  Advertising doesn’t mold us- doesn’t make us.

He makes us seem so shallow, so naive- so PLASTIC. I didn’t like that. I believe human beings are good people- naturally. We are not naturally selfish, greedy or uncaring. Could it be that we have been brainwashed by all the garbage on tv that we think people really ARE like that?

I liked that the paper was easy to read- usually when papers are long, lengthy, with “big” words- it bores me and then my mind starts to wander and I don’t really “read”- my eyes just sort of glaze over it. So his writing style kept my attention and his simple way of writing allowed me to understand.