Media constructs our culture

For this weeks post, I figured a good example of an ad shown on tv, in which contructs our culture is the latest Axe Bodyspray commercial. This commercial replicates catastrophic rioting in the streets caused by the odor of a man wearing the bodyspray. All women in sight stop what they are doing and approach the man at all costs. A series of explosions and car collisions couldn't stop the willingness of the women to caress the man wearing Axe.

 With this ad, the goal is to suggest that if men wear this perfume, they will be irresistible to women. In the background, the song "I will always love you" by Elvis Presley plays. This highly romantic songs plays as a sort of oxymoron despite all its violent surrounding. With the influences that Presley's song may or may not affect certain people in the world. What about single, aging people eager to be married? Perthaps they may be turned on to this idea, in search for a partner.

 Axe also sells body spray for women. As seen above it it obviously for females witht he pink font and designs. In ads seen on t.v., the commercials depict the female spray to have the same effects on men, turning them into savage animals fighting for the woman. This could be traced down to when homosapiens were not yet civilized, living in caves.

 The spray is in my opinion, an unrealistic portrayal of what would really happen while wearing the spray. Hopefully the viewers know this. Many people that I know personally even think that the spray expells bad odors and find it uncomfortable when in the room with some one wearing it.

Media construct fantasy worlds

Today, video games are huge. Millions of people all over the world are playing video games daily. Spending hours everyday sitting in their basement watching a screen. It is safe to say that hunders of new video games are released every year. These games are rated and labelled restricting certain games to certain ages. The question is: what do these labels really mean and how much influence does it have on the consumers?

The most popular game sold today is Call of Duty. It started as one and has expanded to multiple sequels of the original with its success. Call of Duty is rated "M" which stands for "Mature" restricting this game to users above the age of 17. Many have concerns over the fact that this game is a gateway for children to be open to violence. Maybe they think its 'cool'. Naturally, it is the case with young boys (largest gender consumer) to be influenced by a video game of such realism. The game is incredibly realistic and it proves how long of a way technology has come. However, some do speculate that this perticular video game is a reason for so much violence on the streets.

The problem is, most of the users are under the age requirement that is clearly stated in each commercial and on each cover for the disc. How are the kids getting their hands on this game? It is either the clerk are Future Shop blindly over-looking this rather large detail or the parents are buying it for their children (which is more likely).

Tolerance today has been set to a bar so blurry, there is really no telling to what is appropriate or not. Not only is the main object of the game violence, but there is also lots of foul language, sexuality and drug relation.

 

Many even speculate that many young boys are influenced to join the army and to turn their video fantasy into a reality. The soldiers themselves will say that this is obsurd. Who knows? In my opinion,  this video game is the next best thing from shooting from shooting real middle-eastern soldiers. 

In the end, people are always saying that video games can't actually hurt anyone and they are just there to fill in the need, the curiosity to find out what it would be like to blow up a helicopter in the middle of a huge battlefiled, but if a young man in influenced by this, goes off to fight somewhere and is killed, someone definately has been hurt.

I don't know about you, but these guys sure look 'cool' and worry-free in this battle zone.

Here is a link to the official Call of Duty commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuzaxlddWbk

Critical Media Analysis- the language of persuasion

For my weekly post about the media, I will observe the use of language persuasion in a very popular commercial that is, the “Shticky”. The commercial is hosted by Vince Offer: the spokesman of the product and a man notorious for his off-camera actions involving the law. Offer is easy to listen to because of his distinguished voice and rapid one-liners that keep the potential customer listening. Yes, throughout this commercial there is non-stop footage of how great of a product the Shticky is and how reliable it really is. Nonetheless, the major angle at which the Shticky commercial aims at is to persuade the people into how great it looks on camera. When I see it work on TV, the Shticky does it all! It seems to work with such ease it almost motivates me to start cleaning around my house. Vince Offer’s persuasion reflects the repetition of his words, and the low price of the Shticky. Words like “easy” and “time-saving” are also used repeatedly. These are words that are being spoon-fed to the consumer by Offer. This is what we want to hear, is it not?

Offer is good at keeping the audience’s attention. After all, the Shticky commercial is just over two minutes long while most commercials average between thirty and forty-five seconds! A part from the repetition of sales and urgency to buy the product in less than twenty minutes, Offer will make jokes like “Ladies, you always want to “Schtick” it on your husband right?” and makes a personal reference to when he had been in trouble with the law which was a story that went viral on the internet a few years ago. I personally know quite a few people who have actually purchased the Shticky and\or the Shamwow (another product featured in virtually the same commercial). These products are not garbage. They work. Mind you, the Scticky and Shamwow are nothing to truly brag about. They are modest tools for cleaning the house. Vince Offer truly does a terrific job at making a sales pitch for his products and persuades the audience into buying them. 

Here is the link to the official "Schticky" commercial and photos below: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAQjF5RPgbg