Reflection Blog

I look at media now in a very different way than a few months ago when I didn't know anything about media. To me, media had just been a part of my life. I never took the chance to try and observe everything that goes along with media. It was easy to be passive with media but cause they were selling me stuff and I only had to choose if I wanted to buy it or not. But now, I see what is being used in order to try and persuade me to buy something. There are words, appeals, and techniques that marketers will use in order to capture our attention. Everything that I see was planned ahead so that they were targeting a certain group. As I reflect on what I’ve learned with media, I see that there were so many ways to break through the clutter in order to advertise to me. 

Whenever I see commercials now, the first thing that I will do is watch to see which from of advertising they are using. The most common form I will see is Madison and Vine because there are so many companies that try to combine their product into places that would be appealing to teens. But with this, I like to see which appeals and techniques that the company uses with their ads. A lot of them I never would've known until I learned about them. Like the fact that humans are greedy, so we are attracted to offers that gives us more for paying less. For an appeal, need for affiliation is very popular because it seems like to be normal, you need to have a social life. As I’m constantly seeing media everyday, I take this into consideration because of the things I’ve learned this semester. 

To go along with how I see media, I have also been intrigued at the implicit messages that companies will give about their products. I didn't expect that every marketer was going to have an impact message embedded into their ad, but I’ve seen plenty of them to change my mind. The implicit messages can be controversial, but I think the main thing that I get from them is how it reflects the society we live in. There are some messages that I didn't know were true until I saw ads. So in a way, I now learn more from ads and how they influence people to do something or to be certain people. The downside to this is how ads can portray people that you aren’t. They do this so that you feel like you need to be someone different. This is where I have a problem with the messages. It’s a marketing tactic that I don't agree with because it forces people to change to shape themselves on what companies sell as cool. The only thing they want is your money. They ruin young kids lives because they create a high social expectation on who you should be. I don't try to be tempted by these ads but its frustrating to see media making false images of people. 

By being educated in knowing about media, it allows one to be careful about what to consider when looking at products and how we base our choices on commercials. When one is more educated to understand the ways a company will try to sell you their product, then you become more aware of what’s actually true and what is fake. Everything that I've learned from the media blogs and from learning about marketing strategies will allow me to see what big corporations will try to convince to buy. There are many ways they can do this, so its great that I’m able to look at all of them and know what to be weary of. 

Final thoughts I have to this quarter with media is that I don't think I’ll ever forget the messages that big companies will give to make us feel like their product is superior. The second marketing project helped me see how there are a lot of similar themes that media has in order to make us want to purchase their products. Like a feeling of safety, or family, or being unique. As much as I struggled to learn about media so early, I now see how this will affect and stay with me through my life. 

Probably my favorite poster from the Think Differently Campaign, just showing how I will always look back at my experience I had with the media projects and how I see the experiences that are trying to be sold with companies. 

Positivity and Change

A song that showed me that there are positive messages in songs is called "Sit Still, Look Pretty" by Daya. When I first heard this song and realized what she was saying, I was extremely happy to know that to the people who listened to it would think about the flip side to what society is right now. She has lyrics like "Could dress up, to get love, But guess what? I'm never gonna be that girl, Who's living in a Barbie world" This line shows how Daya doesn't want to conform to what society expects women to be like. It shows that she wants to be different. The way that the world has put high social expectations is very demanding, so Daya says that she and others should choose what they want to be instead of following everyone else.

Another verse that I think is very important is "Mr. Right could be nice, for one night, But then he wanna take control, And I would rather fly solo." This shows how men expect women to be and how women can fall into the trap of being dominated by men. This isn't what should be expected of women in the world because they should be able to control who they are and what they do. Some guy may seem nice for a day, but could then turn into a controlling person. As a woman, its seen to accepted that they will simply obey men because of the patriarchal society we live in. So Daya is trying to break this mold and show girls as they are growing up that they have a choice in their lives. It shouldn't be up to the men that control their lives. With this, I fully support the idea that girls and women should have the right to choose what they do in their lives without the influence of men telling them what to do. That's why I felt that this song was necessary to talk about. It connects perfectly as a contrast to everything we've learned about critical thinking about the way women are portrayed and expected to be. Its a great message for kids to be learning and accepting at an early age so we can break the current trend. 

Sit Still, Look Pretty Link Link to the video

That's What I Like

A very popular song on the radio right now is the song by Bruno Mars "That's What I Like". I've heard it enough to realize that there are certain messages in the lyrics about a certain lifestyle. One part says "Baby girl, what's hatnin'? You and your ass invited". This is sexualizing women and by saying not only she is invited but her body is, it reinforces the idea of men seeing women as only for their looks. He then says "Go pop it for a player. Pop, pop it for me. Turn around and drop it for a player. Drop, drop it for me." This further adds onto the idea that he is expressing the idea of how women should be looked and treated. He makes it seem like its a women's responsibility to please a men and its ok because they are supposed to do this already. Not only does Bruno Mars promote how women should act, but also how men should expect women to be to them. He influences both side with what he says in the song. 

One part of the chorus goes "Gold jewelry shining so bright, strawberry champagne all night, lucky for you, that's what I like, that's what I like." In this, he talks about what a woman wants in her life or something that she likes having frequently. Bruno then says that luckily for her, it's the same thing that he happens to like. So the only reason that he is letting her have it is because he likes it too. There's an obvious assertiveness of dominance. The man has more power over the woman in society and is the ultimate decider on what happens. I also see it as a way of showing what woman should like and how they should live because they should expect gold jewelry and champagne. To wrap it up, woman should expect to live luxuriously. Right after this part of the chorus, he says "sex by the fire at night, silk sheets and diamonds all white." This is just further proof of what he addresses as a standard for women to have. And it also makes men expect to be able to provide this type of luxury to women. It hurts both males and females at certain, expensive lifestyles that are expected to be for everyone. 

The rest of the song has similar lyrics or repeating the chorus, which continues to add onto the idea of certain expectations. Bruno Mars gives young kids and teens a certain, rich lifestyle that is enjoyable to them. And by explaining what they live, he makes it seem like others should live like this. All he does is create a wrong interpretation for young kids on how to live and expect of others in the world. You shouldn't sexualize women and see them as a man's possession. The type of way to live in this is not accurate for everyday people and shouldn't be how others who are growing up expect to live. 

Song Link to the song

Miss Representation

In the video MissRepresenatation, a main idea was that girls and young teenagers take their appearance and body very seriously. The media caters to the way that women "should" look like, knowing that most girls don't like look it normally. So the message that girls get are that they need to be this certain body type and wear certain clothes. Overall, they must change themselves to be appealing to men because it is men that women are supposed to be made for.

Applying this, I see everyday how girls try to make themselves appear to up to the standards that have been created by media. The problem with this is that girls change the way that beauty should perceived. I personally think that beauty can be seen within anyone and that no one person or group can define what beauty is. There is a problem with this because in today's society, there are groups that make girls think that beauty means doing one thing or another. It could be wearing certain clothing, or having their body being a certain shape. Not everyone can fit the same body type as the way that media makes girls think is true beauty. The media controls the way girls think, which I think is wrong. There is too much pressure on girls to be this certain way that they look past how they can look beautiful in their own way. It's like a crime to steal a women's beauty with a superficial appearance of beauty.

Connecting to this is how men objectify women. They don't care about the deeper feelings that women have and how they can be more than their surface level. This goes hand and hand with how girls make themselves look a certain because that's what has been told to them to be beautiful. Men see women as objects and that their main purpose is to make babies. There is an under representation of women in all fields in society because men control the society.

I have seen this objectification in my life and saw it recently in school. At a sports presentation, there were boys who were heckling one of the speakers who was explaining that when someone listens to rap, it causes them to objectify women. Then one of the boys yelled that women are objects, and I immediately realized how close to me that this reality of objectification is. Everywhere, boys are growing up and thinking that they can see girls as objects because they hear this message from music. Its really sad to know that this thought is accepted by people, but I have seen how real it is.

A picture of Victoria Secret models, one example of how media shapes how women and girls should look.

MOOKS MERCHANTS OF COOL

The definition of a book is a male who is stuck in adolescence. They act childish and seek fun by doing things that are over the top and wild. This type of character isn't made by nature though, its a creation of MTV. They brought the mook into existence and have made teen boys fascinated with what he promotes. What annoys me is that kids actually think that its ok to act like a mook. They don't see the problems with being a mook because they see it on TV and automatically assume that its ok to act like one. The way mooks act and what they value is very sad to me. It puts a bad reputation on all male teens who are different than being a mook.

The mook has become more "aggressive" in todays society than it was when the video was made. Now it highlights that men can be more crazy and obnoxious than what was previously accepted. This just makes it a bigger platform for males to behave and expect themselves to be. Mooks don't benefit anyone and they only make other males look childish.

The sad truth to the mook is that it works among teens and young males. The type of humor that a mook is involved in is what seems to be always trending in social media. Its always the guy who is trying to do something dumb but attention-grabbing or is doing something to make everyone else laugh. As much as I want the mook caricature to die, it will only grow as the boundaries are pushed as to how far they can be obnoxious.

More Eyes Than Mine

Now that I've seen multiple examples of media's effect on people and how media is used to make others be something they aren't, I've been able to see how I look at media compared to others. I used to not look at the deeper meanings of media and how they are having more of an impact than just me. I used to think that when I was affected by media, it would have the same effect as everyone else. I now see how this is wrong.

The past two videos I have watched in zero period have showed me that people will change to be certain characters that they aren't. Or they will act a certain way because older people do so. A scary example of this is when a girl was talking way to mature than her age was. She was acting like she was an adult when she was barely a teenager. And the way she talked and dressed was repulsive. I couldn't stand watching this thirteen-year-old girl talking in an interview like she was fully grown. It wasn't right. But because of media and the way that women speak and act, young girls pick up on this and feel that they need to act the same way.

When I saw this, I never would've been convinced to act like an older kid or try to fit the role that is displayed for men in media. I wouldn't have cared about it because I still see myself as a teenager who can't be like the men that are shown in media. But I now see that others are willing to change themselves so that they fit to these roles that people make. This all just shows how condescending media can be to the younger audience. The way that people act and the character that they display is like a role model for kids. They want to be exactly like the people on Tv or in the movies. It is wrong to think like this because kids still have a long life before they have to be adults and act like them. We're trying to be old while we are young. Everyone wants to seem mature, but its gone very far from what is acceptable.

As for me, I don't think Ill change the way that I see media. I don't think that I will be so influenced by it that I will completely change who I am so that I can be like the people in media. I see how this can be a way to be accepted by your peers, but it also stems from the fact that one doesn't accept themselves in their current state. Besides me, others see that they need to change so that they conform to the way that media wants them to think they need to be. Its unfortunate, but it works. So while I don't get affected much by the media, I have seen how many others take media more seriously in their lives than I do.

Risk Everything Nike Ad

After going over the marketing project for the past couple of days and seeing different ways that ads market to people, I was interested in more of the ads that I've liked throughout my life. There was one particular ad that I liked, an ad by Nike. The ad had a lot of famous soccer players playing soccer, which is why I liked it so much. But after looking back at it again, I saw the different techniques and appeals that were used in the ad.

One part of the ad that was constantly given to us over and over was the idea of the individual. In soccer, being a man player doesn't carry your team to win. Its all about the team effort. But in this ad, everything was about the individual. Whenever someone had the ball, it had them doing there own skill to try and score. Or it would have them doing something fancy in the game instead of doing simple things. The camera would was pan to one player at all times with the ball and focus on them. This further supports how they wanted people to think of themselves over others.

The implicit message I got from the ad was that by using Nike, you will stand out from everyone else.  The words they repeated in the ad were "Risk everything". These were meant to target the individual watching this and wants us to think that we are the ones who can make a difference. But in order to do so, we have to do everything ourselves. At the end of the ad, it shows a normal kid who takes the penalty kick away from Ronaldo, who is a very famous soccer player. He also happens to be very selfish when it comes to fame, so it made it all the more important that the kid took the ball from Ronaldo. He then went on to score and won the game for the team. Everyone celebrated and he was happy. Nike tries to tell us that by doing things yourself, you can make everything better. It could also be trying to show that when you will be liked if you risk everything and succeed, which was shown by everyone happy when they won the game.

Nike Ad