2/21 reflections

Paul said...

Ad Nauseum
This book is full of "ah-ha" moments for me, and the Subliminal Seduction section was one such moment. Of course the sexuality is more subtle in some ads more than others but I did not realize it could be so rampantly used. I know subliminal advertising is a real thing but this book takes it to another level. One theme from this section would be overkill, a little bit of over-analyzing of ads. That is what makes this interesting though subliminal messages are supposed to make us react subconsciously so my question is if this in depth investigation is really needed? Another theme I found interesting is the one on a smarter consumer. Companies such as Geico have definitely taken advantage with commercials featuring intelligent humor. It is funny how blatant the old advertisements were. A third theme is fro the section down memory hole, about company mascots. Always ironic how a mascot that was originally appealing and selling becomes problematic and hurting business. This not only happens with mascots but other facets of business. My question for section 6 is will I get arrested if I was caught placing "no parking for SUV" signs in a lot? I though that was a brilliant idea.

Twitter
a. There is more to Twitter than 140 character bits of information, it is a social and innovative phenomenon
b. I agree with Johnson that Twitter is a new way to spread information efficiently. The Summize tool makes this very easy. I would also agree with the idea that it takes people's minds off stressing events such as the economy. It serves as a media similar to what the movies serve a purpose as. I disagree that Twitter can evolve into more than what it already is. I can see marginal changes especially if Facebook or Google ends up buying. Other than being a way to spread news or Shaq's daily routine in 140 characters there is not much more Twitter can do. I would also disagree that Twitter makes bad first impressions, at first it appealed to me than after a month or two I stopped following.
c. I am not using Twitter, I did shortly after it became popular last year only because I thought you needed a page to follow people. Now I do not even follow anyone's tweets, and I disposed of my page which was blank anyway; I could never think of anything to tweet about

The Merchants of Cool
1. That people are used as pawns to connect media images to consumer atitudes
2. Images such as female beauty are pervasive
3. Corporate labels create trends and opinions among vulnerable teens "TRL" "Spring Break"
4. Family values become entangled in teen marketing on television "WB"
5. Violent messages do the same as advertising by influencing behavior