Reflection

After this unit on media, my thoughts, experiences, and interactions with media have drastically changed. Before we started this unit, I would always be lured in to advertisements. I would always believe what the advertisers said. Since I believed what was being said, I would always want or buy the product that was being advertised. After this unit, I have become aware of the techniques and appeals used by advertisers to pitch a product to the consumers. I learned that these advertisers are able to sell any product as long as they know how to appeal to the target audience. I also learned about the techniques used on the target group. Now, I have become more aware of the ways the advertisers think. Because of this, I have stopped believing everything I hear and see in media. I am very glad I learned this important lesson. It is important for other consumers to be aware of the way advertisers think so they don't get tricked into believing and buying certain things. Being an educated consumer is also important because the media usually makes the consumer feel bad about themselves in order to sell the product. In Miss Representation, it was said that the media's goal is to make people feel anxious and to make women think their values are based on how they look. The media achieved its goal. Nowadays, women have more eating disorders, have lower self confidence, and feel powerless. If more consumers were educated, they would realize that the media is tricking them and trying to make them feel a certain way. If people knew this, there would be a huge morale boost. Many people, especially women, would stop feeling so bad about themselves because they would learn that the media is tricking them. Once I realized this, my consumption of media decreased. I know that the products being advertised aren't as amazing as they appear to be so this made me uninterested in most of the advertisements that I see or hear. I am still surrounded by media, but I have learned to stop believing everything the media tells me. After learning about the techniques and appeals the advertisers used, I saw media in a whole different light. I realized that I shouldn't believe everything that I see. This was a very important lesson for me to learn. It made me view the media that surrounds me in a completely different perspective.

Steam Waver Ad

While reading Seventeen Magazine, I came across an ad for the Steam Waver. This product is a hair crimper that is supposed to give you "big beachy waves" and "high intensity shine". Although I would never buy the product, I can see the appeal it has on the consumers. The appeals used are the need for attention and the need for autonomy. This ad shows a woman that goes from having average straight, flat hair to having this wavy, voluminous head of hair. The girl goes from being plain to standing out. A lot of the people that see this ad wish to undergo such a transformation. They want to stand out as much as the woman did. The consumers believe that this transformation is possible if they buy the Steam Waver. The advertisers make the consumers believe this by using the technique plain folks. In the before picture they show the woman looking average. There is nothing special about her. She looks like any average person. Then they show her after she uses the product. Her hair stands out and she no longer looks so average. Glittering generalities is also used in this ad. The words "young" and "sexy" appear at the top of the advertisement. The words appeal to the viewers because they want to feel both young and sexy. The two main colors used in this ad are black and dark purple. The black gives the ad a more intense vibe and the purple represents boldness. These intense colors were used to help show how intense the transformation is once you use the product.

Taylor Swift's Covergirl Ad

I saw an advertizement for Covergirl's new eye enhancers, mascara, and eyeliner. This ad first caught my attention because very bold colors were shown. Then I noticed the catch phrase, "don't live in someone else's shadow!" This phrase drew me even more into the advertisement. This tag line draws the consumers in and appeals to them using the need for attention. This is because the ad is trying to make you think that if you buy the product, you will be an individual. You will stand out and not be living in someone else's shadow. This ad also plays off of our need for autonomy. The advertisers are trying to make us believe that by buying this product we will stand out. The advertising technique testimonial was used. Taylor Swift is being used to endorse the product. By putting Taylor Swift in the ad, they are luring in their target audience of teenage girls. The teenagers that idolize her and want to be like her will want to buy the product because she has it. Glittering generalities was also used. They use the word "shadow" in their pitch. When someone thinks of a shadow they immediately begin to think of "grey" and "dark". They believe that when you buy the product you will step out of the darkness and be so much happier. The techniques the advertisers used on this advertisement were very successful.

Gucci Perfume Ad

I was reading Seventeen Magazine when I came across a Gucci perfume advertisement. The target audience for this ad is middle-class males and females in their twenties. Both the man and woman in this ad are Caucasian and young. They both have an intense look on their face. The camera angle is close to the subjects and at eye level. This makes us viewers believe we are equals with the people in this ad. The lighting used is artificial. The background is dark and the people have a gold-tinted light around them. This is to highlight the people in this ad. They are highlighted because the advertisers are using them to sell the product. They want the viewers to look at these people and want to be like them. The main color shown in this ad is gold. The lighting is a golden color and the bracelet that woman is wearing is gold. The gold represents class. The viewers notice it is a classy product, but they are still able to afford it. The text is big, centered, and white. When I see white text I begin to think of "pure" and "good". The color white has positive connotations and that is why it is used. The transfer association technique was used. The advertisers used colors with positive connotations and also associated their product with attractive models to make the product more desirable. This advertisement is also using the need for sex. The models are both naked and are very close to each other. When the viewers see this, they want to be in their position. They want to have an attractive partner and be that attractive. This technique doesn't work on teenagers, but it does work with people in their twenties.

Martin Scorsese iPhone/Siri Commercial

This commercial is meant to appeal to an older crowd. I believe this because the guy in the commercial is an elderly man. I also believe that it appeals to the upper class. This is because the man in the commercial has his own driver and when they show a map on his phone the place it shows is the well-to-do Upper East Side of New York. The advertiser wants the viewers to see how easy it is to use Siri. They show Martin Scorsese speaking into the phone and getting a reply a second later. The consumer notices how helpful Siri is and how easy it is to use Siri, so they want to buy the phone. In reality, it isn't that easy. You need to talk very slow and clear so Siri can understand you. And half of the time the app isn't able to understand what you said. The advertisers make the viewers interested in the commercial by using the testimonial and simple solutions techniques. The text in the commercial is white. When I think of the color white, I think of "pure" and "good". I then began to associate the iPhone 4S and Siri with those words.

Garnier Fructis Commercial

As I was watching TV, one commercial caught my attention. It was for the Garnier Fructis Pure Clean hair care line. The first thing that caught my attention was the lighting used. The first thing shown in this commercial is people that don't use the product. When they show these people, the lighting is dull. The colors in the background are awful shades of blue and grey. The people also look very unhappy. After these people are shown, the ad shows people who use the product. The lighting suddenly becomes brighter and much vivid colors are shown. The color green is the main color because this product claims to be eco-friendly. The people shown are happy and seem to be having fun playing with a green and white ball that looks like the earth.
This commercial is targeted at both males and females in their twenties and thirties. The people in this ad were all in this age group. The camera angle is at eye level so the viewers feel like they are equal with the people in the advertisement. The advertisers did this because they want to make the consumers feel that they are equal with this people and can easily do their part in helping the environment by buying the product. They want the viewers to see how happy these people are after buying the product because they helped the environment and they want the viewers to want to be that happy and feel that good about themselves.
The strategies the advertisers used are effective. Even though I'm not a part of the target audience, I wanted to buy the product. In fact, I did. I know a few people in the target group that bought the product after seeing the ad as well. The techniques used in this advertisement were very effective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjcyAWO5Jo

Olay Cleanser

I came across this advertisement while reading a magazine. It caught my eye because of the light colors used. The background is light blue and the writing is white. The model in this ad has very fair skin with light blue eyes, and hair so blonde it is almost white. These light colors were used because they look very clean. This ad is for a skin care product that claims to remove two times the amount of dirt and makeup than any other facial wash. This product claims to clean better than any other brand, therefore they used clean-looking colors in the background to get the point across.
The advertisers also make the consumers feel the need to satisfy curiosity. All this ad says is the product removes two times the amount of dirt than any other brand and it exfoliates the skin. The last thing this ad says is "For more on how to make your skin sing, visit SkinCareFacts.com". This makes the consumer want to go to the website and learn more about the product.
The advertisers want the consumers to believe that if they buy the product, their skin could be as flawless as the model's. The model is wearing very light makeup and has her hair tied back. It looks as if she just washed her face. The viewers notice this and want to look that beautiful after they just washed their face. This convinces them to buy the product.

The strategies the advertisers used were very smart. I think the advertisers tried to appeal to teenage girls and it worked. This ad made me want to buy the product because I want my skin to look as flawless as hers after I wash my face. The techniques and appeals used in this advertisement lured in teenage girls to buy or want to buy the product.