Super Bowl Commercials: Honda CR-V

   
     My favorite Super Bowl commercial this year is, by far, Honda's Commercial for the 2012 CR-V.  In this commerical, Matthew Broderick mirrors his character, Ferris, from one of my favorite movies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Broderick goes to great lengths to fake sick so that he can have a fun day around town instead of another day of acting.  Throughout the commercial, Broderick quotes from the movie and recreates some of its famous scenes.  This is all accomplished while driving his new Honda CR-V (which is cleverly hinted to replace the Ferrari that Ferris drives in movie). 
     Not only does this commercial pay a hilarious homage to a classic movie, it also features Honda, the maker of my 2011 Accord (sweet).  On a side note, I have absolutely no complaints about the quality of my car. And if anything is apparent from this commercial, it's that Honda will not only go to lengths to make a quality vehicle, but also a quality advertisement.

Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everday Life

     Goffman's ideas from The Codes Of Gender are supported several ways by his ideas from The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.  Every advertisement acts as an "actor" and everyone who views advertisements are like the "audience". The advertisements put on a show for the viewers and the way they are received is changed by manipulating the different concepts from The Presentation of Self.

     The models in advertisements can act in what Goffman refers to as Front Stage, Back Stage and Off Stage.  They have separate identities away from the advertisement.  The way they are portrayed doesn't necessarily represent the model as they act Back Stage or Off Stage.  This can be especially true when young girls are sexualized in advertisements.  They obviously don't go about their everyday lives dressed in slutty outfits.  This also sends wrong messages about body image to young girls.  Since the models are only "acting" the audience shouldn't receive the play as something to be imitated, but they turn that portrayal given by the models into their Off Stage performance.

     Another example of manipulating a concept from The Presentation of Self could be the Setting and Appearance.  The setting of an advertisement can affect the response it receives.  Since different settings will have different audiences, it can directly affect whether an ad will work or not.  An ad for Dolce & Gabbana wouldn't be very effective in a Field & Stream magazine.  Appearance ties into this as it can relate to where an ad is placed.  The models in advertisements may not always operate in the same classes they represent in an ad.  As well, ads that appeal to a higher social class may only be found in certain settings.  So the Dolce & Gabbana ad would probably feel more at home in Vogue.

     All of Goffman's concepts from The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life can be supported to advertisements and the concepts found in The Codes Of Gender. They help to explain the relationship between advertisements and the viewers of advertisements.  The concepts relate in order to help explain the effects advertisements have on viewers as well.



    

Women In Advertisements

     The ad I have chosen to analyze is an ad from Dolce & Gabbana.  This particular ad features 3 women.  Each of the women in the ad represent and display most of the concepts from both Killing Us Softly 4 and The Codes Of Gender.

     A similar concept from both videos is the sexualization of young women.  In this ad, the two women standing appear frail and slender with childlike facial features.  This concept is also supported with the colorful, small dresses that they are wearing.  A similar concept from the videos are the stances of the women. 
    
     As explained in both Killing Us Softly 4 and The Codes Of Gender, women in ads are often doing vulnerable or sexualized poses.  In this ad, the model in the chair is sitting in a manner that appears uncomfortable and as stated in The Codes Of Gender, not in a controlled or controlling position and becoming a product of her environment. In other words, she appears vulnerable and off kilter. They all use the position techniques shown in The Codes Of Gender.
     The other standing models demonstrate the knee, body, and head tilting.  The positions they are standing in are limp, hunched and delicate.  The center model's neck is also stretched and in a submissive position.  The hands of these models follow all the same rules from The Codes Of Gender as well.  They are limp and fragile. The model holding the bag on the right is holding it loosely and daintily unlike male models that hold things firmly and assertively. 
   
     Killing Us Softly 4 touches on the body sizes of models.  The three models in this advertisement are thin, slim and frail.  They aren't curvy or heavy.  These models help to portray the image of "ideal" body types that are explained in this video.    

     One concept that these models do not display has to do with their eyes.  Rather than staring off or appearing dazed and astray, all three models are staring straight at the viewer. The codes of gender explains how this is often shown with men in ads.  Though these women are glaring at the viewer, they are doing so in a manner that comes off as sexual.  If we focus on the model in the chair particularly, her eyes appear engaging in a sexual manner. All three models in this ad follow almost of the concepts shown from both videos.

Frith Analysis of Netflix Ad

     Using the Frith Analysis on the Netflix ad in my last blog, we can analyze the ad at the Surface Meanings, Intended Meanings, and Cultural Meanings.

     For the Surface meaning, viewers can see that all the movie characters are gathered in a meeting to be briefed by what appears to be a man in charge. They are in a business-like setting.

     For the Intended Meaning, Netflix is explaining some features of their website and their company that may attract the attention of potential customers (such as the ease of browsing the site and no late fees). The people sitting in the desks resemble characters from movies (like Pinocchio) and are meant to portray the vast amount of genres and range of titles available from Netflix.

     For the Cultural Meaning,  we also see that the characters resemble well known characters in movies.  When we see all the character from the movies, certain ones may stand out as favorites to us.  This makes us believe that Netflix has the movies we want (or maybe titles that children or other family members want).  Netflix appears to be very professional, reliable and efficient based on the business setting. They also appear this way because the movies are being told what to do. This can demonstrate the control and efficiency that are necessary to run a successful business.  By explaining how they are easy to use Netlfix is trying to appear better than their competition.  These features may be ones that potential customers feel are lacking from their current video rental store, thus making viewers more intrigued with Netflix and how it works.

Watch Instantly, Get Hooked Instantly

Netflix, by far, takes the win for my all time favorite ad campaign.  Not only do they have great commercials and ads, but their approach to advertising and even their logo are simple and concise.  I feel like advertisements should all have that goal; to get straight to the point.

After years of being disappointed with the service of video rental stores, Netflix was a refreshing take on rental videos.  Netflix offers a "no late fees" solution to the late fee problems associated with other video stores. Seeing one of Netflix's ads for the first time convinced my family to finally be rid of late fees and the poor selection of our local video stores. Why? In 30 seconds, Netflix will tell you exactly why you will never go to Blockbuster again. Plain and simple.



They didn't stop there.  During the big snow storm a few years back, I stumbled upon the instant play feature of Netflix that was then offered for free for existing Netflix customers.  This feature has had me using Netflix almost everyday for the past year.  Even though the instant play movie ads hadn't stuck out much to me before I started using the feature, the ads still have the same simple and straightforward approach.

This may all sound like I'm trying to convince everyone to switch to Netflix, and I am.  I started using it my freshman year of high school and I am now in my second year of college and I am still a customer.  Many free trials are offered, such as the "netflix.com/bacon" offer from EpicMealtime.  If you aren't already a customer, a free month trial wouldn't hurt.

Copyrights

     Current copyright laws can have a mixed variety of effects on producers.  Where laws can be pretty airtight and protect a producer's work from being stolen or illegally used,  problems still arise. 

     Copyright laws usually don't harm a media producer, however it is nearly impossible to regulate the amount of media being stolen and used illegally everyday. For example, music that is created and copyrighted by musicians could be used without permission for countless videos, projects or a vast majority of other things without the knowledge of the musician.  There isn't an elite squad of cyber police checking ever YouTube video everyday to make sure a 13 year old didn't illegally use a famous musician's song.

     So what can media producers do to help protect their work?  I happen to be a musician myself.  I have heard a few times before from other local musicians and artist, and also from our Communications professor, Kevin Williams, that if you simply put a postage stamp on your work, it can protect you from someone stealing or illegally borrowing your work.  It may not always be the case that a producer wants their work to be private and never allow others to share it. Sometimes you may want to intentionally make your work available to others.  In this instance, media producers can choose to just have their name attributed with their work.

     A simple step like mailing your band's first EP to yourself will hold up in court if the need ever arises.  Taking the proper precautions to protect your work from being used against your will can help to protect media producers, but it can hurt them if they don't.

COMM 203 Critical Thinking

Students (and people in general) are using critical thinking less and less every day.  No one really wants to think about how they arrived at an answer, they are just content with the fact that it's correct.  Many of our daily tasks require little thought and most of the next generation is fixated on the technology that controls their lives.  That's the problem.  The technology we use and the convenience of those technologies such as iPads and Smart phones and the applications we use with them, like Facebook, require minimal critical thinking skills.

The convenience of such devices are what cripples this crucial skill.  I no longer have to remember when projects are due if I have my phone do it for me or when my friends' birthdays are if it shows up on Facebook.  There's absolutely nothing I need to remember think about from Facebook.  Even if there was a comment that have 47 likes, Facebook will have it pop up as a "Memorable Post". 

When I was younger and played video games like the Legend of Zelda, I had to think about how to advance through the dungeons.  There were puzzles and problem solving skills required to beat the game.  Now most of the game market is riddled with First Person Shooter games that provide you with objectives to tell you what to do and a cursor to show you where to go.  Be that as it may, this doesn't at all exclude a FPS game from requiring strategy or thought. However, video games are becoming increasingly easier to play and requiring less critical thinking to complete.

This helps to show us how our society is evolving with technology and critical thinking.  Many of the day to day tasks we face don't require critical thinking.  We also need convenience in order to function.  I would forget most of the tests I have or important projects that are due if I didn't get an email from Shepherd University's LMS, Sakai.  If Facebook required us to think more it definitely wouldn't be as popular. If we can just play a game to shoot and kill stuff, then why would we spend our leisure time trying to figure out how to open the next door in the dungeon?