Analysis of Advertising

Some of my favorite advertisements are the Miller Highlife commercials where they go into social functions that are too classy to be serving Miller Highlife (and oftentimes at a VERY expensive price) and take back all of the beer.  Not only are these hilarious, but they are also targeted toward a specific audience--The middle class, beer-drinking American.  

The particular Miller Highlife commercial that I am analyzing for this assignment is posted in this blogpost.  It shows the 2 Miller Highlife guys going into a dog show and seeing that their product is being sold . They are immediately shocked and one of the guys actually says "It's making me queasy!" The ad makes it very apparent that Miller Highlife is NOT to be served at high class social functions. It is a good beer for cheap that is supposed to stay that way.  This ad is targeted at the Middle Class American and is targeted AWAY from upper class society.This is interesting because they are relying on the fact that beer is a middle/lower class drink.  This commercial also plays on the stereotype that uppity people do not drink beer, and they have "sports" such as the dog competition portrayed in this commercial, where Miller Highlife beer is not acceptable. 

 I think that Miller Highlife also likes to keep the "good beer for cheap" image, as portrayed in the Superbowl advertisements  where instead of creating a normal 30 second commercial, they created a 1 second, and much cheaper, commercial.  Miller Highlife advertisements have a humor factor that I think intrigues and interests the audience rather than sells the audience the product based on the facts presented in the commercial. I think that this ad sells the lifestyle to the idealized common folk that this beer was made for them, and I think it achieves its purpose. 

THE COMMERCIAL

FACEBOOK!

I go on facebook... A LOT. Too much one might say, and I have been making a conscious effort to limit my time using it, and my boyfriend makes the joke saying, "Nicole, you know the newsfeed on facebook is not the  REAL news, right?" He is just hilarious........


 I think that facebook is a great way to stay connected with friends, and family, but at times it is a huge distraction that keeps me from being productive. In addition, it can be dangerous to share personal information, and can promote online bullying.  On the plus side, my brother is over seas right now and in addition to the time change factor, getting to a phone can be an equally as difficult piece to overcome.  I have been fortunate to have many more facebook conversations with him than I have phone conversations. For that, I love facebook.  


As I stated, however, facebook is a public website. Employers, parents, and students can all view your information depending on what security settings you have set up....and even then it gets kind of dicey. Therefore, I am very careful with what I put up on my facebook. I do not share my telephone number, my address, or any other contact information that could lead to harassment or other problems.


Going a long with the notion that facebook is accessible to the public, I do believe that there is a sort of etiquette that one should acknowledge when communicating with others.  Knowing that other people's grandparents, siblings, parents, etc can check their facebook walls, I makes sure that everything I post on there is something that I would show my grandmother. It has to pass the grandmother approval:)  


Facebook would be a great tool to use as a teacher if I were to create an alternate persona (other than my personal one) to allow for students to add me as a friend and use as a classroom resource...Facebook is a good tool to use with students because it is something that most of them use on a daily basis.  Why not make it productive, right?

Top 5 Sitcom Moms! Voice Thread Activity

The video

Video Annotation

I annotated a clip of the movie Inception for my Media Literacy class. Check it out!

Video of Australia Using Imovie

Here is my amateur attempt at making my first movie.  I TRIED to put some of the pictures I took in Australia in a sequence that would tell a story...A shot from afar conveying our arrival, then images of me surfing, and then a closing evening picture.  Using Imovie would be a great way to get student's engaged in my future classroom.  We live in a world of technology and students can turn out some really great work when a teacher lets them show off their knowledge and talents in using technology!!

Watch out Steven Spielberg

Viewing Ads Through Literary Lenses:

I chose to focus this assignment on analyzing two different Dolce and Gabbana advertisements: one for wristwatches, and one for male’s cologne

First, the social class lens:

Dolce and Gabbana Watch Commercial

 I think that the aim of this commercial was to connect with as many male and female social class representatives as possible.  Although I do feel that there are certain class levels played out in this commercial, they are certainly all portrayed in a very glamorized manner.    For example, the commercial begins in a deserted part of town with graffiti laden walls and a beat-up car that stops to ask a man carrying a case of beer (who just happens to be wearing 2 Dolce and Gabbana wristwatches) for directions.  The audience can see that while directing the lost vehicle, (with his watch hand, of course) the woman in the car notices and admires the man’s watches.  The commercial then progresses to an intimate conversation of three friends in a seemingly more up-scale venue where the woman who received directions in the car is now wearing 2 Dolce and Gabbana wrist watches, like the gentleman who previously gave her directions.  Like her, a young man notices her wristwatches and then is shown dancing in a young adult dance club dancing with a woman who then notices his 2 wristwatches. As you may have guessed, she goes out and gets the 2 wristwatches, following the trend of the others who came before, and is noticed by a man. Up until this point, the audience has viewed 2 very different settings with 2 different social class presences.   The first setting being the vacant, underdeveloped street, and the second as a combination of a more up-scale dance club and a restaurant.  Third, the audience sees these Dolce and Gabbana wristwatches being shot for a very prestigious advertisement by a wealthy looking photographer (who was the man who noticed the previous woman).  In my opinion this jumping from lower class to upper class was done deliberately.  This commercial relays to the view that people EVERYWHERE are wearing Dolce and Gabbana watches. From deserted alleyways, to upper-middle class dining and dancing venues, to prestigious advertising agencies, everyone at these levels is able to afford the watches.  I also think it is interesting how this trend gets started in the lower class alleyway. I think this shows that you don’t have to be rich and famous, or come from Hollywood to start a worthwhile trend.   

Second, the gender lens:

Dolce and Gabbana Cologne Commercial

This advertisement portrays to viewers the image of an ideal man. He is polished, handsome, rich (judging by his outfit and vehicle) charming, and desirable.

When viewing this through the feminist perspective however, one might argue that this commercial unravels in a way that shows the world revolving around the male character. What’s more, the “world” is revolving around this male character by photographers that are relentlessly snapping photos, although he has seemingly done nothing picture worthy besides get out of his car.  Now, I know that the man in the ad happens to be a movie star and that could be the source of the picture snapping, but I think the commercial portrays something greater when viewed through the gender/feminist lens. 

How to include Steven Spielberg's Minority Report into the teaching of George Orwell's 1984:

For my film teaching activity, I have decided to use the introduction of Minority Report to show to the students during their reading George Orwell’s 1984.

I came up with idea on one of the first days of class after Professor Beach showed us the introduction to Minority Report and told us to study the techniques the director uses to portray certain things. While viewing the movie, I could not help but think that it was showing exactly what Orwell had predicted in his novel about government control in citizens’ lives.

Step One: Show first 10 minutes of clip (10 minutes)

I think that this would be a good clip to show to students after reading the first chapter in the book. This book can be very dense, and I think that showing this after the first chapter will spark their interest, and give them a visual representation of government control, and a way to understand the sentiments that Winston is feeling towards his particular situation. To begin, I would show the clip and ask the students to take note of context questions such as, when they think this movie is taking place. In addition, I will want for them to include in their personal notes what they perceive to be happening in the introduction of this movie, and to be prepared to discuss it after the clip.

Step Two: Discuss clip (10 minutes)

Step Three: Small group activity (25 minutes)

After discussion, I would ask students to do meet in groups of 3 or 4 to talk about the following prompt: In what ways is the introduction to the movie Minority Report similar to how Winston feels as he nervously writes in his diary in chapter one? How are the Thought Police similar to the Pre-Crime Police in the movie? Include specific examples/quotes from your reading and parts of the introduction that you watched.

Each group will respond to this prompt with ONE hand-written group copy in no more than TWO pages to turn into me for credit.

To Brighten Your Day...

I know that talking about the weather is an pretty good indicator of not having anything else to talk about...but seriously HOW NICE IS THIS WEATHER!? I have learned that my mood is somewhat (if not completely) dependent on what it is like outside. And, as of late, I have been the happiest person in Minneapolis...if you beg to differ...wait till January;)

On another note, one of my friends showed me this, and I found it absolutely HYSTERICAL. So here's to your Tuesday morning, you have to learn to laugh at yourself sometimes!

Why everyone should own a Mac