BK November 28, 2007

Burger King is another company that is pretty decent at advertising. BK’s commercials are usually entertaining and creative. Their latest icon has been the “King” himself. I must admit, I was somewhat creeped out when Burger King introduced the King. His plastic face with its demented smile is strange enough to disturb anyone, but I know that was not the intention…it probably stems from a fear of anything with a mask since my brothers used to scare me day-in and day-out with every mask possible. lol. The King, in actuality, is no more strange then the dancing chicken or talking chicken that wanted to be a fry (promotions for chicken sandwhiches and chicken fries).

The King has been used for “Wake up with the King” and having the King in bed. Or just having the King drop in on everyday activities. Burger King is now using the King in a different way. In the new commercials, three mothers are trying to kill the King because he is responsible from taking their jobs away as housewives preparing meals for their kids after school or husbands after a long day at work. Every attempt they make however is unsuccessful. The mothers try to hire hitmen. One attempt leads them to having their minivan backed into by the King after they had his brakes cut. Burger King is trying to get a message across; they’re sandwiches are just as good, if not better, than what momma can make you.

Duh November 25, 2007

So a couple of weeks ago I was complaining about the bland commercials put forth by all automobile companies. However, I actually saw a car commercial this past week that I enjoyed! Hyundai has three or four commercials advertising for their Holiday Sale.

The commercials are not much different than the regular car commercials. A Hyundai car is shown from side, front, and rear views and information about the car and sale are quickly stated near the latter end of the commercial. However, what caught my attention was the music. While all commercials rely on good music, I especially enjoyed the music used in these commercials. Hyundai hired different choirs to perform classic Christmas songs and sing using “Duh.” They use “Duh” not only because it fits with the songs but to state that it is so “Duh” or obvious to buy a Hyundai.

Unfortunately, the commercials are not up on youtube yet or on the Hyundai site. However, the commercials have been on repeatedly for over a week now so if you have not seen any of them yet, you certaintly will soon.

“Happy Holiduh!”

Advertising Techniques November 25, 2007

I finally appreciate the efforts put forth by advertising and public relations personel. The work my group and I put into our project allowed me to see through an advertiser’s eyes. I know we studied both careers in the book and with presentations, but you never truley understand something until you apply it to your own life.

Doing an audience analysis is very important to the advertising process. We decided to create a survey and link it on the internet. Without the information we collected through our survery, we would have created useless materials. We would have wasted a lot of time if we did not understand the desires and fears of our target audience. The locality of the audience also allowed us to place materials in areas where the audience was most likely to see them.

Another thing I learned is that I do not want to pursue a career in the advertising or public relations field. While the group project was interesting, creating materials and doing countless auidence analysis would not satisfy me. I consider myself somewhat creative, but more in a writing way, not in a visual way.

Hopefully our efforts will pay off and and many students will go see the performances of I Think You Should…

So here’s one last advertising attempt…

Go see LVC graduate, Katie McCarty’s comedic, autobiographical play, I Think You Should…. this Thursday and Saturday at 8pm and Friday at midnight in Leedy Theatre. Tickets are free to all LVC Students!

Dropped Calls November 18, 2007

Have you ever been talking on your cellphone when you suddenly realize that the other person isn’t there anymore? You don’t know how long they haven’t been able to hear you and you have no idea where your conversation got to. Well AT&T realized that most cellphone users could relate to a similar situation and made an advertising campaign based around the fact that they are the most reliable company with the least amount of dropped calls.

There have been many commercials made by AT&T that have little skits and scenarios ending in a dropped call and confusion. One person assumes that the other person is either speechless out of anger or confusion when in fact they actually just can’t hear the reaction.

In the following commercial, Roger Clemens uses a dropped call to get his wife’s permission to return to another season playing for the New York Yankees (yay!).

My personal favorite is the one where a deli owner calls his provider and asks for 50 lbs of roast beef only to have the supplier tell him that they area all out. The deli owner laughs and says, “What? Did your wife wolf it all down for breakfast?” The provider starts to crack up laughing but the owner can’t hear him because the call was dropped. The owner tries to make excuses and talk his way around making fun of the wife to save himself. Most of the commercials follow a similar pattern.

I feel that these commercials are very effective because they are not only funny, but are relatable.

Do alcohol advertising campaigns target the American youth? November 8, 2007

It’s quite interesting that even though the drinking age in every state in the U.S. is 21, most advertisements for alcohol seem to target a younger crowd. Some commercials are definately aimed at the post-college crowd like the ones that show business coming home from work to enjoy a Bud- “For all you do, this Bud’s for you.” However, a large majority use young women, animals, and high school humor to attract customers. And who exactly are they attracting? They’re attracting the portion of the public that can’t even consume their product legally!

When beer companies use commercial and advertising campaigns that show young people consuming their product during what seems to be a “spring break” type occasion, high school students are drawn to it. High school students anymore celebrate spring break in the same fashion as college students. In fact, most of the people that go away on spring break are kids still in school and therefore more than likely underage. Alcohol should be shown at different occasion, one where mainly legal age people would be. Drinking at a bar, for example would work, since to get into most bars you need to be 21.

Besides setting, ads use humor relevant to a younger crowd. The famous “Wazzup” commercials targeted high school and college students. It would be rare for anyone to here the crazy “wazzup” coming from a professional or college graduate. I’m sure “wazzup” was being uttered from every male high school and college student for a full year after the ad ran on tv.

A product should be marketing to the appropriate crowd; It is not appropriate for alochol ads to be aimed at those that can’t even buy it.

A well informed public reflection November 1, 2007

So today in class I started off thinking that I was considered a well informed member of this society…oh, how wrong I was. I used to watch the news every morning when I was getting ready for the day–I’d even switch between Fox and CNN, just to get the different sides. Sadly, I don’t do that anymore. I barely even put time aside to read a news headline on Netscape before I check my daily horoscopes! How did I let myself get so far out of the loop?

Most college students get like this. No one wants to put time aside to search news stories when they can “do better things.” I personally would rather pepper a volleyball in the social quad than surf the net looking for unbiased news stories. I’m not going to get up at 6 o’clock to watch the morning news if I don’t have a class til 10 and I’m not going to watch the 10 o’clock news at night when I should be studying for the next day’s exam.

Doesn’t this lack of importance put on imforming ourselves hurt the democratic government we live in? If I’m so ignorant of local, national, and international news, how can I form an opinion, let alone voice it? I feel bad saying that I really don’t seem to care about anything anymore unless it has a direct impact on me. I’ve put trust in the goverment to do whatever they feel necessary, without actually trusting the government.

I should–we all should–inform ourselves in order to form a better nation and world…but I’m just too lazy.

E-News October 29, 2007

Electronic News and media in general is blamed for releasing bias information. Liberal news releases good information about conservatives and good information about liberals, and vice versa.

Online sites can not be blamed for the bias however. Freedom of press has always allowed bias attitudes to be spoken and printed. The online thing that electronic news does is allow easier access to these bias opinions. People are more likely to search for their bias however. These biases are not going to sway a person, but only reinforce their ideas. I do believe that people should not only stick to their bias however. To get a whole story you need to look at both sides. But no matter how hard some company tried to portray both sides, there would always be a bias. It is the responsibility of the reader to get the true concepts, not the writer.

Another conflict is news as entertainment. Television news shows are being condemned for the fact that they are portraying news in such a way to bump of viewership. News is distorted to please the audience. They most entertaining stories are shown, such as celebrity news, while the real stuff is left out, like war coverage. People are not getting what really matters out of news shows. The American public can’t possible know what’s going on in their own country when news channels concentrate on Paris Hilton’s trial or Britney Spear’s custody battle.

What is a person to do? In order to get the whole story, of every story, people need to not only pay attention to both liberal and conservative works but in all forms of media. To get everything going on in the US people need to watch TV, read magazines, newspapers, and books, and listen to the radio. But how many people honestly want to do that?

Privacy? October 29, 2007

So whatever happened to personal privacy? With the invention and wide use of the internet, privacy went out the window.

Regular people, hackers, and stalkers can access an unprecedented amount of information on the web anymore. Purchasing goods online can be dangerous. Entering a credit card number can lead to identity theft. It’s a gamble everytime you log into a computer.

Some people purposely put information about themselves up online-but don’t always realize the consequences. There are plenty of community sites like Facebook and Myspace where teens post personal contact information and pictures of themselves for the world to see. Dating sites like Match.com have people post details about likes and dislikes. It’s easier than ever to get to know a person without even meeting or talking to them. People can now judge each other off of their websites. What most people don’t realize when they put this information up however, is that it’s not all innocent. Stalkers and perverts search such sites for young or “weak” individuals to prey on. The biggest group of victims would be teenagers. Young boys and girls think it’s cool to have their own sites with their own pictures- and the smaller amount of clothing, the better. Older sexual predators love this- it’s like an online menu.

While identity theft through credit card and social security numbers is a huge and horrible problem, I believe that the amount of information put out on personal sites is worse. Parents need to monitor their childrens’ site. I would not care if my mom looked at mine- I’d know she was just protecting me. The potential dangers for kids and teens online is tremendous. What ever happened to not talking to strangers?

Happy Cows! October 29, 2007

As an agricultral advocate I totally love the Happy Cow commercials for California Cheese and Milk- “Happy Cows come from California.” Some of the commercials consist of cows playing marco-polo in a field of fog and then playing tag when the fog lifts or two bulls talking about how to woo a lady cow. The cows are given an identity that people actually relate to.

The company has been able to market the Happy Cow very easily. People have fallen in love with the commercials to the point that the dairy company now sells stuffed animals online. Wallpaper and calenders are available for computers as well. The site also has all the commercials and the bloopers.

http://www.realcaliforniamilk.com/pages/english/happyCowsTV.aspx

 I believe that these commercials are a great way to advertise milk. I mean, come on, how can you really advertise milk? There are only so many shots of a milk glass or kids pouring milk into cereal. The commercials themselves actually never show the milk, they concentrate on the source-cows. This is a good example of how commercials are only used to portray a name or idea, not the actual good.

Even if you don’t care much for farming, or agriculture in general. you can’t help but laugh or at least smile at these commercials. From early childhood everyone wondered how animals interacted with each other. Well these California cows are happy and playful, so they milk has to be good, right?

What did we do before AIM? October 29, 2007

The internet is responsible for many good and bad additions to American culture. People can access more information quicker than before the web-age, but at the same time, the reliability of that information needs to be questions. Music and other media can be found easily. Overlooking all the pros and cons of the internet however, you have to admit that communication has never been so easy.

The internet has allowed online communication to flourish. From e-mail to AIM to Facebook- it has never been so easy to contact a person and stay in contact. Going away to college is not nearly as stressful because you can access your friends with no problem at all. You don’t need to play phone tag or wait to mail a letter across the nation. Saying hi to a friend, just for the sake of saying hi, is no big deal. So seriously, how did we survive before all this?

Personally, I’ve had AIM since I was in third grade. I used AIM to talk to my mom when I got home from school in the afternoons. She would work nights and I would be at school all day. A relationship between us would have been nonexistant without AIM. I get to talk to my cousins that live across the country and can even stay in touch with the people I met when I studied abroad in Europe. I feel totally connected to everyone in my present and past because of AIM.

Sites like Facebook and Myspace also let me send little messages or posts to my friends that have a different schedule than I do. If I can’t catch someone online on AIM, I can just leave them a message for them to get to when they can get online.

I know that I would have lost a lot of relationships if the internet wasn’t around- some relationships would have never started either. Facebook was resonsible for me meeting people before I even got on campus.

I could not imagine what moving to college would have been like without Facebook and AIM.