Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Blog # 7

I think that watching shows like Jon & Kate plus eight affects our idea of what families are like because they only show one part of the story. They are going to show how crazy their life is with eight kids and they are mostly going to show the best and worst parts on the program. Not all families are like this and they all function differently and because of the amount of kids they have to adjust their lifestyle to fit all of their kids lives. People have to do this as well in the real world. There are big families other places as well but they are not on camera all of the time. People watching can get the wrong idea because they don't really know the entire story and it may not be as accurate as they think.
I don't think it's a good idea to include children in reality t.v. shows. It's not fair for them to grow up with a camera in front of their face. They don't really get a choice if they want to be apart of the show, they just are because it's their family. They are starting at an early age being exposed to the media in a negative way with people always judging their family and how they live. The kids are obviously a large part of the show but they shouldn't be brought up always being on television.
Shows such as Jon & Kate plus eight do give an unrealistic idea of how easy it is to raise large families because they are making money off the show that it is much easier for them to support eight kids. Unlike in the real world with parents struggling to raise half as many children. It is easier for them to support their children when they are making so much money for being on television.
Truman Burbank is man living in what some people may call a bubble. There is both reality and fiction in his life but he has no idea that his life is different than everyone else’s. His life is set as a television show for viewers to tune in and watch whenever they want to. Truman still had the opportunities to live a normal life, he got to do the same things as other people would and he got to experience things the same way. His life could be considered real or totally fake.
Things in Truman’s life could be considered normal because even if he was surrounded by actors he still has his own feelings, emotions and personality. His wife was chosen for him to fall in love with but he was still able to have a normal wedding and his wife even wants to have kids with him. He was born normally and there is nothing genetically wrong with him, he has grown up doing normal childhood things like taking his first steps as a child and being nervous on the first day of school. He makes money to support his family, and is able to buy things for himself like a nice car and house.
Truman’s life is also very fake because he is surrounded by actors and people who don’t have real feelings and who are told what to say all of the time. Everything that Truman is surrounded by including the weather is totally fake. He has fake friends and family that were placed there only to make an entertaining show. There was only one person that was true to him in high school and she was taken away because she almost exposed the Truman show secret.
Although Truman was able to have real feelings and emotions and was not able to live a real life. He didn’t get to live his life the same way as anyone else and the Truman show was limiting him to have a real life. Because of this show he was unable to live his life the same way as you and I. This is unfair because he was never given the choice about having his life filmed or not.
Truman Burbank is man living in what some people may call a bubble. There is both reality and fiction in his life but he has no idea that his life is different than everyone else’s. His life is set as a television show for viewers to tune in and watch whenever they want to. Truman still had the opportunities to live a normal life, he got to do the same things as other people would and he got to experience things the same way. His life could be considered real or totally fake.
Things in Truman’s life could be considered normal because even if he was surrounded by actors he still has his own feelings, emotions and personality. His wife was chosen for him to fall in love with but he was still able to have a normal wedding and his wife even wants to have kids with him. He was born normally and there is nothing genetically wrong with him, he has grown up doing normal childhood things like taking his first steps as a child and being nervous on the first day of school. He makes money to support his family, and is able to buy things for himself like a nice car and house.
Truman’s life is also very fake because he is surrounded by actors and people who don’t have real feelings and who are told what to say all of the time. Everything that Truman is surrounded by including the weather is totally fake. He has fake friends and family that were placed there only to make an entertaining show. There was only one person that was true to him in high school and she was taken away because she almost exposed the Truman show secret.
Although Truman was able to have real feelings and emotions and was not able to live a real life. He didn’t get to live his life the same way as anyone else and the Truman show was limiting him to have a real life. Because of this show he was unable to live his life the same way as you and I. This is unfair because he was never given the choice about having his life filmed or not.
Truman Burbank is man living in what some people may call a bubble. There is both reality and fiction in his life but he has no idea that his life is different than everyone else’s. His life is set as a television show for viewers to tune in and watch whenever they want to. Truman still had the opportunities to live a normal life, he got to do the same things as other people would and he got to experience things the same way. His life could be considered real or totally fake.
Things in Truman’s life could be considered normal because even if he was surrounded by actors he still has his own feelings, emotions and personality. His wife was chosen for him to fall in love with but he was still able to have a normal wedding and his wife even wants to have kids with him. He was born normally and there is nothing genetically wrong with him, he has grown up doing normal childhood things like taking his first steps as a child and being nervous on the first day of school. He makes money to support his family, and is able to buy things for himself like a nice car and house.
Truman’s life is also very fake because he is surrounded by actors and people who don’t have real feelings and who are told what to say all of the time. Everything that Truman is surrounded by including the weather is totally fake. He has fake friends and family that were placed there only to make an entertaining show. There was only one person that was true to him in high school and she was taken away because she almost exposed the Truman show secret.
Although Truman was able to have real feelings and emotions and was not able to live a real life. He didn’t get to live his life the same way as anyone else and the Truman show was limiting him to have a real life. Because of this show he was unable to live his life the same way as you and I. This is unfair because he was never given the choice about having his life filmed or not.
Because of celebrities being in magazines and in the public regularly this can help retailers sell their products when celebrities use their products. Since celebrities are followed by paparazzi and when they just happen to be wearing roots or drinking a certain type of water it is shown that this specific product does do up in sales. An advantage for retailers is that they will get m0re service because people look up to and follow what they like and are more likely to shop somewhere that their favorite celebrity shops at as well. As well, some other people may have issues with celebrity endorsement because they are being paid a lot of money just to be famous. They are also in commercials and you don't know if you really trust what they say because you know that they are being paid a lot of money and some people would probably say anything. Someone in the article says "Just 5 years ago, any serious actor would be ashamed to do a commercial..." This person is pointing out that celebrities now are only doing it for the money and possibly more fame. Celebrity's can help boost retailers sales because they are seen as role models to many people and when they wear the hot new items, this makes other people want to wear all of these same items as well. Celebrities have become a part of the "business plan and business model" because certain celebrities are very important in order to keep the company strong in sales. They may be the backbone of the cooperation and Lavandeira of PerezHilton.com says "Her career isn't hot, but Lindsay Lohan gets paid to shop. Celebrity endorsement doesn't really have an affect on me. If I see something that I like I will buy it. If I see someone who is famous wearing something nice or if I see someone out in public wearing something nice then I may want it just because I am interested. I defiantly believe that there are many people that are impacted by this and they don't even notice it.
Friday, February 27, 2009

Media 4

Advertising is clearly not something that can be ignored. When watching your favorite show there is commercials in between that get stuck in our minds. When they create a catchy slogan and you hear a million times it becomes very difficult to not know what the slogan is for. That catchy jingle is the thing that advertisers love to get stuck in our heads. No matter where you run we are all surrounded by advertising and yes, we are all affected by it.

In class we did an activity to see how well we recognized slogans that we see on t.v or hear on the radio. Many of these slogans were recognizable because of how popular they are and the multiple times that they have been heard. The songs that go with them and the cute animals that go with them make them so appealing and even harder to not remember. When advertisers are creating there jingle they are defiantly planning to get the jingle stuck in our minds and they try there hardest to make sure that they succeed. It wasn't very difficult to figure out what the slogans were for because they have official been engraved into my mind. If they made school a commercial then it would probably be easier to remember and I might do better on tests.

It would be very difficult to live your life without commercials having an effect on you. Some people think that they are not influenced by commercials but the truth is that there is no way around is and everyone is stuck with it. The only way to not be affected by commercials is to live in a box and no one voluntarily wants to do that. Therefore we are all going to have to survive with commercials and continue to get those catchy tunes in our minds.


Thursday, February 19, 2009

Media 3

When I try something new it is usually because I have heard about how good it is and how other people liked it or I just think the commercial was cool. When I switched my phone company to Kodoo I heard from my friend how much better it is. I am definitely now very loyal to this particular brand because of the price and deals that I get on my phone. Plus I always have service. I am very loyal to red twizzlers because they are the only brand that I feel you truly get the full taste. Tresemme is the shampoo and conditioner that I am loyal to and have been using to keep my hair somewhat healthy. I am loyal to it because you get a large quantity in the bottle so it seems to last an extremely long time.
I am definitely not particular about a certain brand of socks because if I am wearing very expensive socks then it just doesn't feel appropriate and I always rip my socks so I think it's better to just have cheap ones. I also don't care much about the brand of toothpaste that we use and the brand of different candies. As long as they taste good and my toothpaste does it's job then I am happy. This is because the product is usually cheaper and it doesn't look as pretty but I'm okay with that.
After looking at brand loyalty I may notice the brands that I am loyal to am the things that I don't care about. This may be something that is brought to my attention more since looking at it but my opinion of these things and I will still be loyal to the same things as well.
Product Placement is now going to be something that I am more aware of when I see it on television or in a movie since we have been studying it this past week. In the movie Die Another Day there were many times when product placement was used. Also a clip from Wayne's World poked fun of product placement which was amusing and showed how often we see it in our daily lives. I believe that product placement is more effective then direct advertising. This is because people dislike commercials and have a tendancy to just cut them out and not pay attention or just switch to another channel. Product Placement is not obvious to some people and it is just in our minds when we see them when we are shopping ourselves. This is just something that we remember and it is a good way of advertising.
Friday, February 6, 2009

Media

The only thing that I really know about media coming into the course is that I see it everywhere and it would be pretty much impossible for me to get away from it. Since it is everywhere I go and it's on people wearing labels, there is advertisements on television and the radio. I know that it would be very difficult for me to completly shut out the media around me.
I am interested in learning about how effective media is on some people and how it changes society. I want to know about the costs that some companies will spend in order to produce media for us and if it pays off to put out media. Also, I would like to learn about the changes that media has made over the years and improved. As well as the quantity of media that is produced compared to the past.
Something that I learned this past week that I didn't know before about media was the terms that companies will use to try and trick people into buying their products. Also that there has been a huge increase in the amount of media that we are surronded by. When reading the article about watching previews before the movies I noticed that there were many angry people who have a problem with the amount of media that is being produced.