Ad #17: Get with the Spirit

This Ad begins the group of Ads that started in my Ad Journal.

When I was originally handed this I was on my way to class and didnt have time to read it, but the bold words in red caught my attention so I kept reading it. I was absolutely appauled a tht eblatent disregaurd for student and worker safety. What was more aggravating is that I applied to UNT in 2009 and of course heard nothing of these statistics. I admire the way the Coalition of Workers Justice structured the flyer to look, at first glance, like some UNT group flyer promoting an activity or something of the sort. It also put the important stats in BOLD RED so at least they would not be missed and they could get their point across at the same catch people's attention.

Ad #16: Controversial Ads 3, Calvin Klien

OK so while this ad is interesting and very fun to watch, for boys and girls, it is highly controversial. So good points first it does a very good job of hitting its target audience, which is young males of the 90s (and maybe young women who wished their men looked like Marky Mark). They use a well-known celebrity, Mark Walberg to support their ad, and built a campeign for Calvin Klien around him. The commercial was also in black and white, which makes it stand out and also points to Calvin Klien. So for the negatives, firstly they use a very young actor (which Calvin Klien is notorious for doing) and they have him in underwear grabbing his bits and pieces on national television and he is discussing sex and hugging all over a girl that is also shirtless. This would have been a highly controversial thing in the 90s because even though we had gone through the sexual revolution already, talking about sex and grabbing himself would still have shocked people. Also he does a non to subtle gibe at fruit of the loom. Another thing that is questionsable about this ad is that he says the best way to protect against aids is to "keep the Calvin's on" and that "nothing come between [him] and [his] Calvins" and then at the end of his ads he says that the girl can come between him and his Calvins. For some reason that just doesnt seem to promote Calvins image very well for me.

Ad #15: Controversial Ads 2, setting an example

Monkey see monkey do is never more true then when you have kids. Kids will emulate their parents to learn social norms and proper interaction techniques. This ad shows people doing activities that are not suitable for children to mimic, and yet they are following their parents and shadowing their every move. This ad tries to bring to light people's actions and how they should think before they act, especially around their children. This is obviously targeted at people 18 and up and geared toward parents but could affect all grown ups, as well as children because it shows how sometimes it is not a good idea to copy your parents. One problem with this Ad is that it is pretty long, one minute and thirty seconds, which is twice as long as most ads. It also takes a really long time to get to the message and the audience is wondering what is going on. It is also very impactful because they do not use speech, instead they use comercial to get your attention and then show simple message at the end.

Ad #14: Controversial Ads 1, children and tv

This is beginning of my controversial ads invovling children. These are all powerful and very important ads.

Oh my goodness gracious, this ad is definitely a slap in the face, and the sad thing is that it is too true. Too many parents allow the television to dictate chidlern's lives. This is very powerful public service announcement telling people to be more watchful of what their children see on television. Many kids now days do not have restrictions on their television privilages, some parents use the tv as a way of keeping their kids out of their hair. This ad condemns that kind of mentality, and although it has become increasingly difficult to censure what children see with so many media outlets (tv, internet, phones, ipads) this ad askings parents to try and control the graphic images seen by their children or at least discuss it responsibly. It is also a strong support for the question of do we shape media or does it shape us. In this case they argue that media, especially television, is shaping how our kids think and act. In this case they have a very young girl dancing like a stripper on a bus pole. It is a very strong commercial and  makes people stop and think about what they let their children watch on telelvision.

Ad #13: Character Ads, Coco Cola Polar Bears

This is an example of an Advertisment making a character famous. In this case it is Coco Cola and their Polar Bear. They did a whole campeign of Polar bear ads and so the polar bear became associated with Coco Cola. This ad I think reperesents the Coco Cola polar bear perfectly because it also fosters a sense of Coco Cola being a part of togetherness. They use a well known Beach Boys Song, Little Saint Nick to get people's attention. It is happy and upbeat and very much in the Christmas spirit, especially the spirit of giving when the little penguin hand over his coke to a polar bear cub. This commercial has the emotional pull of togetherness, a feeling of wanting to be with familey and friends, which is facilitated by Coke, because what get-together is complete without it =)

Ad #12: Character Ads, Sonic Cheerios

This is the second ad in the character promoting ads. It feature SONIC the hedgehog!! in a Cheerios ad. As a kid I used to love Sonic the Hedgehog and I actually saw this commercial and begged my mom to buy me Cheerios, which I never actually ate because I dont like them. This ad is really cool because not only is is a commerical pormoting Sonic the Hedgehog video game and Cheerios (with the second famous character of the Cheerios bee) it also offers a promotion if you buy Cheerios. On the box is gaming tips for Saga Genesis (which I also had) and an offer to possibly in a free Saga game box =) What kid wouldn't want a box of Cheerios? This has a small target audience though because it only targets kids probably 7-15 and that is a generous guess. Although this is also good for moms because it gets their kids to ask for the healthy Cheerios instead of the other sugary unhealthy teeth-rotting cereals. I love this ad and think it was really effective!!

Ad #11: Character Ads, My Butterfinger

This is the first of the Ads that are promoted by a popular tv character(s). Using a celebrity to promote a product is a well known and used tactic to get people's attention.

This is a series of Ads that Butterfinger did with the Simpsons. They use a very well known character Bart (and familey) to promote their product. The product is constantly in the commercial so you know what it is promoting. The commercial also has the added benefit of promoting not just Butterfinger but also the Simpsons cartoon, so it is double advertising and promotion. People will be more likely to watch and remember the commercial because it features these well known charcters. Most of these commercials tell a short story so people want to watch till the end, and since they are short this is easy to do. They can also reach a large target audience from kids who like the cartoons to grown up who enjoy the witty repoirte. One downfall of using the simpons is that it could alienate their target audience, because many people (such as my mom) did not like the simpsons because of the disrepectful acts by the children and the infantile humor so they are less likely to watch the comercial.