Blog Assignment #2

Reaction to Frontline's The Persuaders

Overall, this documentary gives a good inclination as to the new marketing techniques in this day and age. Advertisers put a ton of time and thought into knowing things like their target audience, the way people think, how their ad will communicate a message, and how that message will effect to viewer or reader of the ad. It seems like today advertising has become one large head game. Neuromarketing looks into the thought process of someone in a target audience and uses what they know about their thought process to create an advertisement. But how can this be effective when everybody is different, no matter their similar interests? The airline Song, for example, targeted women in marketing their new airline. They did this by adding new forms of entertainment and higher quality organic food all while keeping fares low. Other researchers ask people questions about their emotions while using their product. Some people believe that good marketing is simply good literature. The way I see it, the new marketing techniques are trying to conform people by generalizing the way people think. At the end of the day, marketing has started to become too in depth and too far involved. Advertising has become part of the culture of our nation.

Blog Assignment #1

Video #1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoXoCAJGz-g&feature=relmfu
Video #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-HsfFbPYvk
Video #3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgUE4BeWM-g
Article: Media and Gender Stereotyping by Marla McConnell


The argument being made in these three videos and the article is that media has a bad effect on children, teenagers, and young adults because it uses stereotyping and sexism to make young people's underdeveloped minds view themselves in disillusioned ways. Media and advertising today looks deep into the thought process of their target audience. So when ads show up on a channel like MTV, the people in it will be seen as tall, attractive, skinny, "perfect" humans (video #3), which teenagers young minds cannot handle. This gives teenagers the idea that they need to be "perfect" or "ideal" humans, and these are unrealistic traits. These kinds of stereotypes can make young people do crazy things such as develop eating disorders or looking in the mirror and seeing themselves as twenty pounds heavier than they really are (video #3). Girls often times think they are larger than they really are, due to the effects of mass media (video #2). Disney movies often times portray strong, masculine men as popular and cool and weaker men as less popular outcasts (video #1). Overall, Media and advertising techniques in this day and age can have very negative effects on children and young adults.