What the French? Toast.

I like this commercial just because of the creativity. Because of the emotions behind the words, it still feels like you would want to cover a child's ears. It's interested too, that the situation in the commercial is very adult, but the language is very childish. Perhaps this is another play on the generations and trying to market Orbit gum to both groups.

Responsibility

This is one of those "tug at the heart strings" type commercials. You watch it and get a sense that people generally are good, not selfish and impatient like we sometimes tend to think. In watching I felt inspired to be a better person too. It's very apparent that the creators of the commercial were looking to dispel the "myth" that insurance companies are greedy and corrupt. They want to remind us that they are good, just like the people in the commercial. If anything they are saying that the other "people" in the world (i.e. insurance companies) are the ones that create the bad reputation.

The play on the "Pay it Forward" idea is interesting. One thing I noticed is that its not always the person shown the kindness that pays it forward, it's sometimes the person observing who is inspired to pass the kindness on. I'm not sure if there is anything deeper to that observation but I thought it was an interesting twist nonetheless. Perhaps it has something to do with the "once removed" role that an insurance company plays in our lives.

Grand Theft Auto (GTA) meets Coca Cola

The first time I saw this ad I really enjoyed it so I thought it would be interesting to deconstruct it. I don't know a lot about video games and have only seen my brother play GTA a couple times but the scene was instantly recognizable. It would have instant appeal with young people and draw their focus right away. Coke took a risk by using scenes from GTA because it has such negative connotations for parents and those outside of a certain age bracket. In order for the ad to be successful, they needed to hold the attention of that audience long enough to get to their message, "You give a little love and it all comes back to you. You're gonna be remembered for the things that you say and do.", which is "the Coke side of life". They took a piece of popular culture that is extremely controversial and negative and transformed it into an uplifting and hopeful commentary on "being nice". In essence, saying that Coke has the power to remove the shadows from our world and make everyone a little more happy.

One thing that I've found interesting as I've looked at for ads is the intergenerational aspect to commercials. Marketers are trying to play to both young people and their parents. They need youth buy in, but in many cases need the parents money so they have to find a balance of each viewpoint. I think this ad is a good example of those dichotomies at play.

I looked at the commercial through a racial lens and tried to figure out who was missing and the thing that struck me is that there were three black guys hanging out when the car pulled up to the store but as the sun started to come out and more people came into the picture, it felt very suburban. There may have been a few people of color in those clips, but they were easy to miss. There was a shift in the culture on screen, it went from urban street cars to convertibles with preppy white guys and pretty girls. There was a underlying message that the in order for life to be happy the "urban-ness" needed to be placated.

Oprah's Flash Mob

This clip is from Oprah's season premiere this year. The entire crowd in Chicago danced in unison to the Black Eyed Peas performance. I chose this clip because I remember watching it shortly after it aired and have a very emotional response to it.

When I first viewed the clip, I had very little knowledge of what a "flash mob" was. I remember thinking it was strange that only one girl in the front row was dancing, and I mean all out dancing. But then others around her started to dance as well, and in unison! By the time the performance was over, I was moved almost to tears. Not because it was sad, but because there it was so powerful. There was a sense of belonging and unity within the crowd, and I wanted to be a part of it. The message I got was that this is something special, the show is special. How else do you get thousands of strangers to learn a choreographed dance?

While watching the clip again for this project I thought more closely about the Black Eyed Peas (BEP) part in the show. One thing that I realized right away is that the BEPs weren't on the show just to entertain the audience, or Oprah for that matter. They were selling a product, their music. They weren't just selling that particular song, but their album and concert tickets. I can imagine that there were people watching the show that felt compelled to find out when the BEPs would be coming to their city because of their emotional response to the performance. In addition to the BEPs selling themselves, they were also selling Oprah. There were times when they changed the lyrics to reflect being on Oprah and that it was her 24th season. Some people think that Oprah has always been cool, but it was clear that they were trying to draw a younger demographic of followers and if Oprah doesn't have the "cool" factor on her own, then certainly the BEPs would draw those watchers in.

Taking a critical perspective

The Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit.org) has developed a Media Deconstruction Framework that works with 5 Core Concepts and Key Questions for Consumers. I will be using these concepts and questions to analyze the media text I select for this seminar. Before posting my selected texts, I wanted to review these concepts and questions.

Key Question #1: Who created this message?

Core Concept #1: All media messages are constructed.

Guiding Questions:

• What kind of "text" is it?
• What are the various elements (building blocks) that make up the whole?
• How similar or different is it to others of the same genre?
• Which technologies are used in its creation?
• How would it be different in a different medium?
• What choices were made that might have been made differently?
• How many people did it take to create this message? What are their various jobs?

Key Question #2: What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?

Core Concept #2: Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

Guiding Questions:

• What do you notice...(about the way the message is constructed?)

- colors and shapes?

- sound effects? music? silence? dialogue or narration?

- props, sets, clothing?

- movement? composition?

- lighting?

• Where is the camera? What is the viewpoint?
• How is the story told? What are people doing?
• Are there any visual symbols or metaphors?
• What's the emotional appeal? Persuasive devices?
• What makes it seem "real"?

Key Question #3: How might different people understand this message differently?

Core Concept #3: Different people experience the same media message differently.

Guiding Questions:

• Have you ever experienced anything like this?
• How close does it come to what you experienced in real life?
• What did you learn from this media text? What did you learn about yourself from experiencing the media text?
• What did you learn from other people's responses-- and their experiences?
• How many other interpretations could there be? How could we hear about them?
• How can you explain the different responses?
• Are other viewpoints just as valid as mine?

Key Question #4: What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?

Core Concept #4: Media have embedded values and points of view.

Guiding Questions:

• How is the human person characterized? What kinds of behaviors/consequences are depicted?
• What type of person is the reader/watcher/listener invited to identify with?
• What questions come to mind as you watch/read/listen?
• What ideas or values are being "sold" in this message?
• What political or economic ideas are communicated in the message?
• What judgements or statements are made about how we treat other people?
• What is the overall worldview?
• Are any ideas or perspectives left out? How would you find what's missing?

Key Question #5: Why is this message being sent?

Core Concept #5: Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Guiding Questions:

• Who's in control of the creation and transmission of this message?
• Why are they sending it? How do you know?
• Who are they sending it to? How do you know?
• Who is served by, profits or benefits from the message? The public? Private interests? Individuals? Institutions?
• Who wins? Who loses? Who decides?
• What economic decisions may have influenced the construction or transmission of the message?

Information taken from the Center for Media Literacy: Literacy for the 21st Century/Orientation & Overview.