In a 2004 documentary called “The Persuaders”, the underlying reasons and thought-process of advertisements is discussed. Directed by Barak Goodman and Rachel Dretzin, written by Barak Goodman and Douglas Rushkoff, this documentary reveals how marketing and advertising are based off of consumer satisfaction. The main idea is that consumers have the power, not the industries. Advertising has consumed almost every aspect of life. It is considered a “clutter crisis” because companies are always trying to beat the other ones out by being attention-grabbers. But this cycle just leads to advertisement after advertisement after advertisement. It’s all about what consumers want, not what the product can do. Their ultimate goal is to “become the atmosphere” that we live in. In other words, they want us to not realize they are there so that are unconscious minds (which are very influential) will be able to recognize products from the ads that are vicariously placed around us.
Commercials are rarely about the product anymore but rather about the tradition and the emotional connection that one can have with the product. They say, “Advertisers have blurred the line between programming and product”. In other words, tugging on the heartstrings of consumers beats actually pushing the product, it’s about creating a virtual life that consumers will “want”. In the early 1990’s, commercials used ‘er’ words that made the consumer feel good about purchasing the product. For example, better, whiter, etc. It was about what the product did. Commercials now are more about what the product means. They also discuss the similarities between cults and product ads. People purchase a product for the same reasons that they join a cult. They want to be accepted. Advertisers show you a lifestyle that is appealing to society, and then you convince yourself that you need it in order to become part of that “lifestyle”.
Another important topic that is discussed is “product placement.” With so many people having the ability to fast forward commercials, companies are now integrating their products in TV shows and many people don’t even notice the ads anymore because we have become so accustomed to them. “Consumers are driven by unconscious needs” and that is why ads aren’t as direct as they used to be. It isn’t about gaining some sort of product; it’s about integrating that product in order to live. It’s all about word choice and sometimes even the slightest change in vocabulary can have a drastic change in reaction from the consumers. These ad companies understand consumers and have technology to predict the future of people and what they believe, what they like, and what they purchase.
WELCOME
Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Conversation Beyond the Classroom”! The title of this blog refers to the community of active readers & collaborative learners we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with each other + a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study?
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! I encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! I encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
No comments:
Post a Comment