Culture Jamming advertisement - adidas

From what i have learned, culture jamming is taking an advertisement and turning its original message around and having give another message; usually makes it negative or makes the unseen more noticable. This Adidas advertisement shows naked athletes sporting the companies shoes in two different positions. Though they may have them naked to highlight the product that is not the first thought that struck my mind. Fit naked men on a poster is definitly a "sex sells" attemp at making their product popular.
Another interesting part about this is that ADIDAS is supposed to stand for All Day I Dream About Sports but in this specific ad, that is not what first crosses the mind, Sex is the primary thought. By taking a simple ad such as two men posing with shoes on and adding the word sex and making it quite visible, i believe draws the attention to the extent of the message of this ad.
It has been in this class where i have learned to try and read deeper into media messages and look beyond the brand of a product. This ad caught my attention at first glance because i could relate it to myself being an athlete and also using this product. There are many ways for an athletic brand to be popular using creative advertisements and in adidas case i think they pulled away from their product and dove into the social norm that 'sex does sell' and took a shot at 'showing' what the product can create; nice, toned bodies. They definitely were able to turn heads wih this ad whether it was hegative or for the better.

Blog for week 3 > Design a poster for an audience

I chose to design a poster that related to the niche audience of athletes, with a focus on hockey players. As i myself am an athlete i created a poster where i felt it reflected my likes and desires.

Hockey is a sport that i have played since i was a child and nike/bauer has always been a main supplier for the sport. The players fighting does not only show that hockey is a rough sport but that athletes tend to never back down from a challenge or obsticle; reasoning for the quote "never back down" at the top of the poster.

The poster is very simple but i feel sends a very strong message both physically and mentally to those who play the sport, and even other intense athletes. A punch in the face should not stop you from fighting back.

Not only do i feel that this shows an athletes desire to win and defeat the opposition, while promoting a brand that sponsors the game of hockey, it shows the passion an athlete has for a game that they love.

In class blog week 2 - Superbowl ad Gatorade "the journey"

I found this ad to be perfect for the Superbowl. Yes it includes football players and it is a football event but that is just stating the obvious. The advertisers were very smart to promote a product like gatorade during this event because of the majority of viewers that watch the event. We all know that some advertisements are created to draw in niche audiences, ann this ad related to everyone for a variety of reasons but for different ways attracted different niches.

Most of the people watching the Superbowl know at least a thing or two about football and this specific ad told a summarization of what a football season consists up leading to this specific game "the Superbowl." This storyline included in the commercial was able to draw in people's attention.

Throughout the commercial the product was flashed in the players hands, before the game, and after a hard faught battle, trying to show that it is what hydrates and replenishes you as an athlete. I feel that the product itself is directed towards the niche audience of athletes. But, others watching are able to appreciate the ad because it includes the athletes that participate in the sport that everyone is watching.

This commercial also seems to set a mood for the event itself. While it shows that passion and heart of the players, it builds a feeling of intensity and admiration for the game of football which gets people more into the game being played.

Though there are not really any women in this commercial, that does not mean that a female athlete does not appreciate what it takes to get to the championship game, for any sport, and how nothing comes easy in the world of sports. Seeing that football is a male sport, it was only right to use male athletes.

This commercial send a very positive message and Gatorade was very smart in the way they chose to advertise there product.

Blog for week 2 >Don't be Stupid: Condoms

This advertisement was chosen simply because it was able to grab my attention and interest first glance; isn't that the purpose of an advertisement. Before reading the slogan that went along with this ad, the picture alone made you want to know more about the product. Since it is a picture of war, the initial thought was that it was a serious topic which in reality it is but just about something different. Yes, because it is a condom ad the idea of sex is exposed but the photo does not persuade you to want to have sex it does a great job at saying unprotected sex can be dangerous; for me the message is clearly stated through words and the image.

The meaning of the advertisement is to make sure they 'wrap it up' in order to prevent std's and unplanned pregnancies. Using a photo of war, being an American advertisement, people can relate war to being unsafe just as unprotected sex is. Because this advertisement does send such a bold and strong statement it then becomes the audiences choice how they deal with their sex life; personal decisions. The audience that this advertisement targets is quite large because today having sex has become more popular within youths, approximately 14, and still remains normally with those who are adults. When a person is old enough to make a conscious decision to have sex, then this advertisement effects them and plays a role in trying to send a positive message regarding the dangers and consequences of unprotected intercourse.

The main point of this advertisement is for people to buy condoms to avoid everything that comes along with not protecting yourself when having sex and their slogan, i think, says it loud and clear, "Condomshop.ch: Don't be stupid. Protect yourself!" This sums up there intended message, with the soldiers and being in a dangerous environment; unprotected sex, to the condom in the bottom right corner making it obvious that sex is the topic at hand. This was very well thought out and done to catch one's attention.

In class blog week 1 > commercial jingle and how it helped build my life

This is the advertisement jingle that I chose. It is a Canadian commercial and I could not find a commercial that dated back more than 30 years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxAzEuuycs&NR=1

The jingle that i chose has helped build my life in such a way that it was important in the relationship between me and my father. You may be thinking to yourself how does a hardware store build a relationship between father a daughter? but the answr is actually quite simple. Almost every weekend my dad would have to go there because his job required him to have specific supplies being in the construction buisness, and i was always the one he would ask to go with him and that would be the time we bonded, going to canadian tire, and even to this day when im home we go on our little trip. He would teach me about the tools that he was buying and what they were used for, Afterwords, as we were leaving, there was a hotdog vender outside and we would have one of the best sausages, and then head home to hear from my mother that dinner was almost ready and she would nag at us because she knew by now that we had eaten. Canadian tire may not be anywhere special for anyone else but to my dad and I it was a place where we were able to build our relationship.

Blog for week 1 >who owns the media

Today it seems that everywhere we look the media is flashing something new in our faces. Billboards, television, Internet, benches, and the list can go on for a great length, but who is the real owner of these images and catch phrases we see everyday? In my eyes there is not one specific owner but that their is a certain class (wealthy) that have the control. The large corporations which own multiple franchises and chains of stores are the ones who use the media the most and they have the funds to do so. The government also controls a large part of the media and they use it to distract society of what is really occurring around the world. The amount of messages that flow through the media is so enormous but yet very thought out to the point that the people that do control what is sent out knows what will capture the attention of larger groups of people. Some may even say that it is not specific people that own the media but simply money and power; where ever these things are found is where the control lays. Because media is so broad and found in so many different places, almost everything has an effect on the media. When you are in a super market and at the check out magazines are starring at you and all of the stories revolve around people with money (celebrities) but when you truly think about what is being advertised, there really is no importance; once again this is a form of distraction. When all is said and done, those who control the media will send out what they please and society will buy into it. Money+power=control!