Blog #6

When thinking of product placement, a specific movie scene comes to mind. This scene is found in the movie Wayne's World. They are discussing Wayne's contract with a sponsor, Wayne replies that "that is where I draw the line. Contract or no contract, I will not bow to any sponsor." The scene takes a turn for funny when there are several blatant and intentional product placements. Even shown in a teasing manner, product placement still holds its purpose. Product placement is an extremely efficient way of advertising.

Even the most blatant and obvious product placement does its job: it makes the viewer think of the product. The thought still happens and recognition still occurs. A lot of teenagers will find these blatant product placements funny and may even find themselves smart for recognizing them, either way they are still acknowledging the brand or the product. On TV shows such as American Idol, everyone notices the coke glasses found on the judges' tables.

Subconsciously, our brain associates product placements with brand names and products when we shop. Even if we think that we are immune to product placement, it still finds a way to corrupt our minds. It is a very efficient way of reaching teens since teens are so impressionable and watch TV and movies on a regular basis. If they see a new bag on their favorite TV show, then they will want to got purchase a bag for themselves. TV sets the trends that teens follow, so product placement is very effective.

Blog #5

Media is all around us. Media is fueled by advertising. Naturally, then, advertisements find their way into our lives. While observing radio and billboard ads, I came to many conclusions. First, the majority of radio ads attempt to attract certain target markets specific to the people that listen to the stations. This makes sense, since it would be a waste of money to place an ad for power chairs on a station such as 101.3. Billboards, however can not as easily identify the greatest demographic exposed to their ad. On my trip to my grandma's house, I found that the amount of snob appeal used in ads decreased significantly as the drive continued out of the major metro area. Here, billboards were more about the common man and more common man testimonials were made. Many billboards have direct orders, such as "BUY NOW" or "COME RIGHT IN."

Radio uses a number of devices to make us remember certain advertisements. Of course, there are jingles that are unfortunately simple to get caught in our heads. There are also advertisements such as the Shane Company commercials, with the same voice on each one. Immediately I can tell that it is a Shane Co. commercial, simply by the voice. Target market is extremely important to radio and most ads that I heard on my favorite stations related directly to me or people my age.

I observed in radio and billboard ads that there were a lot of Advertising Claims and Propaganda Devices such as:
Scientific or Statistical Claim: There were quite a few commercials that used numbers and statistics
Unfinished Claim: Many commercials held phrases that weren't complete
We're Different and Unique Claim: There were a lot of similar products that all claimed to be unique
Testimonials: Many billboards and radio ads had famous representatives for their advertisements