Advertisements. They create the world. They sell, communicate, and share. People connect to others and to companies through their advertisements. Whether it is a slight display that the company supports a group or the CEO publicly bashing a type of person. All people connect and discuss the meanings behind different ads and what is happening in todays media. So what is being said about all of those controversial things that each company may share within an advertisement or publicity?
Yes, this is an advertisement from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board suggesting that a victim's sexual assault was not her fault, was not the rapist's fault but a friends fault. The worst part of this ad is that the image (that of a women on the bathroom floor with her undergarments pulls to her ankles ) not only is graphic and suggesting but it is also a reminder to all victims of sexual assault. Many victims saw this advertisement and relived there own traumatic experiences. SO what is the point of this advertisement? To stop people from taking that next drink. Not to prevent date rape, or rape, or to promote a "buddy system" when out about the towns. It was to prevent the "next drink." There are hundreds of scenarios that they could have gone with. Personally this advertisment is in poor taste. Yes, date rape happens. But there are better ways to get a point across about alcohol. If it was a direct advertisement just saying to be careful when out and stay with friends that would be different. But this, this is distasteful. Fortunately, after a lot of complaints, from victims of rape, this campaign ended.
When these posters popped up in large cities across the US it caused a stir. What did the posters mean? Why are they everywhere? Who says that these people deserve to die! Not one person DESERVES to die! And who is supporting such a poster? Is it an actual company or is it a group of teenagers starting a ruckus? After seeing these posters with a quick Google search you are brought to a website called NoOneDeservesToDie.org with a countdown to when the "killer" will be reviled. The website said, "Every year over 160,000 lives are lost to a deadly disease. They didn't
ask for it, but many people seem to think they deserved it. This disease
doesn't discriminate. It affects almost all of us and it's showing no
signs of slowing down. So, what is the killer? You'll find out soon
enough." So who is this mystery killer? What is it and why do some people feel like death is deserved because of it? Lung Cancer A cancer... people have thought that someone deserves to die from cancer? No this was an attention grabbing way to show that people don't deserve to die ever. It fired people up. It had people looking for answers. This advertisement was successful for drawing attention!
Today I went through my fun list of all of the advertisements I want to share within the next few weeks. A few are more well known then others so I figured I would start with one that surfaced earlier this year.
Cheerios. What is the controversy here? Some may not even notice. Most probably don't notice at all. And then there are the remarks that were made on the original YouTube video. So many remarks that within one day the video's comments section was taken down.These remarks where about the fact that the little girl's mother was white and her father was black. A bi-racial family. With in the last two years bi-racial families have became more then twice as common. So why would this be a problem?
Is it a problem?
An article written by Ken Wheaton, on June 05, 2013 ("Turns Out Americans Love 'Controversial' Cheerios Ad: Perhaps Racist YouTubers Not Representative of Country as a Whole"), discusses how the commercial was taken by different people. He had said that "According to Ace Metrix, the ad -- created by Saatchi & Saatchi, New
York -- "appealed to all age/gender demographics with the exception of
males over 50."" This does not surprise me at all. The generation of males over 50 seem to see things like that differently then the younger generations of people.
The other comments that I have heard from the video have shown support and kudos to Cheerios! One man said, "It's a cute commercial that I would not have thought twice of. Can't
believe a bi-racial family would even draw any attention in 2013. People
need to get out more often."
A lot of "Thumbs Up" on YouTube and videos being shared on Facebook with the reactions of children with the caption "There is still hope for the next generations" (link to that video will be below as well) These things show that there is a strong support behind the commercial and a smaller group that is "bashing" it on YouTube.
So what are your opinions on this commercial? Share all of your opinions in the comment below!
Why hello! How did you get here? I have no idea but some how you found your way to my blog. You must be confused and not know what you will be reading. Well it is in the description.
Why? Well I am a graphic art/communication double major in college. What am I going to do with that combination. Hopefully I will be following my passion in advertisement design. For now though I am in classes and working on my degree and doing this blog for my New Media class.
