EOC: Week 3: Tobacco Advertisement

-Interpret the problem: Consumers may not have wanted to smoke cigarettes after hearing of the adverse side effects associated with smoking, among them unflattering stains on teeth. The tobacco industry, more specifically in this case, Viceroy brand cigarettes, identified this problem and came up with a revolutionary idea: filters!

-Understand the creative brief: The strategy the industry decided to use was to go straight to the authorities on teeth: dentists. Their thinking may have gone along the lines of “If we get the dentists to endorse our product, the public will think our cigarettes don’t stain their teeth!” Quite a strategy.

-Say it outright: This ad didn’t use any fancy language or confusing graphics. Instead, it gave a concise reasoning of why and how Viceroy Cigarettes “trap” nicotine and tars. An interesting tidbit about how this company “said it outright” is that they added a disclaimer at the bottom of the ad, in much smaller print. So even though “You’ll be glad you did” get Viceroys, note that “no filter can remove all nicotine and tars, nor does Viceroy make this claim”.

-Know your audience: The audience in this case is consumers who don’t particularly trust cigarettes because of potentially adverse side effects. Viceroy’s mission, however, is to make them think that smoking this brand of cigarettes can actually be good for you, since “no tobacco crumbs can get in your mouth” with this filter.

-Write your objective: Consumers will smoke Viceroy Cigarettes because they contain a filter that prevents the adverse side effects the public has complained about.

EOC Week 2: Ethics in Commercials

Consumers are inherently gullible. We believe what we hear, regardless of how unfounded and ridiculous it may be. Case in point: the recent stream of ads promoting high fructose corn syrup. Anyone who has ever taken any sort of health class, let alone read the nutrition facts and ingredients on a food label, knows that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is VERY, VERY BAD. The ad agency that’s promoting HFCS might be calling it a “sweet surprise”, but it should be called “sweet death”, because that’s what it’s going to end up doing. For all intents and purposes, the Corn Refiners Association is doing the same thing the tobacco industry is doing: killing its best customers. “Regularly including these products in your diet has the potential to promote obesity – which, in turn, promotes conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease”. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but moderation is just not going to cut it. Kids are the greatest consumers of HFCS since it is in practically everything they eat, from sodas and even some juices to the cereal they eat for breakfast.

“This American-made ingredient maintains freshness in condiments, enhances fruit flavors… retains moisture in baked goods. It has contributed to food choice and value for decades. In this economy, every little bit helps.”(http://www.corn.org/cbsnews-health-report-hfcs.html) I’m sorry, but even in this economy, giving millions of people the death sentence of diabetes or morbid obesity is NOT helpful.

This commercial is one of the most unethical I’ve seen in a while (and there have been some pretty questionable ones in the past few years). The most surprising part of the whole thing is the fact that it’s not even the children that are promoting the HFCS but the MOTHERS, the ones who are supposed to have the kids’ best interests in mind! (And the color of the drink? That artificial, slimy red? Gross!) Let’s let our children be high on life, not sugar.

My Voice

Through my lens, I am able to see the world around me in a completely different perspective. I put my soul into every shot I take. There is no use in putting out a product if one does not put their whole selves into it.
My dream is to help those in need of healing by establishing an art/photography therapy practice. If that doesn't work out, I would love to travel all over the world and photograph exotic animals and destinations. The photographers who contribute to National Geographic Magazine inspire me because they capture not just a picture, but a story and a life. That is the true duty of a photographer: to instill within something which could be construed as relatively boring something wonderful and lively.
I was always taught that it is our responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. If I can make any difference in the world, it would be to, through my photographs, inspire others to be kind toward our earth and all those who inhabit it. I care so deeply about our planet; my hope is that I can successfully convey that through my photographs and affect people in such a way that they learn to appreciate every beautiful thing that surrounds them.

EOC Week 1: VW Lemon

“The ad featured a black and white photo of the Volkswagen Beetle with the word “Lemon” in bold san serif font… that proclaims that this particular car was rejected by Inspector Kurt Kroner because of a blemish on the chrome piece of the glove. The ad goes on to describe the rigorous inspection process…” (http://www.writingfordesigners.com/?p=1731)

But what makes this particular advertisement so significant? The design and delivery was vastly different from ads that came before it. “Ads before it were either information-based and lacking in persuasion, more fantasy than reality, or reliant on the medium's ability to deliver repeated exposure.” (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1999/11/22/smallb7.html)

However, this ad was not only famous for its print value. Through television, Volkswagen “made the emotional connection between the car and consumers…” In a commercial set at a funeral, “the voice of the deceased bequeaths his fortune…To my nephew (who was mourning in a Volkswagen Beetle), who often said ‘A penny saved is a penny earned’ and ‘it surely pays to own a Volkswagen,’ I leave my entire fortune.”Because of this connection between merchandise and customer, Volkswagen was giving its audience a compelling reason to purchase their vehicles. (http://www.syl.com/bc/advertisingcampaignforvolkswagenbeetletheno1advertisingcampaignofthecentury.html)

Though there is truly a multitude of reasons why the VW Lemon advertisement was so influential, one of those chief among the others is this: it taught the population how to shop. When opening their wallets, customers wanted to know for a fact that the product they were buying was that of quality manufacturing. The Lemon ad helped shape that mindset. “The point is that to analyze the question of which benefits to communicate, we really need to know which attributes are considered in making the brand-choice decision and which of them are most important in the targeted product-market situation.” (http://books.google.com/books?id=trqPlpLpjyAC&pg=PA264&lpg=PA264&dq=volkswagen+lemon+ad+influence&source=bl&ots=9Jck-WHiYx&sig=tfJwoPXzluyfYusViYwpSfcuw6Y&hl=en&ei=VH4_TLAZwYHyBqLg6a4K&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q&f=false)

The Volkswagen Lemon Ad is iconic and historic, changing the way people live, shop, and connect to products.