Thursday, October 29, 2015

Week 5 Topic 1 & 2


                If one looks up Justin Bieber’s troubled life on the net, they’ll find stuff about drugs, vandalism, and how he’s dropped the “N-bomb” featuring the hard E-R on several occasions. That is unacceptable to me, for I’m not from Oregon and I actually have black friends. The hypocrisy of this kid is apparent, for there are many photos of him kickin’ it with many different black people like Oprah, Puff Daddy, Michael Strahan, Usher, and Drake. His racist comments on black people went too far. Not much can be done, except for those who do like him, should maybe question why and stop buying his music.
               
        One thing I found alarming in RiP, was the amount of money that the documentary would’ve had to pay for using copyrighted songs. I think a little gratuity may be in order but not 4 million dollars. One concern I have with copyright laws is not that much of an issue anymore and that is the record companies profiting more off of a musician than the musicians themselves. I like the artist not the label. I agree with a lot of what is in RiP to an extent. I grew up in a time where one had to pay for the cd they thought was going to be so good, for it to turn out to be a dud. I’m glad there are other options today.

Katherine,

Because we need to do a comment for next week’s blog that involves others, I think this post is super important and deserves another comment. After reading your post, it made me think of that movie "Precious" from 2009. It’s about a girl who isn't Google's definition of beautiful and struggles with confidence. I think Hollywood needs to use actresses who don't fit that mold, so we as people can evolve past shallowness. I really like how you brought attention to something that we don’t hear enough. Google’s definition of beauty is very shallow, so the fact that Dove is shattering that image is a great thing. Women have often been held to an unrealistic standard when it comes to appearance and makes some feel inferior for not fitting that mold.   I also came across a Men's version of the sketches that the women had. I soon realized it was a parody, but it shows the hypocrisy between gender expectations. Although I can’t make a link in your comments, I will provide the address: Here.





Monday, October 12, 2015

Week 3 Topic 2: Arts and Crafts Tony Romo

                The ad I think stands out is “The Arts and Crafts Tony Romo” commercial that markets the Sunday Ticket which is exclusive to DirecTV. First off, I hate Tony Romo, just wanted to let that be known right off the bat to show my bias. Having said that, the commercial is hilarious. DirecTV has been doing these commercials with Rob Lowe and recently they had the Manning sisters and even Andrew Luck. The reason why the Tony Romo commercial stands out more to me, is that I think he is Arts and Crafts Tony Romo. It’s not an act. He totally looks like he could have a cupcake-brownie baking fetish and I think the paper macheing  isn’t out of the realm of possibility, for he does have a lot of free time at the moment.
                The target audience of this commercial is people who live in a state where their team is not played locally and fantasy football nuts. I would think that this would mainly be guys over the age of 25 but maybe some women too.The persuasive techniques used would be a hybrid of famous person testimony-steryotypes and maybe even snob appeal. Obviously, Tony Romo is famous and he recommends getting the Sunday Ticket so that’s the famous person testimony. The characters they make around the NFL players are a strange way of stereotyping and the snob appeal comes in where they tell you to “not be like Arts and Crafts Tony Romo” which echoes the snob appeal.

               
     Let’s be honest, they don’t need to advertise very much, for us fans that are separated from our team already know we got to go sign our soul to DirecTV to watch them. It may help in getting the people who may be on the fence about it, but I’ve lived away from Wisconsin for about 4 years and I’ve had DTV all 4 years. Until they un-monopolize it, we have no choice. The contract with the NFL was vastly more important to the success of DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket than any Petite Randy Moss commercial did, but I will say that’s my second favorite commercial in the series. Overall, they make me laugh, so I don’t hate the ads, but I don’t think they are doing much to help sell the Sunday Ticket package, so I would say its a dud.

        A commercial campaign that works in my opinion, is the “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone” commercials, as well as every other Apple commercial ever made. To be blunt, I would never buy or use an Apple product and I truly mean that. If it was given to me, I would sell it. There are numerous reasons why I feel that way, but that has nothing to do with their marketing, for they have Americans eating of their hands. Their campaign name says it all.
                It’s not hard to notice that more than anything, Apple hits Americans with the SNOB APPEAL or SNOB APPLE?, for it’s in this campaign as well as anything Apple promotes. I think that Apple appeals to people who are 40+ and those that are easily fooled. Its “easy to use” reputation definitely aims at those aren’t “tech savvy, even though they think they are.”
                These techniques worked because obviously according to the Brand Z report, they’re making it rain in Seattle with all the money they’re raking in from American sheep, who are so easily molded. My take on Apple may be a bit harsh but it’s not like Apple users will listen anywhoo. 

Week 3 Topic 1: Fallout 4 on Twitter

After searching for Fallout 4, a new game on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, on Twitter, I see that there is a lot of information about its upcoming release as well as things about the game that one might want to know like PC requirements, so you know whether or not your crappy Dell will play it. Most of it does seem like rubbish to me, like the video of Vince McMahon integrated into the game. I didn't get it.  
            In my opinion, the effectiveness of using Twitter to advertise the games release is nearly pointless, for Fallout fans are a cult fan base that already know damn well when it’s coming out. Most games advertise for weeks online and on TV, but I’d put money on Bethesda, the game maker, not putting a TV commercial out until maybe a week before the release. They don’t need to advertise and they know it. In fact, they kept the release and just the fact that it was being made for a long time, about 6 years. 

            In “WWGD?,” the concept I thought was surprising was the idea of having a great product and customer service and the customers will stay loyal. I wish more companies would adopt that belief because most of today’s products are crap. It seems like a hit or miss on the net sometimes even with the reviews that one can scour. I will say that when I find a brand that I think does make a good product, I stick with them. Seagate external hard drives till the day I die! They work great and if you do something stupid to ruin it, they replace it, no questions asked. They don’t need good advertising, they just put out a great product. 




Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Media Blog Project: "The Carbanaro Effect"

                 I chose to do my Media Blog Project on “The Carbanaro Effect” on TruTV on September 30th 2015. The episode is named "The Doughy Parts." This show is unlike any other and barely fits into the reality genre, in my opinion. Before I summarize the episode, I’d like to explain a little more about the show, so it’s more easily understood. Michael Carbanaro is a magician who came up with a very strange idea for a show. Every episode, he tries to fool the people he encounters by using his own weird style of magic, which can get very comical. He has convinced people that his shoe laces tie themselves, he has a shrink ray, and he’s even convinced someone that they killed another person via super strong tanning bed that turned them to ash. It’s reality show that features a magician that attempts to bend the reality around the people he encounters, who have no idea that he is a magician. Check out a clip here: (The Carbanaro Effect).

            Michael Carbanaro is a magician who grew up in New York City, NY. He has been in a few things prior to "The Carbanaro Effect" but nothing major. The show is in its second season and its mainly filmed in Atlanta at various businesses. The show is on every Tuesday at 6 PM. The show has similarities to shows like "Impractical Jokers" and even some elements of "Punk'd" in it. If one is old enough to know what "Candid Camera" is, then there are aspects of that in the show as well. Although there are similarities in these shows, nothing is like the amazement on the people's faces that he encounters. The difference between his show and other shows like it is, he gets people to believe in the impossible, even if it is a little silly. Also, the way he interacts with his subjects is very smooth and doesn't feel fake, but is often improvisational. 
               "The Doughy Parts" starts with Michael in an art museum, where he instructs a man to help him remove paint from brushes by painting it on a piece of paper in splotches. After getting as much paint off the brushes as he can, the man jokes about whether or not they should hang his splotches, which Michael has him sign. Then, Michael has the man help him open a box that looks as if something valuable is in it, to find an eerily similar picture of random splotches as they guy just drew. When Michael reveals that the painting that looks almost identical to the man’s splotch painting, is a 500,000 dollar painting, the man’s mind gets officially blown.
                The next victim Michael has is a quirky looking lady. Michael has her hold an egg that is made out of “Persian catacomb clay” to her face to show that it’s cool to the touch. He then has the lady set the egg on a stand and read some special instructions, where it says that the egg shouldn’t be handled without gloves. When the lady notices a large hand print located on the egg Michael was holding that protrudes out, she looks back at her egg. She is blown away to find that the egg has changed into a clay version of her face with her hairdo. Michael leaves in haste like usual.
                Michael then changes location and finds himself in an office as though he is there to interview for a job. The secretary makes small talk and Michael asks if he can pitch his ideas to her pre-interview. He uses an over-sized bag that may hold blueprints to cover most of his body, and when he puts it down, the lady realizes something is different, for now Michael has on some weird Elton John glasses and something behind his ear, like a joint. She busts him out and asks him how he changed the way he looked so quick, and then Michael uses his sliver tongue to confuse or ignore the woman’s claim, which is often very funny. He holds the huge bag up again, to reveal that now he has on completely different clothes, and once again the lady thinks she’s crazy because she was so sure he had on a suit when now he is wearing casual wear. Then, when you think it’s all over, he bedazzles the mind once more by making a bag of cheesy puffs appear out of nowhere and he turns his coffee into a large soft drink. As the seen ends, the lady is questioning life itself and seems like she’s almost in tears.
                The next scene starts at the same desk but a different lady, and once again Michael is there for a job interview. There is a basket of bagels behind her and he asks her for one. She hands him a bagel and he tells her how he’s on a no carb diet and that he scoops out the middle part of the bagel before eating. He slowly starts pulling dough out of the bagel, and pulling, and pulling. He accumulates a few handfuls worth the dough, and even some of it looks way too fresh like it wasn’t baked at all. Then he dumps a pile of sesame seeds out, which was probably two or three handfuls itself.  The lady is shocked that that much stuff came out of a bagel.
                The next scene is by far the funniest and it takes place at a public pool. A lady is told to watch the people and to make sure everyone there has a wristband. Michael walks a suitcase across the pool from her and sits down directly in her view. The suitcase Michael brought looks a little bulgy and very heavy. A few moments later, Michael unzips the suitcase to reveal that a lady is in the suitcase. As she slowly exits the suitcase, the lady who was told to watch the pool was absolutely shocked. The lady cannot believe what she is seeing and a couple moments later she calls security about the lady not having a wristband and how she snuck in. By the time security arrives, Michael has the lady get back into the bag and zips her back up. Michael moves towards the gate but it is cut off by the lady, and she asks him why the lady is in the suitcase. She explains to him that it is a safety issue and that the lady that’s in the bag, needs to come out. When he does so, she is shocked to find a blow up doll and not a real person at all. The lady is blown away and looks around a bit. She tells him to put it back in the bag. When he does his big reveal that he does at the end of every show, the lady and Michael chuckle about how she thought she was going crazy as the episode ends.

Analyze:
                The style of the program is very difficult to explain and should be watched to understand the idea, but in my opinion, it is a reality show with comedy included. There is only one character and that is Michael. All the other people featured on the show are supposed to be unsuspecting strangers. Michael dresses up a little different in every scene in order to disguise himself as well as fit in to the store that he may be in. Michael does a great job of “double speaking,” which is basically altering the persons question to fit what he wants to answer. There is no show on TV that is even close to the premise that "The Carbanaro Effect" has, for it is unlike any other. It is very hard to explain, so I do recommend watching an episode to fully grasp the concept of the show.

Interpret:
                Stereotypes are not that big of an issue on "The Carbanaro Effect,"
but Michael does dress up in attire that may fit the store he is playing tricks in. Sometimes, the outfits he uses are very stereotypical when analyzing the “job” he’s doing in that skit. After watching the commercials, I would guess that it’s directed at younger adults, which does make sense, for I would imagine that younger people enjoy watching the show more. The commercials featured were Mt. Dew, Icebreakers, Doritos, KFC, and Mobil 1. The show is a little confusing until you fully realize what Michael is doing that episode. If I was from another country, the show would be very hard to understand because of the premise that really never gets explained. One may assume that the products he shows people are actually real, which is not the case. My guess is that the show appeals to the 18-25 age range. I would guess the income of viewers may be at the bottom end, for college kids aren't usually rich. I would guess that men and women probably like it the same, but maybe more towards the woman side, for it doesn't have action in it. People that are not in a relationship are also more the target audience, due to the minimal time one has if there is a significant other.

Evaluate:
                The shows strengths are that it’s like no other show on TV, as well as it being very captivating, in that one wonders how he does the things he does. Its weaknesses are that it’s a little hard to grasp at first and some may never understand what’s going on. It does something that no other show does in that he doesn’t tell them he is a magician, so the people’s reaction to what happens is raw. Their reactions are amazement and wonder, and it reminds me of a kid seeing something for the first time. It’s definitely memorable and worth talking about with friends, for all the little ideas he has often come to mind when I see other things. I’ll never see a tanning bed the same again. Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times says that “what makes it all succeed are the reactions of his targets. There is bafflement, but it’s mixed with a 21st-century credulity.” This echoes my same reactions to the show. There are those that didn't enjoy the show as much as I did. I found one on IMDB by lilmul 123, that claims "If you try really hard to suspend your disbelief, you will find entertainment in the show." They rated it as 3 out of 10 stars and was easily the worst review. However, there are many more like Kelly Bate, also on IMDB, who think its a "Great Idea!"

Engage: 
                 I do watch this show on a regular basis. I tried to get my mom to watch the show, but she just didn’t get it. My roommate and I watch it every week though. I’m not a fan on Facebook, nor do I visit the website. Michael is on Twitter and it seems like he uses it a lot. I like that he adds additional insight to the bits that he does. “I love this woman's Sassssssss.... the BEST faces! #poolsideguard #talkingtoherself #carbonaroeffect” is a tweet about the same lady, who was supposed to watch the pool (The Carbanaro Effect on Twitter).

 Conclusion:

               Upon further examination, I learned that the show has many fans, who love the people’s reactions to his “magic,” as much as I do. The kind of culture this show reflects naivety, and that we are very gullible. He is good, but I feel like his best acts are usually people who seem like they’d believe anything. One thing I would like to add, is that I believe I know one of his biggest secrets, and that is… He has an identical twin. Just a guess.

Friday, October 2, 2015

Week 2 Topic 1: Twitter is the worst!

       So there’s no hiding that I don’t use Twitter or any social media sites, but for this class, I did start an account. So if I had to follow people/organizations it wouldn’t be many but here is a few. First and foremost, the Green Bay Packers, for I am as big of a fan as one can get. I do read my Packers news every day from google and if I wanted more in depth updates than that, I would follow them on Twitter. The second thing on Twitter that I would follow is John Oliver. There are many reasons why I like his show even better than “The Daily Show” or what used to be “The Colbert Report,” but mainly it is John Oliver himself. I like his character on “Community” and his British minded takes on American issues is a little refreshing from the ordinary nonsense that most shows spit out. Also, I like that he exposes some of the things in America and the world that are inhumane, unfair, or just funny. Finally the last thing I would follow is Fallout News because I am a huge Fallout (video game) fan. When Fallout first came out in the mid 90’s, I loved it and when they decided to revive the brand with Fallout 3, it became my favorite game. It is very in depth and very interactive, so beginner gamers my find it difficult. Fallout 4 is said to be released on November 10th and I will get it, but I won’t stand in line for a night or two like the WoW gamers do.
                
              Let’s be clear, I wouldn’t tweet anything but I think that the recent tweet by @MarsPhoenix was pretty important and should be talked about. The exact tweet was “Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!” Although this discovery is super huge, it’s not really news in my opinion. Anyone with two eyes and a little knowledge about Mars could have told you there was ice at the polar caps of Mars. According to Space.com, Mars’ temperature during the day can reach 70 degrees F and -200 F at night and that frost forms over night. The pictures that show the blueish-white stuff at the caps have been out for over a decade and look not unlike the ice we have at our poles, and scientists also believe that Mars did have water at one time, so the fact that they announced there is ice there is not news to me.

                
               I don’t disagree with Shirky in that these platforms of interaction may empower some but definitely not all in my opinion. One may use Facebook or Twitter to learn about, stand behind, and even hate local representatives. Although, I have no faith in our system to begin with, for it has become a situation of who can spend the most money or, “campaign” as they call it, wins the race. On the other hand, these platforms can help people protest an issue they feel strongly about or enlighten one about an upcoming U2 concert that they’re JN201 professor didn’t know about. It can also update you on an injury your favorite athlete suffered or prevent you from getting a job because you have images or videos of you playing Edward Fortyhands (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Fortyhands). I don’t use or want to use social media like most do, but I do see that they can be used for good.


Week 2: WWGD

                One thing that stood out to me in “What Would Google Do?” was on the very first page where it says “Customers are now in charge. They can be heard around the globe and have an impact on huge institutions in an instant.” I totally agree, for I remember when there was no way to leave a comment on a product you love or wasted money on, let alone purchase it while sitting on your own couch. One can influence many by leaving a negative comment on a product or inspire someone to purchase said product due to the glowing review you gave on Amazon. The other thing that stood out to me was “Dell Hell.” I never did throw my money in the fire by purchasing a Dell, but my mom and quite a few friends did. My mother spent hours on the phone with their help line and my roommate’s computer was awful. I’m just surprised that so many had the very same problems my roommate and mother had.
                The concept of “customers are now in charge,” definitely relates because I don’t buy anything (to an extent) until I’ve done like an hours’ worth of research on which product sells the best stuff. I also prefer to buy online if possible, so often times I will pass on a product in store, to check if I can get it cheaper online or if the reviews suck. This empowerment has helped the everyday shopper if they have the time to do a little research and know how to do basic things on a computer or even phone.
                For me, it was hard to argue against any of the points made by Jarvis but one especially. The idea that there are idiots on the internet, Jarvis recognizes and notes that there are idiots everywhere and their message was in a more controlled form back then. One may argue that their voice shouldn’t be heard if they're such an idiot, but one must take the bad with the good. For every internet troll, there are people who offer info on all kinds of things for free.
                One example of how the internet is used by selfless people is online forums. Whether it’s a saltwater fish tank or fixing my truck, I’ve used forums that have walked me through fixing whatever issue I’ve had. Many people are forced to take their vehicles to a mechanic but I just scour the internet for a while until I find someone else who has experienced my same problem. 99% of the time I find what I’m looking for.