Reflection Time

            Throughout this whole experience with digging deeper into the media it has really opened my eyes.  Before, I thought that ads and media were just there to be in the way, but now knowing the different techniques, I have noticed things that I didn’t before.  Things that I have noticed are possibly something that they are doing wrong, like not paying for a drink in a movie, or if the commercial is tricking you into buying the product.  These things have been brought to my attention and have made me “smarter” in the media world. 

            Honestly I consume a whole butt load of media whether it is from reality TV or magazines it is literally everywhere.  After this unit of media I haven’t changed the way I consume media but I do change the way I see it.  I understand the techniques and frankly I have actually been looking out and noticing billboards and ads everywhere.  But this overload of media is too much. The average amount of media that we see per day is about three thousand or more.  That is just too much, and personally I don’t even know that I’ve seen over three thousand.  It is ridiculous and absurd.  I don’t think that it is necessary to spend all that money on advertisements where it could go to plenty of other good things like the economy, government, or charities.

            Being educated when it comes to being a consumer is really important.  If you don’t know any techniques or notice that the advertiser is tricking you into buying a product, it will not be good for you.  You will get a crappy product most of the time and it will just frustrate you.  Knowing if a product is good or not can be really helpful.  Especially in this media center where there are so many advertisements for practically the same things; if you really want to buy the product you have a variety to choose from to see the good and bad ones too.  Just overall understanding what the advertiser is trying to get at it the most important thing when being a consumer and buying their products.

            From this class, I have noticed and have understood the media world.  From the three thousand advertisements that we see a day I can tell what is good, bad, right and wrong with a little bit of thinking.  Noticing these things within ads helps with buying products that you know that are good and worth it.   

Nike

The main target audience for this ad is athletic people both male and female.  Both genders can buy this because everyone has a different style, which does not aim this ad towards anyone in particular.  One thing that i noticed with this ad was that it grabs your attention because it forces you to read what it says.  Yeah, its the shape of the shoe which represents nike itself but it draws in the viewer to see what it says.
By advertising nike it is also advertising the world of advertising.  It sounds weird but its true.  The most famous logo in the world was created by an art student for thirty-five dollars.  Another thing that I see in this ad is the simplicity of big things that come out of so little.
The needs used in this ad are the need to achieve, need to dominate, and the need for attention.
The need to achieve is used because this is a sport shoe.  In sports you want to move forward and achieve at what you are doing.
The need to dominate is also like the need to achieve.  You want to beat down your competitors and with the nike shoe you can outrun and/or out jump the person going against you.
Lastly the need for attention is simply added into this ad.  Just like an art student make the most famous logo, nike, by wearing these shoes you get attention because the brand nike is popular.
The advertising techniques used in this ad are weasel words and plain folks.
Weasel words are in this because the "most famous" might not be totally true.  Nike might be a famous brand but not the most famous.
And plain folks in used because nike products aren't overly expensive and most people can buy their products.    

Master EVERYTHING Target!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LplGs54ZT1Q
In this commercial the main point that they are trying to get by is that you can get things at Target and beat everything in life.  The major thing that popped when I first saw this was that everything was white.  It emphasizes cleanliness.  Cleanliness in this commercial really works because it is for baby wipes and diapers; mothers want that cleanliness for their children in their young years.
Target always has their colors in the commercials or magazine ads.  Red and white are always there no matter what.  In this commercial the woman in it has red hair and lips which says "hey there is red in here and this is target."
The main target audience is mothers.  It's mothers because there are babies in the commercial and mothers want very good products that do not harm their children.
The needs used in this commercial are need to nurture, the need to feel safe, and the need to dominate.
Need to nurture is the obvious one because there are babies in the commercial and women want to see good products for their children.
The need to feel safe is used in here to show that up & up baby wipes and diapers are good and "healthy" for your children.
The need to dominate is used because at the end of the commercial the woman is like "YES! I did it."  This shows that you are in control when you use the target brand diapers and wipes.
The advertising techniques used in this commercial are plain folks and weasel words.
Plain folks is used because anyone can buy up & up brand of diapers and baby wipes.  
Weasel words in contributed into this commercial because the words master and legend are used, but in reality are you really a master after you use baby wipes?  You might be good at cleaning your baby, but doesn't mean that you are a master.
Anyways another thing that popped out to me when watching this was the music in the background.  It is really upbeat and like a victory music kind of thing.

This as really stands out to me because its focusing on how cool and fast the car is.  It's only focusing on the car and in the ad the background is blurred showing how fast the car is going.  With this it emphasizes the speed, and also it also emphasizes the style of the car.  All sports cars have a different look and appearance to them, putting them into a category that is different from all the rest.
The different needs used in this add are need for  guidance and the need to dominate.
The need for guidance doesn't really seem like it but the thing that i got from it was that it was kind of popping out and directing you towards this car.
The need to dominate is shown here by using Daniel Craig's name, because he is the kind of guy that is rough and tough so he could be driving this car.  So if you get this car you will be scared because it is to fast for Daniel, the big guy.
The different advertising techniques used in this ad are snob appeal and testimonial.
Snob appeal is used because no person off the street can go up to car dealership and buy this sports car.
Testimonial is used because Daniel Craig is mentioned in this ad.  Although his face is not shown, he is still in it.  It, again, just shows that he is a badass and can't handle this even more badass car.
One thing that i noticed was that the main target audience that they i are trying to get at is wealthy men.  Women can also buy this car but they didn't say "Megan Fox was scared too."  Because Megan Fox isn't tough enough.
Another thing to make it appeal to men is the colors.  They are kind of dark greys, blacks, and silver.  Those are "manly."
One last thing that I see is the lightning.  To me it also emphasizes the speed of the car most likely saying, "Oh this car is as fast as lightning!!!!"

Snickers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MixNh9L7G5M
This commercial is one of my favorites because it is funny but also gets the point across that they are trying to make.  One thing that all of the snicker commercials do is over exaggerate the "grouchiness" of the people who are hungry.  When they do that they make the commercial funny and more enjoyable.  When they do that it sticks with you and its hard to forget.  
The advertising techniques used in this commercial are weasel words, transfer/association, plain folks, testimonial, wit and humor/sex appeal, and simple solutions. 
Weasel words in this commercial, there aren't a lot but one that stuck out to me is satisfies.    You don't know for sure, it is just a candy bar, does it really satisfy?
Transfer and association the saying "you get a little angry when your hungry" and then later it says snickers satisfies.  So the positive in this commercial is that when your angry and hungry, eat a snickers.
Plain folks is simple, anyone can buy a snickers because it is like less than a dollar. 
Testimonial is used to bring a little more umph.  And the famous people in the commercial are Joe Pesci and Jon Rickles.  
Wit and humor/sex appeal, my favorite part in the commercial, I think brings the whole commercial together.  The humor of course comes from the famous actors but my favorite part is when Joe says, "What do you model, gloves?"  It just made me laugh and then i remembered it.  And of course Jon said something too, "So losers....I'm sorry."  It just brings it all together.
Simple solutions, is really simple.  If you were to eat a snickers bar, it would result in satisfaction.  
The main target audience is all ages and both men and women because in the commercial one guy and eventually one girl were both "hungry."

Outsmart Mother Nature

There are many ads that say that their product is better than the others, stronger etc.  This one really sells that it is better than the others. To me it creates a mental image of "winning," so once it gets down to the monthly gift it makes more sense that Tampax Compak Pearl is the "winning" brand.  I particularly like this ad because it isn't showing some model and how happy there are when they're using the product.  Because periods aren't happy when using a tampon, it doesn't make it go away, its just more, you could say, "controlled."
The different advertising techniques used in this ad are facts and figures, weasel words, plain folks, simple solutions, and repetition.  The only need in this ad is the need to feel safe.
Facts and figures i think is good in this ad because you need some proof to tell you that this product is better than possibly the one you are using.  So in this ad is says "With a 40% smaller applicator Compak Pearl still stops leaks better than Playtex Sport."  It's comparing two brands saying that this is much better and that you should get it.
The weasel words in this ad are "You win" and "Only cuter."  With "you win" it's not really guaranteeing that you will win.  And with "only cuter," is a tampon really cute?  It's just not a guarantee.
For plain folks, anyone can buy this product and for really cheep even.  It's not put into a certain class.
Simple solutions works well in this ad because the "monthly gift" can be somewhat complex but using a Tampax tampon, it's a simple solution to periods.
Lastly repetition is winning.  It doesn't clearly say win or winning, it's just the picture of winning three times in a row, twice with ro sham bo and then with a tampon.
The need to feel safe is kind of based on the customer using the product.  In this ad, instead of safe i think it would be more appropriate to say secure about yourself because, like the ad says, you want and need protection.
The main target audience is obviously women of any age.          

Clearasil?

Personally I think that all acne ads are kind of funny in the way that they are all the same.  They all guarantee fast results, but in reality most do not work that way.  They all try to compete to get the best results and especially with this ad it is trying to tell teenagers that this "new formula" makes your pimples go away in four hours.  Easily teenagers fall for this because most of the time they don't know if it will work until they try it.  

In this ad there is a lot of vagueness going on because they don't explain how or show any before and after shots.  For all we know they could have just gotten a picture off the internet and just touched up his face making it look like he has no pimples.  Therefore proving that this product works really well, making you have clear skin.  

Throughout this ad the advertising techniques used are weasel words, plain folks, simple solutions, and repetition.

The phrase that represents weasel words is "as little as."  This says that it will take four hours to make your pimple reduce in size but it could take longer.  I see it as the minimum time for reduced pimple size.  

Plain folks is here because, although it doesn't name a price, it is not very expensive and anyone can buy it.

Simple solutions is used; "visibly reduces...as little as four hours."  It is saying, buy this and your pimple will soon be gone.  

Repetition is used quite a bit only to advertise the number of hours it takes for your pimple to be smaller in size.  They use the number four, three times and a clock just to emphasize it even more.  

The needs used in this ad are the need for attention and the need to satisfy curiosity.  

The need for attention is really obvious because this a product that helps "make you look better."  When someone has pimples they obviously don't want to show them off but if they were to use this then they wouldn't have to hide there pimples and be the "center" of attention.

The need to satisfy curiosity is here because teenagers don't know if the product will work well unless if they try it out for themselves, and see if it really works in four hours.  

Be Delicious

This ad is pretty self explanatory.  The main thing that they are trying to say is that this perfume smells "delicious."  The main color is green and there are apples in the back ground, and the color of the perfume is a light green.  So the sent of the perfume in sour green apple.
The thing that I see that they are inferring is that green apples are delicious.  Some people don't like green apples, like me, so I don't think that a perfume that smells like apples will really attract people to buy it.  One thing that I saw, that I didn't see before was the empire state building reflection on the perfume bottle/apple thing.  That, not necessarily advertises New York itself but rather the place it's coming from.  And the name is DKNY also bringing up New York.  It kind of represents New York.    
But the main target audience is women of about ages thirteen to the mid to upper thirties.    
The advertising techniques used in this ad are weasel words, plain folks,  and glittering generalities.
Weasel words are in here, only one that I see, are delicious.  It is saying to be delicious so buy this product to be delicious, but you do not know for sure if it will smell delicious or not.
Plain folks is in here because anyone can by perfume and it is not overly expensive to make it not available for people to buy.
Lastly glittering generalities in this ad is the woman with the apple.  It looks somewhat "yummy" and "sexy" and of course delicious.

SKYFALL-Heineken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZsfB0ycfMo

In this ad it is kind of advertising two products, both Heineken and the movie Skyfall.  It references the beer Heineken six times using the beer itself and scenes emphasizing green and things like that.  Overall throughout the commercial it is advertising Skyfall because Daniel Craig, who plays James Bond, is featured in the beginning and at the end. 

A couple things that are interesting that goes into making the commercial is things to make the commercial "flow."  At twelve seconds into the video you can clearly see what jacket the unnamed man is wearing.  It's all buttoned up and, you could say, "cozy."  But as he is getting onto the train he simply unzips it.  Then as he is on the train a waiter looses control of the beer that is on a plate and he simply catches it for him (#1 beer).  Then he bumps into a man gambling.  The man is frustrated at first but then after he gets a good role, he's somewhat happy.  Then he runs into a room knocking down the cards that the man in the room was making a structure with.  He is again mad but then the man makes it better by making, what it looked like, a Russian building out of the cards.  In those little scenes the inference that I got from it was that heineken makes you "lucky," or feel lucky.  As the men continue to chase him he passes through another train car, there is briefly a glimpse of a waiter giving the beer to a table with women sitting at it (#2 beer).  He continues running and then passes another waiter giving a man, who looks like a character from Startrek, a Heineken (#3 beer).  Then as he passes through an ice trailer, it gives me the impression that the beer is cool and refreshing, because so far in every train car there has been a beer bottle but not in that car (#4 beer).  In the last train car there is a girl dancing in a green dress.  In the car no one else is in a bright dress or wearing bright colors so the green stands out and gave me the impression of another reference to heineken (#5 beer).  And lastly the unnamed man finally runs into Daniel again and he hands the man two Heinekens (#6 beer). 

The main target audience for Heineken is men from about age twenty-one to about forty-ish.  Also men who are out there and possibly for adventure, because of the last scene when Daniel jumps out of the train.  But the target audience for the movie Skyfall is from about age fourteen to forties of both men and women because they could equally like action movies.

The different techniques of advertising in the commercial are patriotism, plain folks, testimonial, and repetition.  

Patriotism is used very briefly at the end when Daniel Craig jumps off of the train, he uses a parachute which as the English flag on it.

Plain folks in here because anyone with a twenty dollar bill, and who is twenty-one and over, can at least buy some heineken, so it is not overly expensive.

Testimonial is obviously used because Daniel Craig is a big actor and he is holding two heinekens at one point.

And lastly repetition is used throughout the whole commercial, showing some sort of reference to the beer wether it be a color or the beer itself. 

Stayfree

This ad really stands out from all the rest because main thing that you see is a pad cut out from an athletic shirt.  Normally with pad ads its just showing possibly a happier woman standing there or how flexible the pads are.  But this one, to me, kind of says hey I'm athletic and flexible.  This is also unrealistic because pads aren't just cut out from shirts and said that they are comfortable.  Most aren't.  
The main target audience is obviously women, basically of any age or social class because the product isn't expensive.
In this ad, the people who wrote it use only one of the needs which is need to satisfy curiosity.  I see this because the women looking at this ad do not know if the pad will be comfortable like athletic wear is.  So it some-what attracts their attention and curiosity to make them go out and buy the product to see if it does feel a certain way.  
The many advertising techniques that are used are weasel words, transfer/association, plain folks, and a bit of repetition.  
The weasel words that are mentioned in this ad are dry-cool, comfort, quickly, stay dry, cool, and comfortable.  You do not know for sure if any of these things will actually work.  To stay dry, cool and comfortable is all based on weather the customer likes the product and has this reaction.  But everyone is different.  
Transfer and association is really similar to the weasel words.  The words and phrases that transfer and association are aiming towards are wicks moisture away, comfortable, and stay dry.  All of these kind of depend on the customer and their opinion on weather it wicks away the moisture, etc.  
Repetition is used very little but the only thing that they really repeat is comfort and comfortable.  This word is mentioned at the beginning and the end to introduce it and to also make sure it is the last word that the woman sees to emphasize that the pad is comfortable.
And lastly plain folks is related with this ad because the product isn't expensive enough to make it seem like richer people buy this product.  People of all classes can buy it.

Shape-ups with Kim Kardashian

To me this ad looks pretty ridiculous.  Honestly I could never see Kim Kardashian walking around Malibu wearing pink skechers.  I would see her wearing the hottest work-out shoes, top brand, brand new and the most expensive.  Another thing that makes this ad kind of unbelievable is that it uses words like orgasm and douchebag.  Did Kim write this herself?  To me it sort of seems like it, just a little bit.  "Replace embarrassing foot odor with the pleasing aroma of freshly-baked cupcakes!"  I don't think a shoe can make your feet not smell bad, maybe the first week because of the new shoe smell, but eventually that smell will ware off.  "Not make you look like a douchebag wearing ridiculous clown shoes!"  Really, I think she might have written this.  Another thing is that Kim is already really fit so it's kind of implying that she wore the skechers and she got fit from wearing them.  And also no one ever looks that good when they are getting ready or when they are working out.  It doesn't really make sense because every women just curls their hair and puts a load of make-up on before working out.
the target audience for this ad are women of about twenty and older.
The many advertising techniques used in this ad are plain folks, testimonial, wit and humor/sex appeal, and simple solutions.  Plain folks is used because ordinary people can buy and wear these shoes.  They aren't outrageously expensive so it is easy for middle to lower class women to buy them.  Testimonial is used because Kim Kardashian is sponsoring this product and recommending it to get a nice and toned body.  Wit and humor/sex appeal is used because many of the bullet points are funny and not really what someone would say.  Especially when the ad says that your feet will smell like cupcakes or that  wearing these will cause a knee-buckling orgasm with every step.  Lastly simple solutions is used because they say that if you wear these it will "Enable you to do the Jumble in three minutes flat!"  It is giving you a "goal" that you could do something good and cool if you buy skechers.
The needs that I saw were need to achieve and the need for attention.  Need to achieve is because it is a sport and fitness related product and possibly hinting at achieving something good.  Need for attention is used because they want to get the point across that by wearing shape-ups by skechers can do loads of good for your body.    

MIcro Touch MAX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhC9JrLeOiI

This commercial really kind of bugs me.  It first starts off it is showing a bunch of ways for a man to "groom" himself.  Normally you don't ever see a man cutting his own hair with a shaver or a razor, especially on the back of his neck, where he obviously can't see what he's doing.  And it is also very unrealistic to be cutting nose hairs with a pair of scissors!  Who would do any of these?  Also at about eighteen seconds into the commercial they use the micro touch on the finger.  It says that it gets close to the touch.  Yeah it might get close to the touch but who has hair on their fingers, unless you were really hairy, but I doubt that.
Another thing that bugged me was how repetitive they were.  Throughout the whole commercial they repeated pictures of the men using the micro touch max multiple times.  I guess the two record holding pictures were of the men using the micro touch max to groom their eyebrows and beard.  Each of those were played six times.  Most of the other ones were only played once or twice but some were also showed four times as well.  I didn't like this much because I thought that they were over doing it with how many times they were willing to show it.
Also with many of the pictures that they show with the men using the micro touch it doesn't totally show that it is taking off hair.  Yeah some really show it like with the chest, arm, and neck hair but most of them don't.  Such as between the eyebrows it looks like he's using it but you don't see any hair falling and such.  That is also the case with the side burns and the nose hair.  Especially with the nose hair you don't even see any hair fall down or if he has any embarrassing nose hairs to "shave" off.  They also show the beard, which looks perfectly fine and doesn't look like it needs and grooming, thye say, "it's perfect for beards."  
The many repeated pictures of the men is a technique of advertising called repetition.  They repeated pictures and even words such as groomed at least six times and of course "touch" and "max" at least six times as well to advertise the name of the product to get it stuck in your head.  Then this brings me to a couple more advertising techniques such as transfer/association.  They used a couple words, that were also repeated about two times, to show positive things about the product.  The two words that they used were neat and clean.  They are both positive but they are also sort of  synonyms of each other.
Plain folks and bribery are also used.  There is just ordinary men in the commercial showing off the product, they don't seem to be rich or poor.  Bribery is used because at the end of the commercial when the announce the price of the micro tough max, as $14.99, they also include a little gift or bonus of a ten  piece grooming kit.
The main target audience would be men because men have more hair and I personally don't think that women would used that little light up thing to shave their legs.  

If you're a frog, turn yourself into a prince

This ad really stood out and would make anyone stop to read it.  The unique thing about this ad is that the only colors are black and white, not really making anything stand out other than the diamond earrings and the bold lettering.  They're wanting it to stand out for people to read and think of the things they could do if they were to shop there.
The main target audience that they want to read this is men of about mid twenties and older.  They really make this clear by saying, "turn yourself into a prince."  One of the two "needs" that I see in the ad is the need for prominence.  The man would want his girlfriend or wife to feel important in his life or have a sense of wealth because you bought her a piece of jewelry. The second need is the need to satisfy curiosity.  The man might think that since only in movies do frogs turn into princes with the kiss of a beautiful girl, that if he gets her a gift he might get the same reaction to the gift, kind of giving him the reassurance that he did good and bought the right thing.
The one thing that this ad is doing, is it is using weasel words.  "Frogs"and "Prince" are the major words, and it's not a guarantee that you will turn into a prince from being a frog.  Another thing that they are using is bandwagon.  It is kind of saying that if you buy a product from us you will go from the losing group, being a frog, to the winning group, the prince.