Final blog

Throughout the first half of this semester I really enjoyed writing this blog. Even though, I did not keep up in the end, I had fun writing the last blogs and catching up on it.

In general, this class is nothing what I expected. Before I started this Spring semester I thought of boring lecturing about the history of advertising. But the group works are a lot of fun and it is impressive how on the one hand different me and my classmates perceived things differently and disagreed at some points, and on the other hand how we agreed on other aspects.

Today in class we discussed how we can advertise "Spam" to get it sold to college students. My group figured out that we should focus on the college life and how it includes partying. We figured that Spam could be a good midnight snack after a night (full of alcohol). When we presented our idea it was brought to our attention that another group, all the way across the room, had a similar plans and that was just a moment of realization how simple it is to find something that appeals to more people.

10 - Environmental Campaign Digital

Nowadays it is very important for Political parties and groups like Greenpeace to make use of as many digital sources as possible. We live in the most technological and globally connected world ever and if one wants to make a point and reach as many people as possible, one needs to go online.

As we all know, the youth is more interested in texting, liking and sharing than political problems. So why not bring political problems online just between your followers posts and tweets so there is no chance that anyone can miss it. Put a cute puppy picture as the profile picture and I promise it will have more shares and likes then anyone can imagine.

One environmental campaign that recently reached over social media is Greenpeace's Kit Kat campaign. Its success that the Nestlé removed all products coming from rainforest destruction from its supply chains is coming from the power of social media.

The campaign went viral and because of the cruel video: Greenpeace: Have a break? People realized the problem and shared and posted like never. The reason why this video hits people and gets their attention is the emotional appeal. When the young man bites the "kit kat monkey finger" blood is dripping and it immediately triggers us to feel very bad and realize how bad the problem is. 

Greenpeace members call social media "as much a part of campaigning to protect the environment as taking peaceful direct action." All they do is adapt to the time and people's interests and their comfort. Social media and anything digital is the easiest and most comfortable way to reach as many people as possible so why not take advantage?

Even though, the campaign was successful and it was 2 years ago, when I accessed the page there were several links tagged as "Share on Facebook" "Share on Twitter" etc.

I am glad that campaigning organizations like Greenpeace take advantage of digital campaigning because it reaches many people all over the globe. This way, people are more aware and more likely to take action because they feel connected and involved.

8 - Consumer Behavior

"Sold to the United States in a brilliant ‘Think Small’ advertising campaign launched in 1959 and devised by the New York agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, the Beetle became the biggest selling foreign-made car in America throughout the ’60s.“ according to BBC’s article“The VW Beetle: How Hitler’s idea became a design icon“ by Jonathan Glancey. 

I can only imagine that no one actually believed in the fact that a Nazi car can be sold in America just after WW2 ended in 1945. And thats why this story is so interesting to me. In general, VW is not a brand that failed at any point but the story of this german car becoming this popular with a 

A big part of consumer behavior is the influence on the consumer through either external or internal factors. External factors in the case of VW after 1945 could be that it forms association with Hitler, Nazis and the death of millions of jewish people. A pretty negative association. Furthermore we look at internal factors which could be the desire of owning a car in general or the desire of owning a car which was trendy at that time: Long limousines, big elegant cars. 

So if its not for the efficiency it looks pretty bad trying to sell a little VW car in America. 

However, in the mid 60s consumer behavior started to change and advertising campaigns like VW's "Think small" helped out to make the Beetle become the biggest (haha) selling foreign-made car.

It was a combination of a successful Beatles band, the distinct look as well as the quality along with the affordability, reliability and economy and the desire for something new and different and, finally, one of the best works that advertisers created that made this car so popular. 

6 - Stereotypes: Gender

The issues surrounding gender stereotyping in advertising are most of the time very obvious and to an extend where groups are offended. However, stereotyping is somewhat necessary in terms of helping the audience to identify and create memory for a product.

The theme I will focus on is the stereotype of women running households and with that I will pick the cleaning brand „OxiClean“ to show examples and analyze. 

When I watch OxiClean commercials I get reminded of the first dishwasher commercials. Even though the commercial „Last Word In Automatic Dishwashing“ (1950) by Mullins Manufacturing Corporation is about 22 minutes long, both OxiClean and Mullins have a similar set up: Both represent a housewife doing dishes and struggling and in both videos there is a man’s voice explaining the process of cleaning and trying to sell the product. 

OxiClean: Dishwasher Detergent vs Mullins Manufacturing Corporation 

The fact that OxiClean chose to advertise their products in the same way as cleaning items were advertised in the 50s shows their idea of household: men sell as business men and women buy as housewives being responsible for laundry and dishes.

In class we determined that „Arguments suggest that advertising perpetuates stereotypes and conditions us to accept supposedly predetermined roles.“ So does that mean OxiClean wants us to belief that women are expect to run the household, do dishes and wash clothes? Yes, it clearly looks like it. In every commercial women are brought in to either load a dish washer, fold clothes or put clothes on their children (OxiClean: Max Force Spray) They are caregivers and housewives.

I believe that in the case of OxiClean advertising is guilty of creating gender imbalances in society. As we all know, nowadays we don't have the common American family, in fact we have career women and stay home dads which seems to happen more and more. With a new family model we also need to adjust our perception and with that advertising has to change to address our products to the right group.

7B - Politics and Avertising Workshop

For our group assignment we chose to create a political campaign that promotes safe and healthy sex life. We decided on that topic because we were sick of very serious themes that we already have to discuss in our other classes already. Furthermore, this is college and we thought it was a very fitting topic.

To promote our campaign we created a Facebook page, a storyboard for a TV commercial and a propaganda poster. All media go back to our slogan „No Glove No Love“. 

It was fun getting together and thinking about a topic and how we can promote it. However, it was hard to create posters and actually being artsy, but I think the outcome of our campaign is fun to watch and convincing. 

5 - Racist Stereotyping

In general it is never right to make use of racist stereotyping when it is offending a group of people. In advertising it can have many advantages to make use of stereotyping, but only if it is not offending!!!!
Stereotyping can be very helpful in order to associate a specific product with a culture or theme. Typical clothing, music or language can help with that but again, only to the extend that no one is offended or hurt through the stereotype. It is very hard to find that “Goldilocks zone” for racial stereotyping in advertising. It cannot be too much and it shouldn’t be left out also.

So, I think racial stereotypes can be used in advertising to help the audience identify with a trend, product or brand, but it sure does not help product and brand when groups are misrepresented.

Racism in advertising is definitely a thing of the past. Racist stereotypes played an big role in the past in terms of selling products and determining race relationships. In Nazi times ads were brutal and used to caricature people who are not viewed Aryan. One print ad by The N. K. Fairbank Company illustrates two children. The african american child is pictured dirty in a simple dress with no shoes, while the blonde child is clothed in a very nice dress and socks and boots. The blonde child says „Why doesn’t your mamma wash you with fairy soap?“ The fact that the african american child is pictured dirty and poor is a very common stereotype for that time. I asked my roommates what they think about it and they are shocked and outraged about the printed ad. 

No question advertisers have ethical responsibilities! All I can think of right now is the Mountain Dew (Pepsi) commercial that is considered the most racist ad. The commercial creates a very negative stereotype of black men: criminal and scary and also violent against (white) women. There were countless complaints and criticism and it was all over the news. Hip Hop artist Tyler the Creator who is african american himself tried to play if off and a statement says that „It was simply an admittedly absurd story that was never meant to be taken seriously“ The commercial was pulled and the company apologized. Even though, some people try to justify the commercial with the producer being the same race as the stereotyped race. But no matter what, it can never be justified and this commercial should have never been approved. 

Advertisers have big responsibilities for ethics and they should never abuse their power to promote racial stereotypes. 

7 - Gender Roles in Ads Example

In today’s in-class workshop we discussed different ads in our groups. These specific ads pointed out extreme stereotypes about gender roles. The commercial that was a most upsetting to me was for Hasbro’s Rose Petal Cottage. A girl is playing in the playhouse. She is singing a song where she points out that it is her dream to bake in the kitchen and do laundry. While singing, she does those activities.
My group and I discussed how this commercial could be less stereotyped and think that more outdoor activities should be involved and also, a boy who could be the girl’s (twin) brother should be in the ad and do the same activities. Even the jingle is softer and more calm, so we think the song should be more exciting and indicate action.

Hasbro's Rose Petal Cottage

4 - Racial & Gender Diverstity on TV

The show I chose is Modern Family because it is a very diverse show with many different characters. Modern Family does reflect racial and gender diversity to point out different characters in a family portrait. There is a Latin-American character in the middle of a typical white American family.  Also, there is a gay couple in the family. This kind of diversity is important in media to apply to different people. They want to be represented on TV so that they can identify themselves with the TV show character. 

One racial stereotype I can name is the character of Gloria, a Latin-American mother. She is very loud, her accent and temperament are very obvious. Also, she seems to lead the household in a dominant way and she is pictured as a very good cook and housewife.