Lancome La Vie Est Belle

"In a world full of dictates and conventions, could there be another way?

 

According to Lancôme there is another way--buy perfume. 

In this commercial, the first scene shows the city lighting up, looking like a river of diamonds covering the streets.  Then Julia Roberts appears in a sparkly white dress underneath an equally sparkly chandelier.  She's in a white dress, while everyone else is wearing black. Julia is illuminated by white light and she walks to a mirror, where she notices that everyone, even herself, are being controlled by diamond strings, like they are marionettes.  There is an obvious theme going on here--sparkles and diamonds.  Still, I don't know what is being advertised. 

The message that this ad is trying to send is that wearing Lancôme perfume will make one feel like the most beautiful, unique woman in the room, who is completely individual, and uncontrolled by the diktats of the world. 

Violins play in the background, which gives the ad a more aristocratic air.  It makes Julia seem more prominent.  This ties in with the ad appeal of need for prominence.  This technique is use to the fullest, with all the sparkly diamonds, and glowing jewels/lights emitting from Julia's dress.  The need for autonomy is also used because Julia Roberts singles herself out by wearing white and breaking off her diamond chains, and walking up to the balcony, while everyone stares at her in amazement. 

The advertising technique it uses is Testimonial because Julia Roberts is advertising the perfume.  Julia Roberts is really successful and it adds "credibility" to the product because then people will think they can also be successful with this perfume.  It also uses snob appeal because it depicts men and women in fancy dresses and tuxedos. 

 Its settled, I need Lancôme perfume in order to be original and beautiful--NOT. I didn't think that the commercial was very ineffective for me. I think this commercial was just too much with the whole diamond theme and I had no idea what the product was until the last four seconds. Lancôme Paris perfume won't be getting my business. 

Samsung Galxay S6 Edge

Whew this commercial has got me all excited inside.  It's honestly really good, so watch it!

 

 

 

This commercial is advertising for the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. I honestly had no idea what the "edge" was even after watching the video, so my sister told me that the front screen was curved, therefore the edge wasn't the normal edge--it was also slightly curved.  I didn't really see the curved screen in the commercial, nor do I see any importance of having a curved screen.  However, this commercial did a great job in getting me engaged and watching the entire commercial. 

 

First off, the music used in the commercial was "I'm Alive" by Johnny Thunder, which is a very upbeat, and happy song.  The drumroll in the beginning along with the multiple clips of people getting ready to jump over waterfalls, to start a big football game, to perform in a ballet show, to read the note passed by the girl next to them, to break open a piñata, to open their eyes after being covered for a surprise, and to start the rollercoaster all build up ANTICIPATION.  Then when Johnny starts to sing "I'm Alive" at the same moment we see the phone and every event begins to unfold. 

 

The message that Samsung is trying to send is that we no longer need to hold onto our anticipation because the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is here.  They want us to feel excited, and amazed--or alive--for the new phone that everyone has been waiting for.  And it makes us think that we need to go get this new phone as well because it's so exciting.  The implicit message from the video is that we can have fun, be young and daring, and not worry about our age if we had the new Samsung phone. 

 

The target audience is pretty general.  It touches bases with many ethnicities: Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian.  I would usually think the audience is younger from 20's-40's, but the song from the 1960's indicates it could be appealing to an older audience in their 50's. Many scenes with the little kids passing notes, to the girl riding on rollercoasters, to the couple kissing on a balcony, might be nostalgic to older folks.  The scene with the old woman blowing out candles is one scene that depicts anyone old, but the lady is very happy being able to blow out her candles and say she is one year older. 

 

The advertising techniques used in this video are plain folks because it depicts families, kids, younger and older adults all doing fun, yet common activities, such as, a boy hitting a piñata, or men playing football, or a woman being surprised and screaming from happiness.  It uses testimonial featuring the singer Rita Ora using their new product.  It also uses transfer association by having lots of parties and adventurous activities happening when the phone is first revealed.  This makes it seem that if you had the phone you would be fun and adventurous and have lots of parties too. 

 

This ad appealed to the need for affiliation.  With every scene each person was with their friends, a crowd of people, or their significant other  that would love them, or take videos/pictures of them. 

 

There is a lot going on in this commercial, but mashed all together, it feels fun and desirable to have the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.  The commercial is very effective, and I would really like to see a Samsung S6 Edge. 

 

 

 

I Got the Power

Everybody likes to feel in control, that's why Progressive car insurance has the 'name your price' tool.

 

The message that this video is trying to send is that the customers have the power to choose their price.  This sounds very appealing to people who want to save money, which let's face it--is everyone. Actually it targets mostly adults who own cars and houses.  This ad appeals to the need to dominate.  By giving the customers the 'name your price tool' the company is giving them the power to choose their own price and take control of their life. 

This commercial shows that people value options and having the choice to decide for themselves.  It makes it seem like you as a consumer have all the power in the world. Flo says "You give us the price you want and we give you a range of options to choose from."  Many people only hear the "You give us the price you want," and are sold.  However the "range of options to choose from," is a very discreet way of telling us that they already have insurance plans preset.
 
It uses the advertising technique of wit and humor/sex appeal because the ad is funny, since the guy thinks that the power he got from the name your price tool gives him the power to be able to juggle chainsaws as well.  It also uses the plain folk's appeal, since the main characters in this ad are Flo and the average looking couple.

Flo is an amazing character and everyone associates her with progressive insurance.  Through Flo, the company has assumed a humanlike persona. This gives the company ethos because consumers will then associate Flo and her personality as the company itself. 

See you again next week!

 
 

Love is what makes Subaru a Subaru

Subaru likes to make very heartwarming commercials.  I actually remember them most of the time because their commercials really pull at my heart strings. 

 The one I saw recently depicts a dad giving up the keys to his daughter to take the car out driving.  The first frame had the Dad looking kind of torn because every parent is scared to see their own kid growing up and driving out on their own.  Then the frame switches to the daughter who looks about 5-8.  Its a little funny to see such a little girl in the drivers seat, but then later on I realized that the daughter was actually in her later teens and she was only a little girl in the Father's eyes. 

This commercial appeals to the need to nurture.  One giveaway is that a small child appears on the ad.  It targets parents, which have strong maternal and paternal instincts. By showing that the Dad was willing to let his precious daughter drive away in the Subaru, the company is letting its consumers know that the car is safe.  The message it sends is that parents can feel at ease when their children drive this car because the car will take care of the child in place of them.

Subaru also branded itself with an identity.  It uses the ambiguous word: LOVE, which can mean so many different things to different people.  Love has a positive connotation and makes me think of a mix of happy emotions.  Although I know that Subaru is not what love is, nor can it give me love like parent would, I like their commercials and have a positive view on the brand. 

Are You a Mushroom?

So on Friday, there were some solicitors passing out little newspapers in front of the school. My friend showed me the article and I realized that these people were campaigning pro-life ideals. They were informing us the "truth" behind abortion because many people are ignorant to what it "really" is.  The issue of the article was whether abortion should be illegal or not. It gave examples supporting how abortion was wrong.  and cleared up any exceptions such as if abortions should be accepted for women who were victims of rape.  

The article first established pathos by connecting with the values of the reader.  Pro-life obviously values life of human beings over choice.  The word life has a very positive connotation, which would automatically pull in readers to agree with their position.  The article seemed kind of degrading towards the readers.  When I read, it made me feel like I was stupid for either not knowing what abortion really was or not agreeing with the authors position.  It attacked my value system, but then gave a solution to fix it.  No person wants to feel immoral or ignorant so by attacking our value system it made us want to fix ourselves and also adopt pro-life ideals. The article established logos by giving statistics about how women felt emotional holes, depression, and suicidal thoughts after aborting. The statistics also had an emotional factor, but the numbers behind it give the readers a sense of logic and feel that it is the only sensible thing to stop abortion. The article also established ethos by stating how doctors agree that abortion is murder since lie begins at contraception.  Once again this argument relies on pathos, but it is also ethos since doctors are trusted in society. 

Although all the facts given were entirely true, I believe that the article was poorly written.  It used words such as "crap" to describe the arguments behind pro-choice and it was severely one-sided. The support behind why rape victims should not have an abortion was one real-life account of a woman who felt better to keep her child.  I didn't find it supportive enough however because it was only one account and didn't take into consideration that many women have different mentalities.  Of course "abortion doesn't unrape a woman" as the article argued, but a women might not want to be reminded everyday of their rape if they were to keep the child. 

I have always been pro-choice, but for me there is a very unclear line of when it is okay and when it is not okay. The question I have is why does it have to be conditional? Even I don't understand...

Do you think I am a mushroom?

Politics and the English Language:

Question: George Orwell argues against the "belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes". Explain why you do or do not agree with Orwell's position.

I agree with George Orwell that language should be an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.  The use of language is the way people express themselves.  And every person is an individual. There are several different ways that a greeting could be said.  For instance, a  person might say "hello" or "hi" or "hey".  They could even say "what's up?".  All four of these greetings mean the same thing however they all have a different tone.  In order from left to right each greeting gets more casual.  Depending on the personality of the person or how they want other people to perceive them, dictates the difference in their use of language. Language can create an image for oneself.  If a person wanted people to know that they were laid back and friendly they might choose to say "what's up?" over other options.    This is why language is a instrument--because the words create the sound of music (the tone) that the user wants people to hear.