"You cannot find peace by avoiding life."
by Virgina Woolf

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Cheeto Appeal

Searching for advertisements through YouTube I came across a couple of ads for cheetos. I had never noticed, till now, that the commercial really tries to address everyone as a viewer, covering a wide scope of people, people who occupy their live in different things. And it highlights stressing/ annoying moments which a person might want to abandon. Chester shown in the commercial is placed there almost as the subconscious of the person who wants to escape or wants to get their revenge.
The more recent commercial are of course the orange underground cheetos commercial. Examples of the ones I’ve seen always show an encountering with people that you just want to avoid or days/ situations you want to avoid. An example could be when a guy wanted to go home so he ate the flaming hot cheetos and once his eyes and nose got all watery he went up to where his boss was, and of course the boss gave him the rest if the day off. Another example was during a flight a woman couldn’t go to sleep because of a man’s snoring, so she stuffed his nose with the cheetos and therefore accomplished what she wanted, sleep.
And the list can go on and on, as people we always encounter these situations but the solution to what ever the problem is always shown as the chettos. Whatever it is that you want to accomplish cheetos are shown as the way to go, whether it is a way to escape something or a form of revenge against someone, and Chester is always there telling the person, “Do it.” This of course is the idea of advertising, but it really appears so basic and something that clearly is no solution to any itch a person might have. Furthermore, it appears as if that is what they appeal to for the consumer/ viewer. I mean the variety of situations the commercials depict are realistic a viewer might think, “This commercial speaks to me or my situation,”, yet going from thinking that to actually using cheetos I doubt, but it’s worth noting though.



THE PIGEON ATTACK(I THINK IT'S FUNNY)



OTHERS

The World of IPods

IPods are something you may see basically every day, whether you own one or not you may see it on someone else. As consumers a number of people are always looking for the latest technology and iPods have been around for a while, but what makes their advertisements so appealing. The appearance overall of the commercial has remained the same. There is the black image that dances of course, the contrasting color on the background and then the white iPod. The thing is that looking back at some of the first commercials made for the iPods the black figure was very ambiguous.
Having the figure in black to begin with gives it like this shadow perception. The black figure is used almost as to address any type of person. Why? Because in having the figure to be black as a viewer you can’t tell the race of the person and in some cases the figure is so ambiguous that you can’t even tell the gender and the age of a person. With that visual depiction of the people and the different genres of music the put in the commercials it allows for regular persons to relate to the people in the advertisements.
Yet looking at the more recent advertisements for the iPod, the black figurines have taken on whole different role. The depiction given of them is now that of more recognized persons/ cartoons. There are iPod advertisements with the black outlined figure of Pikachu, Stewie from Family Guy, Homer from The Simpsons, Napoleon Dynamite, and the list can continue on and on. This clearly emphasizes the dramatic change of the iPod advertisements from regular people to recognized characters. Now, the iPod ads are not targeting to have people relate themselves to the people in the ads, but they are now having the ads relate to something they like. That is to say, they are building on what they enjoy and tying a connection. Almost like saying, “if you liked Napoleon Dynamite you will like this iPod.” They obviously did not bring about Homer or Stewie but are highlighting and building on the viewer’s preference or on what they enjoy and in a sense creating a world of idolized/favored characters.







Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Subway's obsession with weight

Walking towards the food court in the student union, at about 12:00 pm one of the longest lines you see is the subway line. Going back to Subways earliest commercials their main focus revolved around the issue of weight and health. They really tried to promote a healthy alternative for people by providing a variety of bread and ingredients. The choices they provided on the menu all appeared to be healthy consisting of healthy breads, leans meats, and a variety of vegetables for subs.
Even in TV commercials they show a couple pulling in to a drive through and ordering extra baggage. The guy says things like “can I get some love handles…,” which is obviously something a person wouldn’t order, but uses this alludes to the idea that when we order any fast food we basically gain weight. It kind goes along with saying, “you are what you eat.” So it is appealing to an audience filled with overweight persons who want to eat healthier in order to lose weight.
Subway at first did appear to follow up with what they promoted. But now it appears that they are more concerned with competing with other fast food restaurants such as Quiznos Sub and Dominos who are also big on making sub/ sandwiches. When at first they were only serving lean meats they now also serve subs that contain cheese steak subs and meatball subs and other options that are not really healthy.
So subway advertisements and the messages they are trying to convey aren’t entirely clear on what their primary concern is. Subway is either concerned on the consumers beneficial or on its own benefits of getting more consumers and beating the competition. The commercials promoted can be really confusing it might also depend on a person might take the commercial’s message.



Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Commented Blogs

Stephanie's- EGGcellent!!!- emailed

Lauren's- Breakfast
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20469020261818455&postID=34202509450039552


Carissa's- Amusement Parks- emailed

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Flammin' Hot Cheetos Fad

So I was listening to KROQ a couple of weeks ago and they interviewed a bunch of elementary school kids about Hot Cheetos. And you just hear these kids obsession with hot cheetos I recall one saying "I get crazy when I eat Hot Cheetos, I just LOOOOOVEEEE Hot Cheetos so much!" I honestly just laughed when I heard this, the kid did sound crazy almost hyper. So what is the reason for the craving of Flammin’ Hot Cheetos found primarily amongst kids? I see these kids eating Hot Cheetos like there’s no tomorrow and it’s like they forget about everything else. It’s probably one of the most addicting snacks you’ll eat.
They are like hooked on these Hot Cheetos; they try to find any way to make them a part of what they are eating. I mean I’ve seen kids eat them with ice cream, with Tapatio and lemon, or with Baby Lucas. Then you have ice cream trucks selling nachos with Hot Cheetos and chili cheese Hot Cheetos. Then there are kids like my cousins who eat Hot Cheetos with cucumber and chamoy or put Hot Cheetos in their sandwiches and quesadillas.
They eat them one at a time or handfuls of them but savoring each and every bite. Almost as if they enjoy the spiciness of the snack. I’ve seen kids eat Hot Cheetos without hesitating. Though their eyes get watery and they start getting a runny nose from the spiciness they don’t stop eating them. They simply lick all the spicy red powder from their fingers and then wipe their fingers on their clothes. When they are done eating them you have traces of Hot Cheetos all over them on their pants, shirts, their tongues and mouth, and especially their fingers that seem to have a coat of orangey red dye on them. It’s interesting to think that even the funky bright color of a Hot Cheeto is seen as something attractive that adds a little spice or zing to something dull, and I think that is what attracts children. Its color, crunchy texture, and spicy taste can be very attractive and addictive.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Gum

You find them everywhere as you walk the streets on the sidewalk, in your classes under your desk, in restaurant at the sides and bottom of your tables, or under the seat of a movie theater. You find them in the mouths of a number of people you see daily who stare off with a chewing motion on their jaw, sometimes while they play with their hair twisting it on their fingers, or while they make popping sounds by sucking in air as they hold the gum on their teeth, or blowing them up into a huge bubble in front of their face while risking getting it stuck to their face if it were to pop. Why do we thrust to get through the lollipop as soon as possible? in order to reach a raw and dull tasting gum with a flavor that will only last a bit of our chewing. Or on your way back from Tijuana during the 2 hour or more wait in the line of cars/traffic, you’ll have children walk up to the window of your car and try to sell you some gum while you’ll either buy some or try to roll your windows up before they get there. You find it in stores with sometimes a whole section of them, and with a variety of shapes, sizes, and flavors that range from minty freshness to sweet peach or strawberry flavors. It can be found basically anywhere in a variety of forms. Yet, what is our obsession with gum? Year after year there is always some new use of it.

I find it to be universal for everyone from being young children and seeking the sweetest kind of gum to becoming adults and seeking mint flavored gum to prevent bad breath. Now days anyone can chew gum, because has been forced into a number of uses. We have these numbers and numbers of different types of gum. The four main uses I can think of are for candy, health, craving/habit, and oral hygiene. For candy there are mainly only the fruity flavors and its only purpose is to satisfy the sweet tooth. For health we find gum with vitamins or even for diets. For people who are in a diet or who smoke there’s gum that’s supposed to combat there craving of eating more or smoking. There’s use of gum to combat stress and anxiety, said to relieve tension for better concentration. Then there’s the gum for oral hygiene. There is gum said to whiten your teeth, clean teeth, and freshen breath.

So, why does our obsession with gum exist? I honestly don’t think it only one reason but a variety seeing how they mold into the needs of so many different types of persons. Is it an addicting habit to chew on something to relieve pressure or anxiety of something or do we buy it because it promises so much in the act of simply chewing.

Monday, February 9, 2009

The Cake

For celebrations in particular a birthday it’s a consumption of many things but the cake is an integral part of a birthday party. A typical birthday consists of balloons, music, food, presents, and other things but in particular the birthday cake can’t miss. Why has it become an integral part of birthdays? Does it have some type of symbolism to it? The birthday songs are used to celebrate the birth of the person, the candles on the cake can represent how old the person is turning, the blowing of the candles is to make a wish, the guests are there to celebrate with the person who is getting older, the presents are as a way to congratulate, and food in general can simply be for the guests and so on. What role does the cake play in all of this? You basically see cakes in little kid’s birthdays, older persons birthdays, quincean~eras, celebrations, and so forth.
In particular birthdays you may see a variety of decorations on the cake. For children in particular you see things such as princesses or Disney characters or some type of hero figurines on top. Are they used to symbolize what the birthday person likes or should like. For older persons you may see the cake turned into the form of a female torso for men and the opposite for women. For just about any celebration besides birthdays you always have a cake present. I’ve seen cakes with pictures right on top, cakes in the form of a book for a reading club, cakes in the form of a soccer ball for my cousin, cakes forming a stair till you get to the top and find the newlywed figurines, and many others. Though I know it has come to be tradition to have a cake I have formed my own conclusion.
When at first cakes where simply oval or circle shaped they have now taken on a new tradition; they now take on all these different shapes, I think its presence though is more on a symbolic way. It could combine flavors that a person may like, it can have a picture of the birthday person, take on a symbolic shape for a holiday such as a heart for Valentine’s Day, or have figurines or something on it that might show a fantasy that we have or something that we live for.