Product placement plays a big role in the media industry. The only way it is effective is if you are undecided about a certain product. No matter how many times I see my favorite show drink pepsi, I am still going to prefer coke. I think the same holds true for anyone, because most people are smart enough not to be completely persuaded by the shows the watch. I think the effectiveness comes from the undecided group of people. If someone had never drank a coke or a pepsi, and then saw somebody drinking a pepsi on their favorite TV show, they might go try it. This is still limited persuasion because most people also know that companies pay to get their products on the show, and it doesn't mean that that character likes that product, so product placement, along with all other advertising, has lost its effectiveness because we are constantly bombarded by adds. Adds can draw in customers that don't know about a product, but a product has to be good for it to continue to be successful.

Commercial Blog

One ad on the radio I hear a lot is the Shane Company commercial telling me that I have a friend in the diamond business. The target market of this add is 20-30 year old males who are thinking about getting married. They are encouraging men to either get a ring for their engagement or buy a diamond necklace for his girlfriend. The ads are targeted to the middle class because it tries to tell you how you can afford a diamond. The benefit sought for the diamonds are a great gift for someone and the product is meant to be used for a long time, usually forever, and in the case of the engagement ring it is meant to be worn every day. There is brand loyalty to try and get you to buy all your diamonds from the Shane Company. The commercial addresses you not being immediatly ready to buy by saying that they have a diamond for all budgets. The core product is diamond jewlery. The quality is high becuase each diamond is hand selected and there is no real product augmentation. The financial risk is lowered by saying there is jewlery for all budgets and the functional risk is lessened becuase it is said to be of high quality and last forever. The social risks are not getting the proper jewlery for your girlfriend/wife. The ad uses transfer propaganda to get your emotions into it and bargain prices because they buy direct from the manufacturer and that saves you money. It also uses the different and unique claim becuase their diamonds are different becuase they are hand selected. The ad also uses classical conditioning by associating gifts for your girlfriend with diamond jewlery.

Blog #4

The media has a huge impact on the stereotypes we place on men and women. The media shows the man as the one who has to do anything difficult. In school this means that the guy is expected to get the right answers and be a sports star. In the workplace it means that the guy has to come up with all the spectacular ideas. This is a bad attitude to have for both men and women because it puts too much pressure on men and it make women feel like they can't succeed. There are stereotypes when people are shopping too. Store keepers think that a man coming into a store is more likely to steel something than a woman.

American Choppers shows many core American values. One of the main ones is progress and success. The main idea of the show is to see how fancy you can make a motor cycle for someone which symbolizes the successes they've had. Another core American value is that they have is materialism. They exemplify the idea that the people with the fanciest things are people who are happy. The message they are sending is that people who own fancy motorcycles are the people who are going to be the happiest.

Blog #2

Media conglomerates are becoming more and more common now. They pose dangers because there is a possibility that only a handfull of views are put forth. Having only a few views put forth will group people into a fiew ideas. This restricts the freedom of speach of the smaller viewpoints which could bring valid points that would be ignored if conglomerates took control of everything. Also, if all the media outlets are owned by the big conglomerates, they can push their own media agenda because they are the gate keepers to what gets exposed to the public. Another danger is that the media conglomerates can bully unpopular views from the remaining smaller outlets by either buying them out or just intimidating them into stopping their views. Media conglomerates can be very dangerous, but as long as there are opposing conglomerates, they should be able to balance eachother out.

Blog #1

Media means different things to different people. One thing that everyone I interviewed seemed to agree on was that media had to do with information. Their answers varried the most when I asked them how it impacted their lives. There was a generation gap there because my parents said that it kept them informed and it exposed them to different views, while my sisters said that it entertained them. Another big difference in answers was when I asked if the media needs improvement. Again, there was a generation gap here because my parents both thought that it would be good if there was less biased views in the media and my sisters both thought that it needs improvement just because there is always room for improvement. I think that the main difference in how the media is viewed is based on age. I think that older people tend to have a more critical view of the media while younger people think more positively about the media.