Writing prompt: "The third blog post should be a thoughtful analysis of how the strategic marketing of products and services through the Internet and Television has changed the way we now view commercials and/or advertisements."
In class, we watched a lot of Super Bowl commercials. Apart from all costing at least $3 million each (not for the actual production of the videos, but to show them during the Super Bowl), many of them had something else in common -- they were designed to make viewers laugh. I didn't actually count the percentage of funny to not funny commercials, but I guess that at least 75% of the ones we watched in class were humorous by design. Even the ones that were not outright funny (like the one in which a Dalmatian trains a horse who wants to be a Budweiser Clydesdale) had elements of humor in them . Americans love to laugh, after all, and funny commercials are attention-grabbers -- especially those which are easily understandable. Witty, educated humor has no place in Super Bowl ads, because they would leave too many people scratching their heads in confusion. They have to cater to the average American.
The results seem to be working. Doritos are very popular chips and Budweiser is sold all over the world. These two brands in particular have advertised during the Super Bowl for years. Budweiser even has a special page on its website so that anyone (over the age of 21) can download their commercials. This way, viewers can, as the website states, "enjoy Budweiser on [their] computer or mobile phone." However, before they get access to the website, each visitor to the website must enter his or her date of birth. This can easily be faked, of course, but at least Budweiser has some semblance of "protection" for minors.
It is not that the beer commercials contain explicit content. Rather, many parents believe that alcohol should not be glorified while children are watching. Kids could easily get the wrong idea, which could lead them to trying alcohol when their parents aren't looking. Adults can make the decision to drink, and many of them know the consequences of drinking alcohol. Kids are different. They do not realize that alcohol can be glorified on television and in movies, and rarely are the results of drugs and alcohol shown.
Commercials are designed to get into a consumer's mind. For example, if I were a beer drinker, I may be inclined to pick up a pack of Budweiser because I liked (and still remember) their commercials that featured talking frogs. It may not even be a conscious decision; I could pick up a certain brand of beer because I am familiar with it...I've heard about it and seen it advertised. This works wonderfully for the companies who sell these products, but (again) the products they sell may not be appropriate for children. That's why it's important that parents talk to their kids about these kinds of things, so that if they happen to see advertisements for alcohol or, say, condoms, they will know what these things are...not just what the advertisers want them to know. It's imperative that parents talk to their kids about controversial subjects; if they don't, they run the risk of their children learning about these things through the media.
Advertisements geared toward children present their own problems. As we learned when we watched Local Kids TV, ACT (Advertising Community Together) was formed in the 1990s to help control what kids are exposed to on television. At the time, some kids' shows used not-so-subtle advertising techniques, even though the "purpose" of the show was supposed to be education, NOT promoting a certain brand of something. It's refreshing to know that these people are coming together in the interest of children, because that seems rare these days.
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