Advertising surrounds us everywhere we go, and to say the least, it is really annoying. But matter how much ads are annoying , they are still a important part of our life’s. We literally seem them everywhere- facebook, tv, radio, billboards, and all over college campus. However that we find to be so annoying is something that we all do. We advertise ourselves, especially right now. In college, we are of the age where we are going out into the “real world” and we have to try to convince people to hire us, convince them that we are a hot commodity thus they need to have us- we are advertising ourselves.
While we may hate advertising, it is something that we do subconsciously. It is something that is part of us whether we like it or not. Thus why I want to look at myself through advertising. Where do I fit into advertising? How has advertising “mapped” me (made me change directions, feel inspired or feel passion)? I am going to try to answer these questions, candidly, while looking at advisements that have been my personal favorites. The first two ads that I have in mind use images and text to get their point across, and each do it in a different way.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
False Adversiting?
Do you believe these are the same people?
Beauty Campaigns have been reaching women from the time formal advertising came about. Dove - a company that has been around for a long time - started a beauty campaign to bring new customers in. Normally the ads for beauty products revolve around how their products was different from other, make you cleaner then others, or did not leave behind residues. This used to be what could only fit in a 30 second ad on television. However with the invention of the internet, and the idea that videos can now go viral, advisements can start using different marketing techniques to reach more people. This is what Dove did with their “evolve” campaign. In this ad, Dove used an idea that would play with peoples’ insecurities.
The before and after pictures, above, does not come close to looking like the same person, and the video (below) explains why.
The video opens with a model sitting staring at the camera, and then a black screen with the slow appearing word “evolution.” When first watching this, you think the evolution is going to have to do with the make up and how that changes her appearance. She starts to be dolled up, and a flawless face starts to appear (all while during this process she looks bored and dull.) The fast time lapse during the actual picture taking time is nothing compared to the fast passed changes that occur during the editing of the photo. It is, in a way scary, watching how the photo editor was able to extend the women’s neck, and enlarge her eyes and the arc of her eyebrows. It was as if I was watching animated plastic surgery. They even slim down her face, and brighten her skin tone, I think (not really sure because how of much everything changed) that her nose was the only thing untouched. The ad then closes with “no wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.” This ad highlights the scary fact that the people that we think are beautiful are not even real people. Rather they are edited people.
This ad plays on most women’s insecurities. Women in print ads or commercials are the people that deemed to be the most beautiful. This campaign was made at a time when there was a big cry out about showing real women, and how the way models were being portrayed was causing many women and girls to go to extreme measures to try to look like these models. For example, becoming anorexic. That is why I care about this. This Dove promotion ad, is not about their products rather relieving the truth about how they value the beauty of real women, something we should all strive to do. I am part of the map that Dove was tries to reach. Women who are going up under the impression that this is beauty, and they are trying to reshape how we think of models and ads, make us realize that natural is not “distorted.”
In relation to this who am I? I am the women crying out for people to realize that natural beauty is more important then trying to look like the people on television. I am trying to find myself and this allows me to see that who I am, is enough. I do not need computer program to make me beautiful- because in a way that is false advertising. It is also so impactful, how a simple word like “evolution” takes on such a deep meaning. There is the evolution of the women in this commercial, and there is the need for evolution in the way that we think.
Beauty Campaigns have been reaching women from the time formal advertising came about. Dove - a company that has been around for a long time - started a beauty campaign to bring new customers in. Normally the ads for beauty products revolve around how their products was different from other, make you cleaner then others, or did not leave behind residues. This used to be what could only fit in a 30 second ad on television. However with the invention of the internet, and the idea that videos can now go viral, advisements can start using different marketing techniques to reach more people. This is what Dove did with their “evolve” campaign. In this ad, Dove used an idea that would play with peoples’ insecurities.
The before and after pictures, above, does not come close to looking like the same person, and the video (below) explains why.
The video opens with a model sitting staring at the camera, and then a black screen with the slow appearing word “evolution.” When first watching this, you think the evolution is going to have to do with the make up and how that changes her appearance. She starts to be dolled up, and a flawless face starts to appear (all while during this process she looks bored and dull.) The fast time lapse during the actual picture taking time is nothing compared to the fast passed changes that occur during the editing of the photo. It is, in a way scary, watching how the photo editor was able to extend the women’s neck, and enlarge her eyes and the arc of her eyebrows. It was as if I was watching animated plastic surgery. They even slim down her face, and brighten her skin tone, I think (not really sure because how of much everything changed) that her nose was the only thing untouched. The ad then closes with “no wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.” This ad highlights the scary fact that the people that we think are beautiful are not even real people. Rather they are edited people.
This ad plays on most women’s insecurities. Women in print ads or commercials are the people that deemed to be the most beautiful. This campaign was made at a time when there was a big cry out about showing real women, and how the way models were being portrayed was causing many women and girls to go to extreme measures to try to look like these models. For example, becoming anorexic. That is why I care about this. This Dove promotion ad, is not about their products rather relieving the truth about how they value the beauty of real women, something we should all strive to do. I am part of the map that Dove was tries to reach. Women who are going up under the impression that this is beauty, and they are trying to reshape how we think of models and ads, make us realize that natural is not “distorted.”
In relation to this who am I? I am the women crying out for people to realize that natural beauty is more important then trying to look like the people on television. I am trying to find myself and this allows me to see that who I am, is enough. I do not need computer program to make me beautiful- because in a way that is false advertising. It is also so impactful, how a simple word like “evolution” takes on such a deep meaning. There is the evolution of the women in this commercial, and there is the need for evolution in the way that we think.
It's Why I Ride
It’s why I ride ad campaign by Ariat apparel is the next ad that I picked to look at. Why? Because it speaks volumes to someone who knows the message. It speaks about the passion that someone would experience doing something that they love, and for me it also happens to be Horseback riding. This ad not only shows beauty of the horse, and of the apparel and boots but what really speaks to a person watching by what the rider in the ad is saying. It is the image and words together. This is an ad that allows a person to feel the passion of their sport or any of their hobbies. The words that the rider is speaking are allowing for the images that being shown to be even more powerful.
The ad opens with “It’s why ride” and then moves to zooming in on the back of the rider. It then cuts to galloping horse, and a slow movement to an obviously passionate smile of the rider. As all of this is going on lines such as “the passion for riding is so hard to describe, it is almost like something you to survive.” Then continues to a horse running in a huge grass pastor with the rider describing how you senses are heightened and how it is magical. Finally the ad comes to a close with the rider discussing how you feel like you have just conquered the world as she galloping towards you. This is an ad playing on the emotions of something that knows these feeling and the routine that this ad shows.
This is how I fit into this ad, this ad is playing on the emotions that Ariat knows a rider feels. Because it is passion that you cannot live without. You need this sport as much as water, your horse becomes part of the family, and you grow with them. This shapes and maps my future. I look at this and every single time I see it, I say to myself, this is what I want to do with myself. I want to be able to make my passion into my career. I want my love of horses and everything they encompass be the center of my life. This is an ad that I can see myself in. This ad and whole “it’s why I ride” campaign has really made me realize what I want to do with myself, and to start planning and mapping how I will be able to do that.
The ad opens with “It’s why ride” and then moves to zooming in on the back of the rider. It then cuts to galloping horse, and a slow movement to an obviously passionate smile of the rider. As all of this is going on lines such as “the passion for riding is so hard to describe, it is almost like something you to survive.” Then continues to a horse running in a huge grass pastor with the rider describing how you senses are heightened and how it is magical. Finally the ad comes to a close with the rider discussing how you feel like you have just conquered the world as she galloping towards you. This is an ad playing on the emotions of something that knows these feeling and the routine that this ad shows.
This is how I fit into this ad, this ad is playing on the emotions that Ariat knows a rider feels. Because it is passion that you cannot live without. You need this sport as much as water, your horse becomes part of the family, and you grow with them. This shapes and maps my future. I look at this and every single time I see it, I say to myself, this is what I want to do with myself. I want to be able to make my passion into my career. I want my love of horses and everything they encompass be the center of my life. This is an ad that I can see myself in. This ad and whole “it’s why I ride” campaign has really made me realize what I want to do with myself, and to start planning and mapping how I will be able to do that.
Why these two?
Ads have shaped me in many ways I have yet to realize. The two ads I discussed above have shaped me in different ways.
The dove ad allowed me to see the ways in which “false” advertising is being exposed. How true beauty should be celebrated, and how I should not let others peoples perception of beauty reflect on how I think about myself.
The Ariat ad, shows me my passion. How it has shaped the way in which I think about my passion and how my passion has possibly mapped me a career.
Both these ads show how images and words are useful together. In the dove ad, there are no words, just written text, that is does not take on meaning until the end of the video. For Ariat, the words are what you relate to, and give the images more meaning.
The dove ad allowed me to see the ways in which “false” advertising is being exposed. How true beauty should be celebrated, and how I should not let others peoples perception of beauty reflect on how I think about myself.
The Ariat ad, shows me my passion. How it has shaped the way in which I think about my passion and how my passion has possibly mapped me a career.
Both these ads show how images and words are useful together. In the dove ad, there are no words, just written text, that is does not take on meaning until the end of the video. For Ariat, the words are what you relate to, and give the images more meaning.
My Ad
When I first introduced this topic of advertising, I wrote about how we all do it without realizing it. We try to sell ourselves to our peers, to a lover, or an employer. This makes me thus wonder how I would advertise myself. What would my personal ad look like. I would normally say that my resume is advertising for myself when I am not available, however resumes are boring and in no way really expresses who I am. So I created another type of ad for myself.I made a print ad for myself, something that could be placed in magazines, newspaper, or even handed to an employer, this is what I would want my ad to look like.
It is a picture of me, and my horse (Rocky) at a show. On the picture I inserted captions. These are captions that I feel depict the person I am. The first is my name. Genelle Olsen, obvious enough, and as you can notice my initials are G.O. Thus why I picked all the captions to start with “go”. It is an action word that depicts my personally. The caption, and the smallest one is “Go for it.” I picked this because I believe that I try to go for all opportunities that come my way, even if they are not one that I would have thought of before. The Second and slightly bigger tag line is “go with it.” I am a go with the flow person I do not get stressed; I instead stay concentrated and “go for it.” Finally, the biggest line is “go get it.” I am a go getter. I chase my dreams and strongly believe that if I work hard, and go for and with every opportunity that comes my way I will be able to get somewhere.
The ad shows who I am. The words and text combined show me as a person, my passion, my natural state of concentration (no photo editing here) and it gives my best traits. This is how I would sell myself. This is how I would want myself to be mapped into society. My self-made ad shows the physical space that I take up. The physical area of the arena that I did my jumping round in, now the space on the Internet expressing my ideas. I am mapping out my own future and way in which I am doing this.
Advertising takes up a lot of space and time in our life. While I may be annoyed by it, I tried to embrace how it has made its way into my life. I did this by realizing that there are ads out there, that try to show a message and help people like dove, and other ads that I can more relate to (like Ariat) because it allows me to tap into my own passions.
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