Cartoons

Cartoons in popular culture have changed dramatically from the time my parents were kids, to when I was a kid, to todays generation of kids. When my parents were kids they had the good old cartoons like bugs bunny! I had bugs bunny when I was a kid too and I loved it. Now, it is almost impossible to find bugs bunny on a Saturday morning. Cartoons now a days all have hidden messages to teach kids to share or to live healthy. Cartoon movies now adays are being geared towards adults as well as kids. Movies like Ice Age or Over the Hedge or Madagascar are full of adult humor that kids don’t understand but the kids still enjoy the movie because there is child humor as well. I think that the goofy shapes of the characters also make the movies popular with children. When I was younger, Aladin and Beauty and the Beast were the great cartoon movies. Now, Finding Nemo is one of the most popular cartoon movies. In the movie the sharks have an ‘AA’ meeting to talk about stopping to eat meat. Adults can find the humor in that but the kids don’t understand. Movie writers are putting more and more adult humor into the movies so that adults will enjoy them more. I agree with this concept. I don’t mind watching those cartoon movies because I find some of them funny. Another example, in Shrek 2 Pinnocio gets caught wearing a pink thong and the hidden meaning behind this  is that Pinnocio is a cross dresser. Adults and kids  would both find that humorous and therefor the  movie made for kids is embraced by adults  making it more popular.  There is also a  gender confused wolf that reads “Pork Illustrated” and there is a pig with a bikini on the cover. Adults would be able to connect the humor with Sports Illustrated but I don’t think that kids would be able to. In one scene Shrek makes fun of Lord Farquaad saying that he is feeling small in certain areas so he compensates by building a bigger castle. Adults would be able to find this humorous but I cannot see many chilldren catching the humor behind it.  In the movie Shark Tale it is like a parody of the movie the Godfather. The Godfather is about the mafia and any adult that has seen the Godfather would be able to relate certain scenes throughout the Sharktale movie to the Godfather and would be able to find it humorous. Kids would not understand the adult humor but would be able to understand the little children jokes. All in all I think this style of movie is extremely creative and the writers are geniouses. These movies are becomming more and more popular because  more adults are actually enjoying going to the movies with their children because they can catch the humor in the films. I will always have a place in my heart for Bugs Bunny and Tweety but this new style of cartoon humor is keeping me entertained.

The Fast Food Industry

I shake my head at people who believe that they should be able to sue the fast food industry because they made them “obease”. It is not McDonalds fault that people enjoy their food. Sure it is unhealthy and people love greasy food. It is the consumers own decision to walk into the restaraunt and purchase a Big Mac. If you are obease because of eating too much fast food why not take the initiative to excercise? If you know you can’t control your urge eat fast food and you know your gaining weight and it is becomming a problem go for a jog! Obeasity isn’t just about eating poor food. If I sat inside all day and played video games for hours and hours I would become obease too. Why don’t people sue the gaming industry? I don’t think that people sue video game companies because video games are too much fun and people play the games as an escape from reality. The fast food industry is easy to hit because people value food. When people drink too much and they need a liver transplant they don’t go sueing the LCBO or the Beerstore. It is their own fault that they drank so much. Theres millions of other people in the world that use the Beerstore and don’t become alcoholics. It is because they have self control. There are millions of people that eat fast food and they don’t sue the fast food industry because they have self control. It is just those people who don’t have initiative to exercise and who love to eat unhealthy that think that they have an easy way out of life and they can sue a fast food restaraunt chain.

Male and Female Imagery

The media portrays both males and females in their advertisements as the “perfect” person. Males look strong and females look sexy with perfect figures. There is a video on the internet that shows a not so attractive woman being transformed by computer programs to look beautiful so she can be part of an ad for Dove soap. Men in underwear commercials have the 8 pack of muscles on their stomach and are clean shaven and looking sharp. People who watch these commercials want to look like those people. Girls are eating less and trying to slim up because they feel that to be accepted in society they need to look like the supermodels they see in advertisements. In fighting movies the main character is always fit and buff and men who watch that want to get fit and buff so then they can be great fighters and feel tough as well. In reality, sure being fit may help you win a  fight, but I have seen people who aren’t super muscular win fights against stronger apponents. What people see in the media is dangerous if they take it to heart and believe everything they see. The war heros in movies are always tough looking. People may join the army so they appear tough and it makes them think they are tough. Eating disorders with girls who want to look like their favourite stars is a dangerous issue. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be fit and healthy, but healthy means eating regularly and excercising, not completely cutting eating out of their routine. It is too bad that the media has to portray all of their models as being the “perfect” image and that society accepts them as that.

Children and Toys

I believe that the toys that we play with when we are younger help us to distinguish the different roles and stereotypes of males and females. When I was young I was given a variety of different toys that represented masculinity. I always played in my sandbox with tractors, trucks, trains, and even tanks. I had all kinds of army men and dinky cars that I always played with. Building cars and structures out of lego was also one of my favourite things to do. My sisters on the other hand were given easy bake ovens, barbies, and all sorts of different stuffed animals and dolls. My toys were very msculine as theirs were feminine. The only time I would touch a barbie would be to cut their hair and possibly even melt them. I don’t know if it is genetic that boys tend to want to play with masculine things and girls with feminine things or if it is because my parents gave me and told me that boys play with masculine toys? Maybe the media was an influence on me. On T.V. shows the male would always be shown working on cars or going to work and the female was mostly portrayed as staying at home. On sit coms females would always be worried about their  hair and males were worried about their tools (Home Improvment). Watching those shows shaped my mind and allowed me to see what is epected of males in society and what is of females. Even now toys for men include 4 wheelers and snowmobiles. Females want ponies. I wonder what would have happened if my sisters got the tanks and tractors as toys and I got the barbies? Would they have become interested in “male activities” such as hunting, fishing, and 4 wheeling? Would I be more concerned about my appearance and my hair? I doubt it because I think that since there are so many other girls out there who had barbies and males who had tractors I would observe what others played with and what they did. If every parent gave their male children barbies and female children tractors then I think there would be alot of girly guys and alot of manly girls out there. When I was younger my male cousins and I always played “the gun game” which consisted of running around the farm and hiding places and waiting for somebody to walk by and yelling BANG your dead. This was prety much a male version of hide and go seek. My sisters and female cousins would have tea parties. When I was younger I enjoyed watching warm movies and it looked like it was glorious so when we played “the gun game” I would feel like I was a hero in a film which in reality there would be nothing glorious. I found an article that talks about male monkeys choosing male toys over female toys. It is pretty interesting and it makes you wonder that maybe males are just genetically attracted to the certain colors, designs, and shapes that manufacturers use to produce toys.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13596-male-monkeys-prefer-boys-toys.html

Do Large Events in the News Influence Consuming?

I believe that whenever something huge happenes in the news consumers tend to consume more and advertisers know this. Like our discussion questions people did buy various I Love New York memorabilia after the 911 attacks. Avertisers sold the idea to consumers that you should love New York and made people feel bad for not purchasing  I Love New York products. I think the biggest thing that was recently in the news was the election where the new president Barack Obama was elected. Everybody wants to be a part of Barack Obama’s historical legacy. There are t shirts, flags, pins, posters, and even Obama hats being sold everywhere. People want to be a part of history and advertisers know this so they encourage people to buy products relating to Obama. I believe the biggest slogan known around the world is Obama Rama. Everywhere you look you can see Obama Rama. On the cover of every magazine you can read Obama Rama and this makes people want to be a part of this historicle event. Even today on T.V. they were broadcasting every move Obama made. You could watch his plane land, you could watch him sitting with the Governor General and even watch him drive up to parliament hill. All the media attention that Obama gets influences the consumer to want to be a part of this news event so they purchase various Obama items.  Whether it be catastrophic like the world trade center on 911 or something positive like the elect of President Barak Obama advertisers and corporations  do feed off of  large news events.

Pop Culture and Holidays

I believe that different holidays play a very large part in popular culture. I believe that corporations feed of off consumers whenever there is a holiday. Every Christmas every store loads up with christmas decorations. Since Christmas is all about family time commercials consume the consumer by showing families laughing and having fun while using their product. The individual consuming then wants to be like that family and will potentially go out and buy that product. Valentines day is associated with love. Commercials show women receiving jewelry from their lover and people watching these commercials believe that buying jewelry for a woman will show her that they love her. Even some of the women expect jewelry. Other stores load up with teddy bears and chocolotes because that is what women like. On Easter commercials advertising specific chocolates and certain types of candy draw the viewers eye to the treats. People seeing these commercials are more focused on buying Easter treats rather than remembering the true meaning of Easter. Jesus’ death. Halloween is also all about getting the consumer to buy candy and costumes. I personally don’t even know the true meaning of halloween. I always thought of it as dressing up and getting candy but apparently there is a meaning to it somewhere. Weeks befor halloween stores are already selling candy in bulk and commercials and even popular T.V. shows are getting scarier and scarier to induce the consumer into buying a scarey costume. All in all I believe that corporations do consume the minds of the consumers when advertising for the various holidays found throughought the year.

McDonaldization Within Society

McDonaldization can be found everywhere around the world in just about every aspect of our lives. The main elements of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control through non human technology can be found in many different sectors of our society. A prime example of this is education, more specifically Fanshawe College. The first key feature of McDonaldization found in Fanshawe is efficiency. Efficiency according to Ritzer is “choosing the optimum means to a given end”. The whole college in general is efficient. Within the college there are various restaraunts located in pretty much every building, there are convenient stores, there is a pharmacy, a bar, a bookstore, and a library. Everything a student needs is within the college boundaries. There are also two bus locations which is also very efficient. The next aspect of McDonaldization is the idea of calculability. Ritzer suggests that calculability is “quantity over quality” meaning consuming more for less quality. In the college people are always looking for more fun. The school usually has one pub a week. Not all pubs are good pubs. Even though some are no good people still attend because they are looking for the quantity of fun not the quality. The next aspect of Mcdonaldization is Predictability. Predictability according to Ritzer is that corporations (the college) relies on their ability to predict to be successful. In the college there are ATM machines set up outside the bar and the restaraunts because the college predicts that the students will use the ATM to get some cash. This idea of the ATM can also fall under efficiency. The final concept of McDonaldization is control over humans through nonhuman technology. In the college there are individuals who are unskilled that meet the job demand quite easy. In the cafeteria if you have never made a stir fry befor, you are trained and within a matter of minutes you can make stir fries day in and day out for the many students coming to you at lunch.

Connotation In Advertising (Female)

I decided to write about two more advertising images. As my last 2 advertisements in my last blog was about men, these two will be about women. The first advertisement I have is of a Covergirl add and the second advertisement I have is of a Fructis add. The Covergirl add below shows a beautiful female looking upwards to show off her eyelashes. The advertisement is trying to sell eye lash mascara. Women who see this picture view the beautiful girl and she is kind of an idol for females and females will buy the product because of the woman on the advertisement.  The fan on the right hand side of the advertisement symbolizes eye lashes and is a pinkish color to symbolize feminisim.

The next advertisement is a Fructis advertisement. In the Fructis advertisement there is another beautiful girl with shiny hair. The shiny hair is complimented by the shiny green bottles. The shiny green bottles symbolizes the effect that the product has on the hair and makes female viewers want to buy the product. The background represents a very beautiful day and that evokes a happy emotion in the viewer  and will  help sell the Fructis product. All in all both advertisements do a good job and have interesting objects symbolizing key aspects to help sell the products.

Connotation In Advertising

Connotation is used in many successful advertisements. I think that it is a brilliant way to advertise.  Below I have two advertisements that I found very interesting. The first advertisement is a Deep Spring Whiskey advertisement and the second one is a Remington Firearms advertisement. The Deep Spring Whiskey advertisement is the first I will talk about. The advertisement takes place during the American Civil War. You can see by the Confederate flag that the advertisement takes place in the South. When people think of the South they think of hill billies and farmers who know how to drink. Seeing the wartime scene adds a symbolization of males being tough and brave so people who drink Deep Spring Whiskey must be tough and brave. The wounded soldier and nurse at the bottom left hand corner of the advertisement shows that even the weak are drinking whiskey and it symbolizes that whiskey will make the weak strong again. Men want to be strong and powerful so I feel that this poster uses unique features to symbolize these qualities of men.

The next advertisement is the Remington Firearms advertisement. The Remington firearms advertisement is interesting because it portrays a man encountering a bear. Since hunting is generally portrayed as a male sport the advertisement selling the gun is very manly.  First of all the scenery in the advertisement symbolizes adventure. The man in the advertisement is on the side of a mountain and by the look of the background he is extremely high off the ground. The man also has a cowboy look to him and that makes him seem rugged and tough. On the side of the clif the man encounters an extremely dangerous animal, the grizzley bear! The only way to carry on along the path is to go past one another. The advertisement is advertising a rifel and people who see this advertisement would want a reliable rifle if they were caught in this type of situation. The whole scenerio symbolizes the need for a quality rifle.

What Role Does the Media Play in Pop Culture?

I believe that the media plays a large role in pop culture. If a movie is a hit at the box office and one of the actors in the movie is a star whom is accepted by society, people will buy the movie and possibly try to act and or dress like the popular actor. Say somebody sees Tom Cruise in an action thriller. The person may go out and buy some sunglasses and a leather jacket and try to impersonate Tom Cruise. In order for the individual to find out about the movie even beeing in theatres the media would have had to advertise the pilot through posters and t.v. commercials.  While on the topic of television, shows that people find interesting, funny, and even scary prosper in popularity and become  part of  popular culture.  One of the most popular shows on t.v. right now is entertainment tonight. Entertainment tonight talks about celebrities and what is going on in their lives. People who see this from the public idolize the stars and learn like them and look up to them. Other than television and video, newspapers play an extreme role in pop culture.  Everyday millions of people read the newspaper and find out what the new fashions are, what the new movies are, what is going on in politics and what is happening on the other side of the world. Music is an important aspect of pop culture as well. Music is a great tool to influence the moods of people. Musicians are idolized all the time and are important aspects of pop culture. Many people will dress like their favourite musicians, have posters of their favourite musicians, and even buy dvds of their favourite musicians. In conclusion whether it be movies, television, newspapers, or music the media does play a large role in pop culture.