English 1A Blog Portfolio

As reflected in my self graded assessment, I did have a slight struggle with trying to find a way to bridge my opinions and personal commentary with a more essay/argumentative approach to responding to the book “Culture Jam” by Kalle Lasn. I also felt I might have been off focus a little bit. There was so much I wanted to talk about but with the limited time I was really only able to cover what I considered to be the most important sections: Autumn and Spring (some of Summer). I learned so much from reading this novel and I am so happy I had the opportunity to officially respond to the wealth of information to the best of my ability. I don’t think it was my most focused essay from this quarter, but it was still interesting to reflect on its ideas nonetheless. “Culture Jam” was by far my favorite reading this quarter

Focus Question:  What is your response to Culture Jam, by Kalle Lasn?
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Marisa Balmana

Brian Lewis

In-Class Essay 3

23 March 2011

Culture Jam

 The book “Culture Jam” by Kalle Lasn aims to alert the reader of the problems he sees in our current U.S. culture, one he defines as brainwashing and manipulative of its people. He does so by dividing his argument into four main chapters: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. In Autumn Lasn makes a point to show the reader the destructive effects of our media crazed culture on our minds—equating the damage to mental pollution. In Winter, he tries to explain why and how our culture has done the damage, explaining how corporations and their advertiser’s benefit from our consumerist stupor. Spring has a more hopeful tone as he goes more into depth on “culture jamming” itself and how it can change our dangerous cultural ways. The section Summer even goes so far as to give specific examples on how the reader can combat and even reverse the dangerous media-crazed culture we live in today. The text on the cover of the book says it all, “Culture Jam” is all about “How to reverse America’s suicidal consumer binge—And why we must”. If Kalle Lasn’s aim was to shock the reader into pondering, criticizing and taking action against the current cultural ways, he succeeds. Lasn successfully convinces the reader that America has a problem by first explaining the issues in such depth that the reader feels personally effected and then restores hope of salvation by explaining the different ways culture jamming can fix these issues. In doing so, Kalle Lasn effectively argues for the shortcomings of our society and engages the reader into becoming more of an activist.  

  In the introduction of the book, Lasn clearly states that the chapters Autumn and Winter aim to “assess the current damages” and “rough out the problem” of corporate media influence. (xvii). The assessment he makes is quite astonishing, but by constantly shocking the reader, Lasn is able to effectively persuade the reader that a problem exists. He first shocks us by comparing the advertisements we constantly receive as toxic waste, stating that “We long ago learned to watch what we dump into nature or absorb into our bodies; now we need to be equally careful about what we take into our minds” (13). This quote is aimed to help the reader come to a realization. By comparing “The Ecology of Mind” to more well-know environmental waste, Lasn is trying to make people grasp that they are completely unaware of how much enters their mind everyday and therefore they should be more selective about what they let in. By doing so, he invites the reader to really think about how information they process and how little they assess it. After this door is open, the reader becomes more engrossed in the argument and more open to learning about just what they are taking in.

After setting up the reader by planting these seeds of suspicion, Lasn starts to hit the reader with big comparisons aimed to scare the reader into fully comprehending the magnitude of the issue. He compares advertising to “brainwashing experiments” by pointing out taking in ads is, like brainwashing, nothing more than “thousands of repetitive ‘driving’ messages that would alter their behavior over time. Sound familiar? Advertising aims to do the same thing” (19). This comparison really brings up an important point, advertising doesn’t really aim to inform you of available products to help you increase satisfaction in your lifestyle—its true aim is to manipulate you’re behavior by persuading you to buy the products they advertise. As Lasn intends, this example leaves the reader feeling manipulated, and angry. “Brainwashing” is the epitome of lacking control, and no one wants to feel helpless.

To further convince the reader of a problem, aims to scare us by introducing how powerful the corporations have over our lives. In the subchapter “Media Virus” Lasn elaborates on how his anti-ad ad’s were repeatedly refused air time because their message didn’t suit the business’ “interests”. He points out that we are only shown what advertisers and businesses want us to see. When corporations not only have the right to limit free speech but also are huge lobbyists in the government, one is severely limited in their ability to create variety and be exposed to different opinions. Lasn strongly makes the statement that “in the former Soviet Union you weren’t allowed to speak out against the government. In North America today you cannot speak out against the sponsors” (33). By not only showing the magnitude of the problem but by comparing it to an infamous communist regime, Lasn has effectively frightened the reader into realizing we have a problem. The problem is corporate power and the importance of their media advertising in American culture and we as manipulated and powerless citizens can do nothing about it.     

But yet there is something we can do, many things actually, and Lasn helps us come to understand what and how we can change the way things are headed by starting to by explaining exactly what we can do to fix the current problems in the chapters Spring and Summer. Lasn argues that the way to do this is to become a “Meme Warrior”. Basically, this idea states that one needs to be unafraid to shake things up and truly support what you believe needs changing. For example, Lasn offers up the ideas of cyberpetitions which is basically a petition that circulates via the internet and is thus able to reach thousands if not millions of more people than a hard copy (132). By giving us this option, Lasn not only gives the reader a way to retaliate against harmful media influence, but also gives us the impression that we are not alone in this struggle. Alluding to the fact that others will be willing to stand up and act gives the reader a sense of revolution and unity—making a person more willing to take action.

Lasn also gives a step by step method on how to deplete a company’s image via the “pincer strategy” which explains that by airing “dissenting ads…and spoofs in magazines” as well as rallies and “eventually the national mood will evolve” (134-135). This option gives a sense of importance in that one ad or protest can lead to getting the attention of thousands of people and positively influencing them into thinking about and ultimately altering their behaviors. By giving the reader this sense of importance and capability to spark change, he again successfully persuades the reader to take action and help to inspire a evolution in thought as a solution to the problem. Action is further suggested when Lasn provides us with basic ideas for turning the tables on companies: “All right I’ll talk to you…but only if you stop reading from that card and start speaking to me like a human being” is one of the ways you can take a stance against companies that use telemarketing. The methods themselves seem easy enough, but more importantly, all of these methods give the reader some of their power back. Lasn effectively persuades the reader to at least consider the benefits of breaking out and culture jamming by giving options of empowerment after explaining how they are being manipulated by corporate media. Providing specific options of retaliation after stirring up the emotions of the reader is extremely effective in making readers believe in what he stated in the introduction of the book: “We can Change the world” (xi). By giving the reader specific examples of how they can counteract the influence of the media, Kalle Lasn is effective in engaging the reader and persuading them into accepting the idea of culture jamming.    

By first introducing the problem and then providing a solution, Kalle Lasn not only convinces the reader of a problem but also empowers them by providing various ways to combat the “Media Viruses” that plague our culture today. In the introduction of the book, Lasn states that the intent of the book is to “serve as what the Situationists called a detournment—a perspective-jarring turnabout in your everyday life” (xvii). By appealing to the reader’s emotions as well providing examples of manipulation Lasn is able to fully engross the reader in his argument and is more than able to accomplish what he intended to do. After reading this book, I have become more aware, media literate and persuaded to do the little I can to “Culture Jam”.

Last essay will be a response to this book, “Culture Jam” by Kalle Lasn :)

In an approximately 2200 word essay, describe how the world portrayed through a television show genre (i.e. sitcom, soap opera, reality TV., drama…) may alter our perceptions, behaviors, attitudes or have other “cultural” implications, in order to persuade your reader whether this programming is acceptable or unacceptable for mass consumption—whether you feel the programming defines culture in mindful ways or not.

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Marisa Balmana

Brian Lewis

English 1A

Out of Class Essay 3

A Culture of Laughter

            In an article by Kate Snyder, it is quoted that “Humor often mirrors deeper cultural perceptions and offers us a powerful device to understand culturally shaped ways of thinking and feeling” (Snyder). Since different cultures face different issues and have different senses of humor, comedy is a fantastic genre to analyze when trying to learn about another culture. A more specific branch of the comedy genre has the potential to give off more entertaining and accurate information about a culture; this genre is satire news. I define satire news as a comedy show that uses current events as the basis of their comedic routines. Shows that fit this genre are The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live (specifically “The Weekend Update” segments), and The Colbert Report.  Though some may argue that comedy depreciates the value of societal and cultural issues by “making light” of the situations, these three shows are actually wonderful examples of how satire news’ combination of humor and current events can be used in a beneficial way that not only reflects the views of a culture but to educates the culture as well.

             In order to understand how satire comedy is able to reflect and influence culture, we first need to understand why viewers find the information credible. People tend to watch comedy for laughs, and do not view it as a credible news source, which is what makes comedy news so valuable. Though the show is intended for laughs, the content often leaves viewers more curious and informed about current events, this might be why in “one prominent study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that viewers of The Daily Show were better informed about the positions and backgrounds of candidates in the 2004 Presidential campaign” (Erion 196). There are several ways that comedy or satire news upkeeps a vibe of authenticity while entertaining its viewers. For example most of these shows are set up to look like professional news rooms. In The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” and The Colbert Report all of the hosts sit behind news desks, dress like professional news anchors and even use the popular news outline of using a box in the upper right corner of the screen to display a picture of something related to the topic being discussed. This setting gives the stories being told a sense of official importance or legitimacy. Also in comedy news, real news stories are taken and used for the comedic material rather than being a work of fiction which adds to the aura of legitimacy these shows produce. 

            The Daily Show hosted by Jon Stewart is a satire news show because it takes serious issues, mostly political issues, and turns them into a comedic routine. The way the issues are presented to the viewer are meant to either spark debate amongst or perhaps confirm the views of the culture watching the show. Stewart has been known to make fun of controversial issues such as the demonstrations in Wisconsin. In his March 7, 2011 episode, Stewart focused on the ridiculousness of right winged news that claimed the “7 million dollars in tape damage” protestors created inside the capitol building was the big story coming out of Wisconsin. This piece was followed by a segment where a fake “Senator Hunter” was trying to hunt down the Democratic Senators acting to recall the election of Wisconsin’s governor satirically—painting them as the enemy (The Daily Show). The outlandish claims were all real, but it took a comedy show to portray the absurdity of the issue. In a book about the importance of television, authors George Comstock and Erica Scharrer state that “The media have the power to establish the viability of contenders. Status is a function of nonnegative news attention” (Comstock 147). By bluntly revealing the frivolous vandalism charges about tape marks and portraying a crazy man accusing democrat senators of being traitors, Stewart is really trying to shape our culture’s public opinion. The way he presents the tape story makes it pale in comparison to what the protests are actually about in Wisconsin. By portraying the man looking for the democrat senators as crazy, the show in fact is making satire of those who seek to incarcerate the men. The Daily Show’s use of satire serves to discredit Republican actions.  Though humor is the primary medium of delivering the information, the satire and sarcasm used send a very potent message and a very opinionated stance in favor of the protestors and Democratic senators in Wisconsin. This specific example of satire comedy shows us that one important and beneficial cultural implication of this show is to educate through what our culture finds humorous.

The allure of a satire comedy show like The Daily Show, can also educate on political culture by luring and audience in for humor and ending on a serious note. Though much of the show is satire and comedy based, Jon Stewart concluded the quoted episode by having a serious debate with Senator Rand Paul about the nation’s national deficit. By adding serious political messages into the popular media, it more likely that people will pay attention and absorb the political debate because when “televised commercials and political news accounts are embedded in programs with vast and diverse audiences, political message are less easy to avoid” and thus taken in (Comstock 152). Many U.S. citizens may be aware of our nation’s debt, but information about what it means or different ways to fix it is not as available to the general public.  By including this piece into the show, Stewart is using satire news not only to entertain and give opinion, but also in attempt to spark critical thinking in the culture of viewers. The Daily Show is a wonderful example of how the genre of  satire news show can be considered be educating the viewer about current political issues, or perhaps even be reflecting the opinions of the more liberal population of the culture.

            Saturday Night Live also uses humor as a medium for making commentary on events, celebrities and other popular culture topics that are aimed to either support or inform viewers’ beliefs. While The Daily Show focused primarily on politics, Saturday Night Live focuses more on what our culture deems socially important or prominent. For example, in the March 5, 2011 episode’s “Weekend Update” Seth Meyers’ jokes have a lot to do with social commentary. He particularly devoted a lot of attention to Charlie Sheen. Though his jokes about the celebrity covered everything from “winning” to porn stars to drug use and tigers, the comedy provided subtly reflects so much about the culture of people the humor is directed at. The article Comedy is One Way to Understand Other Cultures states that “Humor often mirrors deeper cultural perceptions and offers us a powerful device to understand culturally shaped ways of thinking and feeling” (Snyder). Though Meyers’ jokes seem to be focused on Charlie Sheen’s latest meltdown, they really show us where the majority of our culture stands on certain issues. From this clip alone, an outsider from another culture would be able to see that our culture doesn’t condone drug use and looks down upon hyper-sexualized anything (specifically porn stars and prostitution). Given the amount of time this story was covered, one could also guess that as a culture we put a lot of weight on celebrity gossip. In fact, Meyers even manages to make fun of how much “serious” news press Sheen has gotten over the past weeks, which not only reinforces the idea of celebrity gossip being the center of attention, but could be interpreted by another culture of how U.S. culture is more enamored by its stars than more serious topics of discussion. Though some of the more hilarious, socially centered topics might seem more frivolous to cover on a satire news show, the more pop-culture driven content of Saturday Night Live accurately reflects the American culture’s obsession with the glamour of our celebrities and tendency to exploit their lives while also covertly discussing major social issues such as promiscuous sex and drug use.

            While The Daily Show tended to focus on serious politics and Saturday Night Live tended to focus more on social-cultural topics, The Colbert Report seemed to be an accurate balance between the two. Colbert stared off his March 7, 2011 show with a story about the upcoming Ipad 2. In the piece, he made several amusing puns about the latest piece of Mac technology including phrases such as “make me the app-iest man” and comments on the company’s constant newer editions of products (The Colbert Report). This piece of comedy is clearly meant to find humor in the cultural need to have the newest forms of technology even if we just bought the older edition of the product. Colbert also attacks the culture of our politics in his show. Like The Daily Show, Colbert is not afraid to attack the heart of political issues. For example in the aforementioned episode, Colbert brutally attacks Mike Huckabee’s ignorant comment about where the President of the United States was educated. Huckabee had tried to critique the President by mentioning that he had been educated in “Kenya” which meant that President Obama would have a different view than most Americans on most issues including the “Mau Mau Revolution” in Kenya. Through humor, Colbert is able to point out the many shortcomings of Huckabee’s statement such as the President was educated in Indonesia (not Kenya) and by questioning the why would Americans care about Obama’s views on the Mau Mau Revolution when the majority of the culture has never heard of it before. Colbert attacks the ridiculousness of statements in such an amusing way, the political information you receive flows well with the entertainment value and societal comments of the piece. This piece of satire news both accurately reflects the humor our culture finds in the mistakes of those in power make, and serves to education the viewer on the stances of different politicians. Though the emphasis on politics might not reflect the emphasis our culture places on politics, how our culture values humor is still evident and the beneficial use of how satire comedy can be used to influence a culture with its opinions is also very apparent.

Comedy is primarily seen as for entertainment value only, which is why the genre of satire news is so important. This area of comedy is unique in that it can lure people into taking in serious information including politics, depict examples of how our culture views different social issues and serve to educate the people our culture in an entertaining way. Though some may think this genre is not taking serious social and political issues seriously, in reality comedy news is extremely valuable because it makes these issues more palatable and entertaining for our culture to take in.

Works Cited

Colbert, Stephen. “Season 7 Episode 33.” The Colbert Report. Comedy Network. 7 Mar. 2011. Television.

Comstock, George, and Erica Scharrer. “Chapter Five: The Political Medium.” Television-What’s On, Who’s Watching and What It Means. San Diego: Academic, 1999. Print.

Erion, Gerald J. “Amusing Ourselves to Death with Television News: Jon Stewart, Neil Postman, and the Huxleyan Warning.” Common Culture. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2009. 191-99. Print.

Myers, Seth. “Episode 16.” Saturday Night Live. ABC. Weekend Update, 5 Mar. 2011. Television.

Snyder, Kate. “Comedy Is One Way to Understand Other Cultures - The BG News.” The BG News - Bowling Green State University. BG News, 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2011. <http://bgnews.com/infocus/comedy-is-one-way-to-understand-other-cultures/>.

Stewart, Jon. “Episode 33.” The Daily Show. Comedy Central. 7 Mar. 2011. Television.

These are the TV shows I chose to do for my genre “Satire/Comedy News”

(all images found via Google Images search)

     PROMPT—-In this essay you’ll explain your thinking of how new technologies have altered our culture, joining the conversation of these cultural critics, clarifying their ideas and bringing in your ideas to bear on the discussion. That is, You’ll chime in on the discussion about how technology has changed our culture, for better or worse, using their ideas to help you explain your analysis.

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       Technology has undoubtedly had a huge effect on U.S. culture as we know it. It has made many changes in our current vocabulary, how we spend our recreational time and how we function on a daily basis. There is also no doubt that technology has had amazing positive effects on our society; medical and other scientific advances have done wonders to improve the world as we know it. But in return for the positive outcomes, what exactly are we trading in? While technology can have a wonderfully positive effect on our lives, I believe there is such a thing as too much technology. Though technology used for research, science and efficiency might deliver positive effects, the recreational and functional dependence people have on technology is detrimental to our culture as a whole.

Another interesting aspect of technology is how it has affected our culture’s sense of privacy, or lack thereof. The portable nature of technology, such as laptops and cell phones, has changed the venues of “private” conversations. In Samuels’ article “Breaking Down Borders”, he describes how a woman’s cell phone conversation in the café that shows how your private conversations are now available for the listening pleasure of anyone in the vicinity. Samuels comments that “there are new rules for how to act in public places and for how to socialize with and around one another” (CC 360). While the portability of your phone may be useful in situations, it surprises me that more people are not embarrassed to be overheard by their more personal conversations—like the woman from the article who cancels a job interview in order to have a weekend vacation in Las Vegas. Also it is this constant ability to switch from private to public uses of our technology which might be partially responsible for how technology can also be blamed for making our culture less focused on a single task.

     Even those who are huge supporters of our new technological life have found some fault with how technology is diminishing our ability to focus our attention. In the essay “Breaking Down Borders”, Robert Samuel states that “Some critics of new communication technologies argue that cell phones, laptops, iPods, and other devices we take with us throughout the day encourage a high level of multitasking and prevent us from concentration on any single activity. Thus, they argue, people not only become more superficial, but the constant switching between work and leisure activities creates a fragmented sense of self and gives everyone a bad case of attention deficit disorder” (CC 361). Though multitasking is an efficient skill to hone, not being able to focus on a single activity when needed is pathetic. The average person receives massive amounts of useless information every day, and we can’t seem to get enough of it. Even as I write this essay, an important task for achieving my academic goals, I am tempted to check my facebook, blog and email accounts rather than focus on a timed project—and this is a mild example of how multitasking could negatively influence our culture. There is even an internet site that challenges people to open the page and not do anything on their computer for two minutes; a timer resets each time the keyboard or mouse is touched. Many fail at this task because subconsciously they feel the need to move or type actively on the computer—while trying this experiment I failed several times because I forgot what I was supposed to be doing and tried to open up another tab on my computer. While being able to multitask via technology can be a wonderful thing, our lack of focus is a negative trade in.

     While technology also might provide for more efficiency, the skills we lose are the negative outcome resulting from our technologically run culture. In the essay “The Judgment of Thamus” by Neil Postman, the author addresses this very danger in our technological world. By telling the story of Thamus, Postman concludes the moral of the story is that “memory will be confused with that he disdainfully calls ‘recollection’ and he worried that wisdom will become indistinguishable from mere knowledge. This judgment we must take to heart, for it is a certainty that radical technologies create new definitions of old terms, and that this process takes place without our being fully conscious of it” (CC 367). Postman draws parallels between this parable and our culture today. By creating new methods of doing things with technology, we lose the skills that were once required to do them ourselves. In the story, Thamus is worried about memory and wisdom being replaced by lesser—the same is happening it our culture today. We no longer remember items as personal as our family and friends’ phone numbers. Spell-check and “text talk” abbreviations have created a spelling and grammar ignorant generation. Yes, we have gained efficient and practical methods of doing day-to-day activities, but we are trading in our ability to basically think on our own.

       Not only does technology take away from our culture’s ability to perform mentally on our own, but technology is also debilitating our culture socially. In the chapter “Post Human” from Kalle Lasn’s Culture Jam, Lasn tells the story of a woman who was addicted to the internet. He describes her situation by stating “she lost ten pounds because she forgot to eat…she was reluctant to sleep because she might miss an interesting threat. One time my friend saw her on the street, and she hadn’t showered in four days…She grew so accustomed to typing her thoughts that her verbal skills suffered. She spoke too quickly, running her words together  so that it all sounded like one long word” (CJ 44). Though this may seem like an extreme case of addiction to technology taking over a person’s life, but maybe the average person’s addiction is just more subtle. We may remember to shower, but I know many people can’t go on a run without their Ipod, feel the need to spend their earnings on the latest phone (even thought the last model is barely a year old) and prefer texting or instant messaging a friend for hours on end rather than actually meeting up to grab a coffee etc. Even Samuels has stated “that, while allowing us to personalize our environment, [technologies] also effectively isolate us from our neighbors” (CC 362). People in our culture now prefer the isolation of their iPods rather than the company of others. When a culture’s amount of facebook friends and time spent on the site exceeds the amount of time spent talking with friends in person, there is a cultural social problem. As Samuels phrases it “After all, we are social beings who live in public worlds, and therefore we cannot simply forget that other people exist” (CC 361). Technology has completely taken over our social practices in such a way that has decreased the “social” part of socializing.

          Though many of the advances of technology have been beneficial to our culture, they also have had the unfortunate effect of depreciating our sense of privacy, focus, mental capacity as well as social skills. There are places where technology is crucial for success, but the many of the ways it is used in our culture’s everyday lives just makes us outright lazy.

Works Cited

Lasn, Kalle. “Post Human”. Culture Jam. Quill, 2000. 43-47. Print.

Postman, Neil. “The Judgment of Thamus.” Common Culture. Sixth ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2009.363-375. Print.

Samuels, Robert. “Breaking Down Borders.” Common Culture. Sixth ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2009.359-362. Print.

Tew, Alex. Do Nothing for 2 Minutes. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/>.

 PROMPT: For this essay, you (APPROXIMATELY 1600 WORDS) will analyze an advertisement from one of your favorite magazines and its primary “message,” by explaining what types of methods the ad uses, whether covert or overt, to sell both the “message” and the product(s).     

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         According to Marshall McLuhan, as quoted in Fowles’ essay “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals”, the point of advertising “is to create ads more and more in the image of audience motives and desires” (72). Ads no longer merely sell products—they sell ideas catering to the consumer’s unconscious psychological needs. Aspects such as color, setting, word choice and use of the model are all used to manipulate the consumer’s mind into forming an association between the product and a psychological need. Beyonce’s advertisement for the perfume “HEAT” uses these advertising techniques to not only to sell the fragrance, but more importantly to sell consumers the solution to their need for sexual attention.

            The aesthetics of the ad can play a huge role in how the psychology of the consumer is affected. As Fowles states in his essay “advertisers know there is little change of good communication occurring if the ad is not visually pleasing” (83) and color is one of these important aesthetic elements. Red and black are the main colors used in Beyonce’s “HEAT” fragrance advertisement and the meanings the colors symbolize are also specifically emphasized in the advertisement.  This advertisement’s exclusively black background has an underlying meaning. Black is the color associated with authority, power and potential (Smith). These are the emotions advertisers want consumers to feel when viewing the ad—but what potential are consumers supposed to be fulfilling? To answer this question, one only needs to look at the color filling the black space on the page. The name of the product “HEAT”, the dress on the model as well as the product itself fills the majority of the black-background ad space; these items are all red. The color red is most commonly associated with confidence, passion, heat and being the center of focus. There is even evidence that our bodies react to the color red by raising our pulse rate, respiration, blood pressure and heartbeat (Smith).  Red is one of the most physically and emotionally stimulating colors, which is why it is specifically applied to the product’s name, the dress of the model and the perfume bottle. The ultimate aim of the ad is for the consumer to associate all of these stimulating “red” emotions with the product “HEAT”. Bluntly put, advertisers wish for consumers to believe that the purchasing of the product will result in becoming a more confident, passionate and attention grabbing individual—the advertising is really selling a solution to the consumers’ psychological need for attention. In addition, the combination of colors is very striking in itself. The darkness of black and the romantic and passionate side of red come together in the advertisement to set a more sensual, sinful and lusty mood. It is this mood, set by these colors that add to the emphasis on sexual type of attention this ad is selling.

            Fowles also states that “by giving form to people’s deep lying desires, and picturing states of being that individuals privately yearn for, advertisers have the best chance of arresting attention and affecting communication” (72).  The text in the advertisement does exactly this by playing off of the unconscious psychological need for sexual attention. The product’s name “HEAT” is located at the top of the page in big font, stressing that it is the most important word on the page. Heat not only has the connotation of being associated with temperature, but also alludes to the connotation of a woman being physically hot or sexy. This idea is enforced again with the use of the word “fever” in the subtext of the advertisement. Because the advertisers specifically used the word “catch” is used in the subtext phrase “Catch the Fever”, the statement reinforces the idea that becoming a more sexually attractive individual is attainable with the purchase of the product. Also, it is important to notice that the same phrase is written directly over the model’s breasts. Forcing your eye to that area of the body is subconsciously reiterating the covert message of sexual attention by literally forcing the reader’s attention to a sensual part of the model’s body. It is also important to note that within the advertisement, the key words appeal to the ideal heat and do not appeal to the consumer’s sense of smell. This further illustrates how the main objective of the ad is not to sell you a fragrance, but to sell you the hot, sexual ideal associated with the product. The text is also used to emphasize the product’s affiliation to a celebrity, “The first fragrance by Beyonce” which brings up another important aspect of that advertisement—the importance of the model.

            In the ad, the model’s clothes and body language say a lot about what the ad is truly trying to sell. For example, Beyonce is scantily clothed in a low-cut, short red silky dress that exposes a lot of skin and seems to be disheveled around her body. Such choice in wardrobe overtly emphasizes the sexuality being addressed in the advertisement, particularly by calling attention to the model’s legs and breasts. The silken look of the clothes is often associated with sexy lingerie and the dress’ disheveled appearance adds to the sex appeal of her clothing.  This message of sexuality is further displayed by Beyonce’s physical demeanor in the advertisement: her hair looks tousled, her hips emphasized by her standing position, one hand at her side and one placed seductively by her neck and her body is shiny as if sweaty as if she’d just completed some sort of “ physical activity”. This is a stereotypical sexualized image that women strive for in order to feel as if they are more sexually attractive to others. The sexual tone of Beyonce’s physical appearance is emphasized, yet strangely the fragrance ad is clearly aimed toward women. However when analyzed further, we see that the overt sexually of the advertisement is geared more towards men so women can get a “first-hand look” of how they will supposedly appear after using the product.  Even Beyonce’s straightforward direct eye-contact makes an intimate connection with the reader and thus comes off as being sexually aggressive—another trait that enforces the sexual attention-grabbing ideal this ad is actually selling. The ad alludes to its power to give the consumer the sexual “Heat” needed in order to be more attractive to men. As advertising expert Jean Kilbourne stated in an interview, “the central message of advertising has to be that we are what we buy” (106).  In this ad it is clear the ultimate goal is for women associate the use of the product with the type of heated demeanor displayed by the model, one that is sex oriented and male friendly.

          More  aspects of this advertisement try to cater to the viewer’s needs for sexual attention, such as the use of a single celebrity model. Beyonce standing as the only model depicted is important because it enforces the idea of being the center of attention. With no other models to compete with, this ad depicts to consumers that using the product will also allow the user to be the sexy center of focus. The idea of attention is further emphasized by who the model is. By using a celebrity as a model, someone who is constantly in the spotlight, advertisers have made another association between using the product and being the object of attention. Furthermore, it is important to note the lack of perfume related material in the main focus of the ad. Beyonce is not even seen using her product in the advertisement; the two images are merely juxtaposed next to one another. The model is located at the center of the advertisement and is the biggest item on the page while the product resides smaller and in the corner of the advertisement. This placement shows what the advertisers found to be the main advertising ploy; sex was the center of attention and the actual product thrown to the side. All the aspects of the model’s appearance are selling sex and attention, not a fragrance.

          The text, model, and colors of the advertisement all emphasize the sexual attention grabbing ideal that the advertisers hope the consumer will buy into—not a perfume. By making an association between the product and the attention grabbing sexuality of the ad, it is hoped that women will subconsciously buy the product in hopes of attaining a more sexual self. The advertisement does nothing more than sell false promises of sex and attention.

            Works Cited

Fowles, Jib. “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals.” Common Culture. Sixth ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2009. 71-88. Print.

Pozner, Jennifer L.. “You’re Soaking In It.” Common Culture. Sixth ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2009. 102-111. Print.

Smith, Kate. “All About the Color RED - Sensational Color.” Color Advice and Insights from the Experts - Sensational Color. 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-red.html>.

Smith, Kate. “All About the Color BLACK - Sensational Color.” Color Advice and Insights from the Experts - Sensational Color. 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-messages-meanings/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-black.html>.

Picture of the Advertisement I will be analyzing for my next essay!