New Media and Technology

This morning, my roommate brought to my attention that Internet Explorer is about to be shut down. First, I'd like to say "It's about time!" The browser that's constantly teased on the Internet for its tendency to be slow is still going to be around. However, it will soon be snuffed out and replaced by another browser, made by the same company, called Project Spartan. Unfortunately, most people don't like changing their typical browser usage, so Microsoft is performing tests. For example, they're surveying see which names will be appealing to different users, including those who browse on Chrome.

There are two articles that are recommended since the second article is a link in the first, going further into detail about IE's final days. It's been a huge part of the World Wide Web for decades, and at one point was one of the few choices. Even though it's been jokingly stated that it should be taken down, the fact that it's actually happening is baffling.

I believe that our Web interactivity and user interface discussion has a relation to these articles because these characteristics aren't just related to websites, and that the interface and interactivity of a browser can affect its popularity. Google, for example, combines its services into an email address the user signs in with. Chrome customizes its homepage and search function to fit the user's preference, and Google Drive saves a variety of files for the same user. After purchasing YouTube, Google made viewers' Gmail accounts into YouTube accounts.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/18/393914128/microsoft-is-phasing-out-internet-explorer

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/18/393914128/microsoft-is-phasing-out-internet-explorer

Advertising Portfolio by Jennifer Rhodes

Introduction

Advertisements are typically used to convince an audience to do or avoid certain actions, try certain products, or trust certain companies. What an audience looks for is an emotional connection or need, or a shortcut to whatever goal they either had already or planted into their heads by the advertisement. The following advertisements in this blog, when not using humor to grab a person's attention, use some kind of emotional appeal:

• Belonging to a certain group or feeling accepted,
• The promise to fee secure,
• The promise to feel attractive, and
• The promise of self-acceptance (Udemy.com).

There are other components to an ideal advertisement, of course, but the most successful ones are what scares or otherwise convinces its audience into doing what it wants. 

BAAD Sells

Old Joe Camel

The Smooth Character campaign of Camel cigarettes from 1988-1990 made references to stereotypical "manly" or “cool” characters such as 007 (shown above). It gave its customers 'C-notes', which was currency that can be traded for prizes that, according to a cancer prevention specialist, "are all items that kids would want, and the only way to get them [was] to buy Camel cigarettes" (The New York Times). Since it was accused of being a ploy to encourage children to smoke, it received a lot of backlash and some parodies of Old Joe Camel as a cancer patient.

Pitches & Persuasions

From humor...

...to fear & insecurities

The Mayhem commercials, starring actor Dean Winters, uses a troublesome yet likable character to represent disastrous situations that would make people pay out of pocket. It falls under humor and fear & insecurities, both to keep someone's attention and scare them into buying home/auto insurance. Most of the commercials make heavy implications of rivaling insurance companies like Progressive and Geico. A more recent Mayhem commercial focused solely on the fear, not using Winters’ character and having spokesperson Dennis Haysbert try to comfort the viewers while showing the same “mayhem” situations as before. 

Celebrity Endorsement

Even though it's not what one would typically think of, this Flintstones commercial can fall under celebrity endorsement. The use of popular cartoon characters from a family show (it was shown just before the average time children went to bed) to endorse Winston cigarettes was done back in the sixties. It used both "celebrity" endorsement of iconic cartoons and the humor of lazy husbands hiding away from their hardworking wives. In the process, the ad listing the positive components of the cigarette such as its filter. 

 Sex Appeal

Liquid-Plumr uses blatant innuendos and attractive men to act as the plumbers while explaining how their product will clear out a pipe clog. It can also be viewed as humor due to the sheer ridiculousness of the ad, but it gets its point across. The targeted audience, housewives, would more likely watch the ad because of the men than in a regular, strictly informational ad.

Alcohol Commercials

Taman Whiskey

What type of alcohol is promoted in the ad?

            Taman Whiskey, a Swedish brand

What age group and gender are depicted in each ad?

            Middle-aged men and women, and a young girl during the second half

What activities are the models engages in?

            In the first half, they are drinking and socializing, talking with old friends and new, showing a typical alcohol commercial in the first half. In the second half, however, there are incidents that usually occur when one drinks too much, including fighting and the neglect of a young child

Why were these people and this place chosen for the ad?

            They are shown as everymen, undergoing the ups and downs of going out to drink/socialize

How do body language and facial expression contribute to the message?

            Originally friendly and sociable, and then tense with the feeling of provocation

What socioeconomic group is the ad depicting or targeting?

            Regular people, most likely parents and people who drink heavily or regularly

What doesn’t the ad tell you about the consumption of alcohol?

            This is where it gets tricky. Taman took a risk by showing both the positive side of drinking their liquor, and then the negatives of drinking too much

Women's Placement

Women lack the intellectual independence and defer to males

An old Heinz Ketchup ad shows a typical assumption of a woman: that they’re incapable of opening a bottle without a man’s help. The commercial is a blatant jab how women are portrayed as the weaker sex, with the model even showing a shocked, somewhat clueless expression.

Women use & need products to attract the attention of men 

This 50s ad encourages women to use a certain product or go to the doctor in order to gain weight. It's the opposite of what is implied in media nowadays, but the goal is still the same: its claim was that it was promoting health, but its intended goal was to make women want to become attractive to men. 

Women tend to be obsessive about cleanliness 

These Swiffer commercials display a woman replacing her mop/broom with a Swiffer. The cleaning supplies are portrayed as exes and love interests. There are usually just women in the commercials talking about these cleaning supplies as if they're men.  It was argued to be a sexist commercial because of this.

Women are shown in a narrower range of roles than men 

This ad shows a pregnant woman holding a non-alcoholic beverage that looks a lot like alcohol (I suppose that’s the point). She's wearing unnecessarily skimpy clothing - her holding her stomach should have been enough of a clue that she's pregnant - and appears to be handing beer to the audience, which narrows her down as an ideal woman. The ad also narrows the roles of women to the childbearers, despite its noble intentions. 

Children's programs show more men and boys then women and girls 

...or at least in this case, more clearly. The Battleship board game cover shows a father and son having quality time playing a well-known game while the wife and daughter are barely noticeable in the background, washing dishes or helping with housework. Battleship is usually seen as a male-oriented game, so it isn't too far-fetched.