Most music videos (there are exceptions of course) exist for one purpose and one purpose only: promote the band so the record label can make money. Thirty Seconds to Mars’ “Up in the Air” is not an exception.

            Firstly, Thirty Seconds to Mars blatantly advertises for their new album, Love, Lust, Faith + Dreams, throughout their entire video. Those are the first four words spoken, before the music even begins. Then later on in the video, the music stops and yet again those same words are repeated to us, only this time they are in four different languages for “dramatic effect.” Also, all throughout the music video, the band’s symbol, a triangle with a horizontal line cutting through it (think the negative space of an “A,”) appears first on a pill and later it appears frequently burning. It is almost as if the creators of the music video are trying to subliminally influence the viewers to purchase the band’s content.

            The rest of the video that isn’t shameless advertising is simply an attempt to make the band more identifiable to its target audience of angsty teenagers.

To achieve this goal, Thirty Seconds to Mars relies heavily on the powerful influences of disorientation. The band plays on the fact that teenagers are known for feeling out of place and unsure of their lives by creating a video that reflects this perfectly. The video itself is so chaotic that it requires a warning stating that it could cause seizures for viewers with epilepsy. For the next six and a half minutes, the viewer is bombarded with vibrant colors and many confusing (but very visually striking) scenes. Of the many scenes flashing throughout the video, eleven are of spinning objects. This further emphasizes loss of control and disorientation. These eleven scenes are then repeated many times as if to solidify the point more thoroughly.

Next, the band includes many images in an effort to appear more rebellious to its audience. Early in the video the band’s symbol is visible on a pill. Five different women in the video are wearing barely anything at all. Fire is a reoccurring theme, displaying both the band’s symbol and a heart. Switchblade knives make regular appearances throughout the video. Thirty Seconds to Mars literally uses drugs, sex and violence to establish a rebellious reputation for themselves.

Thirty Seconds to Mars’ video for Up in the Air is mainly self-promotion. First they ingrain the name of their album and their band’s symbol into their viewers through repetition. In addition they convince their audience that they identify with their struggles through adolescence. These two strategies work together to sell the band to their public.