This year “I Was Here” by Beyonce was nominated for a MTV award.  In this music video Beyonce sings about doing something good for others.  She performed “I Was Here” on August 19, 2013 at the United Nations in honor of World Humanitarian Day.  Beyonce is trying to inspire people around the world to help others no matter how big or small.  Beyonce is trying to persuade people to help others that are starving, dying of thirst, or suffering from natural disasters.  She is trying to address the major problems in this world like world hunger, and natural disasters.  Beyonce sings, “That I gave it my all, did my best, brought someone some happiness just because, I was here.”  She is trying to inspire people to help others. 

            In Beyonce’s music video that was nominated for a MTV award, she appeals to audience’s emotions and inspires them to help the less fortunate around the world.  Beyonce uses imagery to get her point across in the music video “I Was Here.”  Beyonce uses powerful images that inspire people to help others. In the music video there were images of poor, thirsty and starving children.  When most people see images of poor or starving children, they want to take out their wallets and donate money to charities that are trying to feed and clothe them.  Also there are images of natural disasters like floods and an earthquake.  These images show the audience the less fortunate people around the world and are trying to appeal to your morals of what is right thing to do with your money. Also Beyonce shows images of people doing good deeds.  In the video a person jumps into a flood to save the other persons life. Also small deeds of kindness are also shown in the music video like when a girl gives up her jacket to her friend or even a stranger to keep her warm.  These images show that even small deeds of kindness are accepted as long as it brings happiness to the other person. Finally Beyonce uses images of the universe and the earth to persuade the audience that we are unified.  These images show that we are very different by showing the different cultures but also the images also shows that we are connected.  Every time a person does a good deed a dot lights up and it connects with the other dots. The earth is connected by blue lines from country to country and the lines warp around the whole world. This shows that many other people are helping others and inspires you to do the same.  These images show that we are connected and unified because they show people helping each other and standing strong together in the end.  The images in this music video appealed to the emotions and the morals of the audience therefore inspiring the people to help others.  Beyonce is arguing that we should help others in need by inspiring the audience with the visuals in her music video.  

Will says in his post that almost all music videos exist to promote the album. I somewhat agree with this. In the video, Macklemore walks around carrying an American flag with the name of his album “The Heist” written on it. He also mentions the name of his very popular song Thrift Shop. However, I do think this video has a greater intent than to promote the album. 

Macklemore differs from most other rappers for a few reasons. The most obvious being that he is white. The major reason, is that he doesn’t exclusively sing about partying and drinking, and drugs. Macklemore is the only rapper that I know of that doesn’t completely alienate gay fans. His song “Same Love” promotes gay rights whereas other rappers discriminate against them. Macklemore’s intent for the video could be to further show that he is different from the other rappers. Julia says in her post that she has respect for Macklemore and she probably doesn’t feel this way about other rappers. He is trying to make his videos and his music different to achieve a larger fan base so that when something like the VMAs rolls around, there is a wider variety of people that will vote for him.

In the video, we are presented with scenes of Macklemore on a boat and in a city. In both these scenes, he is surrounded by hundreds of people. These people reflect this wide variety of fans. The people in the crowds represent this racial diversity. In the video, Macklemore travels all over the world and everywhere he goes, he is greeted by hundreds of people crowding around him and dancing and cheering.

Towards the end of the video, Macklemore is shot into the sky with the flag. He lands on top of a building and raises the flag. We are presented with an image of the flag towering over a city like the American flag. With this, Macklemore is trying to convey that he is for all of the American people. 

The overall intent of Macklemore’s video was to show that he is different from other rappers. He reaches out to a wide variety of fans whereas other rappers only gain the respect of a certain group of teenagers.

In previous posts, both Will and Julia have brought up the idea of music videos as vessels for shameless advertising. After watching One Direction’s “Best Song Ever,” I’m hardly in a place to disagree. Coming out a month before the release of their much-hyped movie, One Direction makes no attempt to hide that their music video is nothing more than a simple ploy to get people to the theaters. 

The opening scene comedically depicts the boys’ first meeting with Hollywood producers about their upcoming movie, during which the band plays both themselves and the people involved in the film. Now, unless One Direction is planning on becoming a comedy troupe, I can see no other reason for their exaggerated characters and over-the-top Brooklyn accents than to draw in a potential audience for the rest of the video. Surely, seeing some of the world’s hottest teen heartthrobs in a fat-suit, or dressed as a (slightly convincing) woman would appeal even to some who aren’t necessarily fans of the band. Soon, everyone that has watched this opening scene, whether they were interested in the music or not, will be aware that One Direction has a movie coming out. They may not know the specific details, but just the conscious realization that there is, in fact, a One Direction movie, is an adequate start for most advertisers. 

The remainder of the video interweaves clips from the movie and shots of the band members going about their general boyish antics in the producing office. When I say “boyish antics,”  I mean absolutely destroying the office while smiling and looking cute, because the target audience of pre-teen and teenage girls love a an attractive rebel. Who cares about the clean-up job those poor workers will have to undertake later, as long as Harry Styles flashes a swoon-inducing grin at the camera and the rest of the members playfully attack Louis with a poster of themselves. In fact, One Direction has such a strong fan base of adoring teenage girls that anything they do is likely to draw positive hype. 

Unquestionably, even without this music video, faithful One Direction fans would have gone to see the movie at least once, if not more times. However, by acting outlandishly in the beginning to draw in and promote to an even bigger audience, the One Direction movie sales would be sure to increase. Not to mention playing on their allure towards teenage girls, or adding in clips from the movie would only make potential viewers even more excited. And, as the official, “Hit Song of the Summer,” there’s no doubt this video gave the movie the publicity it needed.  

At this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift took home the award for Best Female Video with “I Knew You Were Trouble.”  In the video, Taylor Swift simultaneously meets and falls in love with (surprise) a bad boy musician. What starts out as a typical lovey-dovey relationship, complete with walking on railroad tracks and kissing over a plate of diner fries, morphs into one of angry confrontations and jealousy. The video has a surprisingly uncharacteristic tone of frustration and dejection. Swift is trying to convince her listeners to watch out for boys and listen to their guts––if they feel like someone is trouble, don’t get involved with them. Her fan-base of hormonal teenage girls went wild for the video, submitting vote after vote to seal its VMA victory.

The music video opens with Swift waking up alone in a littered desert. This the catches viewer’s attention right away––they wonder why she’s there, so they continue to watch. Swift, speaking instead of singing, then begins describing her memories. Images of raves, dancing, and handholding quickly flash onto the screen. She says these fleeting flashbacks are “like a kaleidoscope of memories.” This simile shows how Swift’s memories of her tumultuous relationship come back to her in no particular order. It’s effective in generating a colorful image in the minds of the viewers and showing how chaotic the mind of a confused lover is.

The music video’s director, Anthony Mandler, incorporates different imagery tactics into the video for “I Knew You Were Trouble.” He juxtaposes scenes of Swift and her boyfriend giggling and kissing with scenes of the boyfriend fighting and Swift crying in the bathroom. Also, at the beginning of her relationship, Swift’s signature blonde hair looks clean and recently brushed. She’s wearing a modest white lace top. As the relationship progresses, Swift’s blonde hair is dyed purple and it looks as if she hasn’t showered in quite a few days. Her previously feminine style turns more stereotypical punk-rocker. This external transformation parallels her internal one. She goes from being happy and carefree to being depressed and confused.

After replaying and replaying this song, I came to realize how self-deprecating its lyrics are. The listener gets the impression that Swift blames herself for her boyfriend’s problems. Even in the song’s title she blames herself. She knew he was trouble. The blame is on her.  This gets her point across that girls need to be more wary of whom they get involved with and to make sure that they feel safe with that person. By ignoring the uneasiness she felt upon meeting her would-be boyfriend, Swift got herself into a relationship that was destined to fail.

       This year "Candles in the Sun"a music video by Miguel was nominated for a MTV Music Video Award. In this video Miguel addresses people on a global scale about a wide scale of issues. Some of those issues include the issues of illicit drug use, poverty, equality, and corruption in the government.  Miguel's intent for the video was to bring all the issues in the world to the forefront of people's minds to inspire them to do something about the problems. Miguel doesn't tell people how to feel about these issues in the video, he merely wants to put these problems into people's heads so they can figure out what they want to do about them. Miguel sings in his song, "What are we doing? Where are we going?"This video is a cry to everyone in the world that we need to work together to right the wrongs in the world and not just turn a blind eye. Miguel uses powerful black and white images to get his very important message/plea across.
       The whole music video for Miguel's "Candles in the Sun"is an arrangement of very quick black and white images. Some of these images include people using drugs, the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, kids holding guns, kids wearing gas masks, people living on the streets and many more. All of these images are very provocative which lends a hand to Miguel's message. Since these images are thought provoking and at sometimes very sad they can provoke emotion in people which is what Miguel's overall intent was. In Julia's blog post she writes, "The powerful combination of the song and video clips inform and captivate the crowd, drawing all attention to the presentation before their eyes. By this point, the crowd's vulnerability makes them easy to influence." I would have to agree with her on this. These two sentences perfectly sum up what Miguel did to get across his point. He used powerful images which play into human emotion to provoke them to want to change the problems he puts forth in his video.
     While writing the analysis of Miguel's "Candles in the Sun"I realized something. The music video only has 1,562,535 views while Miley Cyrus's video for "We Can't Stop" has 224,028,914 views. Miley Cyrus's video had more likes than Miguel's video had views. This bothered me. The fact that a music video depicting Miley Cyrus twerking and partying has about 223,000,000 more views than a video about the issues of drugs, violence, and homelessness in the world just shows the Miguel is right about that fact that many people turn a blind eye to the problems in the world and would rather, for example, watch Miley Cyrus twerk than help.

I have the attention span of a goldfish. Yesterday, I watched every single nominated video from the VMAs…Or at least I tried. I spent about twenty seconds on “Blurred Lines” before promptly moving on, and even less time for Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop.” I moved from video to video watching, at most, half before losing interest. That is, until I stumbled upon Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive.” I watched the whole thing.  In a bizarre mix of stuffed animals, the Bible, and superpowers, “Radioactive” sure did catch my attention, and kept it. This, I believe, is the purpose of all music videos: catch the attention, keep the attention. This way, the audience, which in this case happens to be mostly teenagers, watches the whole video, hears the whole song, and in the end, buys the song.

            Teens like uniqueness, they (I) want to see something different. So, in an age of videos featuring mostly naked women, drugs, or parties, “Radioactive” stands out.    On top of that, it’s not every day that people see stuffed animals brawling in an arena. At my first glimpse of that purple monster, I was hooked; I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. When the monster tore up all the cute little teddy bears I got really upset (as part of the build-a-bear generation, teddy bears are close to my heart). By playing with the audience’s emotions, “Radioactive” makes sure that the people watching stay captivated. Imagine Dragons next ensnares us with a simple story, one that we all know: David and Goliath…Or at least some strange version of it. The big, powerful Goliath is unbeatable in battle. The scrawny, underestimated, David faces him and beats the crap out of him (that may not be the exact way the Bible phrases it). Goliath comes to us in the form of the purple monster, and David in the tiny pink teddy bear who uses radioactive superpowers to beat the champion. At the sight of that teddy bear rising up, I felt tears of joy spring up in my eyes (not really, but it did make me happy). “Radioactive” alludes to a story that everyone knows, with a happy ending, to get people to buy their song. It all comes down to buying the song.  The artists target an audience of typically depressed and stressed teenagers. By creating a happy, fulfilling ending, the Imagine Dragons hope to give their audience a brief moment of exultation and a temporary cure to their depression and stress, which in turn, will make them want to buy "Radioactive". I can honestly say that now, every time I hear the song, I remember that little pink bear pulverizing the bad guy.   

“I Was Here” by Beyoncé was nominated for "Best Video with a Social Message" for the 2013 MTV VMA's. In the video, Beyoncé performs her song in honor of World Humanitarian Day, held by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in hopes of inspiring the entire world to “leave your footprints” and carry out an act of kindness for someone else. The touching lyrics and videos instantly compel anyone to want to make a difference.  

The OCHA made the smart decision to pair its presentation with Beyoncé's live performance of the song. Being highly-respected and known for her phenomenal and timeless voice, Beyoncé already attracts a huge audience of children, adults, and fans, for the video using her fame as a mechanism--a typical high-school student with the same motive may only reach out to 2,000 peers, while Beyoncé's video has 23 million views, and grows every day.  Her clear and powerful vocals accompany the presentation perfectly, and the melody and lyrics are inspiring. Her presence on stage is strong, powerful and proud. She proves to be the perfect spokesperson for this movement. 

As she sings, the wall-size screen behind her plays a compilation of tear-jerking videos. The powerful combination of the song and video clips inform and captivate the crowd, drawing all attention to the presentation before their eyes. By this point, the crowd's vulnerability makes them easy to influence.The videos shown include the aftermaths of natural disasters, and the starving children and adults of third-world countries. These videos address worldwide problems, reminding the audience of tragedies that have occurred in the world, and that those victims are still suffering, intending to generate a desire to help these unfortunate men, women, and children. 

The presentation continues, however its content shifts drastically. The expressions of the victims change from tear-streaked faces to bright, smiling faces. The videos no longer show just the tragic conditions, but normal, everyday people helping out. The videos range from merely putting a sweater on a cold friend, to rescuing victims trapped under the debris and ruins of their devastated cities, emphasizing that no act of kindness is too big or too small. The video and Beyoncé's lyrics show that these acts change people's lives, and leaving a mark is as rewarding to those who help as to those who are being helped. Beyoncé herself is touched by the message of the song and video, and even tears up as she belts out the chorus.

The next visuals shown include a beautiful celestial view of Earth. Beyoncé constantly repeats the lyrics "I was here", drilling the message deep into the minds of the audience. When a person "was here", a dot on the earth lights up. As more people carry out acts of kindness, more dots light up and create links between them, showing how the world will light up as people do more and more to help out. Thumb tacks with the message "I was here" pop up, not only in English but several languages including French, Arabic, and Chinese, reaching out to individuals worldwide.  
The video concludes with the burning question, "What will you do?", leaving the audience enlightened, and hopefully inspired. This whole production offers people from all countries the chance to do something with their lives, and be remembered for changing someone else's. Viewers leave impacted from the emotional presentation they just experienced. To know that there are artists in the world that use their voices and celebrity-status to do more than just make money or attract the wrong kind of attention is refreshing. Beyoncé clearly advocates the importance of using  her gift for a bigger purpose.

            The song, "Same Love" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won best social message at the 2013 Video Music Award's for the support of gay marriage. They believe that everyone is the same as long as you "Strip away the fear" because "...underneath, it's all the same love." These lyrics from the music video "Same Love", by Macklemore distinctly convey a powerful message to the world. Our world and society is known to be judgmental by nature. We tend to hate and ridicule those who aren't considered "normal". But what is considered "normal"?

            According to the music video, it is "normal" to have heterosexual couples. The scene of the young boy handing flowers to a young girl demonstrates the assumption of societal views: the relationship between men and women. The idea of a man and woman becoming a couple is what society expects. However, not everyone can live up to society's standards. There are a lot of people who aren't considered "normal". For that reason, we hate. "It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion, gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment, the same fight that led people to walk-outs and sit-ins," (Macklemore). Macklemore presents his knowledge of prehistoric conflicts that still exist today in our society. There is no possibility to be "normal", and in fact there is no such thing as "normal", because everyone is different and unique in their own way because of who they are. No matter how hard one tries to live up to society's standards, there is no "true you". This idea can apply to Dr. Seuss's quote, "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You,". It is like living in a dreadful life of someone who you're not.

            The display of Martin Luther King Jr. and the gay pride flag indicates liberty, equality, and pride. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream" reveals the infinite possibilities to end racism. The gay pride flag represents the ego of homosexual people. Moreover, Macklemore supports gay marriage. Macklemore informs us, as a society, we need to "Live on and be yourself".

             

         

             If you’re someone like me who has only ever heard Macklemore’s "Can’t Hold Us", then the music video would also have come as quite a shock. While I was expecting clubs, flashing lights, and shots of half naked girls, I instead was introduced to images of men racing through snowy mountains on dog sleds, camels traveling through the desert, a ship traveling the seas and someone receiving a haircut on the beach. Each scenario includes what appears to be an American flag with “The Heist” written where the stars should be.

            Will earlier wrote that most music videos just exist to promote and make money. I agree. The mere fact that this entire video revolves around the name of Macklemore’s album “The Heist” traveling the globe proves this. It is literally a visual representation of global promotion. However I choose to look at this a little more optimistically than Will might.

            Maybe I am a bit biased because of the great respect I have for Macklemore and all that he stands for (as opposed to most rappers obsessed with drugs, sex, and money) but I think Macklemore’s intentions were innocent and not just about the money. For one thing, he does not even belong to a major record label, something he clearly states in this song when he says, “Labels out here, Now they can’t tell me nothing”.

            This line is then followed by “We give that to the people, Spread it across the country”. Based on the lyrics, it seems to me that Macklemore is just proud of what he and his partner, Ryan Lewis, have achieved all on their own. There’s nothing shameless about their promotion. If anything it’s inspiring. That’s what the raising of a flag is supposed to be isn’t it? After all the extravagant scenarios and the long journey that flag went on throughout the entire music video, there was something very satisfying about seeing that flag raised for all to see.          

Then, of course, there is the ending, which is so unlike most music videos. All of the people involved in this project were named in complete silence, eliminating any distractions that might take that recognition away from them. With most videos, it is only about the label but here every individual receives his or her credit. This goes along with his lyrics “Now I never did it for a throne. That validation comes from giving it back to the people.” “The people” could be both his colleagues and his audience. This just validates that yes, it is a promotion but not for selfish gain. Macklemore genuinely wants to share his work because he’s proud and wants it to be seen and heard. 

             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.

Everything is an argument. Everything.

Now, now, don’t laugh. I’m serious about this one. We spent much of last week discussing the intricacies of communication. We developed an extensive list of "texts" to hopefully make you realize that all human behavior – perceived by at least one viewer, reader, or listener – constitutes a form of communication. If all communication intends to persuade, in some form, then ultimately we reach one of the basic tenets of the course. We conclude that “everything is an argument.”

Three weeks ago, MTV presented its annual awards to contemporary and past pop music stars for their outstanding music videos. We know them as the Video Music Awards - the "VMAs" if you will. You can see a list of the winners by visiting the VMA website. Whether you like MTV music videos or not, you have to acknowledge that they are powerful forms of communication, and they definitely make an argument.

We have begun our discussion about rhetorical analysis. The most basic rhetorical analysis must consider an example of communication and then identify its major components: the speaker, audience, subject, purpose, context, and various appeals. During the year, we’ll look closely at the rhetorical strategies that a variety of American authors use in their writing. At this point, however, I want us to consider a broader spectrum of communication.

Choose one 2013 award winning music video as a “text.” If none of these videos strike your fancy, you may choose a video nominated for a VMA in 2013. You can find a list of nominated videos here. Find that video somewhere, preferably on Youtube, and watch it. You’ll probably need to watch it several times. Using between 350-450 words, craft a preliminary rhetorical analysis of the video. Although you should address the major components of communication, you need not formally structure your response. At this point, just explore how this fairly alternative “text” confirms our conclusion that “everything is an argument.”

The content of your post should be serious, but your technique can be as informal as Lady Gaga is unique.

As part of your response please embed the video into your response so we can all watch them. I have embedded one of the nominated videos at last year’s VMAs.

What is one object you can find in almost every car today? It never runs out of battery and also makes long car rides a bit more enjoyable. It’s the radio. In one sense, the radio is amazing. It plays music all day long and there are hundreds of different stations to choose from. On the other hand it is also quite obnoxious. Between all of our favorite songs come countless commercials. These commercials force us to change the station until we find another one with a song worth listening to.

Today, on this gloomy Sunday afternoon I was listening to Kiss 108, one of Bostons most popular hit-music stations, where I heard twenty-one commercials in thirty minutes. Twenty-one! Isn't that outrageous? I understand that it is a Sunday and most people have better things to do but those who don't should not be punished. During those thirty minutes, only three songs were played. Yes they were great songs but that does not change the fact that I was listening to straight commercials for over ten  minutes. The commercials varied from health insurance, car insurance, fast food etc. They were nothing special and I would have changed the station in a heart beat if I had the chance. 

Now the question you ask is an interesting one to answer. Was Kiss 108’s purpose of that wasted thirty minutes to attract me or to inform me? At this particular time, I believe it was solely to inform me. They are aware that most people have little need for up-beat pop music on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. However on a Friday or Saturday night that is not the case.  On a Saturday night for example, my thought is that they are purely entertainers. On Saturday nights their up-beat pop and techno commercial free music is greatly appreciated. Hence, on Sunday afternoon stations play more commercials then usual.

My opinion is that the radio was made to entertain us. The music on stations such as Kiss 108 or 103.3 AMP Radio does have the power to continue to attract its listeners. Songs such as "We Can't Stop", "American Girl" and "Blurred Lines" all have phenomenal beats but the messages they are portraying are not the best. These songs encourage partying, drinking and one night stands. Therefore these songs and the stations playing these songs attract their listeners by appealing to their life styles or their desired lifestyles. 

As I have mentioned, radio station's purpose is to entertain its listeners. The songs they play attract the listener to the station for entertainment. The commercials produce the station but that is all. They are not there to maintain listeners but to fund their own product or business in a place in which they know is highly populated.

What magazine has both the largest audience and the highest advertising revenue of any American magazine? People magazine.  Each week readers cannot seem to get enough of the inside scoop on the lives of this country’s hottest stars. But are the reporters writing the latest on celebrities or are they writing articles based on who is paying for advertising?

            As I flipped through the 224 page issue of People, William & Catherine: Love Reigns! Royal Wedding Album, I counted 101 pages of advertisements. Most are full page, colored ads costing anywhere from $324,000 to $400,000 per issue. Why would a company spend so much money on one advertisement insertion? According to the magazine’s audience profile, 71% of readers are women, 62% are between the age of 18 and 49 and 63% are college graduates. People’s target market is young, smart, working women. They know their audience has a strong emotional connection with many brands and the advertising mix is seamless with all of the feature stories.

            The William & Catherine: Love Reigns! issue has 101 pages of ads, nearly half of the magazine. It is no coincidence that 39 of the 101 advertisements are related to beauty, romance and weddings. Readers bought this issue to see every aspect of the royal wedding. Along with the dress, cake and high profile guest list, readers also see advertisements for self-improvement beauty products, airline deals and relationships. There are affectionate couples in Ralph Lauren photos for “Romance” perfume, Essie ads for pretty pink nail polish and the Purina Fancy Feast cat sits in front of a wedding invitation. Women not only buy this issue to look at pictures of the lavish royal wedding, advertisers know they are dreaming about ideas for their own wedding or longing for a taste of royalty in their life.

            In my opinion, advertising in a star-studded celebrity magazine drives the focus of the articles and images throughout every issue. Advertising promotes a positive image for readers allowing them to fantasize about having a little “celebrity” in their own lives. You can wear the same leopard skirt as Kate Hudson by shopping her collection at Ann Taylor, drinking Pepsi from a straw makes you feel as exotic as Sofia Vergara and you can even wash your hair with the same shampoo used by Jennifer Aniston. Advertising not only drives the content of the magazine, it also supports the magazine financially. People, like the majority of magazines, cannot survive on subscription sales and editorial content alone. 

I believe that in terms of radio, not online radio but actual over the air frequencies, most companies are more interested in making money and getting advertisements than they are about keeping the listeners happy. However the only way these companies can keep getting advertisements is by keeping listeners happy. In this way radio stations have to worry about both keeping users entertained and getting advertisements, even though many radio stations could care less if the listeners were happy, as long as they were making money. However this is only my opinion based on my knowledge of companies in other areas of entertainment and other industries.

Different stations use different ways to attract listeners which will attract more advertisements. Newer stations have fewer advertisements and use this as an incentive to get more people to listen. For example the new radio station, Amp radio 103.3, uses the slogan “103 minutes of commercial free music” because it doesn't have a lot of commercials which is directly because not many people listen to it. As it becomes more popular and it gets saved as a preset in more and more car radios, then companies will want to buy commercial slots from Amp radio and the commercials will become longer and longer. Jam’n 94.5 is another good example, because it is competing with amp radio for listeners. They both advertise long stretches of commercial free music: amp radio 103 minutes, and Jam’n one hour. However the difference is in how long the commercials are in between those stretches of music. Jam’n 94.5 has more fans and because of this it has many more commercials, I recorded 10 minutes of straight commercials one time, while amp radio usually only has 2-3 minutes of commercials.

Radio has changed drastically since it first originated. In the past radio existed to provide entertainment for people, using different methods such as talk shows, comedy readings, and disco jockeys. However it has changed, along with most industries in entertainment, and now exists for the radio stations to make money, and providing entertainment is just how those owners are choosing to make that money. 

     Earlier this morning, I was watching videos on YouTube that were to my liking. Then while watching a video that was titled "iPhone 5S and 5C Drop Test!" I thought about this prompt about advertisements. I then proceeded to disable an add-on for my browser called Adblock Plus. This add-on makes it so I can have an ad-free experience on YouTube and other media sites that have ads plastered on their front page. Once I disabled Adblock Plus, I refreshed the page and the video opened up with an ad about T-Mobile's JUMP program. I was not surprised to see an ad from a cell phone company on a video about cell phones. Certainly, ads about topics that can relate to people will catch their attention but I on the other hand, could care less about advertisements.
     With Adblock Plus disabled, I went on another website I frequently browse, tickld.com. The website allows users to post images, quotes, comics and other mediums that according to their motto, "Spread Laughter and Cure Boredom". While scrolling down the page, I saw two ads on the right hand side of the screen, one ad placed in between two posts and another ad on the bottom of the page. I calculated that each page of tickld.com has 4 ads and if I were to go through 10 pages of tickld.com, I would be exposed to 40 advertisements. Even with the clever placement of the advertisements, I did not process or remember a single one after my time laughing at the various posts.
     I do not care for advertisements while browsing the internet but while watching a show on television, I get annoyed at the frequent commercial breaks during a 1 hour show. The placement of the advertisements during a one hour show is what really annoys me, not the content of the advertisements. Usually, an episode has a climax that is followed by a 3-5 minute commercial break. For some, this commercial break lets the viewer wait anxiously for the aftermath of the climax. For me, the commercial break is there to make me mad and wonder when the show will continue. 
     I believe that the media is there to entertain the audience. I understand that for a media source to be free to the consumer, advertisements are placed so that the source can make money from the audience.


 

Advertising is all around us - there is no avoiding it. One might begin to believe that this system of advertising has developed into a nuisance. However, they are necessary. Advertisements help to fuel our country economically. Funding is needed in order to enjoy the luxuries that we do.

Milton High School puts on one musical production every year. Most people assume that these shows are funded by the previous years profits. Despite the sold out shows and the successful bake sales, there still is not enough money. The directors ask each member of the cast, and crew of the production to go out, and sell $50 worth of advertisements. The students are expected to get companies and businesses to buy ads from them that will be put in the show's program. This is mandatory of everyone. With over 50 students involved, almost $3,000 dollars are raised from this fundraiser. When I am unable to find enough businesses that want to pay for an ad, I am forced to ask my parents to pool in to meet the required payment. The sole purpose of these ads are to fund the show regardless of how meaningless the content of these ads are.

In this case, the Milton High School music department is genuinely only concerned with pleasing the audience, and the students. Although these advertisements are a nuisance, they're necessary in creating an amazing production for all to enjoy.

In many cases, I do believe that entertainers have become more focused on the income they are receiving from advertisers compared to the quality of the material that they are producing. Somewhere along the way, they have lost sight of why they became entertainers in the first place. Wealth and power became more important than the audience's happiness.

Although rare, it is possible to find entertainers that are not concerned with ad revenue. Every year, Milton High School continues to put on a fall musical. Although advertising has become apart of this, all the money earned is used to benefit those involved in the production. Resulting in a quality show to please their audience, and the performers themselves.

After making dinner on Thursday night, I sat down to watch an episode of “The Big Bang Theory”.  The “Big Bang Theory is a comedy show on TV 38.  I had a lot of homework that night so I was only going to watch one episode which is approximately thirty minutes long with commercials.  Overall approximately nine minutes was commercials and twenty one minutes was the actual show.  Approximately one third of my leisure time was wasted by Dunkin Donuts commercials, tissue commercials and car commercials.  Many of these commercials are always on TV and sometimes even on back to back.  The amount of commercials on TV channels is outrageous. Usually I switch channels when the commercials are on but other TV channels are also on a commercial break.  The amount of time wasted by advertisements is ridiculous. 

The “Big Bang Theory” started at exactly 7:00. The first commercial break started at 7:12 and ended at 7:17.  A few commercials were an Angus Steak sandwich commercial, a Scotties tissues commercial, a pumpkin latte commercial, a Hyundai car commercial, a L'Oreal hair commercial and a Viva towel commercial.  Both the Angus Steak sandwich commercial and the pumpkin latte commercial was from Dunkin Donuts and were played multiple times.  There was another commercial break from 7:24 to 7:28 and this break had a Ford truck commercial, a Marshall Store commercial, an Arnold bread commercial and a Honda CR-V car commercial.   I only listed a few commercials but there was a lot more. Each commercial was around 15 to 30 seconds long. 

I noticed that the amount of advertisements on TV has increased a lot in the past few years and I am not surprised that these commercials wasted 10 minutes of my time.  I believe that TV channels are supported by advertisements.  I also believe that TV channels profit from advertisements only if that channel attracts many viewers.  Companies will pay more to advertise their products on channels with higher ratings and a bigger audience.  When TV channels attract a lot viewers companies will pay more money to advertise their product on that particular channel. This is how I think television channels make money.  These channels put on shows with high ratings to attract viewers so companies will pay more money advertise on that channel.  I think that TV channels are trying to entertain us and by doing so these channels profit from advertisements.