Advertising and Promotional Culture Essay Example for Free

Advertising and Promotional Culture Essay Race and Class in Verizon TV Ads No matter what are the patterns of the ads, the ultimate purpose of ad is attracting public attentions and selling the products. Based on different consumption groups, the ads from the same brand also need to change the advertising images, backgrounds and lines, to reach as many consumers as possible. Verizon Communication Inc is one of the most famous broadband and telecommunications company in United States. Its service range is very broad, including mobile phone, TV and Internet, and its consumption groups covers low class, middle class and upper class people. In this paper, I will analysis the class and racial elements in Verizon 4G LTE commercial and Verizon Mobile Devices and Healthcare commercial. Applying multi-racial advertising talents and different story telling methods, Verizon stresses on the class segregation while pays less attention on racial differences. This advertising strategy helps Verizon divide its consumption groups based on their consumption abilities. It is not only one method to avoid the disadvantage of racial selling, which easily limits the consumption groups, but also direct the company to improve the services to satisfy each specific class better. The Verizon 4G LTE commercial is also called â€Å"Bad Idea† commercial. Just as the African American guys keep saying â€Å"Whassup† in the Budweiser ad, Verizon keep showing the bold black â€Å"Bad Idea† sign after the men in the ad say some bad ideas. The background of the ad is a group of lower class men gather together and play basketball. During the break, they chat and share informations. â€Å"You guys check it out, household bleach. † â€Å"Look Good. † â€Å"I know, right? † Then the â€Å"Bad Idea† comes out with a sting sound. I tell you what saves the gas money. My kids hitchhike to the school. † â€Å"Great Call. † Then the â€Å"Bad Idea† sign comes out again. After two more guys share their information and both have been categorized as â€Å"Bad Idea†, the fifth man comes over, says, â€Å"Surprisingly the Verizon 4G LTE is like 6 times bigger, but I am going ATT†. Instead of showing t he â€Å"Bad Idea† sign again, the voiceover tell the consumers what is the â€Å"Good Idea†, â€Å"There are good ideas and bad, with over 6 times more coverage, Verizon, is the good idea†. This ad uses a sarcastic way to impress the people of lower class and the spectacular consumption strategy to sell the service. To sell the product to a group of people, ads always build up the environment and back ground they familiar with first. Watts defined spectacular consumption as â€Å"a process through which the relations among cultural forms, the culture industry, and the lived experiences of persons are shaped by public consumption†. The group of men in the ad have economic pressure and family burden so they come up their own ideas to save the money. Maybe playing basketball on weekends is their only chance to get rid of work and family messes, so they exercise, brag and relax. The group of men in the ad is the epitome of the lower class men in the United States. Their income is limited so they hope for better quality services with reasonable prices. And this the reason that Verizon keeps telling the men in front of the TV that their 4G is over 6 times more coverage compared to ATT, which means we have better quality than ATT and fair price. People’s consumption habits can easily be effected by the surrounding people. The same situation happens in the ad. Though most of the ideas come from those guys are bad ideas, but their friends are willing to accept it. And this is the disadvantage of speculation consumption. Unless people can make right decisions, because good ideas always spread. And this is the ultimate direction that Verizon is willing to go. If the men do not want to make bad decisions and feel brighter in their peers, choosing Verizon is always a good proof. Unlike focusing on social class characteristics mostly, this ad add one African American talent to minimize the racial segregation. It cannot change the fact that even in this small group, it is still white man dominant, but the black talent definitely increase the group diversity and make this more likely in American society. The situation in the other commercial is the other way. This is the TV commercial expressing how Verizon contributed in the health care field. To create out the confidence and reliability of Verizon’s services, the talents who play doctors and nurses in the ad look tidy, calm and helpful. One of the similarities among them is they all use mobile devices to check out the medical records, 3D brian scanner pictures or drug information. The patients are the other essential consumption group that Verizon wants to attract, so Verizon states that patients can measure the heart rate and the contractions and send them directly to the clinic through mobile devices, as well as helping the patients memorize their illness history. All the advantages prove the Verizon tries to â€Å"improve collaborations between care givers and patients†. Also, instead of putting the lines into the talents’ mouth, this ad use the voiceover to tell us the benefits of the service. In this way, Verizon makes the ad more like a Public Addressing Ad instead of a commercial ad. It may makes the consumers feel that Verizon is not only one company which just care about their own profits, it also cares about the society and is willing to pay back. Compared to the former 4G ad portraying the simpleminded, funny and a little arrogant lower class men, this ads pictures doctors and nurses, middle and higher class people as warm-hearted, dedicated and smart. They are the best group to publicize the reliability of high technology. Verizon applies the graphics and the statistics to show how professional Verizon can be in healthcare field. I think the multi-racial aspect is worth mentioning in this ad. Cortese once said in her paper that â€Å"advertising images, as cultural commodities and social constructions, are sites of struggle along racial fault lines in the United States’s cultural landscape†(Cortese, 1), and I think it is a good example of the improvement of racial problem in this country. On the one hand, the white people in this ad is still more than the colored people. After all, the United States is still one white dominancy society, but at the same, it is also a big â€Å"Melting Pot†. So we can still find the Asian American and Latino/African American face from this ad. Moreover, because doctor and nursers are care givers, so they are in a powerful statues, while patients are considered as the care acceptors and they are in a weaker position. In order to show the equal presentation, the ad also categorizes the Asian American as the doctor and the Latino/African American as the patient instead of ask both of them to be the patients. Different company has various adverting strategy. Luxury brands need to show their sharp fashion taste while normal brands must present their money-saving advantage. But for brands like Verizon, which provides necessary services for almost every class people, they need to use diverse selling advertisements to hit all possible consumption groups. From the two typical Verizon ads, people can conclude that the selling strategy of Verizon is dividing consumption groups based on their social class instead of their races. It is a more realistic way to provide different costing plans to various income groups. And it can also attract all people who has this economical ability instead of blocking out of some potential consumers because racial discrimination. In this way, Verizon could possible to increase their consumer range and increase their profit.

College English - A Holistic Dialogue with Myself Essay example -- Tea

College English - A Holistic Dialogue with Myself The air was crisp and filled with the promise of snow. My first day of my first semester, I ran hurriedly upon the main thoroughfares of University Park, campus short cuts and walkways were yet unknown. Stopping occasionally, I took a knee, pulled out my highlighted map, and felt compelled to take an azimuth. Snow fell around me; my water tube dripped slowly; my muskrat hat caught the flakes within the fine bristles of the visor. Aviation glasses plastered to my face and cargo pockets bulging with my keys, student schedule, rolled up map, and glasses case, I stood up quickly and ran for class. Electrical Engineering Building West (EE West), I remained perplexed at what correlation possibly existed between electrical engineering and honors English. I entered the musty halls, hurried passed the classroom three times before realizing that the big windows were in fact doors, and entered five minutes late. Accustomed to arriving ten minutes prior to any professional engagement, I began the process of divesting myself of my gear, removing the appropriate folder and notebook (neatly labeled and prepared). When I realized my pathetic Lilliputian desk could, in no way, accommodate it all, I was distressed. Coat, hat, gloves, pack (lovingly referred to in its previous incarnation as the mini-Shirpa, a reference to the bulging packs of Tibetan mountain climbers), I had no room. As I was quickly going to discover, you never have enough room in English. To write something more than merely formulaic, ideas, impressions, thoughts bombard you. Quickly, your paper becomes like my pack, bulging with stuff. True to my â€Å"Be Prepared† motto, I find it difficult to discriminate between all the ten... ...n my research essay, I explored my own memories as a child struggling with a learning disability in Park Forest. Writing in philosophy and political science, I incorporated, engaged with, and struggled to realize what makes us â€Å"human, all too human† (Nietzsche 492). When I leave EE West 101 for the final time, my cargo pockets will bulge with my keys and glasses case; my pack will weigh heavily upon my shoulders; and I will remain a rough draft of the â€Å"Man in the Muskrat Hat.† If nothing else, ENGL 030 has reinforced the joy, the necessity, the vitality of learning. I have experienced the military, will experience college, and will still struggle to find my own voice. However as in many things, it is within the struggle that we find the greatest value. â€Å"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.† — Lao Tzu

Olaudah Equiano’s the Interesting Narrative Essay

Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, is the story of the eponymous real-life character, Olaudah Equiano, his life, trials, tribulations and journey from slavery at an early age to freedom. For Equiano, it seems that slavery is almost a metaphysical phenomenon. His entire life is essentially characterized by the different experiences relating slavery, from Africa to the Middle Passage to plantation life in the West Indies and United States. Equiano’s views on slavery are tough to articulate and truly complex. Throughout the novel he makes reference to different ‘degrees of slavery,’ at times condemning the practice, and at other times contradicting himself and seemingly lauding it. I believe that his conflicting views are products of his first hand experience with nearly all aspects of the practice, and near the end of the novel it is clear that he is in favor of ending slavery. See more: what is a narrative essay Although he was kidnapped at the age of eleven, Equiano’s familiarity with slavery actually begins long before that. Born in a region that is today known as Nigeria. His father a chief, (and ironically himself would eventually reach the same status if not for his kidnapping years later), Equiano’s family was considered ‘upper-class,’ and thus owned their own number of slaves. I believe that this is the beginning and serves as the basis of which he compares the slavery he experiences later in his lifetime to, and also what may serve as the beginning of his conflicting emotion towards the practice in general. He makes note that slaves in this community, while under the direction of a master and with clear distinction of a ‘lesser importance,’ are still treated in a humane way. On his own account, these slaves do a comparable amount of work to that of other members of the community. When put into perspective, with no knowledge of what’s to come (in regards to subsequent experiences in different aspects and degrees of slavery) at this point it is easy to see why Equiano has not yet condemned the idea or practice of slavery. Shortly thereafter, Equiano is kidnapped (along with his sister, though the two are eventually separated), He narrates being taken on a long, arduous voyage through a variety of African regions, during which he had â€Å"often changed masters.† He is first sold across Africa, first to a chieftain, and shortly after to a widow. After which, he is ultimately sold to the owner of a ship destined for the West Indies. Equiano dubs this Atlantic voyage himself â€Å"The Middle Passage,† and this is where I believe his journey truly begins. Equiano elaborates on his introduction and subsequent alienation to the European culture and their treatment of slaves. He details the substandard living conditions and destitution of living aboard the slave ship, and being a stark contrast to the concept of slavery he knew back in Africa, I believe this is the defining moment where his viewpoint regarding slavery is partitioned. I think it’s important to note that when Equiano is enslaved by fellow Africans, he makes note of the strong contrasts and class distinctions between himself and them. He makes direct comparisons between himself and the class he hails from, and these other Africans, going as far as to call them â€Å"barbaric† and â€Å"uncivilized.† I believe that this is worth noting, because it’s almost paradoxical how he is very quick to condemn these people and their form of slavery, while at the same time not criticizing the slavery that took place in his own village when he was a child. Though not yet acknowledging it, I believe that this is when he begins to form his own ‘tiers’ of the practice of slavery. After arriving at the West Indies and experiencing the sale of slaves firsthand, Equiano continues along with the slave ship to North America, and ultimately purchased by a naval captain, Michael Pascal to work in Virginia. Again he is subjected to cruel treatment inside the slaveholders’ homes. This is, I believe, the turning point that eventually leads to Equiano’s final resolution. He details being shocked and hurt to the point where he tries to wash the color of his skin off his face. While travelling the seas with Pascal, Equiano has many more encounters in and with Britain. With more and more exposure to Christianity and European culture, he details that he was no longer frightened and apprehensive towards it, beginning to show confluence of African and European cultures. He was eventually sent to school in Britain, educated and shortly after, baptized. It is worth noting that later in the novel he often relates his new religious standpoint to his enslavement. While becoming a Christian himself, whether or not he holds responsible God, himself, or the hypocritical Christian Europeans for his enslavement is left ambiguous. Ultimately, (and after brief stints of being purchased by other masters) Equiano is sold to Robert King. Educated and under the direction of a master treating him relatively fair, Equiano here observes another facet of slavery. He is further educated and directed along the path of Christianity, which I believe further adds more conflicting emotion, due to it being comparable to his original notion of slavery from his childhood. While working for King on shipping routes, he determines himself to save some money on the side, in order to buy his freedom from King. Interesting to note though, in the novel he explicitly states that he would like to return to Old England, not Africa. While I think this is further evidence of his confluence of English and African cultures, I believe that this is also the beginning of his plea against the practice of slavery, as later in the novel we find out that he does indeed buy his freedom, and much later returns to London and become involved in the abolitionist movement. In conclusion, it is clear to see that in the mind of Equiano, slavery is not simple a one-sided condemnation. From birth until freedom, he has lived and experienced all aspects of slavery, from his family owning slaves to being purchased himself. It’s an interesting and unique point of view that few (if any more) people who were involved in the practice of slavery experienced themselves. In the end, I think it is clear to the reader that Equiano is against the notion of slavery, but I believe that’s a conclusion he came to because of personal experience along with education and indulgement of European culture. While I don’t believe he accepts the practice of slavery, I believe that he accepts slavery as part of how he defines of himself, almost as if slavery could not be abolished were it not conceived in the first place.

Dear Journal- Personal Narrative Essay - 1529 Words

Dear Journal- Personal Narrative (Absolute Relative Location) Day 1 – August 2, 2005. I’ve arrived in Australia this morning. What a flight! It took me 11 hours, and I feel like sleeping but it’s only mid-day. The time zone difference is at its max with Australia being 19 hours ahead of Vancouver. Geez, it’s going to take me all week to get over this jet lag. Not only is the time backwards, but also when you flush the water spins the opposite way, makes me feel sorta homesick. Though in the southern hemisphere and eastern hemisphere, here lies Sydney at 33 55 °S, 151 10E °, one of the most magnificent places on the face of the earth, in my opinion. Its been three years since my†¦show more content†¦As soon as I was clear the control zone I turned was about to turn to face Sydney but I couldn’t take my eyes off the beautiful Blue Mountain range. It’s one of the most gorgeous natural highlights in Australia. The mantel shelf was extraordinary, and seemed to come from some form of volcanic activity as I can remember from geography class. But after a while I decided to turn east from the mountains and head for a gander of Sydney. I first flew over the Sydney Opera House, which is in the Central Business District of Sydney, in Sydney Cove. Just south of the opera house is the Royal Botanical Gardens, which did start off as a natural preservation, but now is under the guidance of the city of Sydney, and maintained in order for the tourist population. As I continued to the coast of Sydney I could spot just as a couple of specks surfers. There are many beaches down this coast, very popular for surfing. The biggest of them being Manly, Palm Beach, and Bondi Beach which are always packed with tourists. They are located just south of Sydney. I happen to fly over one of Sydney’s lesser known beaches, Whale Beach, just to the north later in the day. 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