Nachos and Salsa

An average audience of 106.5 million viewers tuned in to sit back relax and watch the Super Bowl XLIV this year. Almost all of these viewers had a bowl of chips on their lap and a beer in their hands. The big question to the advertisers at the Super Bowl were, what are the brands in the viewers living rooms on Feb.1, 2010? These advertisers payed and average of $3 million for a 30 second commercial spot. Some viewers may stay in the room watch the commercials, have a few laughs, and never buy the product. Some viewers may go buy the product at half time. Some may already have the product sitting on their coffee table. And some of the people tuning in for the Super Bowl will be using the three minutes of commercial breaks to go into their kitchen and grab a snack. $3 million is definitely way to much money to pay for a 30 second commercial about a beer or a bag of Doritos! The ads aren't just commercials, they have to be entertaining, funny, and connect with the Super Bowl and with the sports fans. With so many people tuning in, it is the ideal time for a lot of companies to advertise during. "If you bought one of every item advertised during this year's game that we could ascribe a dollar value, you'd pay $163,827.25, which is $6,329.65 more than if you bought similar items from companies that don't advertise during the Super Bowl." - says http://www.walletpop.com/blog/

Geri's Game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m7dcbIKvlw

The above is the Disney Pixar Short Film 'Geri's Game'. The video is just missing the beginning where it shows the title. It is one of my favorite short films, and was one of my favorite as a child. I think that this short film is especially easy and enjoyable for a child because there is no speaking yet you can still understand what is going on, and enjoy the humor. But the great thing about all of Pixar's short films is they are enjoyable to all audiences, parents/adults, children etc. I find that in all of Pixar's movies that have a short film leading up to the actual feature presentation, the short films always help you to settle in and get excited for the movie.

Really? Reality? Boring.

Society's point of view on reality is different from all angles. Some people watch shows such as Greys Anatomy, and then decide they want to become a Doctor. This is because of the appeal that the media plasters over the show; the money appeal, the love appeal, the sex appeal, the power appeal, not to mention all of the hot doctors that they would be surrounded by. When in reality if this person was to start the process of becoming an actual Doctor, there would be a big surprise involved... oh yeah, science.

Media has planned, constructed and polished a new version of reality, and the viewers have become so consumed in it that the actual reality has been lost beneath all of this 'appeal'. A bright shiny hospital, with lots of drama and gorgeous people is much more appealing to our society, then a hospital with ugly lighting, bad floral patterns and nerdy doctors. This is just one example of the creation of Media's Reality.

What Ever Happened To The Real Deal?

The influence of images in media have put horrible ideas into young peoples minds, specifically young girls, about what they should look like and how they need to achieve the look of perfection. This has been caused by medias use of image retouching. And where are these images placed? In magazines, t.v, movies, billboards, advertisements where they are very visible to young eyes of our society. As the years have past, technology has advanced causing the look of people in the media to be able to be more tweaked and twisted into the 'perfect' look, a look that has become more and more unrealistic. This technology advance has given the media access to more ways of showing these images to society, therefore having a stronger affect on society. Young girls see these so called 'perfect' looking women and feel the obligation to work their best on becoming the mirror image of these models and celebrities, which can lead to very low self esteem, eating disorders and sometimes even self destruction. Young boys look up to macho men in the media, and feel the pressure to become extremely involved in athletics and ways to make them selves look tough and manly, which can lead to them overworking themselves, segregation between different groups of boys, depression, and sometimes even drug use to attain the image they see. The answer is simple: the media needs to show the young girls and boys realistic, positive images that they can look up to, images that make them feel positive about them selves, images that are not retouched and show the real deal. Or society should take more responsibility in making sure that people are aware that these images have been retouched and are not realistic whatsoever. Hopefully one day the media could show images of men and women that would make young girls and boys think 'Wow, I want to feel that confident and empowered about my self, I want to have the mindset that person has!' instead of thinking 'That person looks perfect, I want to look like them. I wonder what I can do to look like THAT!'. Because these young girls and boys, are the future of our world. Which way do you want them to think? Which path do you want them to take? What kind of world do you want to live in? What images do you want to see? The real deal.

My Media Consumption

If I was to say I had any sort of 'independence' from the media, it would be a lie. I own an iPod which i listen to everyday, and a cell phone which I also use daily. I have a facebook, MSN, flikr, yahoo answers, youtube, and hotmail account. I have a subscription to Teen Vogue, Elle Canada, and People Magazine. I own every season of Greys Anatomy and Friends. The list could go on and on, I am positive that without this media in my life I would be entirely bored. In The Mass Media survey it is clear to see that the media has had a large impact on my life, mostly only the newer media, for example Internet and popular culture, not as much radio and newspapers. I personally use media in two main ways, one to stay connected and communicate with the people in my life, and two for entertainment and for expressing myself. I have rebuilt relationships with people from my childhood, i have stayed connected with friends from other towns and even other countries. To answer the ultimate question: yes the media does have a hold on me, a very strong hold.