User:Stevenarntson/group spaces/2009fallanalytical/group 4

=Group members= sign in here with " : " (a colon and three tildes).
 * Chengfuhsieh
 * ColeVan
 * Yuraponto
 * KimaraD
 * MadisonE

=Introduction= Our role as humans has changed over the centuries. We used to be a productive race that would farm and produce our lively hood. However, through populating and connecting we have evolved out of that state. We are now in a stasis of consumerism. Where the solution to any problem is to buy more. In order to motive a huge population in purchasing more, and more frequently, advertisements were invented. As everything does advertisements have evolved and changed with the times, but it has grown into something ugly. It is quite literally impossible for an American to live a day avoiding advertisements. They appear in every mediums from the television to the sides of cars, images are forced upon us. These images, unavoidable, also are conducting something else. They get under your skin and in your head, most likely, without you knowing. Beautiful women, strobing text and subliminal messages persuade us mentally into buying a product. Why is this happening? What can we do to counteract it? And where will it go? We will examine the over whelming amount, the manipulation, and the intrusion of advertisements. We will then try and find a way to fix this mess.

=Prolificity: Too Many Ads= Greetings my name is Sammy, and I NEED new shoes. I can see three of my toes on my left foot and my right sock is soaking wet as I wait for the bus. The bus arrives and as always there is a nice big juicy hamburger plastered on the side. A short while riding the bus we pass under the same hamburger but ten times the size! The billboard is enormous. As soon as it passes my pocket radio tells me about the hamburger I just saw and about its double juicy patties with all American cheddar. I look to my left and see that same damn hamburger being munched down by a college student. We pass the local pub and all seven of their TV’s simultaneously attract me with the burger. I quickly get off and run to the nearest McDonalds, and got exactly what I need. Ah satisfaction. I was going to ride the bus for three more stops but I can’t quite remember why… So I will just go home.

Cole Van November 25th 2009 Analytical Writing Advertisement Group Essay Prolificity of Advertising

All ads glorify their product, it is one of the basic tactics of advertising. For instance put your product next to a sexy model it will sell more. An ad would never show the negative aspects of its own product but what if most aspects of your product, if not all, are negative? Cigarettes have been dealing with this problem for some time. However, there was a time when health issues, such as lung cancer, and cigarettes were not associated. In this almost mythical sounding time cigarettes had no restrictions put on their advertising. Due to the giant revenue cigarettes produce they were able to buy any time slot on television and radio and any page on a newspaper or magazine. So they focused purely on saturation, or the vast amount of advertising. Any person educated in advertising knows that the most important aspect is saturation. The second most important aspect is choosing the right demographic, or target audience.

So with the abundant selection of places and times to advertise where did tobacco companies choose to advertise, and who were their target audience? In the 1950’s research showed that advertizing successfully swayed children into smoking cigarettes. When investigated documents revealed that most cigarette ads target audience were fifteen year olds. Many cigarette companies sponsored comic strips and cartoons. Such as Winston sponsoring the Flintstones. At this time it became difficult to avoid seeing any cigarette ad. One of the highest viewed television episodes the American debut of the Beattles on the Ed Sullivan Show was sponsored by cigarettes. On television cigarettes ads were so saturated that the average teen saw 1,000 ads each year. By the 1960’s cigarette firms bought ad time on popular radio shows in the early afternoon, right after the school day ended. In 1984 there was finally a step away from advertising tobacco to kids when Mr. Potato head quit smoking. A pipe was no longer included in the set. In the 1987 camel cigarette advertised using a cartoon camel character, Joe camel. During this time children in preschool were aware of who the character was. He was particularly popular with 12 to 14 year olds. This campaign was brought to an end in 1994, but not for the obvious issues of endangering the health of teens. Instead the deciding factor was that the ads encouraged teens to do something illegal, buy cigarettes. It is pretty obvious when you look at it. Why would any tobacco company advertise to people who are of age to buy their product? Most of those people are already addicted to cigarettes anyways. So they need to appeal to there new and up and coming consumers.

Cigarette advertising today has declined. With the dangers of smoking becoming increasingly open regulations are being put on the advertising of cigarettes. In some aspect this is winning, but the big tobacco companies paved the road for everyone else. The shear amount of advertising we see today is out of control. From television to the Internet, to the radio, to the shirts, to the taxis, to the buildings, and to the blimps there is just too much in our daily lives. Worst yet, the majority of advertising seek to under mind the general public with “advertising techniques.”

ColeVan

=Manipulation: Tricky Ads= "Hello my name is Skeeter! I have got to tell you about the most fantastic product ever! It is called the cricket! Now listen to this! It is a machine where you can select from a number of templates. Whatever design you choose will be cut out of paper! There is literally millions of possibilities!!! I would list them but I believe if you think of any word in the world the cricket can cut that shape out of paper. I found out about this yesterday after seeing it on the TV." I ordered twelve because I want to run twelve at once. My studio apartment will soon be flooded with cats cut out of paper and fancy descriptive paper letters will decorate the objects in my house! This truly is a great leap forward in human innovation and technology, because the commercial said so.

Madison East November 25th 2009 Analytical Writing Advertisement Group Essay Manipulation through advertising

Advertising, as a whole, is a form of communication. It is used to influence individuals to purchase products and services through different types of media. It’s been known to communicate messages that include the name of the product or service and how that could be beneficial to the consumer. Advertising often attempts to persuade costumers to purchase or consume in a particular brand. Using this information we found a way to present alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs, and how the media has received positive and negative criticism on these particular advertisements. As we all know advertisements are located everywhere. No one can go anywhere without seeing at least one. These ads are used as an essential part of the everyday type media. They are placed in television, radio, magazines, and can even be seen on billboards by the roadside. Advertisements allow media to be sold at a cheaper price, and sometimes even free, to the consumer. Advertisers pay media companies to place their ads into the media. Therefore, the media companies make their money off of ads, and the consumer can view this material for a significantly less price than the material would be without the ads. So the main reason for these advertisements is to influence the consumer to purchase their product. Using these simple tactics advertisements focus on teenagers and young adults who like to partake in the action of using prescription drugs, consuming alcohol, or smoking cigarettes. The ad is directed towards people who have a desire for it, or want to so call “fit in”. Using the daily advertisements through commercial uses it opens up for all eyes to see, making this more available for underage kids to assume that if they can do it why can’t I? or the most common analogy “monkey see, monkey do”. Kids and young teens don’t necessarily “choose” to purchase or put themselves into the situation of prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco like products, they observe the ways around them giving the assumption that it’s not in the wrong. Having commercials, billboards, and magazines advertise or even discuss the matters of alcohol, prescription drugs, and tobacco, leave teenagers and young adults with an open mind and a possible chance of falling into manipulation.

Jacquelyn Massey from West Philadelphia High School wrote a paper on The Impact of Advertising on Teenagers. She writes on overview discussing the impacts on how studies introduced in classrooms even have an impact. “Teenagers do not fully understand the impact that advertising has on them. Webster’s dictionary uses words like “vigorous,” “lively,” “immature,” and “impetuous” to describe youth. Advertisers are well aware of these qualities when they concoct strategies to reach the youth market. This curriculum will expose teenagers to the various techniques and strategies that advertisers use to encourage their desire to buy particular products and services. The unit is intended for 9th through 12th grade students who have had some computer experience. It will integrate computer technology, graphic arts, communication and business. Using cooperative learning, students will form their own advertising agencies and develop advertising campaigns to promote a product or service. Since each lesson can stand alone, teachers will have the option to use some or all of the lessons for their classes. Time will dictate whether or not they choose to do the entire unit. This unit could be taught in business and technology classes, but might also be adapted for a social studies or art class.” –Jacquelyn Massey

She also quotes:

“The advertising industry itself has funded dozens of studies on children designed to enhance marketing effectiveness. According to the industry newsletter, Selling to Kids, Saatchi & Saatchi hired clinical psychologists and cultural anthropologists to record more than 500 hours of interviews and observations of children between the ages of six and 20. Increasingly, such research is taking place in schools.” (Linn 2)

“And according to USA TODAY, grade schools in Connecticut accepted $5,000 from a company in exchange for permission to interview 10- to 12-year-old students in classrooms after school. The Gepetto Group conducts focus groups and consults with psychologists to help businesses better understand how to market to teens by exploiting their vulnerabilities. Teens are ‘...an oppositional subculture, interested in shutting out the adult world,’ the firm's chief strategic officer explained in a Selling to Kids interview. There are enormous opportunities for the marketer who is able to understand both the reality and fantasy of teen life.” (Linn 2)

Manipulation can be viewed in many ways. Some examples on how advertisements could persuade people into manipulation are through addicts that relate in the uses of prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco like products. The steps of manipulation can be seen through the following:

1.	1) Addict’s are prime users of manipulation. They use the psychological tool to get friends and family to sympathize with them and give them money, which they promptly use for more drugs. They learn early to manipulate the system to use doctors and medical facilities, social service workers and crime enforcement authorities.

2.	2) Drug addicts manipulate authorities by learning how to pass drug tests for employment or law enforcement purposes. They utilize a number of different products that can eliminate trace evidence in the urine. Some of the products work in certain tests and others are ineffective. Poppy seeds and certain vitamins can sway a drug test to confuse the results. Addicts with access to outside sources get others to provide the urine sample for the test. They often drink an excessive amount of water or take diuretics to sway the results.

3.	3) Drug dealers often manipulate the potency of the drugs they sell to increase the volume and make more money. OxyCotton is a dangerous and popular drug and not only is it being manipulated on the streets but also by healthcare practitioners. By crushing the pills, users can inject or snort the powder and receive a quicker rush, as well as cut it with other substances.

All in all people who view these advertisements are susceptible to end up in one of the three situations discussed above. Given there are more situations to be drawn to these are just some of the many that are seen around us today. MadisonE

MadisonE

=Invasion of Privacy: Ads in My Head= Hi my name is Scooter. I like baseball, listening to smooth jazz, cooking poultry, and watching the most shocking surgeries on FOX. Now you know, but to tell you the truth I am a bit surprised that you didn’t know. I thought everyone knew. I mean through scanning my e-mails and my activities on the internet major cooperations know all about who I am and what I like. Between my most shocking surgeries commercials play for jazz flutes and roasting turkey techniques because these are the things I enjoy. My vacuum got jammed last week. As a result of the self maintenance I gave it, I now require a new vacuum. I know this which means the camera in my house knows this, which means my landlord knows this. Through some chain of events my TV has somehow figured this out. Now, on Thursdays advertisements for Dysons ball pivot vacuum play in between heart replacements and liver removals. So never the less my crises was avoided and I now own a new extremely overpriced vacuum. I spoke to my friend Sheila shortly after and she told me about this spectacular thing. I had never herd of this activity but it sounded phenomenal!! I think she called it riding a bike.

This is not a total immediate danger, but today on the internet there are companies that track what you do. If you have an account on gmail, that free service comes with the price that they search your emails. What they are looking for, there is no telling. However, they do gather information on you. They then can sell this information to a site, such as facebook, that will take this information and make it determine what advertising you see. This heightens the chance that people will buy whatever product advertised since it is something geared toward that specific person. Sure it's nice to see stuff that you find appealing, or things that you might like to buy, but at what cost? What exactly do they know about you? Is it in depth? Or is it completely inaccurate and a crippled man is being advertised stilts? With all of our mass media converging it will not take long for this information to bleed over. The ads we see on television and the ones we hear on the radio may be completely different for each person. Simply because it would increase the chance for that person to buy the product. It is the next evolution of advertising. If this is ever to take effect we all have legal rights under what is called the "Modern Privacy Law.'

We are protected from:

-Unreasonable intrusion: unwarranted entry, spying, or search through personal possessions.

-Appropriation of person’s name or likeness. ( celebrities are exempted from this due to their career path.)

-Publication of private facts: such as personal relations and tax information

Protective Counter Measures Some things you can do to help keep yourself safe are: Change your passwords on you computer, bank accounts, etc. Check credibility of sites where you make purchases, banks and read up on your legal rights. As I have said this in not here now much it is a possible way it can head.

=Solutions= Limiting prolificacy could be a good choice for advertisement. There are a lot of advertisements that can somewhat overwhelm the audience. This problem can be solved by creating regulations about the rates of the advertising that was being produced each year. The government can actually write a law for advertising, regulating what can and cannot be shown, which will encourage good quality advertising that could give positive outcome for the society. Too many ads causes addiction or brainwashing the audience by the ad. This is not to say that ads are completely negative. Advertising creates jobs like video production for commercials and even the guys who change the billboards. The consumerism increases our economy, but the underlining fact it that advertising is a billion dollar industry. If we were to put a stop to advertising so much less money would be wasted and could be put toward better things. Like schools, research, or paying off our national debt. The people have right to privacy; decreasing such advertising through phone calls, mail and emails. For, it is violating peoples privacy. And once they have your email, they’re not going to stop sending ads. I believe that the urge to purchase an object should not be forced by other parties. Product should speak by itself. I think the quality of the product should be convincing people, not just the products that are advertised. I once herd the argument by a student that advertising is our modern day culture. Decreasing advertisement or abolishing it would be to destroy our culture. If we where to rid the world of advertisements we would have all these empty billboards. Which, to me, would be a perfect place to put real culture, like art. Imagine a billboard which purpose is only to look pleasant, and not sell a single thing except maybe prints for that board for a picture on your wall.

Another point of advertising that is consider to be positive is the public service commercials paint a vivid picture on how terrifying it can be for teenagers who do drugs or any other kinds of addiction. These campaigns prevent the society to fall in any form of addiction, drugs, smoking and so on. The problem is that there were not any reliable facts that support the statement. If the information is more reliable, the society will think that advertising is helpful. For example, an advertisement about prescription drugs would be more helpful if they have the facts from government studies. Also if these ads stopped playing on the uneducated public with strange tactics and advertising changed to a venue of education. This trust in people to think for themselves could be beneficial to the education level to everyone. What if a teenager in high school passed an exam with knowledge he got from a commercial?

So to make it simple. We need to stop what advertisements are right now. We need to make them smarter with valuable education and to cut back on the shear amount of them.

=References=

History of Tobacco Regulation: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/nc/nc2b_10.htm

Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Public_Health_Cigarette_Smoking_Act#encyclopedia Health Risks:http://www.epa.gov/radon/healthrisks.html Chengfuhsieh

Ronald b. Standler, http://www.rbs2.com/privacy.htm, 1997. Internet website, 11-24-09.

US Legal Definitions, http://definitions.uslegal.com/i/invasion-of-privacy

Ask Jack Blog, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2009/nov/19/gmail-adverts-privacy-scanning

Education Rescource Information Center http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED168069&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED168069

MLA FORMATING http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/

=Summary=

1. As a whole my feel on this assignment could have gone WAY better. I feel so people were into the assignment and some lacked in the due dates or feedback in contributing towards the group essay. I know its hard to do ONE essay with 5 people but i feel there was a lot of time to work on this individually, as well as, a group. I was a bit frustrated with this topic and it was a rough start to figuring out an outline and when we did that we figured out that it would have been easier to write about if we started with solutions first and creating the problem later. If we all would have been more focused and put FINALIZED info on here more than bits and pieces at a time and trying to make it all ONE VOICE the paper would have been a lot easier and put together more.

2. Reflective assessment

a) Successes:            - Minimizing topics/categories             - Narrative stories tied into the topics well             - Individual and group efforts

b) Failures:            - Not finding a problem to make solutions             - Extra work involved (restarting)             - To broad of a topic

c) Future strategies:             - Find more of an interesting topic             - Minimize group members to many cause to much voices/ideas to work with             - Utilizing off time/class time (Time management and self discipline) MadisonE