In watching The Persuaders, a video from Frountline, it is explained to us how advertising is really taking over everything. Not just what we are choosing to watch, tv shows or movies, but really changing the way we think. It is explained how they put together an advertisement campaign, from start to finish. Which was really interesting. It went to explain that advertising now as to back in the past has had to change there game up alot. It has gone from a simple play on words, or as Kevin Roberts gave an example of this play on words. " What were the brands? They were based on what I call the "er" words:whiter brighter, tastier, cleaner, stronger." Well not much has changed from this, it is still a play on words but not it has gotten deeper. It is about molding our culture with what is referred to as a pseudo- spiritual marketing. I was sorta lost on this concept till Naomi Klein explained this a bit further. "Nike said that they were the meaning of sports, more then that they where about the transcendence through sports, Starbucks said that they were about the idea of community, a place that is, a third place that is not home, not work.Benetton was of course selling multi- culteralism, racial diversity." All this stuff coming from the right words at the right time to the right people.
Advertising has always had to stay one step ahead, after all they are the ones that create what the newest fad is, what the next big thing is, and shaping our culture, well what culture we do have. A product of there own making. Makes part of me think just how much is going to far. I mean they work with the right wording that gets to our feelings that drives us to get what ever they are selling and so far it has always worked. But really how much of this programming, or so it seems is ok. Id like to think of my self as an individual person, with thoughts and feelings and preferences that I have chosen, but is it really what I have chosen or is it what I have been programed to believe. Something about this scares me, and I think somehow I need a wake up call. Am I really that programmable?
I mean really who needs leaders, they seem to get us to believe what they are selling us right. Sad to find out there are actually people in government that not only run there whole campaign on info they bought from companies, but also to get there issues to pass while in office. With a few clicks of buttons they can sort out who cares about what, in what class, from where. Seem all to easy to be a game of some sort instead of doing what is best for the people.
I think Douglas Rushkoff said it right, " Have advertisers go to far?"
Welcome to Our Blog Conversations Beyond the Classroom!
Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Conversation Beyond the Classroom”! The title of this blog refers to the community of active readers & collaborative learners we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with each other + a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study? As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! I encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…). Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
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