Media, Culture & Society

I have selected articles that feature just a few of the societal consequences of a culture that is obsessed with consumption. As we have learned in class, the problem of Americans equating happiness with the acquisition of material goods is of concern in today’s commercialized world.

Click here to read the story of a woman who racked up major credit card debt due to her “compulsive” shopping habits. Credit card debt is becoming an increasing problem in a world where much emphasis is place on what you own. Even those who cannot afford to “keep up with the Jones’s” feel the pressure to spend, even if it means taking on the burden of future debt.

McChesney makes the claim that “Advertising accentuates the class bias in the media.” We have seen examples of this not only in advertisements that target those who have the disposable income, but also in TV shows, where it appears that everyone leads a charmed life. Viewing these glorified settings leads Americans to think that everyone lives the way those we see on TV do. I found this article entertaining, which shows what kind of salary TV characters would be making if they were in real life.

This article talks about some of the changes that have took place in commercialism since the inception of Tivo in the late 1990’s.  It refers to product placement in movies and TV shows as a means of advertisement, to catch the viewers who fast forward through commercials.  In show advertisements and online ads have also become more prevalent as TV commercials aren’t assured of catching the viewers attention.

TV advertisements are getting an interactive makeover in Europe, Canada and, soon, here in the US. Using a TV remote, users can get additional information about products and services advertised in a ‘traditional’ TV spot. See the entire article from Media Week here.

This article discusses the “tough” decision that NBC had to make about whether or not to show the tapes that were sent to them by the gunman in the VT massacre.  I feel that the public has a right to know details to a certain extent.  However, showing something as disturbing as this crosses a line, where the sensitivity of the people involved is not taken into consideration.  As we know from class, news stations tend to play things that have a high shock value because that is what helps them in turning a profit.  This was clearly no exception.

Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who is chairman for the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, is suggesting legislation to the FCC that would make some children’s programming not count toward a TV station’s 3 hour minimum of kid’s educational programming per week. He also wants to ban all fast food and snack food ads during kids shows.

He directed this proposition to the FCC Chairman (Kevin Martin) and commissioners (Deborah Tate and Miachael Copps.) Markey says that the good educational kid’s programs focus on healthy lifestyles but are tarnished by unhealthy food commercials. To read more click here.

The article states, “While just about everything concerning online video is an experiment at this point, there is immense interest in figuring out whether this kind of “advertainment” — it begs for a better term — represents a possible new business model for media in a digital world. It is yet another attempt at eliminating the middleman and having a direct relationship with the consumer.”

I thought it was interesting that the product industry may not need to rely on the networks for promotions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/business/yourmoney/15frenzy.html

There have been a number of posts regarding the big money being spent by drug manufacturers on advertising. Here’s one more news item from National Public Radio. Follow the link and you can listen to the entire story.

Similar to another post a few spots down, obesity is very prevelant in the case of children. The average child sees over 40,000 commericial ads on television alone each day (and 80% of those ads are about fast food, toys, snacks, soda etc). The two articles I cite (sans the ‘interactive marketing links) are from the organization Children Now.

One article discusses techniques in which advertisers are using to get children. It discusses that children are a vital market because they are vulnerable…and advertisers prey upon that because children are very impressionable. At the end of this particular article, it discusses the new dangers of ‘interactive’ marketing towards children. See the articles here.

The second article from Children now goes more in-depth discussing the ‘interactive’ marketing geared towards children. Advertisers are utlizing specific products as games or interactive tools to get people to buy their products. You can access the article here. Such games that are being used include “Oreo Dunk ‘N Slam,” “Ritz Bits Sumo Wrestleing,” or other things. You can access a bunch of these games here.
Another website that makes kids (and even adults) mouth’s water for M&M’s is becomeanmm.com. On this website, people can choose what type of M&M they want to be, what type of hair, arms, accessories, etc. that make their ‘M&M’ personality unique. They can basically ‘create themself’ on this website. There are a ton of Become an M&M advertisements in magazines such as “People” that utilize stars (such as Burt Reynolds) as an M&M character. It appeals to the technique of children…and people in general being star struck. You can access this website here.

This video was done on a blog at Rocketboom.com. For no longer than the piece is, it is fairly informative and might be a great help in explaining net neutrality to friends or groups who know little or nothing about it. Gotta love the pro-business comments left about this video– (these of course have my own spin as to what people sound like)

“Government control of private enterprise? Preposterous.” –Since when has the internet been private? Anyone and everyone can use it and see what you’re doing if they just know how.

“TeleCo’s aren’t really trying to make any more money than they do now.”

“I’ve seen the birth and development of the internet first hand and I know exactly how it works. You’re using TeleCo property, so net neutrality is just stealing.” –as if charging $40 a month for access isn’t?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPap8ijDv…

Here is the 30-second TV spot compiled by the TeleCo companies to get people to hate net-neutrality. Notice the use of text colors/effects, irrelevant images, and wording (Mumbo jumbo? Seriously people, how old was the person who wrote this commercial?) And lastly, take notice how they call it a “scheme by the Silicon Valley Tech companies to make you pay more.” I guess the TeleCo companies own Silicon Valley too…

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPIYxtjLF…

I don’t have a flash extractor and WordPress apparently doesn’t support HTML embedding, so you’ll have to follow the link.