NATIVE ADVERTISING

Native Ads, to me,  are a formation of visual designs that blend in with the website in which they are integrated in. They tend to co-exist with the theme and content of the site , thus not appearing to be a forceful ad , but rather a relevant suggestion for a product or brand. They are designed to build trust and engage potential customers. It is an ad that can solely be bought and displayed on one platform ;  facebook, twitter and tumblr being a few of them. As ads of the sort are known to be widely unsuccessful, the amount of them has drastically increased over time.  The official statement of approval is hardly visible and neither are the logos or names of the brands. Reuter's Felix Salmon states that native content tends to aspire more to going viral and generally being shared more than sponsored content. Popular websites that collaborate with brands that are in demand dont solely do it for content to be  be viewed by its audience ; the goal here is to get those ads as viral as possible. 

A native advertisement I found : http://www.glamour.com/fashion/2012/08/10-wardrobe-essentials-every-woman-should-own/1

This website is commonly used amongst women , ranging from their teens all the way to their mid fifties. It provides its audiences with a variety of tips and tricks on how to get the newest makeup look for the season or , as in this one, finding 10 wardrobe essentials that, apparently, are a necessity for every modern fashion forward woman. As one reads the relatively short description located beside each picture, a pattern of appealing to potential customers with humor and relation to celebrities , which in turn creates social pressure , emerges. A few puns here and there, some big names thrown into the mix and positive encouragements for the clothing items are the key strategies used in this ad. "

"Whether you wear them as pants with an oversize sweater, under billowy dresses for extra coverage, or kicking around running errands, likey Katie Holmes, black leggings are a must-have." 

One thing that stood out to me is that in every clothing items description, not only would they refer to a well known celebrity, but their names were links to more articles on what they wear and what makeup they apply. This is a portrayal of native advertising as they arent merely pointing out general clothes here, they are advertising celebrities products by subtly placing a link in their name and making sure that in the moment they're dressed in those clothes on the pictures , they're performing everyday activities that regular women can relate and connect with . Conclusively the product appeals to the target audience by steering them towards celebrity products and thus gaining more views on other articles ; increasing the demand for more items.

Also right after that, clicking through the gallery one is presented with a variety of those clothes from different brands and prices, appearing completely convenient and appropriate for the site. Theyre illustrated like a quick and efficient access to the product that they just convinced you of. In reality there really are no "10 wardrobe essentials every woman needs". There are no "must-haves" either. That is a statement structured out of the blue with its main goal being to grab the audiences attention and give them a sense of obligation towards those products. Throughout this gallery there is a constant advertising of different brands , but placed cunningly. As a reader of Glamour.com , upon coming across the clothes with different brands and prices presented, I wouldnt immediately conclude them to be native adverts of the sort. The native ads aren't pushy ; quite the contrary, they merely happen to be connected to this article and are helpful insights on getting to know the prices and their related products. However, they still have links that will lead the viewer to a new website with a different brand. Those images stick in the minds of the audience and although many might not bother to purchase them directly online, they're surely to be remembered next time you take a stroll around the mall !

GENERATION LIKE ANALYSIS

For this task I was required to reflect on a documentary we viewed in class , called "Generation Like"as well as answering one of various given questions to us.

Reflection

The video discussed the different significant effects that the attention and potential fame can have on social medias users. It went into detail on how the most regular people could get famous and be whisked away into the life of fame, simply by getting viral on one social network. Also the strategy of turning your consumers into producers which I found relevant as the tactics they used were explained on how producers of certain brands or products are more than happy to make their fans advertise for the product with miniscule awards that aren't tangible ; though they convince their consumers of the worth of those prizes. How getting "likes" on social networks influences the way the youth views and more importantly values itself was portrayed by addressing teenagers themselves where interesting discussions were held based on their opinions. How producers and celebrities use their fan base and consumers sympathy as a way to advertise products as well as collaborating amongst each other to pass on the fame was demonstrated. The video provided an insightful exhibition of all mentioned aspects.

2- Empowerment- a word you hear a lot when kids talk about social media. Does social media really empower people?

Depending on how those children interpret the meaning of "Empowerment" in relation to social media, the answer varies. Assuming that , as told in the video , the majority of them views public appreciation through the social media as empowerment ; I would have to disagree. Their idea of being empowered is distorted and narrowed down by the unrealistic perceptions that society has imposed on them. Getting a lot of likes for a selfie these days is what the youth regards as an achievement that empowers them, makes them superior to anyone whose likes are below that, or even the amount of positive comments. It inspires them to alter the way they prefer people to be conscious of them. Only sharing positive events of their lives or editing their status on the reality of their feelings on those activities is one way teenagers create a new flawless social profile. Those actions may seem of little consequence, however the impact it has on them gradually backfires as they become dependant on this specific kind of attention. They will go to any lengths in order to catch the viewers attention. Statuses become shorter and lighter ; so do their clothes. Negative attention can affect them haphazardly , as that is the only opinion available to them. This is a very critical point to consider as at this point of their lives teenagers are at the peak of their insecurities and at an all time low of self confidence, as options to chose from in terms of receiving positive feedback on their actions acks in depth and variety.  Constantly exposing themselves to social networks, wether the feedback is positive or negative ; the mere action of it makes them vunerable and often raises or lowers expectations of themselves , away from balance. Often the initial message is changed to whatever is socially acceptable , which inflicts some kind of pressure on kids that feel obligated to abide by those invisible rules.

On another note, getting famous through the fame on social networks and acheiving not only a lot of committed fans but also earning money certainly can be seen as a form of empowerment. Having a lot of people emit similar positive opinions and being affected by your character wether it is genuine or not, is empowerment. It is a skill that ony a few are capable of and many take a lot of hard work to have that.  

POP CULTURE video analysis

For this task we were required to find a music video that proclaims a specific idea, a few of them being  feminism or racism ; however it portrays the exact opposite in the video, with irrelevant content that does not match the idea that the singer/s initially intended to convey. The video has to be analyzed and criticized in terms of what the lyrics are stating and what or how the singer/s chose to portray themselves in the video.

I chose Michael Jackson's "Black or White" as my pop culture video analysis, although its not the newest song, it certainly is still a part of popculture and very familiar to the audience that grew up with Michaels rise to fame. Prior to reading my analysis, I suggest anyone not being familiar with the video to watch it carefully and pay attention to how Michael chose to portray himself and others around him as that will be the key aspect of my critical analysis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2AitTPI5U0

What caught my attention with this video is that firstly , the it goes precisely with the lyrics. however there is a constant irony inherent with michael jackson dancing along different cultures, seemingly adopting their traditional dances, thus trying to convey the message of appreciation of different races and cultures. However the majority was heavily stereotyped with the national clothes and the way they acted, such as the black people dancing , all being half naked with paint and roaming around the lion infested Africa with agressively painted faces, or the russians dancing in their costumes in the snow. Eventhough he says that it doesnt matter if youre black or white, there are still the very pushy stereotypes all over the video , that dont cover the majority of them and their interactions. Another thing that stood out to me was his history with race itself in relation to the video. It is very well known that Michael despised being part of the black race and as soon as he rose to fame, bleaching his skin beyond recognition and surgical constructions on his face to make him appear as white as possible pretty much spoke for themselves. He didnt want to be associated with blacks, in fact he sought out strictly white blonde women in order to have white children which he achieved in the end. So putting out a song like that , seems pretty ironic. Taking a look at a slice of his lyrics that took up a lot of the song "I Said If You're Thinkin' of being my baby it don't matter if you're black or white." The reality of it is very different. He clearly states that to him it doesnt matter what you look like, being his "baby", his girlfriend or wife will not be related to her color. "Im not going to spend my life being a color." also appeared very ironic to me as that is what the majority of his life revolved around. Color. 

His entire song talks about racism, how he thinks it is an issue that shouldnt be one and that hes not afraid to accept any race regardless of color and step up for them. Perhaps this is not the most articulated way to carry out this task if one is not familiar with his issues around races, however it clearly stood out to me, especially how he chose to wear white on the top to always differentiate himself as much as possible and sort of keep on the "white image." 

written task #2 HL

·   The aims of this written task are:     

          1)  to consider in greater detail the material studied in the four parts of the language A: language and literature course

·      2)   to reflect and question in greater depth the values, beliefs and attitudes that are implied in the texts studied

·      3)   to encourage students to view texts in a number of ways

·      4)   to enable students to give an individual response to the way in which texts can be understood in the light of the prescribed questions.                                                                                                                          

    Question chosen: How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? 

       Ad chosen : 

   Men: When men view this advert, they immediately feel addressed, as the focus of the picture is a man. The catch phrase of this advert "Milk for real men" will further imply the target audience, and therefore have a mans full attention, wether they agree with the rather sexist view of this ad or not. Depending on the man, some would feel appreciative towards this ad as they identify with the figure and its lifestyle , thus deciding on the necessity of this product. Other men whose lifestyle and physique is entirely different, and are comfortable with it,  would feel offended to have their gender being stereotyped into the given descriptions of the ad, throwing out narrow assumptions and making them feel inferior as well as intimiated. However some men who are generally neutral could be inspired to follow into the footsteps of the advertised man, solely for their own good by using the product.

   Women:  A woman might not be thrown off by the image of the man hanging off the cliff, as many advertisements contain one gender but include both for the product. Rather the title of this ad would seal out any hopes for women being meant for the product. Upon viewing what the ad discusses, none of those activities mentioned (work out, mountain climbing) are something women are incapbale or prohibited of carrying out, so really a woman has the right to feel excluded from the audience of the ad.  What the product promised is in no way harmful to women, so again the excluding of women and stereotyping them to be incapable of harder physical activites was unnecessary. Women who follow a fit lifestyle or overcome great challenges would feel offended and insulted by this ad.  

FOA reflection

My FOA was about gender stereotyping in the media. I was able to address the different forms of communication in the media. I also showed how the media uses language and images to inform, persuade, or entertain.  According to my performance, I definitely  could've performed better in terms of delivering the information more relaxed and more independantly.  In terms of the criteria, C and D ( organization and language) are my weak points as I felt that I would often lose trail of the script and spend too much time to find the words, which was frustrating as my practice had proceeded much better, so conclusively my language has to be improved for audience purposes. I chose the text on the advertisements as I felt that they most strongly supported my argument of stereotypes within both genders.  I have learned that my presentation didn’t focus on language sufficiently , however it did recognize some relevant aspects. I require more practice in front of an audience to become at ease , as im trying to persuade my audience of my content and need to act accordingly. For future oral assesments  (FOAs, IOCs) I will alter the way I construct my presentation by improving the desired contents quality, becoming confident with my script and more organized with the content.
transcript: 

Part 1) The focus of this presentation will be on how men and womens roles are being stereotyped through sexist ads in the media. The main question here is, what does advertising reveal to us about society ; which will be elaborated on throughout this presentation. one sexist ad as well as comparing two, of different genders will be analyzed. 

Part 2) Gender stereotypes are over-generalizations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender.They can have a great impact on the youth of society, compressing them into narrowed down ranges of possibilities to express themselves. This includes clothing, language, general behaviour and jobs / hobbies. The media uses advertising as an effective form of communication to mold society at their liking ; convincing the target audience to purchase the products for their well being, while keeping their own profit in the equation. Also sexism will be explored, how its behavior, conditions, or attitudes foster stereotypes of social roles based on gender.

Part 3) the first ad here does not contain any language apart from the brand, however it clearly conveys the message of male domination. The point of this ad is to get the viewers attention with half dressed and attractive men and a woman. The amount of men outnumber the woman that is lying on the floor being pressed down by a mans arms; a state of physical oppression.  Her facial expression appears to be devoted and completely at ease and her body is leaning upwards , towards the oppressor, which portrays an urge to signify her sexual attraction. The mens gazes are all longing and focused on her ; faces blank. Their bodies are slicked up with oil to accentuate their athletic physiques , which reflect on their physical dominance over the woman, whose body is built petite with soft curves, enforcing wrong body images for women. This sort of advertising emanates the wrong idea of how men and women are supposed to view each other, as well as claiming that their clothes lead to those situations. Men here are being stereotyped into emotionless perverse beings with no class apart from their expensive clothes and the woman is being stereotyped as the weakling that enjoys being degraded and mentally as well as physically underestimated. This gives off  the message that men arent capable of controlling themselves and women arent allowed to defend themselves. 

4) the following pictures are two ads with opposite genders being displayed. 

This advertisement depicts the image of an adventurous and dangerous scene, with a strongly built man hanging off the edge of a mountain, his hand being the only support. Normally such a situation is considered risky and unrational, however the milk that hes drinking seems to turn it into a glorious and manly moment. "milk for real men" is the eye catching title of this ad. It immediately throws out a standard to live up to for men, considering the mans perfect build and appearance, so in conclusion , any man that doesnt identify with the advertised figure, is not worthy of a real man. The product also promises "to build lean muscles with high protein and zero fat" . According to the ad, real men only care about gaining muscle and drinking things that make them stronger and "more of a man" . The ad is technified with the over exposure of obvious facts and effectiveness of the product. The man seems to be located somewhere in the wildness, devoid of any responsibilities. The choice of location , with the lack of clothing as well as the facial hair and tanned skin portrays him as a primitive reckless being, whose aim solely focuses on getting stronger. Additionally the ads location signifies freedom and domination for the male species, putting them on a high pedestrial. At the bottom left of the picture a description of the effectiveness is printed, claiming how "wether youre halfway through a workout or climbing a mountain, "maxi milk" will give you that extra push you need to rebuild those muscles and prevent you from getting fat." Again the benefits of the product are mentioned , as well as the name "maxi milk" whose meaning appears to derive from "maximum" hinting that the milk works to its full potential. Now, in contrast for the second ad, the first difference noticable is the location chosen. The kitchen. It is the most widely known place for a woman to be, no matter if she has a family or just a male companion, according to the media, the kitchen is the womans most favourite and suitable place to be. In this ad, a washing up liquid is being advertised to be eco friendly and totally effective in all aspects.The choices of color are mostly soft and light, with some feminine tones in there as well as trying to make the kitchen look homely. Similar to the males ad, the womans entire body is shown, which distracts the viewer of the purpose of the ad and turns down the estimation of intelligence and value of the person. The ad promises to make you feel good, knowing that the product youre using contributes to the environment as well as your families and homes health, and still does a perfect cleaning job. Chosing a woman for this ad symbolizes their obsession with perfecting everything in their reach, and thats just what the ad promised. Eventhough one can easily survive with a regular washing up liquid, throwing in vague weasel word promises of keeping the family and environment healthy, has the desired effect on the buyers that are anxious about their surroundings well being. Consequently the product will not change anything as dramatically as it promised. Also women are made to look like small insignificant things could turn their life around completely, which in turn makes their life seem meaningless and monotone, their roles already given out as cleaners and fussers, forever stuck at home . women are being presented as dominated fragile beings with low levels of intelligence and fairly high levels of naivety. Also the last part of the text adds some humour, suggesting the dishwashing to get you "rocking with the cleaning", clearly trying to appeal to women by making this chore appear pleasant.

In conclusion, what those typical advertisements reveal to us about society is that, men and women dont have equal roles and rights. Their range of possibilities is narrowed down by what seems more logical, dating back to the middle ages where mens physical dominance and rights of education were sufficient to be passed onto generations, drilling into our minds that the way we are being portrayed as both genders is acceptable. Now the media holds the upperhand, in terms of molding and shaping our society as they have a strong influence on their audience, thus holding great power of the future of our society. The way women are being stereotyped as insignificant eyecandy that has no real purpose apart from being mens muse and cleaners at home, and the way men are being told that they have to be financially as well as physically successful in order to get a reputation, women and great cars as well as being the ones that are entitled to exploring and making great impacts on our earth is exaclty what our society is based on. We've been trained to think this way, and are being restricted to think "out of the box" , creating new rules and understandings of how much power both genders actually have. Stereotyping ourselves is a pattern that is easy to comprehend, possible to remember and very clear in its messages, therefore we automatically chose stereotyping over openmindedness.