Saturday, January 5, 2013

Advertisements

The world as portrayed by advertisements is a sad one indeed. It is a society driven by prejudice, stereotypes, sexism, deception, lying, mistrust, ignorance, judgment and selfishness. Furthermore, the products that dominate television are for sex, drugs, and alcohol, with a sprinkling of cars, and fast food (but it is ok because DUI's aren't still prevalent, and obesity is no longer an issue thanks to the Biggest Loser).

Specifically, the new Galaxy Note II ad is the world I would least like to live in (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itb0s5jTJHY). Let's start with the product. Great, another overpriced phone-tablet that will cost $200 to replace when you inevitably drop-it, unless you spend $30-$60 dollars on a case that will make this oversized phone truly impossible to fit into your pocket. Oh, and there is no guarantee that the case will product your phone, which was the whole point of buying it to begin with.

Back to the ad itself.

First, why would either of them be doing anything on their phone when they are in the office. Last time I checked, computers are still faster and easier to use. So in this world people opt to be less productive.

Second, the company makes the assumption that work is something people don't want to do, and is purely boring and compulsory (not true, see http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html).

Third, in every office setting I have ever been in, women have been at least as productive as the men. I have no empirical evidence of this, but I would guess that when the target audience of an NFL Playoff game (18-35 year old men, who most likely are drinking a beer and swearing profusely at the tv) sees this ad, it would reinforce negative stereotypes that many of them may already have about women, and worse, may create new ones that didn't exist before.

Fourth, when the woman asks the guy to share his work and he says yes, she then takes credit for his work. What? Thanks Samsung for showing us how to be both good workers and amazing people.

Fifth, oh wait, she now has to do the work she didn't do to begin with so it is all fair. NOT! This fails to address what was wrong with the fourth point. One person taunted, deceived, and stole from another person. Extra work does not offset any of those acts.

Sixth, there is no remorse for any of the actions previously mentioned. In fact, the woman just mocks her boss.

Hey, at least they still have pupu platter's in this world, the least healthy and least authentic form of Polynesian food.

WE NEED ADS THAT REPRESENT AND REWARD IDEALS! Advertisements and media have the power to positively affect our vision of the world. However, rather than focusing on the positive and the possible, companies always opt for the negative and the pretty awful present.

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