Lovemarks in the Ads: 2013 Jeep Super Bowl Commercial

There is no doubt that this Jeep commercial left a heart-warming and nationalistic feeling on the viewers. They used a load of lovemarks to sell their merchandise, and in this case: Jeep.

First and foremost, there is an audio that talks throughout the video, delivering this breathtaking and influential message. Let's give a round of applause to Oprah Winfrey. She basically used her amazing skills and powerful voice to reach into our souls and take out our inner-nationalistic feelings. That was pretty amazing. A brief overview of her great message is having our soldiers home would not only make us a full family but a nation AND that Jeep proudly supports our soldiers. The advertisers are using lovemarks by making this ad emotional and making it something that many families can connect to. However, the initial reason of making this ad is to sell Jeep. Families that has a love one who are away to serve our country would look at this ad and hope that their son or daughter would be in a Jeep since it's the safest and that it's been serving soldiers for many years. The advertisers did a great job by reaching the emotional level of the viewers by including this speech.

Then they also used actors and actresses to portray the feelings and the "actions" the soldiers would so when they come home. I think this part grabs my attention the most because of the way how each and every actors and actresses acted upon their parts. I was really touched with the quality of their work and how smoothly it ran with Oprah's message. The advertisers used this part to show the happy times and the times of struggling that are waiting in line after the soldiers come back from serving their country. They are using lovemarks to emotionally grab the viewer's attention. They chose to have actors acting in the background along with Oprah's audio to make the ad even more suspenseful to promote the opinion that Jeep is the best for serving soldiers. I think what they did here was pretty smart. Everything was on key; when the voice over mentioned something, the actors would show that and it was just touched the emotional level and some people would base their decisions on their feelings. The advertisers wanted to specifically touch the hearts of many so that the car brand, Jeep, would have a good reputation for serving the soldiers. 

Unnecessary Post #1: My Interesting Conversation with my Younger Sisters

So I was preparing to make pomegranate-orange juice from the fruits that I picked out yesterday from my front and back yard, and an interesting conversation came up between my two younger sisters and me. It first started with the topic of school.

Our conversation: 
- Cheyenne: "I can't wait to go back to school."
- Me: "You like school huh? I'm too tired to go to school."
- Cheyenne: "I'm so bored here, I miss school."
- Me: "That's good that you miss school. Concentrate and eventually you'll get into HISP just like  me. Just don't think about things like boys and having a boyfriend."
- Maggie: "Cievia, do you talk to boys at school?"
- Me: "Yeah, I talk to boys but not like a girlfriend."
- Maggie: "I don't like talking to boys."
- Me: "You can talk to them but not like how a girlfriend would talk to her boyfriend. Talk like regular friends."

At this part of our conversation, I started realizing how much things someone would go through while going to school; how much feelings people would experience. I just saw the things that my little sisters would eventually have to experience and those thoughts scared me.

Our continued conversation:
- Me: "Just study about History and learn from people's mistakes."
- Maggie: "History?"
- Cheyenne: "We haven't learned about history yet."
- Me: "Yeah, history. You guys haven't learned about history yet?"
- Cheyenne: "No, not yet. We are too young to learn it."
- Me: "Well when you guys learn it, study about the mistakes the people made."
- Cheyenne: "When you said history I thought you said 'his-story'."
- Me: "What do you mean?"
- Cheyenne: "You know? Like 'his-story'."
- Me: "Did you think that or did you think about the subject history first?"
- Cheyenne: "I thought about the subject."
- Me: "What about you Maggie? Where did you guys get this from?"
- Maggie: "I got it from my teacher. It was a knock-knock joke."
- Cheyenne: "I got it from my head."

This part made me realize how innocent a child's mind can be. I thought it was pretty interesting; I never thought about 'his-story'. It's interesting how my younger siblings would just come up with these things and they would bring it up at the most random time ever. Maggie can literally remember the weirdest things and Cheyenne can come up with the most innocent thing that sometimes when they bring it up, it just takes me by surprise. It's funny how my mind doesn't work like this. Is it because of what I've experienced has totally influenced the way how I think? Is it my brain? Am I aging too quickly? I don't know.

Then I thought about analyzing my two younger sisters' thoughts. Our conversation is becoming even more interesting--well, to me that is.

Me: "Did you guys know that back then, women did not have rights?"
Cheyenne & Maggie: "Yes!"
Maggie: "Men would do outside jobs and women would do jobs like cleaning the dishes."
Me: "Why do you think that?"
Maggie: "I don't know."
Me: "Do you think that people did that because they thought women can not do those outside jobs?"
Maggie: "Yeah."
Me: "How can you fix that?"
Maggie: "Well, when I have kids, I'll tell the boys to do the outside jobs and the girls to do the inside jobs. Then the next day they switch."
Me: "Do you think that too, Cheyenne?"
Cheyenne: "Yeah, so that it's fair."
Me: "Why do you think there hasn't been a girl president?"
Cheyenne: "I don't know. If a girl can be a queen and rule her kingdom, then a girl can be the president. I think that some boys still think girls only know how to do the dishes and house works."    
Me: "But do you think that girls are capable of doing better things than cleaning the house and the dishes?"
Cheyenne: "Yes."
Me: "What do you guys want to be when you grow up?"
Maggie: "I want to be a teacher."
Cheyenne: "I want to be a veterinarian so that I can help animals."
Me: "Maggie, why do you want to be a teacher."
Maggie: "So then I can help kids learn math and learn how to read. So that they can do good."

Then this is where I stopped analyzing my sisters' thoughts. I have seen the thoughts of two young girls in the topic of men superiority. Although all humans are created equal, and the issue of men being more superior than women have been solved years ago, we can still see that there are still some things in the world that hints the idea of men being better or more powerful than women. If the issue have been already solved, how come Cheyenne thinks that there are some boys who thinks that girls only know how to do 'girl jobs'. Maggie mentions about boys and girls switching roles--having the boys do outside jobs one day and girls doing them the next day so that everything is equal. At that point, Cheyenne also agrees with Maggie. Both of them believes and values equality like the majority of other people in the world including me and the system that we have was set up to make sure that everyone does have that equality. Yet, do we really have that equality? Do women have the same advantage as men do? Am I being judged because I'm a girl? What about my sisters? Will they not be able to become what they want to pursue a career in because they are girls?

At a young age, everyone has been asked once the question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I asked that question numerous of times just to see what people wanted to be and how different each kids' ideal job is.

However, today I had a deeper purpose of asking that question. My sisters don't know that college is worth a lot of money. My sisters don't know that they'll have to compete with others to get to their career. My sisters don't really know about the topic of men superiority and that their gender may have an affect with whichever path they choose. I wanted to see their answers to this question with their innocent minds without these obstacles that they have to think about later on in life. I wanted to see what they thought about the controversial topic of women being second to men. I wanted to see the innocence they still possessed while they are still young.

I'm sure that maybe five years from now their answers would be quite similar to these answers they've told me. But they would have already done numerous of research on the topics I've covered. They would know that college is worth a lot of money. They would know that they would have to compete with others to get their dream jobs. They would know the the topic of men superiority. Then their answers would be influenced by outside forces that aren't their own.

Freebie Post #1: Ads & Techniques

The first time I watched this Thai ad was in the year 2008 and I can still remember how I felt after watching it. Now in 2014, I watched it again for the purpose of my media blog and I felt the same tingling of feelings that I felt six years ago. This ad leaves the feelings of anger, sadness, and empathy that I would recall and all those feelings would just blend together to make me think how cruel and unthankful some people could be. 

Perhaps this is what the ad want I to feel. And trust me, I thought it was completely ridiculous when Pantene was mentioned at the end of the advertisement. 

Yet, this ad left such an impact on me that I just had to find it after six years. 

They centered this ad on a deaf girl who wants to play the violin. However, because of her disability, other people would underestimate her and bully her. The producers wanted to touch the hearts of their viewers therefore they took this chance to base this whole ad on the goals of a character who was death. I think this was pretty brilliant since this is just not a typical girl who has dreams to play the instrument and to win the contest. This makes the viewers feel even more sympathetic for the young girl and this is exactly what the producers want. In order to make viewers connect to the main character, the producers showed problems and obstacles that the main character had to go through and those problems are the similar to many people. For example, the main character was being bullied and people who has been bullied for being "not good enough" would instantly draw parallels of the girl in the ad to themselves. The music the producers picked out serves a big part of this ad. They chose a very sad, yet very uplifting song and it just captures the right outcome of feelings from the viewers. They want us to feel the same sadness that the character feels and this song does a perfect job of doing that. Near the end of this ad, the main character gets a chance to perform in the contest against her rival, the girl that has been bullying her. The camera acts like a satellite and circles around the death girl as she's playing her violin and her hair is dramatically being blown. Here, the viewers would think, "Her hair is beautiful," or "I'm so jealous of her long, straight, thick hair," or even, "I want her hair." The producers uses this part to sell their Pantene products. Since the girl has learned to play the violin and beats her opponent, all the producers have to do now is to mention their product since the camera captures her hair beautifully and dramatically.    

The producers are using diversion to sell their products. The emotional story-line they weave was used to tell people that they are able to overcome obstacles and shine with Pantene products. The producers tackled the problems that many people would face in their lifetime including being bullied, trying to become better, trying to learn something, or trying to overcome your opponent. Then after solving the problems, people would be able to shine the spotlight with the products. They are trying to make me want to buy this product so that my hair would look like the girl's hair. 

Truthfully, I think that the ad was amazing. It's something that I can relate to which makes me even more vulnerable to buy the Pantene Products.   

Language in the News: The Kim Kardashian Nude Pictures Scandal

Kim Kardashian. What has she done now? Posing naked for her photo shoot under the request of Jean-Paul Goude, the photographer, has caused a stir in the media.

I have picked two different sources that talks about this scandalous topic that had everyone talking and questioning. Both of these sources uses language to make us see different viewpoints of the way how people reacted. 

On November 14, 2014,Victoria Hoff from elle.com talks about how hilarious the media has reacted to Kim's pictures. She writes in her article "Kim Kardashian Tries to Break the Internet; Internet Responds Hilariously (NSFW)", "Chances are you woke up this morning to a lot of booty on your news feed—Kim Kardashian's booty in particular. (Happy Hump Day?)" Hoff brings up this topic by using sarcasm but at the same time uses ambiguity. She clearly states that all that "booty" on your news feed must be no other that Kim Kardashian's herself! The writer is not trying to mislead us in anyway and of course, even if she tried to mislead us we would automatically think about Kim because in reality, everything in our news feed was about her pictures (which was also painful to see posts after posts of the same topic; too much repetition can lead to irritation).

Then Hoff decides to talk about Kim's hashtag (if you don't know it already): #BreakTheInternet. She calls out Kim by saying "...we're happy to report that the Internet did not break..." and then Hoff adds, "...the probability that you'll come across a stranger's bare *ss on Instagram just got way higher..." and start showing pictures of people making fun of Kim's nude pictures either reacting it or photo shopping it. This is partly a double speak. The objective of this whole article is to talk about the people's reactions yet at the same time calls out Kim and shows pictures that humiliates her. Hoff tries to use sarcasm and satire to show the negative and the irresponsible things that Kim has done. Her sarcasm and satire is quite misleading at first but eventually will show because of the pictures she includes in her article. Although she does not openly go against Kim, she is hinting at the fact that she is with these little remarks and her funny comments.

Another article that I chose to break down was by Nicole Pomarico from bustle.com. On November 13, 2014, after seeing all the negative comments, Nicole writes in her article "Kim Kardashian's 'Paper' Magazine Cover Brings Out The Worst In People", "This kind of bums me out...I feel like more people should be applauding how majestic it is that she can balance a champagne glass on her booty. I just slipped into the kitchen to find out if I could do the same to no avail. This woman has skill." It looks like this author likes and agrees with Kim more compared to the other author whose article I read and analyzed above. She doesn't seen misleading at this point; it seems as if she's on Kim's side of this whole situation. Nicole writes, "The “Kim Kardashian is someone’s mom” genre of tweets are the ones that p*ss me off the most. It’s as if people expect women to lose all sex appeal once they’ve birthed their first child." She seems angry and talks with ambiguity--not hiding anything at all. She's very clear about her opinions and it makes readers see that there are some people out there who would praise Kim for going all out on this photo shoot (I meant naked). Unlike thousands of other who completely hates Kim for doing this, Nicole is one of the few who will "back up" Kim and to also mention, her values really get worked up here. She seems very passionate about the "Kim Kardashian is someone's mom" saying, "Is it just me, or does that view seem incredibly archaic?" We can see that the writer values the individuality a woman has; even if everyone goes against her. We can also see that the repetition of being a "better" person because one has a child irritates Nicole. She values the abilities of women and their freedom of making their own choices without caring about the negative judgements.  

Throughout Nicole's article, she does not mislead the reader in anyway. She's open about her opinions and she is completely against the idea of changing yourself or being tentative of your decisions because you just gave birth to a baby and everybody would think you're crazy.  

Lastly before I go to bed, I want to give my opinions about this scandalous topic. I believe that a woman has control over their body and no one should try to change that or call them out just because you think it's wrong. It's their decision and if those decision has consequences, then let them learn by making those decisions. I believe that Kim did what she wanted and if that made her happy, then there's nothing we can do about. The pictures are already out there and there is no way of taking them down so people have to calm down and stop saying negative things about her. And hey, Kanye is okay with this whole thing so there won't be a gigantic feud between these two so really there's no use of saying negative things to Kim.


"Kim Kardashian Tries to Break the Internet; Internet Responds Hilariously (NSFW)"
http://www.elle.com/news/culture/kim-kardashian-paper-mag-cover 

"Kim Kardashian's 'Paper' Magazine Cover Brings Out The Worst In People"
http://www.bustle.com/articles/48858-kim-kardashians-paper-magazine-cover-brings-out-the-worst-in-people

My Relationship With the Media: A tough battle

Honestly, I can still remember a time when my house did not have three computers, two flat screens, a laptop, two Samsung Galaxies, and an iPhone.

I had the outdoors. I had the fresh air. I had the typical life. With one family television sitting in the living room that I never watched and one family computer that I never used. Yet. I was happy. 

Looking back, I miss the first five years of my childhood. I would roam the outdoors and my mother would yell at me to come home or my skin would get dark. She would use these kinds of excuses to keep me from playing with my brothers. According to a traditional Hmong household, a girl must learn to be obedient, a girl must learn how to cook, a girl must learn how to clean, a girl must learn how to sew, a girl must NOT play with boys. Well, I didn't care. Although I learned how to be obedient, how to to cook, how to clean, how to sew, I still played with my brothers and I still roam outdoor. And I am proud.

My mother eventually got use to the way how I was. She eventually went easy on me and let me play with my brothers for a few hours.

I remember playing hide-and-seek. One would count to fifty (not ten, but fifty) and the rest would hide. I hid behind the bushes all the time. My brother would find me and it would be my turn to be "it".

I didn't need technology to have fun. I didn't need technology to bond. I didn't need technology at all.

And I was happy. I was a happy, bubbly child.

A year or two later my family got another up-to-date computer. That's when I did care. That's when I stop playing with my brothers. That's when I started to roam online and not outdoors.

It first started with MySpace. Oh gosh, I regret a lot of things and MySpace is one of them. I was a six year old with a MySpace account! Back then I felt awesome, now I feel...Come on! I was a six year old with a MySpace account! SIX YEARS OLD! SIX!!

I feel completely dumb for thinking that I was awesome.

I should calm down; I didn't use it for profanity to completely destroy people or to completely destroy myself. I used it to connect with people like my aunties, uncles, friends and other relatives. That's pretty innocent. I was innocent. I still am. I just got hooked onto technology. I just got hooked into something call the media.

Although I had an account, I barely went on it. My sisters would give a time restriction for me and if I go over my limit, they would never give me my fair share of the computer ever again. That's what they said and at the time I was mad at them for it. I became bratty. I became dependent on technology. 

Now looking back, I am happy that my sisters gave me my time restrictions. I was addicted but not as addicted like now.

At my age, I have more than ten accounts on different websites ranging from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter to Yahoo to Google to.......You get the point. I just became something that was completely different from when I was four or five. I still love the outdoors. I still love smelling the fresh air in the morning. I still love the smell of wood chips. I still love riding my bike. I still love having the feeling of being free. But there's that part of me that is still dependent on technology. There's still that part of me who wants to get the latest style, the latest technology, the latest makeup, the latest "thing".

It's a tough battle. I am one of those people trying to break free from the addicting world of the media. However, this is the twenty-first century, the media is the latest "thing". It's communication; it's keeping people all over the world together in a way to prevent another disastrous event yet at the same time influencing another one. The media is consuming so many lives without us knowing that we forget how to have fun, how to communicate, how to do things without the technology we possess today.

There's an advantage and price to pay for that advantage. The media is not at fault in this double sided situation, it's our fault. It's us who's using the media, it's us changing it, influencing it, keeping it alive. Now in order to stop ourselves from being even more consumed, just stop looking at your phone. Stop looking at your laptop. Stop looking at the television. Stop looking at your tablet.

Just stop. And start doing.   

There are many others who are trying to break free. I am. My relationship with the media is a bad one. It's like a battle with myself. I am the person who's in my own way. I want to break free but the things I have seen and experienced while using technology is just too hard to steer clear from. I am jealous of my almost-technology-free childhood. But I can't do anything if I just sit and stare at my phone or my computer. I need to stop and start doing.