Santa Monica College Advertising Discussion
Chapter 12
Reply need to be 350 words minimum total for 3 question
Think about the different persuasive strategies used in advertising that were discussed in the textbook (snob appeal, hidden fear…).
- Find a current commercial or ad and provide the link so your classmates can view it (this can be a commercial – provide the link, or a print ad – post a photo). Or you may describe the ad.
- Explain which persuasive strategy you think is being used (famous person testimonial, plain-folks pitch, snob-appeal approach, bandwagon effect, hidden-fear appeal, irritation advertising).
- Discuss whether or not you think this commercial or ad is effective. Why?
Replies to 2 Peers
You may want to ask questions, provide other examples, or elaborate on a certain point. Discussions should help all of us better understand the material. Make sure you respond in a substantive way (at least 5-6 sentences, not including statement like “I totally agree”.) The goal is to extend and expand upon the discussion.
Talia – student 1
- The ad that I chose is the subway ad which features Jared Fogle. The message they are trying to get across in this ad is that people who eat Subway will lose weight. They are saying, “If Jared can do it, so can you!” In the ad, you see Jared Fogle holding a large pair of jeans and at the top of the ad is the Subway logo. The link for the ad is plain-folks pitch examples.
- The persuasive strategy which is being used in the Subway ad is plain-folks pitch. This persuasive strategy is used when an advertisement is using an ordinary person to make the product seem good and make it look like it’s worth a lot or has a very good value. The ad also uses the persuasive strategy of a famous person as it features Jared Fogle who is an American who was formerly a spokesperson for Subway and they used him in the ad after his weight-loss to say that if he was able to lose weight, then anyone can lose weight when they eat Subway. The ad also uses the persuasive strategy which is called hidden-fear appeal which is a strategy to use the fear of people who are consuming or using what the ad is trying to sell for the purpose of motivating them to buy it. This particular ad is showing that many people fear of being overweight or eating too much and it is motivating them to purchase food from Subway because it makes them think that they will lose a tremendous amount of weight which can ultimately make them feel better about themselves and their weight without worrying that people are judging them or putting them down for the way that they look or if they are fat or skinny.
- In my opinion, this ad was effective because it drew more people to Subway and brought Subway many customers. Lots of people were buying Subway sandwiches on a daily basis and they all thought that they would lose a lot of weight from eating the food at Subway. Having so many customers come to Subway after seeing this ad was also beneficial to Subway because all the customers that would go would enjoy the food and then the customers would use the method of word-of-mouth to tell their friends and the news would spread quickly. Also, when people saw Jared Fogle in the ad, they believed that this phenomenon of losing weight from the food at Subway was actually real and that it can’t be false because the ad has a famous person on it.
Alexander (student 2)
1. Link to advertisement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Uhv131Ggk
2. After searching through advertisements while focusing upon the methods discussed in the textbook, the commercial advertisement I decided to select was a famous person testimonial advertising L’oreal by Jennifer Aniston. This advertisement begins with Jennifer Aniston floating in a room “being held by an invisible force” with music in the background suggesting that she feels at peace with herself. After several seconds, Aniston goes on to explain that the “new” L’oreal Ernette, a hairspray developed by the company is the only hair spray she will ever use, because it’s simply the best one out on the market.
The video goes on to portray the idea that if you, as a viewer, purchase L’oreal Ernette, you too can have silky smooth hair that looks like Aniston’s in the advertisement. As stated before, the persuasive strategy clearly being used is the famous person testimonial. The advertisement utilizes Jennifer Aniston as an influential figure in order to display their product as “top tier,” making it more appealing to those watching at home. This is one of the ways that the company is able to further distinguish itself from other hair care product companies. Aniston is a very powerful use of testimonial, especially due to the fact that she is such a prominent figure in Hollywood, and will continue to be for a very long time.
3. After further analyzing the commercial, it’s clear that the method used is very effective. Clearly, although the company is paying Aniston boatloads of money, they must be doing well due to the fact that they have continued to utilize her in several newer commercials after the one that I had linked. L’oreal is currently one of the top haircare brands available to the market, and through the use of their famous person testimonial, they are ultimately able to further establish their spot at the top.
One can simply look at the ad, and see how silky smooth Aniston’s hair looks. From there, the viewer associates that soft hair with the product being advertised, which happens to be L’oreal Ernette. Further, by seeing Aniston as the one promoting the product, the viewer then believes that the product must work if someone as famous as her is utilizing it on a daily basis over other products available.
Chapter 13
Reply need to be 350 words minimum total for 3 question
Considering the BP and other cases cited in this chapter, what are some of the key things an organization can do to respond effectively once a crisis hits? Please use specific examples from the cases in the textbook (what did BP do that was positive? what did they do that was negative? What other cases were discussed in the textbook?) and discuss effective strategies in general.
Replies to 2 Peers
Discussions should help all of us better understand the material. Make sure you respond in a substantive way (at least 5-6 sentences, not including statement like “I totally agree”.) The goal is to extend and expand upon the discussion.
Alexander (student 1)
Once a crisis hits, it’s critical to respond to the situation immediately. If the public relations sector of the company fails to address the issue immediately, then the public will view what the company has done, and believe that they are fine with the outcome, which often ends in utter outrage. From there, the company that has caused the issue can lose business, and inevitably be forced into filing for bankruptcy. In order to avoid this, however, most companies tend to come up with a gameplan shortly after the incident, and win back their followers through campaigns and other forms of apology. To start, one can look at British Petroleums oil spill in 2010. The initial disaster was quite disturbing. After an explosion that killed eleven workers and led to a massive spill, BP lacked the initial desire to apologize and make the situation right.
The CEO of the company went on to state that the spill was very minor, and he had wished that he could “get his life back.” This response triggered a large amount of backlash from followers of the company. Many went on to bash the company for handling the situation so poorly, and BP ultimately lost the right to the motto that they had worked so hard for, which was to be “Beyond Petroleum.” This essentially meant that followers of the company no longer viewed BP as an environmentally friendly company. Instead, they were now traced back to their roots of environmental destruction through the production and distribution of oil. Although the initial response was ineffective and considered to be extremely negative, the public relations team ultimately came out with a much more positive response to the crisis.
The textbook states that then the company decided to “establish a $20 billion fund to reimburse those economically affected by the spill, vowing to clean up the damaged areas, and creating a campaign of TV commercials to communicate its efforts.” Although the company still received a bit of backlash for their initial reaction, they made up for it through an effort to collect funds for those affected by the spill. This new approach can ultimately be seen as a more positive, likable way to fix the issue at hand.
Another crisis that occurred in 1982 concerns Tylenol, a pain relief medication that is widely known today. In Chicago, seven people had died after consuming Tylenol that had been tampered with within the manufacturing plant. The medication had been laced with poison, which unfortunately ended the lives of several people, cutting their life short. Although this crisis was tremendously devastating, Johnson & Johnson responded to the crisis quickly, efficiently, and positively by not only being completely open to the media but also recalling all capsules nationally, which essentially cost the company $100 million, cutting their market value in half. Although Johnson & Johnson was fully aware that this would occur, they understood that in the long run, this was necessary to not only save lives but maintain their positive image to the public. By remaining completely open to the public throughout the entirety of the crisis, this allowed the companies public relations sector to remain open to others’ opinions, which ultimately helped the company retain its image, even throughout the entirety of the crisis as a whole.
In general, it’s clear that there are several crucial strategies to utilize when facing a crisis. First off, it’s extremely crucial to accept the fact that money will be lost. Through both Tylenol and BP, money was lost either through the establishment of a fund, or the recall of millions of capsules nationally. In addition to the aspect regarding lost money, the public relations sector must apologize for the crisis immediately, and answer the public’s concerns to ultimately calm everyone down. Once this has been completed, the company can then move forward and rebuild their image.
Juanmin (student 2)
One of the important keys of an organization to respond effectively once a crisis hits that they should respond to the public effectively and quickly as soon as the crisis has been discovered, and also give a solution to the public as soon as possible. The other important way to respond to the crisis hits that give money to the stakeholders who were affected. However, if the organization doesn’t do well with the response of the crisis hits, it would have negative effects on the company. According to the cases in the textbook, BP and Tylenol events have different effects when they give a response to the public. When BP does the response to the public which is a negative response example, they have many of the public relations missteps that they multiple underestimations of the amount of oil leaking. Because of the multiple underestimations, the public considers they didn’t give a helpful solution to solve the problem. BP also gives a message to the public that they don’t care about the effect of this problem, so they lost many consumers to keep notice of their products. Unlike BP, Tylenol has a positive response to the public that they recall of the capsules nationally and tracked public opinion nightly through telephone surveys and organized satellite press conferences to debrief the news media. Their public relations handling method gives the public more convincing and relying on their products. There are some methods to do effectively respond to the crisis hits. Firstly, we should acknowledge the failure genuinely from the products or company. Secondly, we need to give apologize to the customers and stakeholders that it causes trouble in their life. Thirdly, we should take appropriate actions and inform the public to lead them to know the process of solving the problem. We should have a high level of transparency in whatever you do in responding to the crisis, so the public can know the truth. Fourthly, we need to explain what is actually done do not exaggerate the steps that it would cause a misunderstanding from the public. The most important thing is that we cannot make a wrong order to do those ways because it would result in different effects for solving the problem.
Chapter14
please respond to the following questions in a minimum of 350 words (you may write much more!) Please number your responses.
- List some ways in which the mass media may contribute to or cause negative social effects.
- Can people working in the media do something to lessen the negative effects? Consider what interventions could be made in the education of media professionals to solve these problems. What factors work against your proposed solutions? In other words, what are competing influences in the media industry that might stymie reforms? Do people working within the mass media have a responsibility to try to lessen negative media effects?
Replies to 2 Peers
Make sure you respond in a substantive way (at least 5-6 sentences, not including statement like “I totally agree”.) The goal is to extend and expand upon the discussion.
Alexander (student 1)
1. Mass media, in today’s day and age, has a tremendous impact on an individual’s social life. As technologically advanced products continue to develop and release into today’s society, the negative social effects caused will continue to increase at somewhat of a rapid rate. To start, one can simply look at how cellphone use has caused negative social effects. Although cellphones are one of the greatest inventions available at the moment, the effects that they currently have on one’s social life can be a bit disturbing. For example. people sitting at restaurants, walking together, or going on date are being constantly disrupted by cellphones. As a person reading this response, have you ever gone to a restaurant, and seen the unfortunate sight of an entire friend group or family all on their phones while eating? This is the sad reality that cellphones have provided for many people. Rather than interacting, and discussing interesting topics over a meal, many people would rather resort to their cellphones for entertainment.
In addition to cellphone use causing a negative social impact, one can also view home consoles in the same light. As video games continue to become more immersive, many people tend to go through their day looking at screen rather than participating in social interaction. The traditional lifestyle where children would go to play outside in the neighborhood is essentially gone. Now, children are inside all day, playing videogames until their eyes can no longer take it. Many children grow up lacking the social interaction needed to function in society, and one can easily blame the advancements made in mass media, which clearly are the reason for the negative social effects that tend to plague the newer generations, including myself.
Lastly, one can look at an obvious form of media that is clearly taking the place of in-person interaction. Social media, which is accessible on cellphones, laptops, and tablets allows people to avoid in-person interaction, and instead, resort to remote socializing through the use of “direct message chat.” Social media has rapidly taken the place of many social interactions, which makes it extremely difficult for many to adapt when they are forced to interact with someone in-person. This form is by far the largest of them all, especially for those that have grown up with social media for the entirety of their lives. At this point, those who don’t have a social media account can be seen as “weird,” which itself serves as a negative social effect caused by mass media.
2. People working in the media can definitely do a bit to lessen the negative social effects caused by the technology that they produce. Although it’s ultimately up to that individual to lessen their use of media, companies can potentially place limits on the amount of time that individuals can spend on the platform before being kicked off. By doing this, those that are utilizing the specific form of media are forced to take a break, and from there, they may have more of a desire to indulge in some sort of normal, social interaction with other individuals. Aside from the point mentioned, however, there’s not much that the media can do to mitigate the overuse of their media platforms.
As stated before, it’s ultimately up to the parent to control their child for overusing the media platform, and if the person is old enough to make their own choices, they must find a way within themselves to limit their use. One thing that the media can control, however, is the mitigation of bullying through their platforms. They must continue to promote a healthier environment that people can feel safe on, which would ultimately lessen the negative effects of the platform. Although this doesn’t necessarily aid in the promotion of in-person interactions, it may help those that feel that they’re being attacked through certain platforms, and those that are the “attackers” must be controlled by the owners of the platform that they’re hosting to the public.
Juanmin(student 2)
1. Firstly, mass media affect people’s view of events, and it also can cause an unusual thing or idea to become normalization. For example, some of the video game includes violence content likes The King of Fighters which is a fighting game, and it also includes many kinds of way to fight with people. The violent content would lead to a person to have violent tendencies. Secondly, it improves the rate of obesity because people spend more time on the media that they reduce their time doing exercise. Thirdly, the media would reduce people’s time on social that it reduces the time to contact in reality with their friends, even not friendship with other people.
channel?For example, otaku which mean people like to stay at home and not socialize with other people except the person who has relative with the job or family. They like to stay in their room to play video games, read comics, and do something they like. Fourthly, media can spread personal information to everybody that it increases the rate of danger for a person. Such as telephone fraud which is a popular fraud in the world. Etc.
2. To be a person who works in the media, I suggest they develop some applications to promote doing exercise or control the harmful information on the media that it can reduce the negative effects on the media. For example, a Switch’s game “Ring Fit Adventure” which the player should wear a ring to play the game. The game also promotes people to do aerobic exercise. To be the education of media professionals, controlling the student use the media and the content on the media are good methods to solve the negative effects in the mass media. However, because of the development of the technique of the media, they bring a more convenient lifestyle to people. People spend more time on the media; even, they rely on media to do the work. People who work within the mass media have a responsibility to try to lessen negative media effects. For example, they can control harmful information or content in the media, and they also can choose who is good for people to watch or use. In addition to the people who work within the mass media, the government also needs to promote the relative rule to control the trend which doesn’t harmful.