Caution: This post might be offensive to animal lovers.
Shock advertising is one of the common method used in any animal right movements in promoting its campaigns because it provoke audiences'emotions and feelings. Animal rights movement often shows video of images that illustrate animal violence. Everyone knows that any act of violence such as hitting or killing someone is wrong. Can this principle applies to animals? This question is widely debated and become a controversial issue. Any organisation that specialize in preserving or promoting animal welfare will exploit this principle in their advertising campaign.
Recently, I found an article about society reaction to dog-meat festival in China. The article's title is "City Aims to Play Down Its Dog Meat Festival" The article sums up about difference in opinion between activist and people that love dogs' meat. The picture of dead dog hanging may be troublesome to some people who is not used to the scenery but it is a common picture for people that live in China. I think this applies to any animal that we commonly eat such as pigs, chicken, cow and others. Video featuring killing of dogs for food do create weird intense feeling for myself, but any video that feature killing scenes with blood also create such feeling as well. The usage of such videos to provoke undesired feeling so that audience will avoid eating animals is inappropriate except if such animals is facing extinction. Depiction of such images or videos just to counter other culture seems ridiculous because any animal killing image destroys people appetite no matter what kind of animal it is.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Failed Dog Advertising
[image]
Recently, I found an article entitled "Sneaker company in doghouse after dead dog ad BY MARTHA C. WHITE" featuring shoe ads by PEARL IZUMI. This article sums up that depiction of dead dog is not good for advertising. This is because pet lovers view such ads as offensive. For example, they might view that the shoes makes them run so hard that they might kill their dogs. To make matter worse, most pet owners like to jog or walk with their dogs. Although the message that the company want to relay to consumer is the shoe makes the owner to run faster, the company failed to identify possible negative interpretations that generated by the ads.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Dog as an image seller
When you go to a cinema, you need to choose a movie to watch. What factors do you consider? Movie popularity, actor or actress, genre, friends recommendation etc. I acknowledge that each one of us has our own own preference when deciding something. In today's world of smart devices, people socialize in the web more than they socialize in real world especially in the large city. I might be wrong because of my generalization. Everyday, we decide which people to talk to, which food stalls or restaurants to eat, which clothes to buy and others. Maybe some of the actions i mention above, we do it instinctively. What I want to say here is our perspective is build mainly from our observations and educations in our lifetime. Some of our perspectives change with time as well as we gains more knowledge and acquire deeper understanding.
My claim here is dogs is used in advertising because dogs are role model or idols to huge part of our society. You might argue that role model or idols can be only used for humans because there exist humans that we adore or admire or simply because of his or her contribution to the society. For example, mother Teresa is admire because of her charitable works. Jackie Chan is loved by his fans because of his stunt movies. Beethoven is admire because of his contribution to music. Thomas Edison is respected because of his contribution to electrical industry. These are few examples that support your argument.
How about Superheroes like Spiderman or Superman or Disney characters like Elsa or Cinderella? Although these characters are fiction but we cannot deny that some of the children see them as idols. I believe some of adults still fond of them as well. Although i have no concrete evidence on these relationship, movies on superheroes are well seen by society. This can be prove by looking at analysis done by BoxOffice. One cannot deny most of superheroes movies will become top list once there are released.
How about we move on a more realistic examples? For example Disney's stars like Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus or Harry Potter's stars like Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson. For those who are born in 1990s and above, we see their movies and we grow together with them. Most these idols have their own fanpage. Whether we like them or not, we cannot deny how influential are them in some part of our lives.
Have you ever consider how these relationship sometimes affect things we buy or wear. Some of us tend to buy clothes that are in fashion or because of certain actor or actress wore the fashion. Sometimes we see movies because of our favorite actor or actress. Sometimes we eat certain food because it reminds us of our family dishes.
These applies to dogs too. At some point of our lives, we encounter dogs. It can be a real dog or random visual dog image in website or movies. From our observation, dogs can be a cute animal, a friend or a pet, but it can also viewed as food, experiment candidates, and dangerous animal. In terms of education, dogs are widely teach as man's best friend because of their loyalty, companionship, love etc.
Take a look at Video 1, Video 2 and Video 3.
The positive characteristic of dogs are displayed from three link above. We all know that advertising industry use well known actor or actress in their advertisement to boost their popularity and enhance purchase intention from us. The same concept applies to dogs as well. Actor, actress and models are chosen because of their appearance, popularity, influence etc. Dogs are chosen because of their loyalty, friendship and love.
My claim here is dogs is used in advertising because dogs are role model or idols to huge part of our society. You might argue that role model or idols can be only used for humans because there exist humans that we adore or admire or simply because of his or her contribution to the society. For example, mother Teresa is admire because of her charitable works. Jackie Chan is loved by his fans because of his stunt movies. Beethoven is admire because of his contribution to music. Thomas Edison is respected because of his contribution to electrical industry. These are few examples that support your argument.
How about Superheroes like Spiderman or Superman or Disney characters like Elsa or Cinderella? Although these characters are fiction but we cannot deny that some of the children see them as idols. I believe some of adults still fond of them as well. Although i have no concrete evidence on these relationship, movies on superheroes are well seen by society. This can be prove by looking at analysis done by BoxOffice. One cannot deny most of superheroes movies will become top list once there are released.
How about we move on a more realistic examples? For example Disney's stars like Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus or Harry Potter's stars like Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson. For those who are born in 1990s and above, we see their movies and we grow together with them. Most these idols have their own fanpage. Whether we like them or not, we cannot deny how influential are them in some part of our lives.
Have you ever consider how these relationship sometimes affect things we buy or wear. Some of us tend to buy clothes that are in fashion or because of certain actor or actress wore the fashion. Sometimes we see movies because of our favorite actor or actress. Sometimes we eat certain food because it reminds us of our family dishes.
These applies to dogs too. At some point of our lives, we encounter dogs. It can be a real dog or random visual dog image in website or movies. From our observation, dogs can be a cute animal, a friend or a pet, but it can also viewed as food, experiment candidates, and dangerous animal. In terms of education, dogs are widely teach as man's best friend because of their loyalty, companionship, love etc.
Take a look at Video 1, Video 2 and Video 3.
The positive characteristic of dogs are displayed from three link above. We all know that advertising industry use well known actor or actress in their advertisement to boost their popularity and enhance purchase intention from us. The same concept applies to dogs as well. Actor, actress and models are chosen because of their appearance, popularity, influence etc. Dogs are chosen because of their loyalty, friendship and love.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Subaru's ads 2014
Quoted from http://carmichaellynch.com/campaign/dog-tested-dog-approved/
"Dogs have been driving Subaru vehicles for years. This year, we introduce you to a family of dogs, the Barkleys, that go through everyday relatable human experiences. They are moments we can all identify with. The new commercials focus on situations we've gone through with our own families: teenagers dating, road trips, getting stuck in traffic, getting lost in thought…When you meet the Barkleys, you can sit back and laugh at all of the silly and simple human behaviors, because the dogs are standing in for us."
Subaru Dog Tested: What's the Fuss About?
the Barkleys get distracted by mailtruck on the road and start barking simultaneously:
Subaru Dog Tested: In the Dog House
Mrs. Barkley catches her husband checking out a Poodle.
Subaru Dog Tested: Road Trip Convenience Store
the family stops at a gas station for a refreshing drink from the toilet
Subaru Dog Tested: Teenagers
In another commercial from the campaign, Mr. Barkley catches his "teenaged" daughter making out with a Boxer
Subaru Dog Tested: Turn Signal
the Barkley's get stucked behind wrong driver
All of these creative Subaru dogs ads show us that dogs has become an important figure in portraying human actions in everyday life.
Monday, June 16, 2014
companion ads
When you think of companion, who do you think of?
Do you think of your love ones?
Family?
Husband/Boyfriend?
Wife/Girlfriend?
Friends?
How about pets?
like dog
or cat
This time the 5 ads that i chose and will analyze is more pets related except for the first one and all of these involve around value of companionship. Enjoy the ads.
How easily the driver maneuver the car depends on the tyre no matter dry or cold. Bridgestone has deliver this basic message. To emphasize it, the ads focus on beaver and how beaver repay the kindness of the driver by making sure the safety of the driver of any upcoming disaster such as floods. This indirectly create impression that we can trust Bridgestone's tyres.
This concept is similar to Bridgestone ads which is placed at no.8 from previous post excluding the beaver.
This ads gives a new meaning to puppy love. Traditionally, puppy love is considered childhood/young love which I would like to say as short term love. Budweiser creativity to exploit these catchy phrase is deserve admiration because it creates a new more sustainable meaning to the puppy itself. It no longer represents short term love, but a long term relationship. This can be clearly seen from the depiction between the dog and the horses itself. More importantly, a good hedge-tag by Budweise #BestBud. Besides that, this also give impression that Budweiser is supporting puppy adoption to its audience.
Another unique imagination that i can find about the depiction of the dog and the horse is althought there are different species, they are not be separated . An excellent analogy usage when we compare the relationship between Budweiser beer and people Both of these never separated although different representation is what the message of the ads is.
If the dogs in this ads is substituted by real humans, it will be a boring ads. By integrating human roles into dogs stir up emotions or feelings which attract audience to watch the ads. The main message of the ads is to have a good time, have some Bud Lights.
The main message is to attract audience to buy parasite protection for cats. The usage of talking cats is too long and I believe is just a means to make up the ads to 40 second. Another downside of this ads is I do not see where is the funny part of it or just maybe it is a cultural joke which I do not understand.
This ads use full use of the characteristics meaning of dogs such as loyal, warm-hearted and companionship by relating dogs to Chevy's product. It garners impression from the audience with such chronology story from adult to children.
Dogs and cats are used in ads because among all other animals, they are the most close related animals to us. Both Dogs and cats has successfully shape our lifes as we also shape their life.
Dogs have a way of finding people who need them, filling an emptiness we don't know we have
- Thom Jones, American writer
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Animal Super Bowl
If you are imagining animals playing football. High 5! because that would be interesting. Not only Americans will watch, but everyone including the children will watch it too! However, this can only be true in a cartoon.
The 1st ads is from monster.com. A reindeer is signify as a bridge to find better job. The head of the reindeer is pictured with a comfort job while another half of the reindeer is pictured with stressful job because the ads want to show the only way to get a better job is through the reindeer. In other word, through monster.com. Besides that, depiction of a reindeer stuck in wall is kind of controversial because it can be a sign of pet abuse if the reindeer is alive whereas a fake reindeer can be viewed as artistic for the creativity of the company.
If you feel disheartened, don't be because the next thing is watching Super Bowl ads. A quote from my American friend, "the best things about Super bowl is the ads". You will know why when you see it.
The 1st ads is from monster.com. A reindeer is signify as a bridge to find better job. The head of the reindeer is pictured with a comfort job while another half of the reindeer is pictured with stressful job because the ads want to show the only way to get a better job is through the reindeer. In other word, through monster.com. Besides that, depiction of a reindeer stuck in wall is kind of controversial because it can be a sign of pet abuse if the reindeer is alive whereas a fake reindeer can be viewed as artistic for the creativity of the company.
The 2nd ads is from Budweiser company. The message of the ads is drink wisely so that you will not get naked and be make fun of. These message is clearly presented when all the animals laugh at a wool-less sheep. Furthermore, the depiction of wool-less sheep continue dancing as it doesn't care is similar to a drunk person. Although the message is clear, using a wool-less sheep can be a bad idea as it can be argue for sheep abuse.
The 3rd ads is from AMERIQUEST Mortgage Company. Although I don't get the relationship between no judging and the company itself, the ads reminds me on how we classified people based on first impression. This ads also show us that first impression can be wrong. The cat is used as supporting actor.
The 4th ads is from PEDIGREE Adoption Drive. This ads show us that if you feel bored and you want something that is obedient and can be played with, we should adopt dogs. This ads also show us that cow is not considered a pet anymore in our culture.
The 5th ads is from Volkswagen. I do not get any message from the ads. At first, i thought the dog symbolize people to be fit by exercising. Then when the dog chase the car, I do not find any relationship beside the dog is attracted to the car.
The 6th ads is from Suzuki. The message of the ads is the car is better than the sledge in terms of comfort and maneuvering. This also show us that having a car is better than sledging. This can be quite offensive to people who enjoy sledging or similar kind of activities.
The 7th ads is from Doritos. The message is to show how delicious Dorito chips is to both dogs and humans. The irony of these ads is when we picture it in our real life. The dogs do not like our food and we also do not like their food. The only time I can picture the dog doing that face expression is when the dog is chasing something like a frisbie. For the guy, normal people do not do that except on movie or playing a truth-or-dare game.
The 8th ads is from Bridgestone. The message is to show how good the grip of the tire is. However the yelling expression from the animals and the women make the ads alive.
The 9th ads is from skechers. The message is the shoe is light and fast. What wonder me most is the depiction of dog racing. I have never see one before so I am curious about it. The way how the dog dance at the end of the race amplify how comfortable the shoe is. This also show us that our culture have accept dogs wearing shoes.
The last ads is from BudLight. The dog is used as a beer carrier whenever its name is called. I wonder how difficult the process of filming the dog is. This ads might give bad impression to people that dogs can be train to grab beer which I have not seen in real life.
Based on these video, it is surely interesting on how animals is used and depicted in advertisement. Animal roles in advertisement is huge.
That is the reason why my title is Animal Super Bowl. We can see how interesting and creative we are as human in delivering message to consumer.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Animal in advertising: A tool to expand propaganda
From the article written by Amato, it shows "how the exhibition of a white elephant, owned by Phineas Taylor Barnum, the American showman and trickster, became a forum to discuss nineteenth-century theories of race"(Amato 31)." The takeaway from these article is how one white elephant is exploit and its influence in advertising and the culture of nineteenth century. Although Toung Taloung, the white elephant is long forgotten, "white elephants became enduring symbols of excess in the English language. The expression is frequently used in the twenty-first century, and the connotations of racism and white supremacy, so evident during Barnum’s exhibition of the elephant and the circulation of the Pears’ advertisements, still linger" (Amato 58-59). This source can be used as an evidence onto how human stereotype such as racism can be embedded into an animal and become cultural representative of the time.
The article written by Lang is an analysis of animal depiction in Australian Advertising as a tool to promote manliness. Lang demonstrate how Australian culture can be studied through advertising alone. He demonstrated his expertise in analysing ads by explaining in details. I am very attracted to how he explain portrayal of animals in advertising such as Rhino and polar bears.
"Masculinity" is valued through the various forms of power men can unthinkingly take for granted: the power to exert control over women, over other men, over their own bodies, over machines and
technology.(qtd in Lang)
The article suggest to add control over animals in the quotation above. The example from this source will be evidence of my research paper on animal used in advertising because of their characteristics. Wild animals are often used in ads to portray manliness.
Works Cited
Amato, Sarah. "The White Elephant in London: An Episode of Trickery, Racism and Advertising." Journal of Social History 43.1 (2009): 31-66. Project MUSE. Web. 29 Jun. 2014.
Lang, Anouk. "Troping the Masculine: Australian Animals, the Nation, and the Popular Imagination." Antipodes 24.1 (2010): 5+. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 June 2014.
The article written by Lang is an analysis of animal depiction in Australian Advertising as a tool to promote manliness. Lang demonstrate how Australian culture can be studied through advertising alone. He demonstrated his expertise in analysing ads by explaining in details. I am very attracted to how he explain portrayal of animals in advertising such as Rhino and polar bears.
"Masculinity" is valued through the various forms of power men can unthinkingly take for granted: the power to exert control over women, over other men, over their own bodies, over machines and
technology.(qtd in Lang)
The article suggest to add control over animals in the quotation above. The example from this source will be evidence of my research paper on animal used in advertising because of their characteristics. Wild animals are often used in ads to portray manliness.
Works Cited
Amato, Sarah. "The White Elephant in London: An Episode of Trickery, Racism and Advertising." Journal of Social History 43.1 (2009): 31-66. Project MUSE. Web. 29 Jun. 2014.
Lang, Anouk. "Troping the Masculine: Australian Animals, the Nation, and the Popular Imagination." Antipodes 24.1 (2010): 5+. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 June 2014.
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