Skyy Vodka ad

In this Skyy Vodka ad, we see a parody of TED talks: A well dressed young intellectual spokesman (an improv  actor) appeals to a hip audience by stating that the universe is sending them a friend request ("Buy me a drink."), This combines the new age movement with social media, both of which are very popular right now. The presenter goes on to impress upon the audience the importance of a personal interaction between the universe and themselves, then playfully reminds them to put their phones down. This action appeals to the young masses because of its irony which is the cornerstone of youthful humor at this time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mis8xROjhE8

Kathleen Schuart, senior marketing director for white spirits and cordials at Campari America states, "It's with this spirit that Skyy's new marketing platform is inviting us to take an optimistic view and reimagine the world around us. We are kicking off our campaign by challenging our thinking around the givens in our social lives, interactions and experiences in a fun and clever way." 

Humor youthfulness and new age thinking are being used to sell alcohol. No to elevate the masses but it keeping them drunk. 

Vodka in general is a simple drink and packaging it with blue bottle and smart appeal makes it more expensive and into a desirable commodity.  Most advertising is about creating needs and making us want them.

Icons, images and representation

I am back analyzing ( Reading Images The Grammar of Visual Design). Chapter four deals with the relationship between image producers and consumers. Complicated connection in an age where commercial images -- be it images or illustration -- can be produced by a large team of creative artists, editors, or directors, with the assumption that the receiver will get the message. There is the concept of target audience.   What if the audience have different levels of education or cultural heritage? Would they get the message? An Uncle Sam image may not appeal to Mexican viewers.  The chapter does not address Photoshop as part of production of image making and how that "Photoshopping" is creating another imaginary distorted image reality that confuses the consumers.

The complex relationship between who the image producer represents makes it even more essential for the producer to "represent than enact" (page 116) so the image becomes a detached double from the actual real author.
This chapter digs deep into gazing at the viewer which came from European early Renaissance painting and the new understanding of perspective. This awareness, some argue, changed our sense of ourselves; we see and can be seen. In so many commercials the model is talking to "you" she/he is staring in your eyes and asking you as an intimate friend to buy this product or vote for this politician.
I noticed also that in many countries where literacy is low, candidates rely on images of themselves looking at the possible voters. Ballots include an icon for each candidate so that voters can identify each candidate. See this link:http://fourcontinents.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html

Perspective draws us into the image and makes us part of the three dimensional experience. Objective and subjective reality wrestle in this arena. As an architect when I do perspective drawings I am showing a building the way the viewer may experience it from the street.  If I give this drawing to builder he/she won't be able to build from it because there is distortion, and people in the construction industry require geometric flat drawings, which are more objective and mathematical.
In the end neither the photo or graphic illustration of reality are perfect representations. We make a stories in our heads to we can relate to the world.

Color theory and the psychological meaning of it is used very well by advertising. for example it is known that red and white makes people hungry ( notice how it is used in all fast food advertising and decor) 

Kress, Gunther & van Leeuwen, Theo (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. New York: Routledge.

The Danger Of apparent understanding ,

Key issues:
1-Inaccuracy of information.
2-Cross cultural misunderstanding.

I enjoyed watching Ted talk by Doug Pitt, He had a very good critique of western culture: we want to fix the world and we have a superior sense of understanding of what is wrong with the world. We more than often end up hurting the people we want to help. There is no worse example than the war in Iraq that destroyed and is still destroying a country that we thought we could turn into a democracy overnight.

I am very conscious of people mistaking information for understanding. In the age of google it is very easy to read a few pages and think we understand a situation. I heard a long NPR  show about non profit organizations in Haiti (20,000 nonprofits) during the last 20 years and how little effect they have had on the poor country.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/28/172875646/what-happened-to-the-aid-meant-to-rebuild-haiti

As Mr. Pitt explained, technology can amplify information whether it is good or bad. So in the age of immediate global and accessible information, we need to develop a  a slow reality based on checks and balances before we rush into action.

I also read Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age, which ties very well to Networked Public. I am alarmed by the youth's lack of participation in public life. "A big decline in interest in the news and public affairs, accompanied by falling trust in the press—both of which occurred before the rise of the Internet. (I would blame the press, rather than youth, for this trend.)"(Bennett page 5)
This along with confusing information could be dangerous for the future of democracies and humankind.

Our education systems and our way of life are removed from many realities, for example, most of our schooling does not cover agriculture as it is practiced in America today. Our schools make farming into some Disney-like fantasy. Our children or adults have never been to a mega farm and/or seen the chemicals that go into farming, or worse have never seen a slaughterhouse. Yet our politicians want to pass a farm bill most of us have no understanding of or interest in. This may  explain why young people don't vote or watch the news.

Some tools and techniques that can help:

1-Young people creating their own media as in Indymedia.

"Sometimes those technologies enable large and more sustained political networks, as in the formation of Indymedia, a global political information network. Indymedia was created through the distribution of open source software enabling the production and sharing of information by young activists under the motto: Be the Media" (Bennett page 9)

2- Young people using alternative communication as in Twitter.I just saw this report on Al Jazeera America. About Twitter use among young African American which indicated a higher rate than Whites I think this may be a sign of independence from main stream media .http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/01/06/african-americans-and-technology-use/


For human beings to be informed in a deep and visceral way we need to have full experiences. Also before we start another war it may be good to visit a hospital and ask injured veterans what is war like before we think it is another computer game or heroic Hollywood movie. Statistics and information don't compare to personal and emotional experiences.

Finally, I still think the digital age is still too young to judge. We still have to go to a physical space to vote! May be if voting becomes digital, from an operational perspective, then our younger people will participate from a place of comfort.

refrences:

Doug Pitt's video "Technology, nonprofits, and the emerging world" 


Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age W. Lance Bennett

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/28/172875646/what-happened-to-the-aid-meant-to-rebuild-haiti