EOC Week 3: Tobacco Advertisement

Interpret the problem- The problem is that people are ‘prejudice’ against cigarettes because they could eventually cause death. Another problem is that cigarettes contain harmful corrosive acids (pungent irritants that cause coughing and itching of the throat while smoking) in the tobacco, which obviously encourages people not to smoke.

Understand the creative brief- Since there was no way to prevent people from dying because of smoking cigarettes, they came up with an idea to take the corrosive acids out from the tobacco and say that it is safe to smoke cigarettes since there are no more corrosive acids, even though all it does is prevent the coughing and itching. They referred to the process of taking the irritants out as “toasting.”

Say it outright- The company that made this advertisement had a strategy of convincing people that the “American Intelligence” found a way to take the harmful corrosive acids out so that people could smoke without worrying about their health anymore.

Know your audience- Before this advertisement people thought were thinking that smoking is harmful for your health and that it has no advantages. The company that came up with this ad wants people to think that since they have taken out the harmful corrosive acids from the tobacco that is in cigarettes, then it will be safe to smoke cigarettes and people could enjoy smoking and relax.
Write your objective- Their objective is to encourage people to buy their cigarettes and for people to think that there is nothing wrong with smoking anymore because they have ‘toasted’ their tobacco.

EOC Week 2: Ethics in Commercials

“Coca-Cola has been criticized for alleged adverse health effects, its aggressive marketing to children, exploitative labor practices, high levels of pesticides in its products, building plants in Nazi Germany which employed slave labor, environmental destruction, monopolistic business practices, and hiring paramilitary units to murder trade union leaders. In October 2009, in an effort to improve their image, Coca-Cola partnered with the American Academy of Family Physicians, providing a $500,000 grant to help promote healthy-lifestyle education; the partnership spawned sharp criticism of both Coca-Cola and the AAFP by physicians and nutritionists." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#Criticism)

“Studies have shown that regular soft drink users have a lower intake of calcium, magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin A… This was thought to be due to the presence of phosphoric acid, and the risk was found to be same for caffeinated and non-caffeinated colas, as well as the same for diet and sugared colas.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#Health_effects)

"We live in a world where we make choices every day and The Coke Side of Life encourages people to make those choices positive ones.“ (Marc Mathieu, The Coca-Cola Company) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Nwrfu1w5E)

In this Coca-Cola commercial, a bunch of human stick-figures are representing soldiers from the different countries involved in the World War II. Then the commercial shows the stick figures (with every country represented in a different color) having a war. After a little while the stick soldiers all stop fighting because they were all worn out, tired, and probably thirsty. A civilian stick figure walks by them drinking a coke, so they all started chasing him. The words “Life tastes better with Coca Cola” appear on the screen. This commercial is unethical because it implies that coke makes life better, but in reality, coke is not good for you and it could actually harm you.

BOC: About Me

I came from a city where very creative fashion designers reside. Manila, the capital city of the Philippines is where I was born and raised, also where I started my passion for fashion. I was about twelve when I saw a fashion show on T.V. and I just fell in love with the creative ways that people can dress. I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up, but whatever it was, it had to have something to do with fashion. Now I use my keen eye for fashion and use it in my everyday social and professional life. As a professional fashion merchandiser and stylist, I will utilize my passion and talent into the fashion industry by styling models for different kinds of photo shoots, working in fashion show productions, trade shows and retail stores, and becoming a buyer. Eventually I will run my own fashion company so I can incorporate my own brilliant designs into everything in my fashion line. I love everything about this industry because the number one rule in fashion is that there are no rules. Fashion is a great way to express my creativity and show off to the world what I do best. Like the fashionista saying goes, “Every day is a fashion show and the world is my runway.”

EOC Week 1: VW Lemon

“The ad featured a black and white photo of the Volkswagen Beetle with the word “Lemon” in bold san serif font… that proclaims that this particular car was rejected… because of a blemish on the chrome piece of the glove box. The ad goes on to describe the rigorous inspection process...” (http://www.writingfordesigners.com/?p=1731)

“Ads before it were either information-based and lacking in persuasion, more fantasy than reality…Beetle ads, though, connected with consumers on an emotional level, while conveying a product benefit in a way consumers could relate to…” (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/1999/11/22/smallb7.html)

"The Volkswagen ad uses a black and white image of the Beetle that reinforced the idea that is was small and different... the ad says “LEMON” which caused the viewer to question his intuitive knowledge about Volkswagen’s high standards. The ad agency successfully caught the viewer’s attention by using self-effacing humor. With any luck, these ads drew you into the joke, and you would read the rest of the copy looking for the punch line.” (http://designhistorylab.com/?p=1755)

In the 1960s, Americans were used to driving big vehicles like Buicks and Cadillacs. So the Germans needed to find a way to advertise their cars and catch the American’s attention because their Volkswagen cars were smaller than what Americans were used to at the time. Although they were smaller, they are very efficient cars. Instead of the usual ad repetition, the DDB agency used their creativeness to capture the consumer’s attention. They made the Volkswagen ad very simple, but just the word “lemon” caught people’s attention. The word “lemon” proclaims that it is not a good car, this is what would cause people to be interested and read the rest of the advertisement. The rest of the ad describes the process of inspecting the Volkswagen cars which informs people that they really are good and efficient cars.