Doc Roldan’s Blog: Writing on Writing

This advertisement shows football athletes making a tough play with a can of bud light on the right side. The slogan says “Bring you best” refering to bringing your best to the game. This they are linking with Budweiser company bringing their best beer to the advertisment: Bud Light. They are trying to convince you that Bud LIght is the best light beer and football players probably drink it, and football players bring their best. The consumer wants to drink the best and hence will go out and buy Bud Light. I think this is an effective advertisement and that the slogan went perfectly with the photograph.

This advertisement is awesome. It displays a hugs bottle of Fleichmann’s  Whiskey held by a large man with a female looking in his direction in the back round. I think it displays a dominance of that man in the world by depicting him much larger than the woman while carrying the large bottle. It makes the consumer believe that drinking this whiskey is what the large dominant men, who attract the beautiful females, drink. And this of course would lead people to buy it, in order to be like the man on the poster. It links the size with the taste explaining that the first taste will tell you why this whiskey is the big guy. I think it is clever and probably was effective.

Advertising I never made a connection with being hard work. But, the author has convinced me. The deadlines and the parameters that are placed up copywriters and advertisers make the job intense. I enjoyed the easy to read prose and I enjoyed how she explained the main ideas of advertising. Then she went into more detail about specific topics of the advertisments including headlines, photography, and the body and slogans. All used in accordance with one another to produce something that not only grabs interest but keeps it for those passing by and are prospective customers. Slogans still remain the biggest attraction for me personally.

This narrative had elevated diction and tone that seemed to present a more informative based essay. Thompson entered us into a world of humanities and the common links between civilizations throughout the world, particularly in the area of folktales. How stories may range in plot and details but be linked with a common theme or resolution. I enjoyed reading it and although it was a little difficult to read, or I had to put more thought into it, it reminded me that all of us as humans have a common ancestry and we all are the same essentially, whether we choose to accept it or not.

This advertisement selling Camel cigarettes was the most interesting to me because it was the most ironic. It is ironic because in today’s day and age, cigarettes are looked down upon tremendously. The groups of people that are always telling others not to smoke or to quite smoking tend to be doctors. The method of advertising used by this company is something that tends to get consumers to buy their product. Because Doctors are seen as significant figures in our society, many look up to them as role models. So, if they are smoking, I guess I should be too.

In her article, Dorothy Cohen outlines what a successful advertisement needs. The most important thing about it, she says, is layout. When looking at an advertisement in a magazine, for example, the orientation of pictures and text is the first thing you notice. For me, this is definitely the case. Other points Cohen makes about communicating to consumers include balance (good artistic composition), proportion (helps develop order and creates a pleasing impression), movement (dynamic rather than static), and clarity and simplicity (not too complicated or tricky, straight to the point).

This article was easily understood by me because it was written in terms that I am familiar with. This article explores the results of a school district in Minnesota changing that starting time for school to a later time to accomidate sleeping schedules for adolsescents. I enjoyed how the article changed perspectives from which the results were recieved.  This not only allows us to analyze and understand the results , but to do so from multiple view points allowing the reader a greater understanding. I enjoyed the results as they were interesting how they varied from different age groups and obviously deviated a little form view point to view point.

The Miller ad embodies many marketing techniques that are used in beer advertisements today.  There are three men in a bar smiling and laughing with a Miller beer in their hand.  The ad is depicting two pictures on the bottom where the men are working during the day.  The ad shows after a hard day of work “now comes Miller time”.  It’s saying the one way you can relax at the end of the day is by drinking a Miller beer.  The posture and expressions on the men’s faces add to the advertisements appeal of winding down from a hard day of work with a Miller beer.  I think the ad effectively conveys the message and the appeal to buy the beer.  This is an effective tactic to sell beer because many beer ads today follow the same marketing technique.  It shows if you drink this certain brand of beer, then, you too will have a good time.

After reading this piece by Susan Ince, I was intrigued. Her detail into the research that has been done is amazing. I was truly amazed at the variety of different types of sleep as well as the different levels. Describing the different types of sleep and then moving to discussing the different sleep problems occurring at different ages was good in that order. That way it builds a general understanding for the reader about sleep. Then proceeding to discuss the age related effects allow us to understand sleep better within our own age group, as the reader naturally pays more attention to the age group they are in. Over all a wonderful essay to read and a very interesting one at that.

Budweiser is one of the most identifiable brands in the country and are known for their progressive and creative advertising.  The company has done a great job in recent decades to illustrate why their beer is better than others, and to go out and buy it.  One of the major draws for Budweiser is their advertising.  They target their audience during major sporting events.  They have been able to instill in people the notion that you are not really experiencing a sporting event unless you are drinking Budweiser.  The attitude may be the reason why they are the most popular beer in the country and their advertising methods are responsible for that.  This is why we will never stop seeing Budweiser commercials until beer is flowing from our kitchen taps.

In this essay, the author illustrates the concern of the growing issue of kids and sleeping pills.  In recent years, sleeping pill usage by adolescents has increased dramatically leading one to think we have a major issue on our hands.  Despite the publicity hype and ill conceived notions of sleeping pills, sleeping pills for some are necessary.  There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of medical issues that require the use of sleeping pills (both children and adults).  I only say this because I was one of those adolescents who were in need of sleeping pills.  At 16, I was only getting about 4 hours of sleep a night because the stress of school, but more so my household, was getting to me in a way that was preventing me from sleeping.  So, despite all the negative hype about sleeping pills it helped me through a time when I needed them, and I never had any sort of addiction to them which is why some believe they are so harmful.

In Bennett’s opinion, if we were to legalized homosexual marriage we would be making ourselves vulnerable to a multitude of issues.  Times are not the same as they were twenty years ago.  Now people are much more open, or ignorant, of the homosexual issue.  It comes down to being able to do what you want when you want, and if that means you want to engage in a gay relationship, then so be it.  But what we have not changed is our devotion to the institution of marriage.  For hundreds of years marriage was a life long agreement between a man and a woman who loved each other, and just because the norms of society are changing does not mean that we have to change our views on the institution of marriage.

What Yale Women Want, and Why It Is Misguided

The first thing that comes to my mind after reading Stabiner’s passage was “gold digger,” which, by my definition, is a woman who looks for a man based primarily on his monetary status.  I think that this is a scrupulous and distasteful activity, but understand that it is the intention of many women, especially in this day and age.  But, Stabiner puts it very well in an informative and understanding way.  I have to say that it put a new light on my views of the “gold digger.”  I have to say that it makes sense that a woman look for a man that she knows will be able to provide the lifestyle she wants.  I was raised in a family where my mother was a stay at home mom and was always around and I think that her presence was a very positive thing for my upbringing, and even more so for my brothers.

This was a very interesting piece about having an extra spouse in a marriage, which I think in the right circumstance, could be a positive thing but more often than not, I think that it will slowly hurt the family as a whole.  To have another spouse to be there would be very helpful and allow for more free time for the adults.  I know I was in a family of four boys and my mother was a stay at home mom, yet she still never seemed to have any time to herself.  This is why we always had some sort of nanny or house keeper to help out with the house while my mother was taking care of us.  I bring this up only to illustrate the fact that there are other alternatives that will not be detrimental to the family structure, and will not create a competing household.

In this particular passage, the mall is portrayed as a unique and diverse meeting location where people from all different facets of life come to enjoy their time.  The mall is a culturally diverse place where people often go to socialize, shop, interact, etc. The mall has so much to offer that some people spend hours, even days shopping at the same mall.  But more so than anything else, people use the mall as a place to interact and fulfill their shopping needs.  To this day I view the mall as a civic center where people can come to hang out and enjoy the time they have with each other.

There are several elements that make an advertisement successful.  Cohen describes the different characteristics of a successful, effective ad in her article “Elements of effective layout”.  The different elements are balance, proportion, movement, unity, clarity and simplicity, and emphasis.  I never knew there was so much thought and time put into one simple advertisement.  These graphic components are used to grasp the reader’s attention and are probably the most important part of advertising.  Cohen elaborates that these characteristics need to be unified to gain the reader’s attention and effectively send a message.  Even if all the elements are unified, not everyone interprets the same message.  After reading this article I realize that advertising is a hard area to sell.  A company might put a lot of time and effort in making an advertisement but other individuals might interpret the message the wrong way and not like it.  This just seems like a waste of time for the company.  It’s hard to find an effective message that will sell your product.

They come a dime, a dozen. They ask you to text some random word to some random number. Yes, they are those ridiculous psychic hotline commercials. I think the whole notion is fake. How can a “psychic” know what is going on in your life if you are not even interacting with them? The only action required is that you send a message to their number. Obviously, something is fishy there. But, looking on the other side of things, I can only assume that the commercials are effective. Why? There are so many of them! Business must be booming. In addition, many other commercials have taken the same format. Now you can get ringtones by sending messages to a number. You can even get daily jokes the same way. Either way, I still hate those psychic hotline commercials!

Foremost, the name of the cigarette was brilliantly chosen. There are so many different advertisement strategies and mottos you could come up with for “More.” The ad displays a few of them. The quote headlining the ad is “We’re More satisfied.” That statement is ambiguous in a good way. It means that the couple in the ad are more satisfied than anyone else who smokes, and that they’re satisfied with the brand “More.” Also, the ad displays a black couple who seem to be dressed well and well-to-do. That could easily encourage the black community to smoke the brand “More” over another brand of cigarette. What I do find to be ironic though, is the blatant warning at the bottom that says: “Warning: The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.” And yet, people still smoke.