Wednesday, April 9, 2008

This is a Public Service Announcement…

After class yesterday Epley posed the question relating to, “Do we need to be advertised in a mass culture sense?” First of all just being advertised things you prefer is kind of creepy thinking about the example Epley used involving the Teddy Grahams. A billboard changing right before your eyes to suit your advertising preference…what happens if four people are in a car, does the billboard wig out and self destruct? Either way hate ads and large scaled events or love them, they give us all (as people of this lovely society) something to talk about and vibe ideas off one another. TV was invented as a form of entertainment for families, not just one Joe Schmo. The example of bringing up a conversation revolving around the final NCAA tournament game was brought up, and whether or not you care about the game or not it is a form of common knowledge at this time of the year and is to be used as an “ice breaker” to a conversation (take that away from society then there’s going to be a lot more awkward elevator moments OUTSIDE OF ELEVATORS!!!). TV’s and computers are going to become way more user friendly in the future in ways I can’t really comprehend, but in my eyes advertising on a mass audience scale will always be around as long as there’s jobs, schools, and other social encountering places. People might watch TV by themselves, but saying something out loud during a program is a lot cooler/normal when others are around to comment back. Watching Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis alone (acceptable), watching the Super Bowl alone (creepy/pathetic). The internet and online gaming is already showing signs of what happens when people are only exposed to one form of media and the after affects are disturbing, just talk to someone who plays World of War Craft (it’s a hole other level).

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