Advertising & Consumer Culture

I think a big factor of how we brand ourselves to our community comes from social media sites, such as Instagram.  People are constantly using the latest coloring effect or asking for people to like their images in order to appeal to their society as attractive and popular.  The need to brand ourselves in this type of light comes from our cultures obsession with the celebrity image.  Branding yourself through Instagram-type sites shows how obsessive we are with being portrayed in a respected and powerful manner.  

This is a website I found that relates to the article we talked about in class Wednesday about branding yourself. This website allows you to control what people associate your name with by changing the irrelevant Google links you get when you search your name to more relevant, presentable links such as your LinkedIn page or any awards you've received.  I think this shows the importance of creating a brand image of yourself and how it is rising in interest for people looking for a job or trying to start their own business.  Check it out and see what kid of stuff you can come up with.

Very, very useful for Wednesday's discussion.

During my research for products that are phony in their statement of being "green product," I was shocked at my finding.  I am a daily user of Lush products and have always been under the impression that they use all natural products; however, Eluxe magazine displays how this is not true.  It has been seen that in order to get their refreshing and pleasant smells, the toxic preservative, parabens, is used in their creation.  This relates to Jo Littler's theory about how our society is constantly facing the question about the extent to which a product is actually green or if it is just a selling technique.  

This is a link to a Cosmopolitan article, which gives tips for the perfect Facebook profile picture. Barnet and Weiser discuss how self-branding is now made easier with social networking site, and your Facebook profile picture is an example of this. Your profile picture is often the first thing people see, and is therefore the first impression of you.  The tips given in this article indicate that one can control this first impression by strategically planning out your profile picture.  Your profile picture is often the first step in constructing you image, or your brand on this social networking site. 

Although this photo is very vague, I thought that it related to Wednesday's reading by Banet-Weiser. Weiser wrote about how "branding" oneself is what many people strive for. She goes on to give various examples of this. In this picture, the red apple is clearly the odd one in the group. In my opinion, this is what Weiser says is OK. A self-brand must be real and authentic. Not everyone is the same, and here it is okay to be different as long as your self brand represents your true self.

I thought this was relevant and interesting because we talked in class on Monday about the brands and how they were associated with both Romney and Obama in the 2012 election. Although these variations of "brands" and fonts portrayed on each president are authentic, they sort of give a description (perhaps it is biased) about their time in office.

We talked in class on Monday about the brands associated with Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during their election campaigns so I found this photo to be quite intriguing.  Instead of limiting the brands to one representative, this photo shows what the typical Democrat associates with and what the typical Republican associates with.  I find it funny - and a little unnerving - that the media is able to group us into political parties based on the types of brands we associate with.  I think doing so shows how predictable we can be as a public but at the same time, highlights this predictability so that we can recognize it and change the perception of what it means to be a Democrat, Republican, independent, etc. Through these associations, campaign managers are able to target the American public more directly and win over voters but if we are made aware of these tactics, I'm curious to see what changes will be made to REbrand the image of Democrats and Republicans.

Another, from Reagan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY

Useful clip from Rock Center for today's discussion of politics, brands, target marketing, etc.

Their reasons included to ensure a safer environment, protect and conserve natural resources, and for moral, ethical, and personal beliefs. These consumers are also very brand-loyal-- something we also heard from many students in class who are not the most eco-friendly. 

While there are many environmentally-friendly products one should buy as opposed to leading brand names, it would be more beneficial in the long-run to monitor buying products in general, as we usually overspend and over-consume, leading to the current state of affairs. It is commendable to see that many popular brand and department stores, such as Barney's Warehouse, are producing eco-conscious goods in an attempt to meet the demand for the growing "green" market. 

Jo Little discusses how larger corporations have created “green” versions of their product. These products aren’t necessarily environmentally friendly, but the harm towards the environment is less (85). Nestle Eco-Shape plastic water bottle is an example of creating a “green” version of a product. This water bottle uses less plastic, which Nestle claim is better for the environment. Little would argue that these water bottles do in fact impact the environment less, but they are still harming the environment. Nestle is just trying to create the image of being more environmentally friendly, as they continue to harm the environment with their product. 

uhhhhhh...

I found this news article very interesting about apps that are helping people go green. it's fascinating that we can have this many outlets encouraging people to go green, and something as simple as an app on your phone. If bringing a bag to the grocery store is too difficult to remember, your phone is something that is always on you, and easy to use! 

This KitKat advertisement can directly expose tacts of guerrilla marketing.  In class we have discussed how guerrilla marketing is commonly used to advertise a consumer product in a low-cost, yet creative manner, which is more appealing and memorable for the audience.  In my opinion, I think these types of advertisements are more successful for corporations because it is more subliminal and less forceful towards the viewer. 

This image acts as a mockery towards McDonald's large corporation.  It relates to our class discussion of "contesting the brand," which explains how culture jammers would use these types of advertisements to expose the viewer to the lies being sold to our community.  For example, McDonalds is constantly shown supporting political movements for promoting better health and nutrition for Americans; however, their food is one of the largest contributors towards obesity and other harmful diseases within our community.