Demonstrable demographics
The first blog I want to talk about is from Christian. His ad is from the new video game Call of Duty Ghosts. He used one of the many trailers released for the game. It shows four guys using guns, blowing stuff up, and meeting Megan Fox! He mentions that this ad targets a male audience.
“Clearly the game is being advertised towards males of all different ages, ethnicity, weight, and looks. The game is advertising that anyone can play, but they are still advertising to their largest market, which is the male population. Throughout the trailer there are many guns, attractive women, explosions, and a group of buddies that enjoy playing the game together.” (http://christianbebisblog.wordpress.com)
In my post I also talked about how video games mainly target a male demographic. I noticed that the main way video game ads do that is by adding sexual appeal. Megan Fox briefly appeared only to look hot and to get hit on by one of the guys. An interesting new feature in Call of Duty Ghosts is that it is the first game in the series to have playable women soldiers. It would be cool if they showed this new feature in the trailer by having more action scenes that included girls instead of focusing on the four guys. Furthermore the trailer paints a picture that all male gamers care about are hot girls and explosions. While I do like hot girls and explosions they don’t represent everything that makes a video game fun. As someone who enjoys playing video games I don’t like how these ads represent male gamers.
If you want to see the trailer here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNxh7umVOZ0
The next blog I want to talk about is from Alexandra. The advertisement she used is an ad for Herbal Essences. The ad shows you this amazing new shampoo and Leighton Meester’s unbelievably smooth hair. She talks about how celebrities endorse beauty products and how these ads target the insecurities women have.
“Women should feel beautiful without having luscious hair, and this ad basically tells people that without this shampoo you cannot have beautiful hair…Women in our society today rely too much on our appearance and when they are shown this ad, they automatically think that it will make them more beautiful, and without it they feel unattractive.”(http://alexandradeyman.wordpress.com)
I agree with her, the ad seems to be designed to make women feel inferior. Leighton Meester has touchably smooth locks and you don’t. The ad does a good job representing the ideals of its target audience. What girl doesn’t want to have silky smooth hair? I think this can be a really bad thing since it teaches girls that beauty is everything. As awesome as Leighton Meester is she isn’t perfect and I bet she has insecurities too. While there’s nothing wrong about wanting silky smooth hair it’s important for everyone to realize that nobody’s perfect. Our imperfections make us who we are and I think that’s what makes you beautiful. 😉
Fun Fact: A lot of people think of Leighton Meester as a brunette but she’s actually a natural blonde. She only dyed her hair brown to get the part of Blair Waldorf in the TV series Gossip Girl.
Lastly Sabrina’s blog talks about commercials from Concerned Children’s Advertisers. She says that these ads warn kids about the dangers they encounter in everyday life.
“The most recent ad that has been put out by the CCA Canada is a girl who is being blocked from all the “media monkey” ads. Basically the clip is about you don’t need these media advisements telling you what to do/be. Be who you want to be.” (http://st13sw.wordpress.com)
It’s great that there are ads that warn kids about the dangers of the media. Especially since there are so many ads designed to exploit young minds. I think that their ads are really clever. They present situations that kids can relate to and send messages in fun and creative ways. I really enjoyed reading her entry mainly because I remember watching these ads as a kid. I never really liked them but rewatching them is just sort of nostalgic.
Who remembers this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AuLkMBAFZg&list=PLFAA57F685F3D62F2
Check Out These Awesome Blogs!
Christian: http://christianbebisblog.wordpress.com
Alexandra: http://alexandradeyman.wordpress.com
Sabrina: http://st13sw.wordpress.com
Sources
http://videogame-tips.blogspot.ca/2013/05/cod-ghost.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNxh7umVOZ0
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/polls/171000/171680_1232382431483_full.jpg
dcharles10 
