Culture Code: Seduction = Manipulation

Rapallie found that the Culture Code for seduction is manipulation. This is interesting because it allows us to understand why there are so many negative connotations associated with seduction. No one wants to be forced, tricked, or manipulated into doing anything. Therefore the idea of being seduced leaves a negative impression on American minds.

This brings up an interesting topic as it relates to marketing and promotion. There is a tremendous amount of sex and seduction in advertising. Is manipulation the message marketers want to send to consumers? L'Oreal had the right idea when they ditched their overly seductive ads. Rapallie wrote, "When an advertiser knows that associating a product with a certain Code will trigger negative feelings, it can choose to sidestep that Code completely."

This is a good rule of thumb. Think about every commercial you've ever seen for a weight loss system or diet drug. The one's you really respond to show happy, healthy consumers that "everyday women." The average American woman doesn't want to see models talking about how skinny and sexy they are after taking a product. The Fahrenheit Diet pill commercial below is just one example of using sexuality and seduction to sell a product could backfire.

As a woman I find that I am less receptive to marketing that claims to make me more beautiful in unrealistic ways. "Just take this pill and you too can be beautiful!" It's too good to be true and this shredded woman in the advertisement is just further proof. However, this commercial does serve as a great example for manipulation. She is sexy, strong, powerful, and most importantly fit. What woman doesn't want to be her!

Codes for Home and Dinner - The Essential Circle

Americans are unique in how they view the concepts of home and dinner.  The American culture places great importance on the ability to take a house and create a home with it. Author Clotaire Rapaille writes in his book, The Culture Code, that a home is created through traditions which often are completed through the eating of a meal with other individuals. In particular, the eating of dinner together as a family is often the most valued meal.

In many American advertisements, fast food restaurants utilize this idea of meal sharing to market the idea that their food can bring people together. In a literal sense, people are brought together in a circle around food, however, while in this circle, people are able to communicate with each other and feel connected to one another.  Families may value meal time traditions in different ways, whether more formal and serious or more casually. Either way advertisers take advantage of this warm feeling people associate with sharing meals.

In the first ad, the commercial for Coke not only highlights the physical actions associated with a dinning room table but also the emotions connected to it. Coke tries to have viewers transfer their  personal emotions to their products. Additionally, further utilizing the idea of an essential circle, the camera pans in a circular motion emphasizing the idea of intimacy that a closed circle creates when sharing a meal.

Often the image or portrayal of a busy mom taking care of her family and then picking up fast food to serve to her family at the dinner table is used by advertisers. This is similar to the idea that Rapaille writes about in that home is often viewed as a retreat from the world. Each day a person wakes up, does battle at work or school, and then comes home to recharge and prepare to take on the world again the next day. A parent often has the obstacle each day of taking care of their family and their career.

The comedic movie, Talladega Nights, with Will Ferrell, plays on the idea of a busy family coming together for dinner with the help of some pretty blatant product placement. It's a situation that many Americans can probably relate to in some way.

The essential circle of meal sharing doesn't necessarily require a physical table or a family having a meal together but may also reflect a social gathering of friends that wouldn't occur without the help of food. In the KFC commercial below, the idea of sharing is displayed not only in the seating arrangement of friends in circles but also in that the physical bucket of chicken is round and encourages the idea of family style dinning where food is passed around a room.

For Americans, the idea of home relies heavily on the idea of sharing and congregating together and that most often involves food. For fast food chains, the goal of using the essential circle to sell their food is to eliminate the idea of a home cooked meal and all the hassle associated with the preparation and clean up. They want a consumer to be able to have the fun part of eating with friends and family without all the work required of a traditional homemade meal.

The Code of Quality and Perfection

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9qrof_american-icon-greyhound-showcases-v_shortfilms

This ad features a young woman who leaves the city on a Greyhound Bus to   meet her boyfriend. The message of the ad is that you can leave your car behind, leave your trouble at home and travel safely with Greyhound .People can trust Greyhound to take them to places without any worries. For some people it might be comfortable to travel by car rather than taking a public bus like Greyhound but for others IT WORKS. The “function” of the bus is to take you to places safely and without any trouble. It saves you from the trouble of possible break down and the wear and tear of your car.

 According to Rapaille the culture code for quality in America is IT WORKS. Americans put a premium on functionality but do not put premium on quality. Perfection is not just reality. Rapaille believes that Americans care about the “work being done” and care less about bells and whistle.

American Code for Food:Fuel

Rapaille's findings show that Americans see food as a way of replenishing our bodies. He finds that the code for food is fuel. In the text he states "Americans regard their bodies as machines. Our machines have functions to perform and we need to keep them working"( Rapaille, 146).  In the text, the  majority of entries from Rapaille's surveys mention their experience of food having the function of  keeping them going. In multiple ads I saw that the call to action was to fuel your body for some type of event. The code was especially apparent for breakfast advertisements and healthier choice foods.

This is an ad for wheaties newer "Fuel" line of moring cereal. The code is used directly as the product name. The cereal is targeting athletes and active consumers who want a meal that can give them the needed energy to perform their energetic task.

Snickers used the code for their super bowl ad in 2010. The ad features active young people playing a weekend pick up game of tackle football. Betty White the only elderly player on the field is incapable of keeping up and dragging. The other players give her a snickers to refuel her and after eating White is transformed back into the players true identity a young energetic guy.

Jimmy Deans breakfast sandwich commercial uses the code for food in this spot to show that not eating will leave you tired and and lacking enegy. The cloud character is "low" and needs to eat food to be productive and rise up. The ending dialog directly addresses the code by telling the consumer to  "fuel your great days"

Culture Code - The Code for America

      Speaking of America, many Americans can immediately think of the term “American Dream”, of the land of freedom, the land having a gamut of scenery, congregation of people from different countries and cultures.

      In regard to America, the American Culture Code for it is also DREAM as per Rapaille’s research result (Rapaille, 195). By applying this finding, the Brand USA created the global tourism campaign for the U.S and the commercial “Land of Dreams” in April 2012 to encourage travelers throughout the world to visit the U.S. The TVC was said to air in U.K, Canada, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, etc. 

      In the commercial, audiences can see typical American people and things, such as a cowboy at the beginning, tough motorcycle riders, a big family gathering right beside a forest, a marching band right on a street, a same-sex couple in a bus, the Color Run, a pile of crawfish, an eagle landing on a skydiver, and especially a group of diversified people singing and playing harmoniously beside the Brooklyn bridge. Moreover, the commercial briefly shows the magnificent landscape of America, such as a California beach, New York’s Times Square, New Orleans, and Grand Canyon. Those are just some of the uniqueness that can be seen, heard, and experienced in the U.S only. Especially, there are variety of people in terms of their races, ages, and nationalities featuring in the commercial. They all smile, laugh, play, run, walk. It exemplifies the Americans’ dream of being forever young (196) and the optimistic side. It illustrates the notion of a free, beautiful country full of delighted citizens.

     Besides beautiful shots of American locations and people, music also plays a critical part in the commercial. It’s a very typical American one, a country song performed by Rosanne Cash. The artist was surrounded by musicians with various types of instruments and representative costumes. As American folk song is easily to be played along, America is open to anyone to join in.

     The commercial not only emphasizes the dream and beauty of America and its people but also taps into the desires of people all over the world which are freedom and joyfulness. By employing the key word “Dream”, the commercial achieves the “America’s mission to provide dreams to humanity” (198).

Culture Code: LOVE = FALSE EXPECTATION

One of the most commercialized and marketing symbols of love in American culture is that of the diamond engagement ring. We are constantly exposed to billboards, magazine advertisements and commercials with catchy tag lines such as "a diamond is forever".

Raptille's Culture Code for LOVE is FALSE EXPECTATION. In our country, 50% of marriages end in divorce and maybe of us associate the word “love” with heartbreak or let-downs.

Here are some examples from the 2003 ad campaign by the Diamond Trading Co. that aimed to increase sales of engagement rings over the holiday. The ads are obviously targeting men to buy engagement rings or even just jewelry for the women in their lives. I think the ads are also meant to target women who want their boyfriends to propose or buy them jewelry, which plays on the “expectations” code.

 

This ad is insinuating that you, as a boyfriend, don’t deserve your woman and also sends a subtle message to woman that says “your relationship or boyfriend doesn’t live up to your or your friend’s standards, so he should buy you jewelry.”

 

This one also has an undertone of buying an engagement ring to prove something or to justify or reaffirm your relationship.

Both of these ads, as well as pretty much all of the ads in the campaign use the “FALSE EXPECTATIONS” Culture Code to sell their product. Buying their product is both a financial and personal commitment, so by using the idea of a false expectation or the idea that love “rarely reaches fulfillment”, they can persuade he idea of their product as a means to fix or enhance a relationship (Raptille, 41).

Production Elements - Color

The 1999 film, But I'm a Cheerleader is a satirical romantic comedy about an outwardly happy heterosexual high school cheerleader whose friends and family think otherwise. They stage an intervention and send her to a conversion therapy camp to help cure her homosexuality.

The film seems to have a fairly low budget and did receive a lot of negative criticism, one thing that sticks out is the film's use of color. You can't see it as well in the YouTube video as you can if you watch the movie on a DVD, but the film makers used different types of colors in the scenes during the main character's normal life and when she is at the conversion camp. In Megan's home, the color scheme is very brown and could probably be described as dead colors. The lighting is somewhat subdued also, which adds to the feeling of sadness or dullness in Megan's normal environment. But when she's at the camp, all of the colors are brighter and more vivid. There's also more light and the environment feels more positive overall.

Production Elements - Scale

An oldie but a goodie. In thinking about how scale plays into production elements, I wanted to reference the ad campaign "Think Small" created for Volkswagen Beetle during the 1950s. "Think Small" is a highly regarded advertising campaign that is said to have changed the advertising industry as a whole.  Looking at the production elements used in the ad, scale is certainly a major player. Emphasizing the unique small size of the car was accomplished by scaling it down to an unusually small size in comparison to the amount of white space in the ad. Instead of trying to market the luxuriousness of a car like most other car brands, Volkswagen choose to instead sell the idea of its simplistic and minimalist value through scale. 

Without such an effective use of scale, the ad and the Beetle would have likely been lost among many of its more traditional competitors and their more established 'American sized' cars. The "Think Small" campaign is a great example of how a well-executed production element can drive the success of a piece of media.   

Production Elements

In the picture, the tree stands straight with a solid grip on the ground.  The girth of the tree is noticeable and the two branches, one on each side with green leaves, suggest that the tree is living. More importantly, the green leaves on each of the branches represent the nature and liveliness which is appealing to the audience.  The relative position of the tree, being in the center of the picture and its dark background makes it a focal point.  There are no distractions to the audience’s view from any objects in the background.  Among the two branches, the right branch resembles the arm of a mother holding a baby.  In the western culture, it is a tendency to place objects of more importance on the right side of a picture where they can attract more attention.  In this picture, the baby is an important part of the picture; and therefore, is placed on the right side of the picture in the branch.  Light is shining on the right side of the tree which also brings more attention to the branch on that side and the naked baby nestled in the branch.  The portrayal of the baby soundly sleeping generates a positive, warm and emotional reaction from the audience.  Overall, the picture depicts a deep relationship between humans and nature.  The caption at the bottom of the picture summarizes this idea more accurately that “Our destinies are linked.”

Production elements

I'm a huge fan of movies and how they are marketed. Movie posters can be super effective in presenting a lot of information about the plot and theme of a film. A good poster can use multiple production elements to play up its purposed message. Posters are more than just still pictures letting you know a movie is coming out this summer. The poster i looked it was for the highly anticipated Dark Knight sequel.

When the poster was released fans new that the villain would be one of Batman's most iconic foes, Bane. A large portion of the fan base also knew that in the comic, Bane beats Batman nearly to death in their first encounter and breaks Bruce Wayne's back. With this being the third and final movie in Christopher Nolan's trilogy the creators of this poster use relative position to convey the danger batman faces this time around. The design of the poster also lets fans know that somewhere in the film batman will have that iconic face off where Bane man handles him. The broken cowl of batman placed in the fore front of the poster and Bane in the back ground walking away allows you to draw the conclusion that batman is over matched this time around. The angle of the photo gives me a feeling as if im on the ground as a loser of a fight and Bane is walking away as a confident victor. The copy across Bane's back reading "THE LEGEND ENDS" creates another feeling that Batman may die attempting to save Gotham.

Production elements - Point of view

Even though I don't have any Apple product, I'm a fan of Apple advertisements because of the consistency, simplicity of the communication message and execution with the corresponding product brand positioning.  
The newest iPhone 5 TV Ad - Photo everyday is one of the examples.

Throughout the TV ad, I can see the world through the eyes of "third persons" who are iPhone 5 users. Apple's agency, TBWA, uses "third person's point of view" to tell the story of a skateboarder capturing his peer's jump, a jogger taking photo of a beautiful scenery, an audience snapping at a concert, and so on. I've done the same things (with my Nexus instead of iPhone) as they do. I find myself in their stories.
The ad doesn't focus on apps, playing games, but rather the philosophy that got Apple the first place into smartphone market, experience, in this case, from camera. It's very simple and subtly emotional. It sticks to Apple aesthetics, revolutionary and simplicity.

Production Elements

If you’ve ever driven past a T-Mobile store at night as I do each time I drive on Loughborough to my apartment, you have noticed the distracting hot-pink lighting inside of the otherwise dark store. This use of unusual pink lighting is interesting to me and I wonder about the marketing strategy behind it. I also remembered T-Mobile’s advertisements, both commercial and print, also reflect this “pink” theme and thought it would be worth looking a little deeper into, especially when talking about production elements.

You probably recognize this women form print ads, billboards and in T-Mobile commercials. They call her “the 4G Girl” and she wears an eye-catching striped pink and white dress.

In this commercial for the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G, “4G Girl” stands against a blank white room (in her pink dress of course) next to a man giving another man a piggy-back ride, who represent the iPhone and AT&T. The men are wearing dark, heavy clothing and are struggling as “4G Girl” says “that’ll slow you down”. The men give off an almost dirty and dark vibe when juxtaposed against a tall, pretty woman in a breezy summer-y dress and heels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7gaPWeZMdw

Towards the end of last year, T-Mobile launched a new campaign promoting LTE expansion and a faster network and premiered the sweet, bubbly “4G Girl”’s alter-ego, who rides a motorcycle and is dressed in a tight black (with pink accents) leather jumpsuit. The line after "No More Mr. Nice Girl" (below) reads, "Time To Set the Record Straight" and goes on to tell you a website to "test drive" T-Mobile's new services.

It's interesting to me how T-Mobile highly depends on color to convey their message. Originally, they used pink to be eye-catching and convey a fresh, put-together and vibrant image. "4G Girl" looks approachable, happy and care-free. In the "Alter-Ego" campaign, T-Mobile switches to black, a harsh change to the all white background of their previous ads, and "4G Girl" now rides a motorcycle, symbolizing speed for their new network, and also wears black (her hair is straightened now too). Even though the black is noticeably different to anyone who is familiar with the original campaign, the splashes of hot pink is present to help you remember the branding. You don't even have to see the commercials or hear the sound to be able to compare the two vastly different images of their spokesperson and feel the vibe they want you to feel. I also like how the pink images from their advertisements is mirrored in the physical lighting in the store. It's important when branding to carry over themes from your advertisements to the actual experience customers get when interacting with your product.

In-class assigment 1 - Toyota Camry in the U.S & Vietnam

Hello everyone,

I take the print ads about 2012 Toyota Camry in the U.S and Vietnam to exemplify advertisements of one product targeting different audiences.

Background:

• U.S is one of the developed automobile markets. Car use was encouraged by infrastructure and laws. It becomes the de facto standard for passenger transport. In 2008, Americans owned 137,079,843 passenger cars, or a little less than one car for every two people (Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistic)
• Vietnam automobile market is still in the developing stage. Car market was officially opened in late 1900s. Due to limitations about infrastructure, high import taxes leading to triple pricing compared to U.S or Japan ones, owning car is a dream or a symbol of status for many Vietnamese. In 2012, there were 18 car owners per 1000 people only.

Findings: 
2012 Camry in the U.S

Since Americans know car and have variety of choices in car brands, Camry is positioned for male and female, 30-35 years old. Toyota launched “It’s Ready. Are You?”, an integrated advertising campaign promoting the 2012 Camry model. The campaign demonstrates how the seventh-generation model addresses "changes in consumers' vehicle needs, expectations and driving habits through the combination of new innovations and improvements to interior and exterior vehicle styling" (Source: http://www.autoevolution.com/news/2012-toyota-camry-commercial-its-ready-are-you-video-39623.html).
One of the ad in the series features the image of strong yet elegant gentleman enjoying his original coffee, plus images of car moving, audio system, rear front to highlight improved points of 2012 Camry. 
The copy centers around new features of the car "Voice-activated search available on the Reinvented 2012 Camry". 
The bright, warm color tone conveys modernness, happiness associated with new functions, improved design of Camry and its target consumer.

2012 Camry in Vietnam

In developing Vietnam market, Camry is tailored to male, aged 40+, successful businessman, high income. With 2012 Camry, Toyota targets to Toyota loyal owners who are current Camry customers wanting to upgrade their car. 
There is no model in the ad to draw attention to spacious, comfortable rear passenger seat. The only and special talent is the relaxing, still parrot to emphasize quietness brought by 2012 Camry. 
The headline "The Class. The Camry" simply conveys the class/privilege is Camry. It especially is used in English to enhance the luxury feeling from the brand itself. 
The cool, calm color tone has the same task. 

---
Khanh Vu 

Welcome to MEDC 5310 for Summer 2013

Welcome to MEDC 5310 Media and Culture at Webster University for the Summer 2013 session. My name is Tyann Cherry and I will be your instructor for the term. You will be given a copy of your syllabus at the first class meeting but can also view a copy in Canvas as well.

Our class is currently scheduled to meet on Monday's from 5:30 - 9:30pm in Sverdrup 113. You can locate a campus map here. Sverdrup is building number 28. Please note that we will not meet tonight, 05/27/13 due to the holiday, but will have a make-up class on Saturday 06/01 in the East Academic Hall, room 136, number 6 on the campus map. 

To give you a little background about myself, I am a adjunct faculty member within the School of Communications at Webster University and serve as the Senior Academic Advisor within the WU Academic Advising Center. I hold a BA in Photography and MA in Media Communications both from Webster University. I work extensively with online and graduate students and specialize in online and training communications. I serve on the Webinar Advisory Board of the National Academic Advising Association and served as chair of the Distance Education Advising Commission from 2009-2012 and received a National Certificate of Merit in 2008 recognizing 20 advisor's who have made significant contributions to advising within their first three years. I was also recently named Staff Member of the Year for my work with Webster University's military students.

You can find the objectives of the course within the syllabus, but want to take this opportunity to tell you that I am committed to working with students so they can achieve success. I strongly believe that engagement with technology should be a portion of your learning within the class and will work with you to build skills, expand your research framework and meet your program requirements.

Students who are nervous or concerned about technology should not shy away from this course. If it is necessary we will schedule optional lab times where I will work with students to help them access their course tools and information.

I look forward to working with each of you!

Tyann Cherry
cherry@webster.edu
Office Phone: 314.246.7556
Office Hours: By Appointment

Social Television Prezi

Here is my Prezi about Social Television:

http://prezi.com/w8gpvyylx2xu/social-television/

Final Paper Advertising in Taiwan vs US

Are there differences in advertising?

The Culture Code for quality in America is: IT WORKS

     The Culture Code for quality in America is : IT WORKS.  This speaks to the idea that Americans view quality differently than our foreign counterparts.  Quality to them, means the production of products with no defects; whereas to the American people, it could mean defective somewhat, but show me all the bells and whistles!  That's what I truly care about!  I want all  the neat features like bluetooth so I can call my friends. I need Onstar, and I have to be able to use my Ipod.  I need the controls completely at my fingertips.  The young lady talks about "blindspots," then its right to the gadgets.  Tell me what you think.    

The code for America is DREAM

As Rapaille said in his book, the Code for America encompasses all other Codes in the book. It is indeed the way we think of ourselves as Americans or the way we have been raised to think of ourselves. Throughout our lifetime, as Americans, we've been trained to think America is the epitome of all countries. With phrases like "The American Dream", "Dream big", "The promised land", and "Forever young". America has created an image for itself. One that is so strong, that citizens of other countries "dream" about coming to America.

Rapaille makes reference to the "newness" of America. He mentions various city names that encompass the word "new" as well as how as a country we are constantly building and renewing things rather than preserving them.

When you think of it, a DREAM is something one wishes to accomplish or experience. It's hope that one day you will achieve greatness or something bigger and better. Well, America is no stranger to big, as everything we do, eat, and drive, is big in comparison to some countries who by far are less wasteful than Americans.

This Levi's commercial is a pure representation of America. Americans are naturally driven to "go forth" or push ourselves to overcome ant triumphs or setbacks we encounter. A good example of this is how we as a country recovered and were able to rebuild after 9/11. We've build something bigger, better, and with even more meaning than before.

Code for the American Presidency--MOSES

According to the book, the Culture Code for the American Presidency is MOSES, stripping away the religious context, the book describes Moses as a rebellious leader of his people with a strong vision and the will to get them out of trouble. When I think of Moses, and I won't strip away the religious side of him, I think about him also looking out over his people and giving out the 10 Commandmants on a mount in the desert as those people look up to him. In these two presidential ads, they both use this culture code but in different ways.
In the Romney ad, the camera angle is always looking up to him, as he talks about what is wrong with the U.S, our enemies and threats, and basically rebels with whats been going on for the last four years. The commercial is saying look up to this man and let him lead you. The Romney Campaign completely utilized the code for the American Presidency in this ad.
In the Obama ad, the camera angle has the audience eye to eye with the President, and he doesn't talk much about threats or enemies but of staying the course and that he will lead the people out of this 'down' time in America. This staying the course and continuing trust that the President is asking for does not seem all that different from Moses and his people wandering the desert for 40 years in place of a new home, obviously they had some faith in the guy to lead them to the promised land. Now 40 years is a long time, so I don't think they were going for that angle, but to stay the course despite critics who believe otherwise is definitely an attribute that Moses had.

 

What do you think???????????????????