Great chapter and says so much about where we are today. Advertisers certainly understand a great deal of their market is aimed at adolescents - $170 billion in 2002 alone. This makes it imperative they reach this group. As such they have an enormous amount of impact on what young people purchase. We need to remember this is not only true of the television media but also other advertising media. Cigarette ads placed in stores where young kids can easily see them - influencing their choice of whether to smoke or not smoke.
How many things are advertised in a positive light making them look attractive? The models in ads are always beautiful/handsome and thin. No wonder our teens are obsessed with body image. Advertisers give them the idea that if they purchase their products they will also be beautiful and popular. I think media is an extremely important thing for our students to study and to understand. They need to know who is being targeted and who is being left out. They need to be able to take apart these ads and find out why they are done the way they are and who they are trying to influence.
I wonder how many would care about wearing brand name clothes if those clothes were not associated with being popular and beautiful. In our town it's Old Navy and Aeropostale. My son won't even look at clothes without those tags. It's as if by wearing something else he will no longer fit in. We need to address these issues with kids and help them explore the advertising media and find out the real reasons behind their ads. If advertising weren't such a big $ business do you honestly think advertisers would spend millions for the chance to run an ad during the Super Bowl? Some of these ads are never shown again, and yet they understand the impact just one showing will have on their audiences.
This was a wonderful, insightful chapter. It's an important chapter for those of us who are future educators.
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This chapter was really helpful with my media literacy lesson plan. You should check it out on my blog if you enjoyed reading this chapter. I actually used some of her ideas incorporated from this chapter into my lesson plan. I knew I wanted to do something with advertising so I consulted this section, and it really helped me design what I wanted to do! I'm glad you also found it a great chapter--it's very helpful and has great ideas.
What were some of the strategies the chapter suggests for unpacking these media messages?
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