Iconography of the U.S.

As an American who has traveled outside of the United States to other countries, I always felt at home with the sight of a Dunkin Donuts. Any of my friends who have traveled outside of the U.S., even those who have studied abroad found that when they got to a Dunkin Donuts while they were away they felt a sense of relief and felt like they were in America, no matter where they were in the world. Dunkin Donuts is an icon of the United States, here in North America and abroad in other countries.

Dunkin Donuts opened in Canton, Massachusetts. This brand became iconic to the United States with the marketing tools they implemented. They started a slogan, “America Runs on Dunkin” in 2006 and this is when it truly began to represent something special to first Americans, and second travelers abroad from America. Currently, Dunkin Donuts can be found in over 30 countries around the world.

The logo of a coffee cup that has the initials “DD” in the well-known orange and pink color scheme has become a mediascape across the globe. The logo has become so well known from this picture that it has become very comfortable to us all. One reason that we have all become so comfortable with the brand, internationally, may be due to the fact that it has been serving coffee across oceans for about 27 years now and has made a lasting impact. The marketing tools are also very inducing and we recognize the orange and pink from afar.

Although Americans will see the brand and immediately relate, they may not recognize the products inside of the store. Like any other product or business, it must change to fit the country that it is in and the people that it is serving. The difference will be seen in the products, like the Choco Nut Donut in Thailand or the Grapefruit Coolatta in Korea. But don’t worry, it will “Keep you running wherever you go.”

The cultural response to the Dunkin Donuts image is pretty positive across the board. The friendly like atmosphere and slogans keep the customers coming back for more, no matter where they are. In America the icon is accepted by many and even a place we can consider ‘close to home’ no matter where we are in the country, or world.

Dunkin Donuts does seem to have an American feel to it and may not be as accepted in Europe or somewhere that would prefer a different feel. Americans are not necessarily loved or hated anywhere but I can say that the eating habits of Americans may have a negative image attached in other countries that may be naturally more healthy or experience a different type of food custom. A coffee house that may be more accepted due to its worldly like experience and coffee from many countries may be Starbucks. It is also located globally, but already has a European coffee appeal in the U.S. Either way, they are both very iconic in America and abroad. 

The Brain/Pharma Ads

Viewing the 3D tour of the brain made me think about all of the times that I hit my head and since I recently hit my head very hard in the front I was more interested in learning about this area of the brain. Luckily I found out it is not as important as some other sides of the brain. Clicking on each section and being able to read a concise paragraph about that part’s function helped me understand the brain and its functions more than I did before. I have taken some psychology classes and have learned about the brain so I knew some of the information but I definitely learned a lot from the 3D tour.  I think that the information was easy to learn on this website because it is not fancy doctor terms or anything too difficult, the language used is definitely aimed at a general audience and the visual of the brain helps me connect what I am reading with my own brain and see what parts of my own head are very important.

I do think that this is a good example of the idea that the “truth can be made visible” because as Michel Foucault determined, it is experimenting, measuring, analyzing and ordering that help us see the truth through vision. I think that being able to study the brain like this is the truth being made visible. As the example in the textbook points out a brain with no drug use and a brain with drug use look very different and this is the truth being shown in a visible picture. There is solid evidence that the brain of someone who uses drugs differs from the brain of someone who does not use drugs.

The Advil advertisement had a checklist of symptoms that the medicine is supposed to cure. The list includes headaches, backache, muscle ache, menstrual pain and minor arthritis pain. It also has the slogan “the every pain reliever.” The list of symptoms that Advil treats is listed with check marks and is the main attraction to the ad. Advil apparently works wherever it hurts.

There is actually no list of side effects on this advertisement, which I am surprised about. If you read the bottle there are many side effects listed, probably more than the amount of symptoms it is meant to treat. The advertisement promises the consumer that their pain will be relieved if they take this medication. The pill bottle promotes what the pill will look like and creates brand recognition; whenever someone sees a bottle like this one they will associate it with Advil. The copy on this advertisement is plain, simply and clear that it will relieve whatever pains the consumer is experiencing. Even the colors used are meant to make the consumer memorize that Advil is associated with these exact colors.Even though this advertisement doesn’t have people in it to sympathize with, I think that it is just as effective because it is an upbeat ad and it is familiar to us. 

Pastiche

Pastiche as defined in our vocabulary list is an aspect of postmodern style —that of plagiarizing, quoting, and borrowing from previous styles with not reference to history or a sense of rules. 

We see pastiche in today’s media all of the time but we do not realize or acknowledge that it is a remaking of something from the past. The Simpsons is a cartoon television show that frequently takes popular culture and makes parodies in their episodes. In the example that I chose, The Simpsons is clearly a pastiche of the famous movie, The Shining. In the photo attached it is clear that the scenes were directly taken in the cartoon from the movie. The cartoon itself though is taking a seriously scary movie and making it into a humorous part of an episode.

This pastiche that I chose is one with parody. The Simpsons is a cartoon show that is known for making fun of popular culture and situations that are relevant and serious. In the past this show has made fun of celebrities with serious problems involving drugs or alcohol as we all political situations that would be considered quite serious by many adults. This show is definitely aimed at a lighter audience that is more ‘in touch’ with the issues but wouldn’t be offended by the humor found within it.

The Shining is seen as a seriously scary film that was created in 1980. The parody pastiche of The Simpsons on this movie questions the status of the original film because it takes the scenes out of context where one used to find it frightening and makes it humorous for the same group of people to laugh at. I find it interesting that the same scenes can draw different emotions just because of the context in which the scene is taking place.

The Graph Jam website is a pastiche because it is a place for people to compile information about popular culture and the history if it. The information itself is not necessarily clear and it takes an understanding of history of popular culture to completely understand the graphs. The whole website is about issues that are going on and giving a funny twist to how we look at these issues. It’s a funny website.

This is a pastiche with parody because there is a sense of humor behind the graphs. Although the issues that the graphs may represent are serious, there is a funny nature behind them that is understood by those who understand what the underlying issue is, that it is trying to represent.

These graphs lay out information from pop culture in a clearer and funny way. For instance, there may be a graph about how we put our money in a bank and we give them our money in fees. Although this is something we understand we are doing, we don’t think about how funny the concept is until it is laid out in a graph on this website. It’s a system that we abide by, but the graph questions the fact that we overlook the idiocy of the system. 

Culture Jamming

I chose this particular advertisement because I disagree with most clothing ads that showcase a rail thin girl in their clothing. First of all, a regular person who is not so thin will not look like that in their clothing and secondly, no one wants to look like that. I worked for a retail company as an intern in their marketing department and the clothes that they chose went on the models that they chose because they say the research they have done on their target market says that the 70+ group would be more likely to buy clothes on a person who looks how they want to look. I don’t know anyone who wants to look so frail and sick.

The signifier in this advertisement is the body posing of the woman. She is frail looking and very passive. I chose to change this ad and create the new one to take on the role of détournement. The new representation of the advertisement is antagonistic compared to the first ad. When I looked at the original advertisement all I could see was an ad for anorexia, an eating disorder.

I used the girl in the advertisement the same as she was because her positioning and what the clothes looked like on her were already perfect for an eating disorder advertisement. To be honest, I haven’t seen any eating disorder advertisements but there should be more of those and less like the original Ralph Lauren ad. The original ad is sending off a bad image for women and girls who like that brand.

In more recent times, it seems to me that most of the women that are considered role models have more curves and are proud of them, like the Kardashian sisters or Scarlet Johanson. Those are the type of women that should be publicized in advertisements like this, but showing off their curves not trying to look sickly. There has been a lot of media attention recently towards women who are too skinny, like Lindsay Lohan in some recent years, but the brands that use these stick models don’t get the negative feedback. And this tells them its okay to do.

I chose the copy that I did because I envisioned this type of advertisement in a health clinic or at a doctor’s office, like the ones that they already have about alcohol or drug abuse. The copy that I chose was to make it less of a ‘you’re anorexic’ advertisement and more of a ‘if you need help’ positive advertisement.

The oppositional reading will hopefully make the point that some of the clothing advertisements go a little too far with the severity of their models body images. I want it to be known that it is not okay to look like that girl and that maybe Photoshop had something to do with what her body looks like. As long as the point of the new text on this advertisement says ‘its not okay’ and ‘its not normal’.

Media Tracking

The form of media, which I used the most, was Facebook. I used it almost once every two hours that I was awake because it is very accessible on my phone and it is entertaining when I am bored at work or walking from class to class. But for as often as I do log on, I only visit the media site for less than 5 minutes at a time so I would say that I was on that social media site for less than 3 hours in the duration of this assignment. I watched television for about three hours in the 48 hours and it was mostly right before I was going to bed or while I was getting ready for the day in the early morning (more like background noise).

The least form of media that I used was Page Six from the New York Post. I read this media site when I am home because my mother reads it and she will tell me about stories I would be interested in. I logged on for less than 5 minutes one time in the 48 hours that I was tracking my media usage. Other than that I used Twitter for less than 2 hours each day because as much as I do look at my Twitter and Facebook accounts, I don’t stay on for long periods of time. If I do stay on long its to read a story that’s trending or look at pictures a friend posted.

I spent all of my waking hours communicating with another person or people. I am in a constant text conversation with multiple friends and by constant I mean that it never ends throughout the entire day. I checked my e-mail three times a day (6 total) over the past 48 hours because I have to be up-to-date on all of my e-mails incase something important comes up or a class is cancelled J. I spent less than two hours speaking on a phone call though which is interesting because I am constantly on my phone, just not speaking directly with another person, mostly texting, checking Twitter, Facebook and my e-mail.

I spent a short amount of time using one-way media because I don’t have a lot of free time to sit and watch a television or listen to the radio. I listened to the radio for one hour each day (2 hours total) because I drove for one hour each day during this 48 hour period. In the car I use the radio for background noise, I’m not one to blast it.

I would be lying if I said I was surprised about the amount of media I used in the past 48 hours because my major is communications and I am naturally a social media person, since it is what my career will be. I will not decrease or increase my media usage because it’s a part of my career. If anything it will naturally increase as I enter the working world in public relations.