Insecurities in Advertising

Female insecurity: Clean and Clear ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmTzulIBOMM

This advertisement for Clean and Clear Advantage Acne Control was created in the UK by two popular celebrity girls. The advertisement is tsaying that within one day, the treatment worked well for the users portrayed in this advertisement. The insecurity that females feel about their skin is that if it is unclear or filled with acne then they feel unattractive, which in turn makes them feel unwanted by male counterparts. The advertisement hits a vulnerable area for some girls, so the effect of this advertisement may get females to go out and buy it. The before and after pictures make it seem like the product truly works well, however in reality, these girls could just be made-up and have tons of powder and blush on their faces. And the use of celebrities is appealing due to the fact that celebrities do have an influence on society. Young teenage girls, are susceptible to giving in to be pretty, no matter what it takes to get there.

Male Insecurities: http://gotoshell.com/male-insecurity-and-jealousy/

This article is directed at males, targeting their insecurities about jealousy and also of keeping their girl. It explains a situation is which guys become jealous because they are constantly worried about their girl seeing other people when he is not around. The article gives reasons as to why the male may feel this way, and it also gives reason for solving the issue. This insecurity of being jealous probably happens to all guys because once they are in a relationship with their dream girl, they do not want to lose her. Oddly enough, the last paragraph of this article targets other insecurities that males feel as well, such as a nice body image, or being athletic because it's just the 'guy thing' to do. This article is probably effective on males because they may be able to relate to it easily, and anything that targets a guy's soft spot I think definitely has some type of influence on how they feel about themselves in that situation.

Female insecurity: These photos here came off a fashion designer's website. It is obviously targeting teenage females because it is about: 1) getting the perfect dress and 2) PROM. Girls carry this dream about having the perfect prom: the dress, the hair, the date. However, the general insecurity involved with prom, is the overall worry of looking pretty, and being inolved with a guy. This specific advertisement is showing that for a girl's 'big night' (other than her wedding) she must look pretty, and to look pretty you need an outstanding dress, the cutest shows and the right accessories. It is an effective advertisement because it shows girls that they can look pretty with the right clothes. A good portion of teenage girls love shopping, and love clothing, so targeting that area of females will help the advertisers. And since it is also targeting an area in which girls worry about their whole school-aged lives, the insecurity about being pretty is what makes an effect on young women.

Male insecurity: "Wear your face." is the slogan for the Braun series 7 shaver. It is intended for men to be confident in their faces, beause that is what they have, and cannot change. Unlike females, this advertisement is saying that fashion does not define a man, it is his looks. In the previous example, the advertisers were all about looking pretty with the right clothes. This advertisement here is about using your looks to look good. The insecurities between males and females are the same when it comes to looks; but they are different in the sense that you can target each gender in different ways. This is an effective advertisement because it shows that males just need to be cleaned up in order to look good. The insecurity of not looking good without the whole clothing ordeal is what is being targeted in this advertisement. In conclusion, males carry the insecurity of looking good naturally without the fashion and clothes that females use. If they cannot look good naturally, they may feel that they do not look good at all.

Media Ownership

The author feels the merger is so harmful because it seems like it would be taking away his freedom of speech as a citizen who is enveloped in the media. His understaning is that this AOL-Time Warner merge is going to dominate the media industry, pulling away the "notions of a free, diverse and independent press". As a civic issue, this merge affects the society in the way that the views of this large media influence may be biased and not include the views of the country as a whole. It could be controversial because citizens may not share this point of view, however as a large media conglomerate, the views of Time Warner may perceive that their views are the views of the country. As a journalist, the issue with the merge between AOL and Time Warner would take away their freedoms of writing and voicing their own opinions. The bigger issue is that what is being written may be the opinions of the conglomerate company, which may not be shared between the journalist, thus showing that the freedom of an indepedent press is out the window. The issue of taking away this freedome affects the press in the sense that their own voices would be muted. Everything could be right-wing, where the opinion of the AOL-Time Warner company merge would influence much of the media, having a biased opinion, proving that they have power over the media, which may be a main reason for the merge. The author believes that the AOL-Time Warner merge creates these issues and takes away these freedoms, harming society as a whole.

The danger of not having a free and independent press is that the individual opinions of the people of the media, would be silenced. This would go against their rights that were given to them years ago by the presidents of the past. If there was not a free and independent press, controversy could erupt because of the potential unshared opinion between the press and the citizens. A free and independent press is a central aspect of democracy because a democratic government allows its people to have a say in how the country is run. Without an independent press, a branch of freedom of speech is gone, thus creating a controversial state where the media and the people do not get along.

The ideas and opinions on the internet I think are screened, but are relatively free and outspoken. Because the internet is a public source, anybody can post their opinions without being pressed by the media to write what they believe should be written. You can get news on the internet on news websites, online newspapers, blogs, etc. News can be found anywhere on the web because it is a public knowledge source.