Graffiti Jesus

This work is by an artist who goes by Banksy, an underground graffiti artist who keeps his identity hidden. His works are usually satirical and this one is no exception. Although this image may cause controversy, because of the misuse of the image of the Crucifixion, Banksy is making a valid point about society and its treatment of holidays such as Christmas and Easter.

When you look at this image, you automatically notice three things: the image is mostly black and white, the gifts are the only things that have color, and there is no cross. If you are familiar with Banksy, you should not be surprised to see that the picture is almost colorless. Most of Banksy’s works are in black, white, and one other random color. The black and white is used to bring the audience’s attention to the colored parts of the image. In this case the third color is pink, which brings the viewer’s attention to the gifts. Banksy wants you to focus on the gifts because he wants you to see how Jesus and them clash together; they don’t go together. This is attacking the materialism that has taken over Christian holidays by illustrating that the two do not belong together. The exclusion of the cross symbolizes the exclusion of religious meaning behind the holidays. The combination of the presents and lack of cross basically tells the viewer that materialism has replaced the role of religion in Christmas and Easter, which means that the holidays lost their meaning in today’s culture. Though I may not agree with Banksy’s use of the Crucifixion, he makes a pretty convincing argument about today’s society and consumer holidays.

Our Personal Ethos

A few classes ago, we talked about how we build our own ethos or character to show a certain side of ourselves to the world. A lot of the things we wear and do in public are mostly because we want others to see a certain type of person. Look at anyone’s Facebook profile picture. There is a reason that person chose that picture to be the picture that people look at first when they click on your name. If the picture is a photo of the person with other people or at a party, the person might be trying to say, “I’m social, I like to have fun, and I have friends!” Or if a guy’s picture is him in a suit with a water gun and making a funny face, he may be saying, “I’m classy but I’m also funny.” However, wardrobe also is a way to build your character. A person wearing a soccer jersey may be telling people how athletic he is, or a person with a Penn State hat may be trying to emphasize his identity as a Penn State student. I will explain how my clothing choice was my attempt to build my own ethos.

This is kind of weird for me to do, because I never really thought about this until that class a while ago. When I was young, my clothes were nothing special. I just wore jeans, plain t-shirts, and the occasional hat. But something happened in my life that made me feel like I needed to look differently: I took up the drums and played in rock bands. As I became more involved in rock music, my appearance changed. My hair grew out and the clothes I wore weren’t the same as from my younger years. I was trying to fit the stereotype of a rock drummer, which is weird to think about, because I didn’t even notice it. As time went on, my hair got even longer, my clothes became darker, and my jeans became thinner (although they never shrunk to the “skinny” size, thank God), especially since I started playing hardcore and punk music. Subconsciously, I wanted people to know that I was a musician in a certain genre of music by wearing this clothing.

Even in college, I still sometimes wear these clothes. I’m not really sure why, but I think it’s because I still want to tell people that I play music, or maybe it’s because I’m used to wearing them. They’re actually really comfortable, now that I think about it.

Samsung Ad

                                                        Source: toxel.com
 

Since we’re covering advertisements, here’s another still one. I am particularly interested in this one because it combines two of my loves: electronics and music. This is an ad for the Samsung brand, which I find interesting because it isn’t advertising for one product.

When you look at this, you can see the phones arranged in such a way that it looks like the “sign of the horns.” This sign is usually seen at rock concerts, so it makes the connection between the phones and music. Also, by making the phones look like a hand, the company is saying something along the lines of, “Buy our cell phones, and you will literally have awesome music in your hands.” By showing different varieties of phones, Samsung is saying that many of their phones are capable of playing music, giving the consumer a choice of color and style. This gives the audience a sense of freedom of expression. If you look at the lighting of the image, the blue light surrounded by black in the background is similar to the setting at a rock concert or at a performance of some sort. This is telling the audience that they can use the phones to personally experience music just as if they were at a concert. Also, if everything else didn’t give the message away enough, the text on the bottom sums it all up: “Express your musical side.”

FedEx Express Ad

                                          Source: webdesignbooth.com

This week's post will be a bit short, but today I want to take a look at a still advertisement. As you can see from the logo on the box, this one’s from FedEx Express. From this ad, the company wants to convey the message that any item will be shipped quickly and safely. By making it look as if the vase is being exchanged from one pair of hands to the other, FedEx is basically saying, “The shipment will be so quick, it will seem like you are directly receiving it from the sender's hands.” Also, if you look closely, the ends of the vase look shiny and clean. Whether this is intentional or not, it gives off the impression that the shipping process will be so reliable (in either direction) that the product will end up in the same, if not better, condition as it was when it was packaged.

Notice the tone of the ad as a whole. The beige/tan backdrop makes one think of simplicity, comfort, and reliability. I think a reason for this is that it’s the same as the skin tone of the hands handling the vase. By doing this, it emphasizes that the reliability of the shipping is comparable to being handled by human hands. The simplicity of the background and the box is also contrasted by the intricate designs of the vase. In my eyes, this tells the audience that the delivery company doesn’t need to look fancy to provide quality service and to ship fancy things.

These are all just my observations and opinions. What do you think?

ASPCA Commercial

I remember watching television a while ago and enjoying the comedic genius of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. When it cut to commercials, I watched a depressing commercial that tugged at my heartstrings. It was an ASPCA ad starring Sarah McLachlan and her famous song, “Angel.” This commercial had images of suffering animals that were victims of animal abuse to the tune of the song. In the end, McLachlan appears with a dog saying that with “just 60¢ a day, you can help rescue animals from their abusers, and provide medical, food, shelter, and love,” all with a simple call to the phone number on the screen. This made me cry when I saw it.

This commercial does a very good job at making people want to donate to the ASPCA. It’s oozing with emotional appeal. By showing the hurting and abused animals, the audience feels their sadness. Plus, Sarah McLachlan’s song just exponentially adds to the depression: “In the arms of the angel, fly away from here, from this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear.” With these lyrics and the slow solo piano, the viewer is further put into the mindset of dismay for the cats and dogs that are displayed. The audience suddenly feels an emotional attachment to the hurting animals.

This ad also incorporates the “bandwagon” factor by adding a celebrity: Sarah McLachlan herself. This leads the audience to think, “Oh, since a famous person is promoting it, it must be worth considering!” Plus, to show that she loves animals, she has a cute dog next to her. People love following celebrities. Whenever Oprah suggests a book, the book sells more. If Morgan Freeman starts talking about penguins, people start to become interested in penguins. The point is, for some reason, celebrity involvement greatly heightens the public’s interest in the subject. So it was a good idea to include McLachlan in the ad.

The next thing this commercial does is guilt trip (for lack of a better word) you into wanting to donate to the cause. To do this, McLachlan explains that it’s only 60¢ a day, which leaves the viewer feeling selfish and lazy because it doesn’t seem like it takes a lot of money and time, especially if it’s only one phone call. The ad tells you straight up that there is no logical reason for you not to call and save animals. Now, I don’t mean to sound cynical, because it is a good cause, but I find it sad that people need to feel guilty to do something good for the world. Charity commercials should not have to do this.

These tactics aren’t new. Organizations such as Unicef, Christian Children’s Fund (now called ChildFund), PETA, and others use commercials with the same strategies because they know what gets people to participate. If a single screen commercial with a monotone speaker were to be aired, people would think nothing of it. But if sad music, pain, and celebrities were to be included, then people would pay attention, thus making it effective.

I Believe in Consideration

http://www.personal.psu.edu/dhs5105/blogs/consideration.mp3