I have been to Disney parks before so I was not surprised by the amount of cross promotion and corporate branding at the park. It was truly everywhere. From the moment you walk into the park, you are bombarded by Disney logos, various Disney brand, and a ton of different ads for other companies (Most of them seemed to be for Coca-Cola). In total, Disney parks tend to be like a small corporate town. While this practice is ethical, as companies can pay other companies to advertise places, I do always find it very disheartening. I was hoping Disney Paris would be different, or at least have more French brands represented. I also wonder if others think about the parks like this, or if it is just so normal that people do not even notice. I have to believe that actual french people notice this as it is such a different environment than what I have experienced in Paris myself.
Author: Aaron G
Media literacy ad/pr analysis
These images come from a concert I attended in London, England. They are images of a shirt that was sold at the concert. I consider this amazing advertising as Travis Scott, the performer, got me to pay money for a shirt that advertises his Live Show.
Who created this message?
Travis scott and his team of designers created this message.
What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
There are a few, the colors of course attract attention, as well as Travis Scott’s name and the specificity of saying this merch was from the 2 night performance at the 02 arena.
How might different people understand this message differently than me?
Many people simply won’t care. If they are not fans of the artist, or fans of concerts. This does take away from the advertising value of the shirt, however, on the other hand, the design may also still attract people.
What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
I think there are a few different values represented, all centered around the brand of Travis Scott such as abstractness, raging (what he calls going crazy at his concerts/what he calls his fans “ragers”), and his unique eye for design. Of course there are tons of values not represented: Family life for example being a big one.
Why is this message being sent?
This message is being sent for two reasons. Firstly, to provide merch and a more immersive experience for fans that attended the show. Secondly, to advertise Travis Scott’s live show and public persona. If I wear this shirt around it may convince someone to attend a show or buy merch of their own. Essentially, I become the walking advertisement for his brand and public persona.
Ethics: I think this is ethical and smart. After all, I paid money to buy a shirt that also serves as an advertisement. One could absolutely argue the prices for his merch are unethical, I paid about $60 for this shirt. However I would disagree with that idea due to two factors. Firstly, I chose to purchase the shirt wholly on my own, it was not forced or part of the ticket. Secondly, the laws of supply and demand exist. Travis Scott was in town for two nights and this merch was only sold at the 02 for those nights. Thus, by only selling them there he is making the clothing more valuable off the bat, and in the eventual resale market that exists for streetwear.
Art museum gift shop
Museums often will have gift shops to help fund their upkeep, their employee salaries, and their expansion. However, sometimes these museums will use the art they house in unethical ways in order to sell products. For example, the small cartoon-esque statue of Claude Monet. I personally believe this is unethical as they are using his likeness without his permission. While it is possible his descendants gave this permission I wonder how Monet himself would feel about this statue. I imagine that he would not like it as he would want visitors to be engaged with his art, not himself. Also pictured in this image is a cookbook that uses Monet’s water lilies. This also seemed slightly unethical to me as I don’t think Monet was known for cooking. However, not all of the museum’s gift shop offerings were unethical to me. For example, I think the posters do a very good job at taking a famous piece of art, staying true to it, and replicating it to be brought home and consumed outside of the museum. These posters allow for a more faithful version of the artwork to leave the museum.
Orsay and Louvre Reflection
The Louvre and the Orsay were two of my favorite museums that I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. Seeing the Mona Lisa in person was amazing as well as getting to see a twelve foot tall depiction of the Gates of Hell. The experience at these museums made me think about aesthetic theory. This theory explores the relationship between art and humanity with a focus on the creator, the viewer, and the art. I think many of these artists could never have fathomed a museum of this size displaying their works. This made me wonder how the artists would want the viewer to engage with the art. I think many of these artists would rather have had their work stay in its original location. However, personally, I am happy these types of museums exist. I think they provide a unique opportunity for viewers to engage with a ton of art in one place. However one question that remains for me is: does having all this art in one place dilute the emotional and mental impact of engaging with any of the art.
Normandy
Normandy was an interesting excursion that was very sobering. I thought the most impactful part of the trip was the visit to the cemetery. It was very difficult to see all of the graves. The cemetery definitely met what I was expecting to see. The only aspect that slightly surprised me was seeing a swastika on the maps that showed the locations of various battles. After discussion with some classmates however I agreed that it was important to have historical accuracy and authenticity. I was expecting many more aspects of war at the beach. I was shocked that there were touristy aspects such as a carousel and souvenir shops. I thought the memorial itself was beautiful and well done. I appreciated the various quotes from leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt. Specifically I like one part of Roosevelt’s quote, “We .. would rather die on our feet than live on our knees”.
Picasso Museum
I really enjoyed going to the Picasso Museum. I thought the art was beautiful and thought provoking. I was surprised by how abstract and dark some of the paintings were. When I was in the museum I was thinking that Picaso must have seen some very dark times when living in Paris during the Nazi invasion. I did not know he was living in Paris during all of that before today. I believe Picasso made amusement art, art that is meant to help humans connect to the world around them. This is an important sect of art as it can help people look at the world around them in a new way. I think Picasso’s abstract takes on humanity in many of his paintings help convey how he made amusement art. I think that Picasso wanted to challenge his audience that humanity is unique in that it is so different from person to person.
Semiotics
Aesthetics
Duties and Consequences
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events
The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, by Daniel Boorstin, is an interesting book that dives into the power of pseudo-events across many different disciplines. A pseudo-event is a staged event that is used to garner the interest and attention of the public. These events can take many forms due to their appeal across the board to people, companies, and organizations wanting attention. For example, news reporters both use and benefit from pseudo-events. A reporter can ask questions in specific ways to draw out an answer that will be newsworthy. Furthermore, many news organizations will even use non-comments to create news. Boorstin’s prime example of news benefiting is FDR’s revolutionary Fireside Chats. Tourism industries all across the world also use pseudo-events to draw people in. Boorstin’s prime example of this is creating adventure for tourists. For example, many South American countries will give tourists the opportunity to scale a waterfall or zipline through a rainforest in a highly controlled environment. Thus Boorstin questions if any of these adventure experiences are actually real adventures, or if they’re just contrived experiences provided by a company for the benefit of consumers.
Reading this book gave me a lot to think about both in the world and in our study abroad experience. I personally have had experience traveling and taking part in pseudo-travel-events as well as attempting to get a real experience. I think that, unfortunately, most travel experiences tend to be slightly pseudo-eventish. Even a museum is a contrived experience that draws lots of different artifacts into a centralized location. Furthermore, many museums will attempt to tell a story to further engage visitors. When considering media ethics, I think that pseudo-events will be around for a long time because they are seen as ethical. However, we should still apply media literacy skills to determine what is natural, and what is contrived.