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Tag Archives: marketing
Exploiting Gay Sentiment
After watching a movie on same-sex marriage we started the discussion about how different politicians spoke out about same-sex marriage legalization in NY.
I would like to expand more on how gay sentiment gets played out in different fields of social life, mainly politics and marketing. Election campaigns are staged around controversial topics that candidates debate about. The job of political analytic for candidate is to find out what opinion on issue is more popular among his/her electorate and build the campaign accordingly. Therefore candidates from conservative areas would be more likely to oppose same-sex marriage. Good example of it is possible GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann, who supports so called reparative therapy and theory that homosexuality should and can be cured. On the other side of political spectrum, politicians in urban areas with large and organized gay communities, like New York, use issue of homosexual rights in opposite way. They learned to gain from exploiting gay sentiment and get actively involved in gay rights legislations and in queer events, like pride parade that boasts more and more politician’s floats. Perfect example of such politician is Andrew Cuomo, whom HRC (Human Rights Campain-enormous national scale organization that promotes LGBTQ rights) portrayed as a hero of NY same-sex marriage legalization. HRC was giving out “Thank you Cuomo” (showed above) and “Promise Kept” banners and also send out all members emails asking to sign under a Thank You letter to him.
Marketing industry was a way ahead of politics in exploiting the likes and desires of queers. Not only in gay media, but everywhere on the streets, in the stores and on TV we can see adds that speculate on homosexual strive for equality, or use highly sexual gay images or emphasize company’s commitment to the equal rights.
Maybe Andrew Cuomo learned how to become popular in LGBTQ
community and benefit from it, from his brother in law Kenneth Cole. Designer’s latest pro-gay marriage adds can be seen everywhere, including one outside of Vertical Campus on the side of 25th street.
Just one more add that ties together advertising and politics…
Facebook Targeted by Anonymous
In a recent article in businessinsider an impending attack on facebook by the hacktivist group known as Anonymous was discussed. They claim that the reason for the attack on facebook is because of facebook invading the privacy of all its users claiming that facebook knows more about their users than even their own families. This whole internet hacktivism seems to be an interesting topic and although may not have much correlation with how families operate, it would be interesting to see what happens when the largest social network is shut down.
My own take on why Anonymous exists is that this all can stem from growth in segmented marketing and the Patriot Act. Our every key stroke that we make online can be recorded and every site we visit is definitely recorded. I always get freaked out on how accurate the advertisements on facebook are because they all have to do with something that I am interested in. I believe with the addition of the patriot act it has made it easier for the government and corporations who maybe lobby for certain influential parts of the government to monitor the every move of citizens.
Whether it is for security or marketing we are being watched, our friends are being watched, and our families are being watched. Popular culture, which can be decided through segmented marketing, can now possibly be more controlled if we are watched more closely. While I am not a supporter of Anonymous I do feel it would be interesting to see people’s reaction when facebook is shut down for a period of time, just to see if there is any chaos that ensues. Whether it is from people who can’t access their page or from marketers who can’t look at what people are typing to figure out what to sell certain individuals.
-Ryhan Ahmad
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged advertisements, anonymous, facebook, families, marketing, privacy, segmented marketing, social network
1 Comment
Chore Wars
This week we were discussing how household work changed in 20th century. In the article “Twentieth century Changes in Household Technologies.” we traced how housework changed qualitatively and quantitatively. We also discussed how technological sphere in household becomes another field of work. In our days people bring their household chores into internet space! The game Choir Wars is free online game that allows to turn real-life chores into points that are used in the game. Players can make a list of chores together and then game assigns certain rewards for them.
As one father was saying in his blog, the game helped to motivate kids in doing their house chores. He mentions that even though kids still got the same tasks and rewards as they did before the game, now they felt as they earned those rewards more then before.
I think what can be interesting for our class is that transformation that game makes of routine physically performed tasks into online game. It shows how much technology means in modern households and how it can be used in stabilizing relationship between family members. Players report that they have less conflicts about who should do what and in what time. for those who have kids this game became powerful motivational tool.
The Choir Wars also can be seen as an epiphany in child marketing. It manages to “sell” kids work that they usually don’t want to do. It employs media of computer game to make housework cool and attract kids by experience points and rewards they can redeem online after they finish real-life task.
P.S.: If you know kids who spend all they time online, this may be the way to make them do something for their family on chorewars.com.
Posted in Assignment 3
Tagged chores, Family, game, household roles, internet, marketing, media, technology
4 Comments
Consuming Kids
I found a documentary called Consuming Kids : The Commercialisation of Children. For sake of brevity I only watched and posted the first part (of seven). This documentary is directly related to the past few articles we have read in class. It includes a brief history of marketing and how kids are marketed too. It is not shocking at all to see that Ronald Reagan and the courts gave power to businesses and marketers rather than the FTC which represents the “people”. This has remained a common trend in politics and issues until this day. The money and influence of individuals is miniscule compared to the lobbying and funds distributed through large corporations. On the same token, parents and families should not be looking to the government for guidance in the media influencing their children. It is not pick and chose for every aspect the government should or should not regulate. If the people want America to be the consumer/capitalistic state that it is, we can not go crying to the government when it has unintended effects.
The amount of money that is pumped into the economy under the influence from children was truly amazing. Informative documentaries such as this one, should serve as a wake up call to parents and families to power they give to their kids and the amount and type of information they are exposed to. Although parents certainly cannot control everything their child sees and hears, they can help educate and influence the way their kids process information. Technology in the form of TV’s, the internet, and phones have had a profound influence on society today, but how the information they convey is interpreted and distributed is up to each person to decide.
Modern kitchen of late 1950s
I found this marvelous video archive of TV commercials of 1950s glorifying modern kitchen. I would say that it is extension of the ideas expressed in Nickles Shelley article and the way marketing strategies evolved throughout 50s.
The first commercial I find specially significant because it sells to both working class and middle class families. First it shows working class family and the way how they can make their kitchen more modern, by buying new appliances one at the time. Ad-makers in a way show working families that they can afford their products. They also prove to families that up to date kitchen saves a lot of time and turn chore of cooking into pleasure, thus appealing to a working class housewife who perceives her chores as work. I especially admired how ad was describing old refrigerator as “too small for present day supermarket shopping habits”, so family had to buy new bigger one to fit more goods in it. Ad also showed some details, like flower-printed curtains, that working class people could relate to, which was probably based on conclusion about working class taste drawn on researches described in article we read. It also showed families prospective purchases on their way to a new shiny modern kitchen, and named it “envy of the neighborhood”, reinforcing the connection between goods that family owns and their status among peers.
Next that commercial shows the kitchen of middle class family, that is already equipped with necessary appliances. To sell products to this family, ad makers emphasize the “look of tomorrow” that women allegedly want. They cater to middle class taste with charcoal grey appliances, using words ‘sophisticated” and “efficient”.
Clearly there is no limit to desire, families are pushed to buy newer, latest, better and in more quantities.
Posted in Assignment 2, Uncategorized
Tagged Family, kitchen, marketing, middle class, working class
4 Comments
