Spray Some Superficial On Me

For today’s blog entry, I wanted to start thinking more outside the box than conventional pieces of media I have been using. Sitting in my room trying to figure out a great topic for a blog entry, I looked over to my vanity to see my Marc Jacobs Lola Perfume. The bottle is absolutely beautiful and I always receive compliments on it. 

Then I began to think, perfume is an extremely superficial industry. Without even smelling the perfume, people will automatically be drawn to purchase it because of how the bottles looks or how having this perfume will reflect their lifestyle. I am completely guilty of conforming to this trend. I think that 90% of the perfume I have bought (without smelling the scent) is because I like the bottle, I like the celebrity who endorses the product or because of the advertisement that portrays a lifestyle I want to be a part of. The perfume industry is usually advertising through magazines or other paper methods, banking on the fact that the public will like the appearance of the bottle enough to not bother to make the effort to make sure it smells to their liking.

In class we discussed how stereotypes are very prevalent in the media, and are very apparent through television shows. Television has the ability to broadcast to a certain audience and appeal to what viewers want. Very similar is the website we browsed, www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, that makes jokes that touch on reality. The reason why people read it and think it is funny is because it is funny only to people who understand. Perfume is alike in the sense that advertisers are blatantly targeting a certain group of people to like their products. Most people aspire to a high end lifestyle, which is why perfume names are picked very carefully, ex. Princess, Hollywood, Oh La La, Lucky You, to create a tacit level of prestige.

In particular, look at the advertisements geared toward men’s perfume. It is clear which perfumes are supposed to be targeting a homosexual vs. a straight man. With male perfume, it is not so much about the bottle anymore, but rather the images surrounding the idea behind the perfume. This industry is stereotypical in this sense because who is to say that a straight man won’t enjoy D&G perfume. This goes both ways; perfume advertisers are assuming all gay men would be attracted to images seen below in March Jacobs & D&G. Many homosexual men still enjoy being portrayed in a more masculine manner whether it be through sports etc.

So much is able to be said without ACTUALLY saying anything. Through the advertisement, style and name of the bottle and the celebrities promoting the product, the public feels buying perfume will produce an elevated lifestyle. 

National Gossip Magazine

Messages from the media come in all different forms depending on how they are broadcast. In some cases, like the news shown on Fox or ABC, the stories are accurate and very informational for the general public. On the other hand, some media shares messages to the public that have absolutely no base in fact and are used solely to create attention to a subject. The National Enquirer magazine has created a reputation around the fabricated material that they publish. Despite the fact that they are known for unreliable journalism, they have established a very large fan base for their work. As a matter of fact, the reason for their large following is because of the tabloids and gossip. Why is it that people enjoy buying this magazine revolving around the affairs and mug shots of popular celebrities? I cannot lie, unlike the Jersey Shore television program, I do enjoy purchasing a good tabloid magazine for some, shall I call it, "light" reading. However, Star or People have a higher standard for factual stories vs. National Enquirer is entirely exaggerated. It is extremely interesting how a magazine company can pride themselves on publishing gossip and readers can still take the messages from this magazine seriously. The fact that it is in print and a form of mass media, gives justification for the public to believe in the messages. Perhaps the National Enquirer’s message is more subtle than the obvious; it is so easy to believe anything that you hear, that a person might as well be reading falsified gossip. Either way, the public is captivated by exciting new stories, even when they know it’s exaggerated.

Life on The Jersey Shore

Life On the Jersey Shore

When most people talk about the Jersey Shore TV show on MTV, they are usually raving about how amazing the show is. I am proud to say that I have never been able to sit through an entire episode of this awful television show. I have asked myself, why does television even allow this to air, do people actually enjoy watching this? The fact of the matter is, that many find this show to be extremely entertaining. I began to investigate what exactly about the vulgarity of this show is appealing. The television (the media in this case), is broadcasting poor messages about the lifestyle of Italian-Americans, more commonly known as “guidos”. First of all, some of the characters on this show aren’t even Italian, but far from it!! Second, many Italians, especially those living on the Jersey Shore who do not abide by this same lifestyle, are extremely offended by the stereotypes that have emerged because of how these characters have portrayed themselves.

            Focusing back on the information I have gathered from my peers who are avid watchers of Jersey Shore, I have been able to draw further conclusions on the message from the media. I probed how a show with so many violent and provocative people was able to continuously capture an audience. The results I received was that the “so-called-reality” of the show, makes themselves feel better about their own lives. The Jersey-Shore characters do nothing productive, which in turn encourages other people to stray from these same attitudes. Who knew trashy reality television also worked as reverse psychology!

            The bottom line is that Jersey Shore has become a phenomenon that people become obsessed with, while join the other thousands of people conforming to like this show just to say they watch it. The message from this show can be construed easily depending on the person watching television and interpreting the message from the media. Although many people are able to watch the show and know this lifestyle is exaggerated and inappropriate, others may like what they see, and strive for this low standard of living. 

Define Media

Definition of Media

            In 1964, Marshal McLuhan said “The medium is the message.” I contend that media itself is not the message, but messages come from the media. Media is defined as the tools people use to advertise a product, service, or lifestyle, as well as to broadcast stories or news, including but not limited to: television, magazines, billboards, radio, internet (social media), and newspaper. Two main factors characterize media, first being media is known to aim for a certain market based upon society norms, and secondly, the ability for media to convey a message to many people at once. Although I argue my definition of media, I still encounter conflict with where to draw the line as to what is media and what is not.

            Media is not only used by people wanting to advertise a product, service, or lifestyle, but also to generally convey a message to a certain group of people. The messages that are extracted from media can often be misinterpreted, and therefore do not always affect people in the same way. The goal of advertisers who use these forms of media is to eliminate as much confusion as possible, and work hard to promote their desired message.  Media always targets a certain demographic, while also attempting to convince people outside this specific market, to believe in their product or service. The problem that arises is that often advertisers may have many different elements to one message. Getting across all of the different elements while still having a unified message is difficult. For example, a company can choose to market women’s perfume in multiple ways. For women, the perfume may represent power and self worth and therefore they buy this product for confidence. When men view this same media, they may extract that the woman in the ad is attractive because of the perfume, and then want to buy this perfume for their girlfriend to increase her beauty. Although the perfume is geared towards females, the media is capable of alluring the male in to also buy the product. Looking more at the news and story side to media, newspapers also have a target audience. When a person writes a story about the US at war, the author is expecting an opinionated, educated individual interested in politics to pick up the article.

            Along with the “who” in media from above, the “how” also further defines why media is so prevalent in society.  In order for something to be considered media, it must also meet the qualification that a large group of people are being broadcasted the same message. This is because media is based upon social norms, meaning, that a group of people with the same mindset can easily convince an outsider to consider conforming. Conformity or belief is the objective of media. Take the concept of a diamond wedding ring. Does wearing a diamond wedding ring have significance beyond a tradition that the media created? In American society, media has created the idea that in order to be happy and normal, the husband must abide by the “tradition” and purchase an expensive diamond for his wife. Media operates to manipulate or skew the views of the audience, whether good or bad. Because media is influenced by society’s expectations, it is almost impossible for a person to escape the mindset that has been chosen for them and constantly reiterated through various forms.

            Conflicts arise because of how my definition of media is limited to basic advertising & news broadcasting devices. For example, take the medium radio- the message is through talk radio & music. When music is extracted and put on an ipod, I argue that there is still a message, but that the ipod is not considered media because it is only one individual ipod. A concert is another example that creates confusion because it targets one specific group, as well as a larger audience than an ipod. I still would observe that people don’t recognize this as a form of broadcasting information. Music will always have a message, but the way a person hears it, is not always through media.

            Gearing toward a specific target market and publicizing messages are qualities that make up my definition of the media. Media that obtain these characteristics include several mass broadcasting devices, (radio, t.v., magazines etc.) and are used as a vehicle to spread a large variety of information. Although the media has a certain group in mind, it is important that the message is conveyed to all people so that even outsiders can interpret the message, and potentially be swayed, as well as strengthen the beliefs of people who already conform. The media can be used to promote a certain idea, product, etc. but we cannot forget more conventional forms of media, such as the newspaper, which can share worldly stories and news report information. Although I have a very narrow definition of the media, I defend that breaking it down to a traditional and basic level is what really media stands for.