Altria Animation

My animation encompassed a lot of brands that are under the parent company of Altria Group. Altria is most known for their cigarette sales, mainly Phillip Morris, so the first three frames area selection of their top selling cigarettes. The frames then continued as they faded into some candy and food brands that Altria carries. I came to my conclusion for the ordering of the frames by beginning with a product that the majority of us knows can kill and ended with a brand that is frequently advertised to children. Let it be said that this is not a deliberate attack against Altria, I just find it scary that a company is building brand loyalty on various levels with different age groups. I even found an advertisement for Altria (not made by the company) that showed a child no older than five smoking a cigarette. Not only was she smoking, it looked all too natural for her. Altria has introduced a lot of great products into our market over the years, but we just need to keep our eyes open to products that are not as beneficial to our society.

Magazine Cover

I chose to re-create an existing magazine cover of People magazine that showcased Matt Damon, Patrick Dempsey, and Oprah. I modified some the original text from the magazine in an attempt at a parody. I tried to make the image as similar to the original as possible although there were some slight variations. Overall, I think my attempts were successful and I created a visually appealing image compared to the actual cover.

Media Globalization

1.) Consumerism: One main theme of media globalization is the promotion of consumerism, which closely links, if not directly to capitalism. Media globalization allows people around the world to be exposed to myriad advertisements, marketing campaigns, products, commercials, and brands sometimes without even leaving their home. Capitalism has fueled the idea of consumerism because some large multi-national corporations like MacDonald's, Coke, Apple and Nike create ad campaigns geared toward media globalization that target a wide range of people who then contribute to capitalism. The media constantly portrays what is deemed to be an appealing lifestyle through consumerism. As technology continues to grow and more and more products are introduced into society, we should ask ourselves as what point must we stop? Or better yet, will consumerism ever stop? We have become so overloaded with superfluous junk in our lives because we are convinced that the things we own are necessities thanks to some powerful advertising corporations.
Ideally, we should be able to look at information we are being fed by the media and determine what is a positive influence and what we can do without. Unfortunately, these companies did not get as big as they because of there lack of understanding the human psyche. They have mastered what will market or promote a product or idea to a central or global setting.
2.) Information and communication products within the global system have spidered quickly throughout the world due to ongoing changes and developments. The Internet alone allows us to communicate with other around the world as well as have an array of information at our fingertips in seconds. When the computer was first introduced it society it was an anomaly to the world of technology. Looking back on that development, the now seems obsolete since we can do more things on some phones than we can do on computers. The word phone itself has become a misnomer based on all that can be done with a hand held device that used to be reserved the highly affluent and were hard to attain.
We should be more attentive to what is being broadcasted to us and have the ability to critically assess if it is a helpful or hindering approach to technology and growth as a society as well as individually.
3.) So we all know that there are a select number of organizations that dominate the industry. To name a few of these conglomerates, VIACOM, Disney, Time Warner, and the all too synonymous news corporations, we should ask ourselves who regulates these giants? The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) plays its role in preventing crude language and inappropriate images from leaking onto the airwaves but who regulates what these corporations do? These companies operate in a highly unregulated environments and since they own the information, they can bend it all they want.
It should be concerning to us as citizens that there is not much control over what is distributed by these media powerhouses. Without someone to say what is and is not okay, we have opened ourselves up to the idea that every image and idea that is portrayed to us is appropriate and condoned.

Viacom

I chose Viacom as my example of new media. Viacom, short for video and audio communications is a media conglomerate with its hands in cable and television networks, production and distribution of movies as well as a controler for several major new channels. Viacom is an example of media globalization because they provide global entertainment to a diverse audience. Viacom encompasses a wide variety of respected brands, some of which can be seen above. No matter the age, sex, race, religion or sexual orientation Viacom has something to offer everyone 24/7.

Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie has been in the lime-light for over thirty years, continually proving her ability to mold with the times as an ever changing pop musician. Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna’s career began when she moved to New York to purse a career in modern dance. Today she is recognized multi-nationally and has attained a high level of success and has a slew of awards to back up her distinction. Her music reaches all age groups with her catchy, but at times provocative lyrics. Madonna is an example of media globalization because she is not just an artist, she is a dance, actor, model, religious advocate (Kabbalah), fashion icon, and a Pepsi product spokesperson. From T-shirts, to CD’s, replicated dolls, movies, and myriad other promotional trinkets, Madonna is everywhere. Madonna has set a musical standard in the world of pop music that many predecessors to her have not been able to accomplish. Despite Madonna’s at times promiscuous image, she is still considered a legend for singing about issues that are considered taboo in society. For example, her song American Dream sings about the pressures of society placed on celebrities to be skinny and fit into a distinct image. Madonna is an icon that has made her stake in the world of music and shows no signs of receding.

Female Artist

1.) What demographic factors such as age, class or ethnicity shape their fan base? A wide range of ages, sexes, ethnicities, classes and personalities listen to Sarah McLachlan’s music. She has dedicated a lot of her time to heightening the awareness of poverty in countries and has donated a lot of money made from her concerts and music videos to help solve hunger in third world countries. She was born in Nova Scotia, Canada and has not forgotten her roots. She travels home frequently to put on promotional benefits. All procededs from her video “World on Fire”, went to providing various countries with animals, computes, food and books. She founded the Lilith Fair Tour, which showcased female musicians in the late 1990’s. While this particular instance related to women, many men listen to her music too. 2.) To what extent does your audience appropriate or localize the main themes of their songs in terms of either their own personal experience of their own cultural context? McLachlan is known for her emotional ballads, which she has won many Grammy Awards for. Many of her songs relate to personal experiences that she has had in her life about love, relationships, her family, friends and various things she has lived through. People can relate to her music because of the heartbreak and joy many have felt at one point or another. She is an extremely talented musician with a lot more music to write and share with the world which will hopefully others will be able to relate to as they have in the past.

Medium Message

When Henry Ford introduced the Ford Model-T, he set a precedent for transportation. The Model-T was owned by middle class Americans and was considered the first affordable automobile. The medium for my project was the Model-T car and its introduction into society. The content is the person that is/was in operation of the vehicle and/or more specifically the passenger because it allowed them to be transported. The message is the social cultural change caused by the medium as described by McLuhan that occurred when citizens were enabled to transport themselves with the help of a machine they could own. The Model-T was the first automobile that was mass produced on assembly lines which increased production exponentially. For the first time people could travel (at a faster more efficient pace) and span greater distances. This led into what we know today as mass transportation which leads to my last picture of heavy traffic flow throughout the roads of the United States.