Elli Arzbaecher’s Media Blog

                        Since starting this media blog my awareness about media consumption, especially when it comes to advertising, has greatly increased. Before learning about topics such as product placement and brand experience, I thought that media was just what it appeared to be, an assumption that’s very ignorant. Because of my increased education on media, I have become much more aware, noticing when an ad is using need for affiliation or a company is overloading on pathos. Being more observant about the small tactics companies use has undoubtedly led to a new mindset on advertising, but has mainly helped me in determining, on a level other than surface, if I truly like what a company is selling or what messages they’re spreading. Despite my increased awareness of media, I don’t think that my specific habits when it comes to what and how much media I consume have changed. I still listen to ...

         It came to my attention at the beginning of this school year just how big advertisement has become when it comes to social media. I'm not talking about ads for social media sites or ads on the sides of social media sites, but rather social media users being sponsored by companies to advertise their products to the person's audience. Scroll through Instagram and you'll see Karlie Kloss promoting L'Oreal, or go to YouTube and your favorite channels will have videos of people reviewing products that were sent to them by a clothing company. This is so fascinating to me because so many people still view it as entertainment and don't even acknowledge that it's another form of advertising. Beyond that, the people sharing these sponsored posts are getting paid large sums of money. According to Esquire, people with 3 to 7 million followers on Instagram can charge $75,000 for a single sponsored post, a disgusting amount of money for taking a picture, writi...

                  One of the main points addressed in the documentary " MissRepresentation" is the increase of violence against women because of our portrayal in media. While the negative representation of women in media uncovers even more issues about misogyny in society, what this correlation displays is just how big an impact entertainment has on people, particularly youth. The inescapable overload of media, amplified through ever-developing methods of consumption, explains where this influence stems from, but the effect of media's impact has been increased violence against women.          This is a reflection of how media is being used poorly, displaying women and girls as objects and spreading the message that sexual abuse against us is okay because we aren't even people anymore. Not only is explicit violence against women shown in entertainment, but women are made to seem shallow, moody, stupid, and only ...

            A topic discussed in the documentary "Merchants of Cool" by Frontline is the concept of the "mook," or a male entertainment figure who is crude, obnoxious, and disgusting. In class, we discussed briefly how Logan Paul and Jake Paul, the YouTube sensation brothers pictured above, are perfect examples of the "mook" character. However, there are definite differences between them and the mooks in the documentary, and that displays an evolution in what is focused on in male-targeted entertainment.            In "Merchants of Cool" there were clips from various television shows depicting the traditional "mook." In all of them, there was something inherently disgusting. One, in particular, displayed a man snorkeling in human excrement. This appeal to the average person's gag reflex is not something commonly found in today's media if we're using the Paul brothers' videos as a base. Do they follow the guidelines o...

          However embarrassing it may be to admit this, I am a huge fan of the game show Jeopardy, and any night I am available to watch it, you can catch me answering the questions right along with the contestants. But the more I watch Jeopardy the more I notice the sneaky ways that one advertiser specifically has wriggled its way into avid watchers' minds: mimicry. During the commercial breaks on the show, Jeopardy's partner, I'm assuming seeing they're their main advertiser, Geico will play ads perfectly based on the game show, as linked below. Throughout the breaks, there will be about 5-second shots of the contestants thrown in amongst the commercials, there to grab the watchers attention to stay hooked on their screen and keep viewing. While this is a sneaky way on Jeopardy's behalf to get viewers to watch all advertisements, Geico uses a similar tactic by disguising their advertisements like the show is back on, grabbing viewers' attention and theref...